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Science & Technology

United Nations stresses climate conundrum

by Ronny Litvack-Katzman on

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It was a mild morning in London, England when the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) released its groundbreaking report in May 1990. By proclaiming that the Earth’s gradual warming is unquestionably man-made, it became the first international body to state so.

The report was concise: “Unless emissions of carbon dioxide and other harmful gases [are] immediately cut by more than 60 per cent, global temperatures [will] rise sharply over the next century, with unforeseeable consequences for humanity.”

Despite these dire warnings, the world has remained relatively indifferent, continuing to back competitive oil markets, build more factories, and ignore the pleas of the overwhelmingly unified scientific community.

 

An International Dilemma

Earlier this month, the IPCC released its special climate change assessment report, reiterating many of the same proposals it had asked world leaders to consider almost three decades ago. Titled “Global Warming of 1.5˚C,” the report states that the earth’s temperature increases must be kept  below 1.5˚C of pre-industrial levels, or else risk disastrous consequences to our social and ecological systems. Irreversible changes to world climate are expected as soon as 2030, by which time the world is expected to have exceeded its carbon budget.

“A lot of the focus prior to the Paris Agreement had been on  2.0˚C of warming,” Kirsten Zickfeld, a lead author on the IPCC special report, said in an interview with The McGill Tribune. “However, many vulnerable nations, such as small island states and nations in the developing world, are more vulnerable to the effects of climate change.”

Their desperate call for action prompted the IPCC to reevaluate their recommendations, leading to the publication of this most recent report. After over a year of research, the IPCC concluded that 2.0˚C of warming was too generous an estimate for island nations and countries with coastal infrastructure.

“Two degrees is something that many of these countries could not adapt to,” Zickfeld said. “The effects would be too serious.”

The 1.5˚C threshold is an aggregated measure based on the findings of various studies. It represents the IPCC’s best estimate for the point at which there will be devastating natural phenomena beyond human control. Unfortunately, according to Nigel Roulet, professor of geography and director of the Global Environmental and Climate Change Research Centre at McGill, many places, such as Afghanistan and Kuwait, are either nearing or have already surpassed this threshold.

“Even if we completely stopped carbon emissions now, we would expect more warming to occur,” Dáithí Stone, a researcher at the National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research, said.

Meanwhile, it takes time for the effects of climate change to play out, meaning that the highest risk areas will likely get worse despite their best efforts.

 

Canadian Catastrophe

Many of the impacts of climate change can already be observed right at Canada’s doorstep. In 2018, British Columbia experienced not only one of the hottest wildfire seasons by average temperature on record, but also saw a massive number of active wildfires burning at a single time, second only to 2017.

In an interview with the CBC, Chilliwack fire ecologist Robert Gray stated that the

prevalence of wildfires has drastically exceeded previous climate models.

“What we thought was going to be an average condition in 2050, we’re starting to see those conditions coming a lot sooner,” Gray said.

Gray’s concerns are echoed in the IPCC report. The committee warns that changes in climate, which were thought to occur gradually over the next century, are happening at an exceedingly amplified, if not alarming, rate. Increases in the number and ferocity of B.C.’s wildfires are directly related to the climate conditions in the region; as average temperature rises in the summer and spring months, so does the probability of emergent wildfires. In Alberta, some climate models predict a 20 per cent increase in the frequency of extreme river flow events over the next century. These models are a stark reminder of the catastrophic flooding which submerged large parts of the province in 2013.

The number of large-scale extreme weather events in the country is on the rise, driven largely by climate change, which is only expected to worsen over the next century.

“If we do not do anything, we’ll assume massive costs caused by the damages of sea levels rising, longer and hotter heat waves, and increased flooding,” Zickfield said.

The Alberta flooding epidemic was, at one time, the costliest disaster in Canadian history, with insurable damages amounting to $6 billion. This record was only surpassed in the 2016 Fort McMurray Wildfires, which displaced almost 100,000 people and cost $9.5 billion in damages.

 

Keeping the Great North Green  

Rising water levels pose a particularly significant risk to Canada, which has the longest coastline of any country in the world. With 6.5 million residents living along the ocean as well as the country’s proximity to the Arctic, coastal disturbances caused by melting ice present a looming risk for Canadians.

“Sea ice changes affect the energy balance of the Arctic Ocean,” Roulet said. “[Changes in sea ice distribution] have consequences on weather conditions throughout the Northern hemisphere.”

