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a, Soccer, Sports

Pep Guardiola meets the Prem

by Simon Thara on

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The winter transfer period ended on Jan. 31 and saw many high profile moves; however, the man to steal the spotlight was not a player, but well-decorated manager Pep Guardiola. The Spanish gaffer, who is currently guiding Bayern Munich to its third Bundesliga title since his arrival in 2013, announced he would sign a long-term contract with 2014 Barclays Premier League (BPL) champions Manchester City after the 2016 season. After all his success, the world can finally see if Pep can handle a resolute Stoke City outfit on a wet Tuesday night. 

No one doubts Guardiola’s credentials—everything he touches turns to gold. However, if the 2015-16 season of the BPL is anything to go by, he is about to enter the most volatile and unpredictable league in world soccer. Current leaders Leicester City were in the relegation this time last year, and former champions and pre-season favourites Chelsea are drowning in the lower half of the table, fighting to qualify for Europa League. Pep may continue his gold streak in the BPL, but he must be a little wary of a league with such little consistency. 

English first-tier football is a new kind of challenge: Pep must navigate the rigorous schedules that Manchester City will face. Balancing the European Champions League, the FA Cup, the League Cup, and the BPL is a feat very few squads can manage. Unlike in the German and Spanish leagues, English teams don’t get a Christmas break. Guardiola will encounter  unprecedented fitness and squad depth conundrums. This season, Manchester City has been inconsistent in part due to constant injuries. Pep must quickly find the balance to create a squad with enough mental and physical stamina to make it through the season. 

Another challenge is the amount of money in the league and the wealth of BPL clubs. Last year, according to the BBC, the average club revenue in the BPL was £181 million, compared to the German Bundesliga or Spanish La Liga reporting values of £126 million and £79 million respectively. Indeed, the BPL is on the verge of a new  £5.14 billion TV rights deal with Sky Sports.  These numbers allow English teams to attract high profile talent and stay competitive. For example, Xherdan Shaqiri, Ibrahim Affelay, and Bojan, all Champions League winners are playing for mid-table, Stoke City.  Spanish Beasts, Real Madrid and Barcelona, or even the French champions PSG, do not face that type of talent in mid-table teams.

Finally, the pace of the English game is unmatched, and the art of Tiki Taka passing, a tactic Pep imposes in all of his squads, will definitely be tested by the aggressive defensive play of the BPL. Daley Blind, who signed with Manchester United last season, said that the consistently fast-paced nature of every game left him tired and required him to improve his game greatly. 

These are but some of the reasons that very talented players suffer in the Premier League, as well as great managers like Andreas Villas Boas. 

Guardiola is a quality manager, and the world expects him to achieve at Manchester City. Yet undoubtedly this will be the greatest test of his managerial career. The world looks forward to seeing him on the side of the pitch, barking out instructions to his players. Finally we will be able to see if Pep can really do it on a cold, windy night in Stoke.

a, McGill, News

McGill Women in Leadership conference discusses issues of gender parity

by Alexia Martel-Desjardins on

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Although women make up nearly half of the population, they are woefully underrepresented in leadership positions in the workplace. On March 12, sucessful female alumni returned to McGill to speak to students at the McGill Women in Leadership (MWIL) second annual leadership conference, titled  Trailblazers’ Testimonies. The conference featured speakers who were board members of the McGill Women’s Alumnae Association who came from various career sectors such as engineering, politics, banking, and management. The speakers covered topics that ranged from leadership skills to the challenges women face when entering the workforce. The day consisted of six speeches and a period of discussion and networking. 

Eleni Bakopanos, former member of parliament in the riding of Ahuntsic for the Liberal Party of Canada, spoke on the importance of parity and quota systems for gender equality.

“Unfortunately, […] the resolution on gender parity on boards and in cabinet […] was voted down by the young women in the youth commission of the Federal Liberal Party,” Bakopanos said. “I was actually stunned [.…] Personally, I have nothing against quotas […but] where there has been an increase in the number of women on boards, it has been a quota system [….] Women bring skills to the table that men do not bring.” 

Regional Director of the Canadian Institute of Steel Construction Dr. Hellen Christodoulou discussed the damage stereotypes have on women in the workplace.

“Research has documented over and over again [the] gender bias and stereotypes in careers,” Christodoulou said. “These stereotypes are automatic, they are pervasive, and they will affect assignments, evaluations, emotions, unless us – the professional women, – we make that effort […] to teach. This problem requires the whole redesign of the workplace […] and of the whole mental culture that exists against women.”

Compared to the first edition of the event, Co-President of MWIL Erica Pederson was pleased with the status of this year’s speakers. 