Flooding aside, a 2016 report on the marine conditions of Canada’s changing climate found that climate disturbances in the Arctic region could significantly affect the distributions of key species such as salmon and seals. These changes pose an immediate problem for northern communities that rely on marine wildlife as a primary food source. Indigenous communities, in particular, which disproportionately lie within potentially-affected coastal regions, could see the most substantial consequences emerge from ecological disturbances.

The Trudeau government has made significant improvements to Canada’s policy on curbing human-induced climate change. The guiding document on these changes, “The Pan-Canadian Framework on Clean Growth and Climate Change,” published in 2016, is a broad plan to reduce Canada’s ecological footprint. To help offset the financial burden of shaping the Canadian economy to a more-climate friendly model, the government has allotted $1.4 billion to provinces and territories that have adopted the Framework. However, while comprehensive, the Framework is made obsolete by the most recent climate models and international guidelines, such as those in the IPCC’s October report.

“The Liberal government, and all governments we’ve had in Canada, have been very good at talking the talk about greenhouse gas emissions,” Roulet said. “But when it comes to substance in reducing [greenhouse emissions, their response] has been weak.”

Roulet believes the Liberal carbon tax, announced on Oct. 23, to be a good baseline for how the country should proceed in addressing our carbon emissions. The carbon tax is a federal policy which, if implemented nationally, would place additional tariffs on the sale of fossil fuels. As of 2018, provinces are responsible for legislating carbon taxation.

“The bigger challenge is to not only enact short-term measures like using renewables for new power generation capacity,” Stone said. “The challenge is also to shift long-term measures, like decommissioning existing coal power plants.”

While Canadians must face the implications of climate change at home, they also have a responsibility to set an example for the rest of the world. With their notably-high carbon emissions per capita, Canadians have a moral obligation to reduce their ecological footprint and provide relief to the many countries, mostly in the developing world, on the verge of climate disaster.

McGill, News

Quebec elections reveal fractures among electorate

by Diamond Yao on

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Quebecers headed to the polls for the provincial election in October, which resulted in the Coalition Avenir Québec (CAQ) forming a majority government. The election sparked noticeable resistance on McGill’s campus, prompting the former vice-president external of the Students’ Society of McGill University (SSMU), Marina Cupido, to condemn the party as ‘racist’ and ‘xenophobic.’

Clayton Ma, a Master’s student at Concordia University who researches voting preferences among visible minorities in Canada, is concerned about several platform promises made by the CAQ. A law proposed by the CAQ during its campaign would bar public servants from wearing religious symbols, while another hopes to expel immigrants who fail a government-administered ‘values test.’

“If I had to implore them to not do certain things, I would implore them to not touch the religious items for public servants and to not implement that really ridiculous values test that they are suggesting,” Ma said. “It shapes the narrative [regarding immigrants] in a very poor way. Minorities are continuously stigmatized because of who they are and are continuously viewed as a possible threat.”

Research suggests that younger voters, including university students, are less inclined to vote. SSMU Deputy Electoral OfficerIsaac Levy, who implemented a mock poll to gauge students’ political preferences, is inclined to agree.

“In general, the younger cohort of voters are typically on the lower end of the turnout,”  Levy said. “In particular, students are very busy. There’s a lot on their minds, so there is a dip of engagement with respect to that, and a lot of students just don’t become engaged. And if some students do [become involved in politics], they are probably specializing in that.”

According to Levy, the poll demonstrated that McGill students are generally left-leaning in their politics.

“Quebec Solidaire got about a quarter of the votes in our poll, but, at the same time, the riding that we are in is extremely liberal, so the Liberals came [out] on top,” Levy said.

This phenomenon of left-leaning engaged youth is not unique for urban places like Montreal. Éric Bélanger, a professor of political science at McGill who specializes in Quebec politics, thinks that the relatively-liberal mindset of the youth electorate has to do with the disparity between students’ progressive politics and a perennial conservative nationalist constituency in the province. He characterizes the CAQ as the party of a generation ago, built on constitutional disputes that no longer exist.

“To understand what happened, I think the national question [of Quebec sovereignty] is still quite useful,” Bélanger said. “Environment and diversity are the concerns of the new generation. In a changing context where issues of diversity and immigrant integration are fertile ground, I think there’s still this conservative, nationalist constituency that [has] finally found itself a new vehicle to get the sovereignty debate [on the table].”

Bélanger believes that overcoming apathy among young voters may be possible by reframing the national project in terms that are more in line with young people’s values.

“If you start showing that Quebec can be sovereign [while still addressing modern problems], that Quebec can leave this oil-producing country that Canada has become, then you start offering a different way to see sovereignty and to see the relevance of the sovereignty project that may be more appealing to younger voters,” Bélanger said.

McGill, News

SUS hosts by-elections for vacant executive position

by Jacqueline Yao on

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Following the resignation of its Vice-President (VP) External Michelle Guo, the Science Undergraduate Society (SUS) went over the details for its upcoming by-election. Councillors also discussed future events, the possibility of new study spaces during the final exam period, and equitable selections of executives between student departmental associations.

 

VP External by-election

Guo reportedly left her position for personal reasons, with her resignation taking effect on Sept. 26. The SUS approved dates for a by-election to fill her position and SUS President Reem Mandil has delegated the VP External’s responsibilities to other councillors in the meantime. Mandil encouraged students to run for the vacant VP External position and participate in the democratic process.

“[Running for VP External] is a great opportunity for students who are looking to get involved in SUS,” Mandil said. “If there is only one or fewer candidates running [for VP External] by the Oct. 29 nomination deadline, the whole election process has to be extended.”

 

Plans to increase available space for studying

Mandil will be meeting with the Dean of Science, Bruce Lennox, on Nov. 1 and hopes to discuss study space and scholarships. She is currently looking into opening additional study spaces on campus during final exams and encouraged departmental representatives to poll their constituents on the subject. Mandil also plans to convince the Faculty of Science to offer financial support for the SUS Scholarship Fund. The scholarship recognizes McGill Science and Arts & Science students who demonstrate leadership in their community.

“Everyone has had the experience of not finding seats [in the library…] so I’ll be compiling a small report [for Lennox] so that we can have more study spaces,” Mandil said. “[And], when [the SUS Scholarship Fund] is implemented, we can hopefully draft a formal application.”

 

Evaluation of SUS finances proposed

SUS VP Finance Dylan Wong suggested hiring an accountant to evaluate the society’s financial status and account information, like the Arts Undergraduate Society already does. Wong will assess the costs of accounting services before finalizing his proposal.

“For an organization of [SUS’s] size, it is very important to do financial accounting,” Wong said. “[Proper accounting] is something that a science student without official CPA [Chartered Professional Accountant] training can’t really do.”

 

Constitutional changes proposed

At the most recent SUS Constitutional Affairs Committee (CAC) meeting, SUS VP Communications Ianna Folkes assigned two committee members to meet with each of the 19 SUS departmental associations, including the McGill Environment Students’ Society (MESS) and the Freshman Undergraduate Students’ Society (FUSS). The CAC, which reviews constitutional changes for departmental councils, hopes to synchronize which executive roles are paid, elected, and appointed between departments to ensure equitable council member selections.

“I know that it’s uncomfortable to make changes [to departmental constitutions] but the changes [have been] suggested for a good reason,” Folkes said. “We are trying to get departments as [to be as equally-represented] as possible.”

 

Science Games to implement increased regulations

Council deliberated regulations for Hype Night, a social event held in anticipation of Science Games with historically minimal registration restrictions. This year, SUS VP Internal Zlata Plotnikova informed Council that registration for Hype Night is limited to only McGill students for increased safety and accountability.

Plotnikova also oversees Science Games itself, a four-day social event that features drinking competitions between Science Departments. She held a meeting on Oct. 22 for the 119 students interested in being Science Games captains and finalized the 16 Science Games teams on Oct 26. To ensure a safer Science Games, the Office for Sexual Violence Response, Support, and Education (OSVRSE) will train Science Games captains on how to respond to disclosures of sexual harassment.

The next SUS Council meeting will take place on Nov. 1.

Campus Spotlight, Student Life

Promoting consent culture at McGill

by Mary Keith on

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Over the past year, McGill students have engaged in a necessary conversation about consent on campus: On Oct. 11, 2017, SSMU signed off on the Our Turn Action Plan, an initiative aimed to combat rape culture on campus. The McGill Tribune spoke to Chloe Garcia, Faculty of Education graduate student and volunteer at IMPACTS, a multidisciplinary effort to address sexual violence on university campuses, to discuss the importance of fostering a healthy consent culture on campus.