“The speakers that we brought in [last year] were not quite the calibre we managed to achieve this year, and we also had a smaller network at the time,” Pederson said.

Vice-President (VP) Sponsorship Ida Mahmoudi also stressed that the invited speakers were previous McGill students, and this presents an advantage for current students who attend the conference. 

“What I think is important is that these speakers are actually McGill alumni,” Mahmoudi said. “What [MWIL] essentially tries to do is make the female community way more close-knit than it was the year before and the year prior to that […] so it’s way more direct and way more holistic because these speakers know what it’s like to be McGill students.”

Male representation at the event was fairly low, with only two men in attendance. Pedersen plans to make encouraging male attendance in the future. 

“Definitely one of our future goals is to try to engage as many males as possible because it’s for the benefit of everybody, I think,” Pedersen said. “Because we are new and we are still trying to find our way and establish these events […] we are still a little bit focused more on tapping into female networks.”

According to Pederson, profits from the event will be given to the Native Women’s Shelter (NWS) of Montreal, an organization that provides support to Aboriginal, Inuit and Métis Women, with programs that help to prevent homelessness, addictions, family violence, and health issues.

“All of our profits from ticket sales, from sponsorship, [go to NWS] and we’re also taking monetary donations and donations of feminine hygiene products,” Pederson said. “It definitely means we start from ground zero next year, but I think it’s worth it.” 

a, Basketball, Martlets, Sports

Basketball: Martlets win fifth straight RSEQ Championship, head to Nationals as No. 1 seed

by Mayaz Alam on

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Winning isn’t easy, but the McGill Martlet basketball program sure makes it look that way. Capping off a fantastic season in which they only lost one game in the RSEQ competition, the Martlets captured their fifth consecutive RSEQ Championship. For Martlets Head Coach Ryan Thorne, this win was different than those in previous years. 

“It’s the end of the career for some of these special people to me like Dianna Ros and Gabriela Hebert being here for five years, and every year they’ve won a championship,” Thorne said. “Sometimes you feel like it has to do more with you but it doesn’t. It’s those kids, their commitment, their effort, their work–so definitely this one seems a little more special.”

With the 71-56 victory over the Laval Rouge et Or in Saturday’s final, the team heads to the CIS National Championships next week at the University of New Brunswick as the No. 1 seed. They’ll be looking to improve on last year’s silver medal, which is currently the best finish in school history. Fans and the McGill community are starting to notice that a powerhouse program plays in Love Competition Hall: The semifinal game against the Concordia Stingers broke the attendance record for a women’s basketball game at McGill; the final saw 657 fans in attendance, 70 more than in McGill’s 85-60 win against Concordia, setting a new record.

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Headlining the weekend for McGill were bigs Alex Kiss-Rusk and Mariam Sylla, who dominated both the Stingers’ and Rouge et Or frontline, as they have this entire season. Both averaged upwards of 20 points and 10 rebounds per game for the weekend. Although McGill’s one-two punch of Kiss-Rusk and Sylla is arguably the best forward combo in the country, Thorne cites the team’s resilience as its greatest asset, given the injuries to rotation players Gladys Hakizimana and Jen Silver.

“Our biggest strength has always been our depth, but with our injuries right now [it’s] probably just our cohesiveness and the fact that we play well as a unit,” Thorne said. “There’s a lot of love on this team and they want to win for each other. There’s not that individualistic style of play […] it’s what can I do to help my team win and I think that’s a huge advantage.”

The Martlets showed this willingness to sacrifice for the good of the team in both of its games over the weekend. Against Concordia, the team was down 20-12 in the first quarter before battling back and winning the three quarters that followed. Against Laval, the Martlets found themselves down at the end of the first half. The Rouge et Or, who blew out the UQAM Citadins  67-48 to get to the final, proved to be a worthy opponent and forced the hosts to dig deep.

When the Martlets had their back against the wall, they turned to Sylla. As she has done throughout her career, the senior guided the team to victory, scoring 10 of her 22 points in a pivotal third quarter. Although Sylla is nearing the end of her career, the journey is far from over. 

“It was a really emotional game, especially at the end, because it was probably my last game at McGill,” Sylla said. “At the start I think we didn’t have the start we wanted because we were stressed and our shots weren’t falling, but we kept fighting. I’m really, really proud of my team and I’m really lucky to be a part of this group [….] Right now, we’re just going for that National [Championship] we didn’t get last year, that’s the goal now.”