McGill Tribune (MT): What is consent culture?

Chloe Garcia (CG): “I view it as a culture where asking for consent is normalized as an essential part of [both] sexual relationships [and] non-romantic relationships. Consent culture [refers to…] everyday media and popular culture [….] Media shapes how we think about sexuality and also impacts how we behave. Media is a great tool to raise awareness about what consent is, why it is important to have a consent culture, and provide steps to improve our current society.”

MT: What are barriers to consent culture?

CG: “There are many barriers to consent culture caused by harmful perceptions and stereotypes about women and marginalized communities […. This includes] patriarchal ideologies where women are devalued, but they can also refer to rape myth[s], such as, ‘she was asking for it’ or ‘men don’t get raped’ [….] Another barrier […] is current misconceptions of feminism.”

MT: How can the McGill community work to overcome those barriers?

CG: “We need to work together to overcome these barriers through [administrative channels] like [the] McGill administration, faculty, and student leaders […. By] opening dialogue, listening to each other, modeling respectful behaviour, [and…] intervening [when we witness abusive behaviour], we can take better […] responsibility for the wellbeing of our community.”

MT: As part of Consent McGill you hosted the “Let’s Talk About Consent Culture! A Vlog-Making workshop.” What do you hope students took away from the workshop?

CG: “I do research in the Faculty of Education on teaching about consent and sexual violence with YouTube vlogs, [and I …] run workshops on vlogging to promote consent culture. This specific workshop featured conversations about what consent and consent culture [are and…] what we perceive to be barriers. We looked at interventions focused on social change, particularly how YouTube vloggers […] promote dialogue, raise awareness about consent and sexual violence, and show support to survivors. We practiced making our own videos [to…] share our vision of the type of change we would like to see, [which] will eventually […] be made available to the McGill community within the next few months.”

MT: Has McGill done enough to promote consent culture?

CG: “McGill has taken great strides to improve the community, such as working with IMPACTS and student organizations [….] There is always room to grow [….] [McGill needs to address] unresolved issues on campus with professors accused of sexual misconduct [….] I always think there is room for improvement, but it will not be that easy to change a culture.”

MT: How should students talk with their peers about consent culture?

CG: “I think that any language is appropriate when talking about sexual violence, sexual consent, and consent culture. It’s very important that we do not dwell on formal versus informal terms [….] There have been recent complaints about students using colloquial […] language to talk about their experiences with sexual violence, [but…] this use of language is not always well-received [….] It’s important not to dismiss allegations on the basis that formal language wasn’t used. Not everyone knows legal terms or can concretely express [their experiences].”

Alzheimer’s
Off the Board, Opinion

Unlucky inheritance

by Katia Innes on

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There are many things in my life that I’ve accepted as inevitable: Breaking a bone, teenage heartbreak, and failing a final exam, for example, I have a strange sense that those events are predetermined. This may be symptomatic of a childhood spent in front of a television—each event in my life seems to fit an episodic narrative. When my parents announced that they were getting divorced, my first thought as a six-year-old was that I was going to be like Buster in Arthur. Growing up, I’ve always had a preoccupation with how the narrative arc of my own life will end. I have an unsettling feeling, clearer each day, that it might end like those of my other family members: With a chronic, hereditary neurological disease called Alzheimer’s.  

Alzheimer’s has always been a part of my life: A sinister, underlying antagonist. The first funeral I attended was my great grandmother’s at the age of seven; she passed away from dementia. I have no memories of interacting with her where I don’t have to be reintroduced as ‘Wendy’s daughter.’ While she always greeted me with her trademark elderly-Chinese-woman enthusiasm, we never established an especially meaningful relationship.

Alzheimer’s followed me into my adolescence with the death of my paternal grandfather when I was 10 and then my paternal grandmother this past spring. While my great-grandmother had lived blocks away from me as a child,  I had not seen my paternal grandparents since the age of eight. They remain murky, greying figures in my imagination: I can recall my grandfather’s pipe and their foyer filled with my grandmother’s paintings. One of the reasons I had not seen them in so long is that my father simply did not want to go through the motions that accompany visiting a loved one with Alzheimer’s: The reintroductions, lapses of memory, and  inability to complete simple tasks. There’s a haunting aspect to caring for a relative for a hereditary disease that, you too, might someday contract. I rarely thought of my paternal grandparents, who were peripheral characters in my life—besides, we lived in different provinces. The loss was softened by distance. What I do know is that, upon seeing a photograph of me, shortly before she passed, my grandmother made a stomach-dropping remark:

“Wendy looks so lovely here.”

Besides being mistaken for my own mother, this comment has always perturbed me: I wondered what else I might inherit from my mother if not her eyes and cheekbones.

I still have relatives on both sides with the diagnosis. The disease is still in its early stages, so I have allowed myself to keep a comfortable distance from the reality of the diagnosis and the outcome itself. Alzheimer’s seems like an invention of a Shonda Rhimes medical procedural drama until you are looking at its face in a hospital bed. Through all of this, I have become acutely aware of any symptoms my parents might display, such as minor lapses of memory. While this might be entirely paranoid, there’s always something that irks me every time my father forgets where he put his phone, or when my mother trips up on the names of one of my cousins. It could be nothing, but there’s an underlying fear that these small mishaps are indicative of something more sinister. Darkly, my mother will often joke that it’s “the early onset Alzheimer’s kicking in.” Premature though these comments may be, denying the fact that my parents, and by extension myself, have a high likelihood of developing Alzheimer’s would be to deny medical fact. To fool myself into thinking that I am an anomaly, exempt from a hereditary disease, would be laughably self-aggrandizing. Ultimately, there isn’t much I can do to prevent or predict my future besides a humble acceptance of whatever final moment lies ahead.

Martlets, Men's Varsity, Sports

McGill swim hosts second RSEQ Cup of the season

by Kaja Surborg on

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On Oct. 27, McGill hosted the second RSEQ swimming meet of the season. The men’s team took home a first place finish, while the women came in second. Since Saturday was the only meet that McGill will host this season, these impressive finishes were that much more special for the swimmers.

“It was a lot of fun,” first-year Grace Polkosnik said. “It’s a lot easier to swim when everyone is cheering you on, and there were lots of positive vibes from [the team].”

This meet comes just two weeks after the season opener at Université de Sherbrooke where both the men and women’s teams placed second.

“[We’ve seen] massive improvement,” Head Coach Peter Carpenter said. “Fitness is taking hold, […] and it’s looking great.”

First-year Claire Shewchuk echoed her coach’s sentiment.

“It always gets better later in the season,” she said.“This still isn’t [a meet] we’re resting for, but there’s definitely been improvement.”

Eighteen McGill swimmers have already qualified for the USports National Championships in eight events, including first-year Clement Secchi, who took home three gold medals from Sherbrooke and placed third in the 200m backstroke this weekend. Third-year Sam Wang also qualified for nationals at Sherbrooke. He picked up 579 points for McGill on Saturday and is currently second on the RSEQ points table. On the women’s side, first-year Erin Miller qualified for nationals in the 200m butterfly in Sherbrooke. Coach Carpenter doesn’t want to stop there, though.

“If we can get ten more qualifiers [in the next three weeks], I will be ecstatic,” Carpenter said. “It might seem a little unrealistic to set the goal that high, but that’s what we’re shooting for.”

In the beginning of the season, the swimmers were focused on fitness, but now it’s time for them to start focusing on their individual performances and begin reaching their fastest times of the season.

“At this point, we’re able to be more specific with individual swimmers and the events that they’re going to be swimming,” Carpenter said. “Our first peak meet is in three weeks, […] so we’re excited about that, and that’s what we’re going to be gunning for next.”

Polkosnik had a similar, positive outlook on her season so far and what it means for her in the coming meets.

“I’ve been swimming pretty well recently, so I’m just trying to keep that up,” Polkosnik said. “Honestly I’m just trying to have fun for most of it.”

The rest of the season looks promising for McGill, with those 18 swimmers already qualified for nationals and time for more to join them. McGill swimming hopes to stay at the top of the rankings and will continue to work on individual performances throughout the final four RSEQ meets of the season.  

Moment of the meet

During the final relay races, swimmers from each school lined up at the edge of the pool to cheer their teammates on to a strong finish.

Quotable

“If you look at the results, there are first-years winning medals, which is really exciting. This is their first year of eligibility and they’re only going to get faster.” – Head Coach Peter Carpenter on the team’s potential

Stats Corner

McGill had five of the ten top individual scores on the men’s side of the competition this weekend.