Click here to read our coverage of the Redmen RSEQ Championship game.

a, Basketball, Men's Varsity, Sports

Basketball: Redmen rule, Dufort leaves Love Competition Hall on top

by Zikomo Smith on

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On Saturday, the sold-out Love Competition Hall screamed “MVP” for senior guard Vincent Dufort, Redmen basketball Head Coach David DeAveiro received an ice-bucket shower, and the Redmen squad converged together, hugging and hollering, in the middle of the court after the final whistle.

McGill had just claimed its third RSEQ title in four years, and earned a spot at the CIS National Championships. Dufort starred with 21 points and 8 rebounds, as McGill overcame a persistent UQÁM side 78-67.

The joy after the buzzer reflected the hard work of one of Canada’s most highly-touted teams.

“It feels amazing,” Dufort, who played his final game at Love Competition Hall with the Redmen, said. “It’s just an amazing bunch of guys and it’s so awesome to be able to win it for them and for Coach [DeAveiro] who does so much for our team, and it is awesome to leave on a good note for him.”

McGill started slowly, conceding an 18-13 deficit in the first quarter; UQÁM’s excellent outside, midrange, and free throw shooting proved a threat for the entire game.

“I think that we have a group that when we play well, when we share the ball and we make the extra pass […] we are as good an offensive team as anyone,” Head Coach Nate Philippe of the UQÁM Citadins explained. “We definitely made a lot of progress throughout the year and I am very proud of our group.”

McGill performed effectively against UQÁM guards Kewyn Blain, Greishe Clerjuste, and Rubens Poteau. The trio hit some key shots throughout the game and made 11 of their 12 free throws; however, McGill ultimately held them to a combined 15 of 43 shooting. Clerjust, who had 24 points in the semifinals against Concordia, only made 4 of 14 shots.

“We were trying to keep him to his weak hand–his right hand–most of the time and be in his face because he is a very good catch and shoot [player].” DeAveiro explained. “We wanted to put more pressure on him and close the areas down.”

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After the first quarter, McGill stormed ahead, playing aggressive basketball and hitting key shots. Dufort led the way with strong drives to the basket, and excellent rebounding against UQÁM’s tall front line. Junior guard Dele Ogundokun and junior point forward Jenning Leung shot with authority from the three–point line to hit a combined six treys. Junior guard Michael Peterkin played with energy off the bench, hauling in nine rebounds. UQÁM held its own until the final quarter, where the visitors were worn down by McGill’s all-round, tenacious effort.

“[Confident], I think that’s what we have been all year,” DeAveiro said. “Our biggest strength has been our fourth quarter. I think we have won almost every fourth quarter we have played this year. For us, it is about imposing our will on our opponents, and sticking to our plan.”

McGill displayed their versatility over the Final 4 weekend: The Redmen overcame a stretch of poor shooting in the semifinals to race away from Laval in the second half. A number of players stepped up their games on the offensive end when the Redmen were most in need, in particular Dufort, Leung, and sophomore centre Noah Daoust. On defence, McGill was disciplined and overwhelming, with Peterkin and sophomore forward François Bourque effective on the offensive glass, as well as Ogundokun running past screens to defend on the perimeter.

McGill enters nationals as one of the most feared defensive teams in the country. The 2015-2016 season has been a vindication of one of the best McGill squads in recent history; they started strongly, overcame a post-Christmas shooting slump to win seven of their last eight RSEQ games, and now have a pennant to cap it off.  McGill hopes to display its savvy and talent in the CIS Championships.

“It’s going to take an entire team effort,” Dufort said. “I think we have the talent to do it. If everyone comes together, we play hard on defence and we trust each other, I think we can come home with [the CIS Championship].”

Click here to read our coverage of the Martlet RSEQ Championship game.

a, Letters to the Editor, Opinion

Letter to the editor: Indigenous students at McGill: Alive and well

by Leslie Anne St. Amour on

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Watching the Students’ Society of McGill University (SSMU) Winter General Assembly (GA) livestream as an Indigenous student was painful. Indigenous peoples' needs were brought out to support motions that had no active endorsement by Indigenous students. Our fights and struggles were discussed as a way to make issues relevant or motions were brought out by non-Indigenous people seeking to support Indigenous peoples without having spoken to Indigenous students that are represented by SSMU. I'm not here to say whether the Motion Regarding Support for the BDS Movement or the Motion Regarding the Kahtihon’tia:kwenio were wrong, but that it was painful watching the disregard for Indigenous students at McGill by groups claiming to be anti-oppressive.