McGill, News

McGill best university in Canada for 14th year in a row

by Lucia Winter&Andras Nemeth on

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McGill University retained the top spot in Maclean’s magazine’s annual ranking of Canadian universities. The report, published on Oct. 11, evaluated 15 Canadian universities in the ‘medical-doctoral’ category, a comprehensive classification for research-focused universities with a wide range of graduate programs. This is the 14th consecutive year that McGill has been listed in first place, which it shares with the University of Toronto in the most recent report.

An Oct. 11 article published in Maclean’s describing the results cited several factors to explain McGill’s continued dominance in the ranking: The important contributions of McGill researchers to a range of medical fields, McGill’s highly international student body, and the number of McGill alumni—144, the most in Canada—to be attributed the prestigious Rhodes Scholarship.

In a statement to the Montreal Gazette, McGill Principal Suzanne Fortier expressed pride in the report.

“We are delighted to see McGill recognized once again as Canada’s leading university according to the Maclean’s yardstick,” Fortier said. “All members of our McGill community can take pride in this accomplishment. I salute our alumni for the solid foundation of excellence they have built in our great university and congratulate all the students, professors and staff for their commitment to the values of McGill.”

This report follows the Times Higher Education’s (THE) World University Ranking in September, which placed McGill 44th in the world. Though this is a drop from last year’s ranking, which placed McGill at 42nd, the lower rank may not necessarily be indicative of a decline in McGill’s performance as a university. According to THE Global Ranking Editor Ellie Bothwell, the drop does not reflect a negative evaluation of McGill; rather, the decline is a result of other universities growing faster.

“McGill’s performance dropped in three areas over the past year, research income, research reputation, and doctorates awarded per academic staff,” Bothwell said. “However, it is worth noting that McGill’s overall score was actually higher this year compared with last year, so increased competition in the table played a big part. Other universities simply improved at a faster rate.”

At the McGill Board of Governors meeting on Oct. 4, McGill Principal Suzanne Fortier attributed the drop in McGill’s ranking to shifts in the global education market. In particular, Fortier believes many Asian universities are receiving significantly more government funding, pushing them upward in the rankings.

“[Analysts] are predicting that we will see the Western universities lose their spots as Asian universities enter the ranks,” Fortier said.
The THE ranking is based on 13 performance indicators that evaluate the university’s global standing in terms of research and education. The most important factor, ‘citation impact,’ a measure of the university’s research contributions, constitutes 30 per cent of the overall ranking and is usually the deciding factor of a university’s rank.

Metrics assessing teaching quality and research reputation are also heavily weighted, composing 15 and 18 per cent of the ranking, respectively. Other performance indicators include numbers of grants and doctorates awarded, international outlook, and innovation. The ranking system is applied to over 1,200 universities annually and uses a cumulative probability function to calculate an overall score.
In an emailed statement to the McGill Tribune, McGill Provost Christopher Manfredi wrote that, while he was pleased by McGill’s performance in the rankings, the THE report is unlikely to have any major impacts on McGill’s decision-making.

“McGill’s overall standing in the THE rankings remains world class, and our scores in virtually all areas increased over last year,” Manfredi wrote. “We do not calibrate policy or practice to address the assessments of external rankings agencies. We remain a research-intensive, student-centred university where faculty members are world leaders in their fields and offer an exceptional education to their students.”

Private, Science & Technology

A sustainable environment and basic income go hand-in-hand

by Karan Kumar on

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In recognition of the International day for the Eradication of Poverty on Oct. 17, Asian Women for Equality hosted a panel discussion on the synergy between a guaranteed livable income and an environmentally-sustainable future.

In the face of the current environmental crisis, there is a need for a massive upheaval of individual and societal behaviours. According to Rob Rainer from the Basic Income Canada Network, the unconditional provision of a regular, reliable basic income could be a crucial component of this larger paradigm shift.

“We need time to reflect on issues broader than our own survival,” Rainer said. “A basic income can provide a foundation and springboard for this reflection [.…] It can provide a sense of calm when you wake up in the morning.”

Canadian policy already includes some programs that act like basic income, such as the Canada Child Tax Benefit, which helps eligible families raise their children, and the Old Age Security program which assists Canadian seniors.  However, as Rainer pointed out, there is a ‘missing middle’ in these income assistance programs, and the Canadian working class that is sandwiched between the youth and the elderly does not have access to robust welfare systems. Despite setbacks, such as the recent cancelling of the basic income pilot project in Ontario, Rainer believes in the value of basic income to a sustainable economy.

“[A basic income] could be an expression of our collective willingness to be there for each other,” Rainer said.

The adoption of a Carbon Fee and Dividend Policy, which charges a fee on carbon-based fuels and distributes the gains through dividend cheques, could be the key to financing a proposed basic income transfer. for instance, taxing activities that exacerbate climate change, like burning fossil fuels, can provide the revenue for a basic income.

While obtaining a Canadian basic income might be feasible in the not-too-distant future, there is little, if any, discussion on the position of refugees in the debate. Paul Clarke, executive director of Action Réfugiés Montréal, referenced an increased modern risk of small island populations getting displaced and ending up as ‘climate displaced refugees.’ According to Clarke, policies like a basic income are usually reserved for citizens or permanent residents of a nation, leaving out migrants. Policies that address basic income for refugees could be crucial in helping environmental refugees adjust to life in a new country.

Many believe that achieving a universal basic income is a utopian fantasy.  However, success stories from other parts of the world exist. Manitoba implemented MINCOME, a basic income pilot project between 1974 and 1979. More recently, basic income programs have improved social outcomes in regions in Namibia and India.

“[A basic income] is certainly practical, as it has proven to work in many parts of the world,” Toby Davine, communications officer in the McGill Office of Sustainability, said. “It is backed by research and could be feasible in a country as wealthy as Canada. I like the part where a basic income provides the freedom to choose a job that you enjoy. For most of the world, [this] is not the case.”

ghosts
Commentary, Opinion

Bhalla vs. Bird: Are ghosts real?

by Sanchi Bhalla and Lucas Bird on

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It’s time to rehash a classic Halloween controversy: Are ghosts real? Contributors Sanchi Bhalla and Lucas Bird duke it out.

The case for ghosts – Sanchi Bhalla

History is littered with tales of ghosts, spirits, and spooky happenings. McGill itself is home to one of the most haunted streets in Montreal, Rue McTavish, second only to Rue Notre Dame in Old Port. With eyewitness accounts of lithe socialites’ ghosts reliving their youth in the Faculty Club, why are we hesitant to consider their existence, when they’re literally knocking down campus buildings’ front doors?

Everyone has experienced those moments: You feel like someone’s looking at you, or you see movement from the corner of your eye, or you have the gut feeling that that brush against your leg wasn’t just the wind. We discount these feelings too easily, and refuse to acknowledge the fact that if these moments are a communal experience, there might be something more to them.

The largely North American insistence that ghosts cannot be real reveals that humans are far more conceited than they have the right to be. It is impossible to understand all that surrounds us, and that mystery is what keeps us exploring and innovating. Images of the supernatural permeate cultures around the world. From the Pagans of the Roman Empire to the Wiccans of the modern day, societies have different ideas of what an all-knowing being is or if one even exists, but the concept of ghosts is universal. Every early civilizations has a story about spirits, whether malignant or benign.

We say that we don’t believe in ghosts, but I think that it’s because we don’t want to believe. We’re terrified of what ghosts’ existence would mean for ourselves and our own personal interpretations of the meaning of life.

 The skeptic’s take – Lucas Bird

Normally, to combat ghost hysteria, I’d dust off an old classic: The utter absence of any factual documentation supporting their existence. Instead of revisiting well-trodden territory,  I’m opting to investigate why people think they see ghosts, and how they can distinguish between the paranormal and the psychological.

Psychologists have historically referred to ghost sightings as instances of a ‘sensed presence.’ They can be caused by changes in brain chemistry triggered by stress, lack of oxygen, and other cognitively-impairing circumstances. We sense a presence in situations that we already find disconcerting or stressful.

Social alienation also plays a role in how humans materialize anxiety. In the journal article “The Social Psychology of Fear,” social psychologist Kurt Riezler describes fear as a primary response to feelings of social isolation, an anxiety more common among individuals who are grieving the deaths of loved ones. When a person close to us passes away, they leave an abrupt gap in our lives that we try to fill by imaging that their essence is still with us.