In the time leading up to the GA, I had seen the Motion Regarding an Increase in Indigenous Content at McGill used as a method to make the Motion Regarding Support for the BDS Movement relevant to students. I received an email sent to the entirety of one of my Indigenous Studies classes using the motion as a segue into paragraphs describing the need for the Motion Regarding Support for the BDS Movement to pass, with only a link given to the motion relevant to the course. I felt used. An issue that affects me on a daily basis was used as a method to raise awareness for a separate, highly controversial motion. On another occasion, a student came to make an announcement in a political science class focusing on Aboriginal politics. After thoroughly describing the Motion Regarding Support for the BDS Movement, the student took about 30 seconds to mention the Motion Regarding an Increase in Indigenous Content at McGill and made a comment to the effect of “I hope you will see the similarities and therefore vote ‘Yes’ for BDS.”

The Motion Regarding the Kahtihon’tia:kwenio was presented without regard to the differing opinions of Indigenous students or thoughts as to how such a motion could impact them. McGill has students from the same community as the women title holders, and they were neither consulted nor made aware of the motion. The movers of the motion were warned of controversy and chose to not consult. A motion such as this can have impacts on how Indigenous students are perceived on campus and for some in their home communities.

These choices impact Indigenous students. We struggle for visibility on a campus with only 230 undergraduate students identifying as Indigenous (for reference, 23,140 undergraduate students enrolled in Fall 2015). To have our needs spoken for by others or used as justification for other motions adds to this invisibility. We are here and we can speak for ourselves. Allyship is standing behind, not in front, of those you are in solidarity with. When others speak on our behalf or speak of us without inviting us into the discussion, it perpetuates the idea that we are not here. But we are.

a, Basketball, Men's Varsity, Sports

Basketball: Daoust dominates, McGill Redmen move to RSEQ finals

by Zikomo Smith on

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A record-setting 1,204-person crowd saw sophomore centre Noah Daoust spearhead McGill’s 76-69 victory over Laval in the semi-finals of the RSEQ Final Four. Redmen Head Coach DeAveiro strongly emphasized the raucous atmosphere and the talent on display.

“This is the way it should be on campus I think.” DeAveiro said. “The energy in this building is unbelievable—your work has to be done on practice, because when they are on the floor they cannot hear you [due to the noise]. You have great teams in this province, great players in this league. Unfortunately you have to wait for the playoffs to have crowds like this.”

The best and the worst of the Redmen were on display in the first half; they struggled to make shots and protect the paint.

“We had a great start, and then had a bump in the road, where [we did not shoot well],” DeAveiro said. ‘[…] Early we had breakdowns [….]we forgot to switch. We wanted to protect the paint a little bit more, but they got open layups.”

Indeed, McGill only shot 28 per cent from the field in the first half, although tenacious offensive rebounding from junior guard Dele Ogundokun, junior forward Francois Bourque and junior guard Michael Peterkin helped to hold Laval to a 29-27 lead. Rouge et Or guard Alexandre Leclerc was particularly difficult to guard when he was dribbling past screens. He finished with 19 points and went 5-13 from the three-point line.

Laval started to pull away in the third quarter. Then, Daoust stepped up. He devastated the Laval defence by screening and keeping the opposition off-balance with clever cuts and rolls into space.

“ I tried [rolling to the basket] in the first half,” Daoust explained. “But they changed up the ball screen defence, so I would keep popping out […] to catch them off guard, and it kept leaving me open.”

Daoust shot 5-6 from the three point line and finished with 19 points. He also acted as a spy in the paint for the McGill defence, which was far more effective at cutting off baseline drives to the basket in the third and fourth quarters.

“I feel confident coming from the weak side and helping,” Daoust explained. “The guy I was guarding was not really a shooter so I could spy in the key a lot.”

In the fourth quarter, McGill blew past Laval—their passing was calm and precise, and helped initiate many transition points. The shooting was lights out. MCGill will be buoyed going into the RSEQ final against UQAM for the RSEQ on Saturday at 7 p.m., where they will also be playing for a berth in the CIS National Championship

Stat of the Game

McGill shot 53 per cent from the field in the second half, in comparison with 28 per cent in the first half.

Quotable

“He gave us a lift when we needed it […] we needed one guy to get going and the rest of our guys could feed off his confidence and get going.”-  DeAveiro on Daoust’s inspiring performance

Play of the game

Midday through the fourth quarter, Daoust, acting as a spy in the paint, came from the weak side to athletically swat away a Laval player’s attempt on the basket.

a, Opinion

Settling the score between the Milton and Roddick gates

by Jackie Houston on

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Among the various forums for discussion in the McGill community, there is no arena more heated than the McGill Reddit feed. In this warzone of unfiltered debate, the best and brightest minds of the anonymous internet community go head-to-head to tackle the campus’ most pressing issues. With the bake sale versus samosa case now at a stalemate, the Reddit panel has honed its crosshairs on its next pressing question—which is better: The Milton or Roddick gates?