Riezler describes death as a particularly intense anxiety because it’s so alienating. It is a truly impending terror for some people, and ghosts offer a solution to these existential fears. They suggest an ethereal life force that transcends our earthly existence. It gives us hope. We don’t just happen to see ghosts—we want to see them.

I don’t mean to belittle those who believe in ghosts. My partner won’t enter a dark room alone if we’ve recently watched a horror movie, but I still respect her beliefs. However, we should aspire to conquer the unknown, knowing that, if we encounter a spectre along the way, it is not the ghost we should fear, but the deeper anxieties and neuroses that conjure the paranormal.
Arts & Entertainment, Film and TV

‘Halloween’ is a fresh remake with substance and style

by Christina Stackpole on

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Halloween (2018), the reboot of John Carpenter’s 1978 horror classic of the same name, combines expert filmmaking and fiery performances. With a sly play on genre tropes and a refreshing dose of social commentary, Halloween is a welcome addition to the horror canon. It offers genuine scares while critiquing modern desensitization to mass violence and challenging the stereotypes of female horror protagonists.

In making Halloween, writer and director David Gordon Green along with co-writer, and frequent collaborator, Danny McBride (Pineapple Express, Eastbound and Down) ignored the original film’s seven sequels. Halloween returns to Haddonfield, Illinois exactly forty years after the masked serial killer Michael Myers’ (Nick Castle) ‘babysitter murders,’ of which then-seventeen-year-old Laurie Strode (Jamie Lee Curtis) was the sole survivor. Laurie, now a grandmother, has never healed from the trauma of her ordeal; she has isolated herself in a doomsday bunker in the woods, waiting to exact her revenge. Laurie’s daughter Karen (Judy Greer) and granddaughter Allyson (Andi Matichak) struggle with their strained relationships with her, but when Myers escapes from prison, the three generations of Strode women must either hunt together, or be hunted.

This year, films like Hereditary and A Quiet Place have proven that artistically-bold and character-driven horror films can lead to box office success. Halloween jumps on the bandwagon, taking a surprising number of stylistic risks for a mainstream slasher, especially in its cinematography. Director of photography Michael Simmonds laces the film with some truly stunning visuals, including suspenseful long takes, surreal lighting, and optical illusions using shadows.

While it would be remiss to call Halloween a horror comedy, Green and McBride tap into their trademark sharp-witted humor for some genuinely funny sequences. Still, the comedy does not overshadow the horror, which remains visceral and grounded in reality. Indeed, Halloween does not shy away from practical gore effects, depicting some stomach-churning deaths. Green and McBride have updated the restrained, understated horror of the original, replacing it with a more gruesome and believable terror. As Alison and her friends point out, in a world where terrorism and gun violence have made death into just another daily headline, it takes a lot more than suburban teenagers’ stab wounds to make an impact. As Myers snaps necks and crushes skulls, against bone-chilling sound effects, Green and McBride intentionally prompt the viewer to reconsider why it takes so much for modern audiences to feel moved by suffering and death.

Modern horror remakes have a bad rap of either failing to capture the spirit of the original or producing a lacklustre, identical copy. Green and McBride manage to walk the line between homage and innovation—a dash of ‘70s flair and a handful of blink-and-you’ll-miss-it references to the original serve garnish an already engaging story. Halloween also relies on a strong supporting cast. While the usual suspects are all present—the hot blonde, the comic relief, the clueless boyfriend—Green and McBride’s writing turns these classic tropes on their heads to create sympathetic protagonists and subvert predictable narrative beats.

The amped-up violence is not the only component of the film rife with Green’s social commentary. Arguably, Halloween’s greatest strength is its female leads. Jamie Lee Curtis infuses her iconic role with charisma and raw emotion, supported by excellent performances from Greer and Matichak. Green and McBride are not interested in fetishizing violence against women—in fact, most of Myers’ victims are men. The combined forces of three generations of Strode women are an inspiring example of the potential that horror, a genre often criticized for misogyny, holds. The women in Halloween are proof that scream queens do not have to be virginal, flawlessly beautiful, barely clothed, or brutally abused to carry a horror film.  On the shoulders of its three heroines, Halloween succeeds at hearkening back to the beloved classic, while giving it a grisly yet socially conscious update for the twenty-first century. Green and McBride prove that as a genre, horror can be both canonical and reflexive.

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