Complex and deeply divisive, this debate could very well be referred to as McGill’s Watergate. As the stately face of every promotional photo of campus, the Roddick gates reflect our school’s official image and frame the Arts Building. But if they are the face of McGill, then the Milton gates—undervalued yet reliable, underrated yet essential—must be its heart.

Aesthetically, the Roddick gates are striking. Apart from being the stuff of Facebook cover photo fantasy, the view of the Y-intersection and the Arts Building that Roddick offers is nothing less than iconic. The view as one exits campus, however, is a different story. Welcome to the grey, urban wasteland that is Rue Sherbrooke—the border between sheltered academia and the real world, the original “Boulevard of Broken Dreams.”

By contrast, the Milton gates’ scenery is twofold. Arriving to campus, one is greeted with the intersection of the steps leading to the top of the Y—ideal for tanning in the summer and uphill traction in the winter—and McConnell Engineering, McGill’s Sexiest Building Alive. And after a long day of studying or crying quietly in the library, Milton gates is the portal to the quaint, residential comforts of the McGill ghetto. Whether home means the cramped walk-up you share with five other people or the comfort of a Lola Rosa burrito, the Milton gates will take you there.

The Milton gates are more than just a campus entry point, though—they’re a source of community. What is solidarity, if not standing shoulder-to-shoulder with fifteen other strangers waiting to cross Rue University; what is a hero, if not the brave soul who finally risks it all and leads the collective j-walk? This campus watering hole isn’t restricted to just pedestrians—the Milton bike racks serve as a daily meeting point for the unofficial union of McGill cyclists. And as any Management student can confirm, the Milton gates boast a thriving economy. Its chief exports include secondhand clothing exchange, reused textbooks, and tickets to that Management Undergraduate Society (MUS) concert that everyone is apparently going to.

A solitary realm, the Roddick gates’ chief export is loneliness.

More than nice views or a robust civil society, however, what truly defines the Milton gates is their authenticity. The Roddick gates are where we all stood on our first McGill campus tour, clutching a welcome package and a dream while a stranger tried to explain what a martlet is. They are the gates of prospective students, visiting family members, and Uber drivers. The Milton gates are the proverbial backdoor to McGill. You didn’t know what or where they were until you actually got here—now you can’t imagine miserably half-jogging to your 8:30 a.m. lecture anywhere else. The Roddick gates may be the formal entrance to campus, but the Milton gates are the entrance of the people.

Bernie Sanders, Killer Mike, and Lil B
a, Letters to the Editor, Opinion

Letter to the editor: Bernie Sanders’ campaign especially culpable in social media misinformation

by Koji Shiromoto on

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In February, Jenna Stanwood argued in her piece, “Social media normalizes misinformation in US presidential primaries,” that users of social media have become swept away with catchy slogans and misleading information, to the detriment of good decision-making, and that this trend is a worrying sign for democracy. All of these points I absolutely agree with—but the piece seems to establish a sort of equivalence in culpability between the Clinton and Sanders campaigns that I don’t think is necessary true. Throughout the Democratic primary, one candidate consistently relies on absurdly simplistic soundbites more than the other. That candidate is Bernie Sanders.

For example, take his plans to spend approximately $20 trillion over the next 10 years. There would be “Medicare for All,” tuition-free college at public institutions, and infrastructure to “Rebuild America.” Everyone would reap all the benefits but bear few of the costs, as Sanders would finally make the wealthy “pay their fair share.” All excellent ideas that would help create the world that progressives (and probably others) want to see. But, according to the Sanders campaign’s logic, if we haven’t done this before—even in times Democrats held majorities in Congress or state legislatures—clearly there must have been rampant corruption and ties to Wall Street.

Well, perhaps. Corruption might be part of the reason for why these policies do not exist, but another aspect is that the policies themselves would be difficult to implement, even with bipartisan support. In Denmark, a country that Sanders has on numerous occasions held up as a model, everyone pays at least a 25 per cent sales tax (VAT, to be precise) on everything. Vermont, Sanders’ home state, tried to adopt a health care system along the lines of “Medicare-for-All” but scrapped it because the necessary taxes were higher than anticipated. That Sanders promises a panacea that nowhere else has managed to achieve should feel instinctively off—and indeed, a study has already come out showing that Sanders’ healthcare plan (which accounts for a majority of costs) would blow a $1 trillion hole into the budget annually. For context, the annual budget is around $4 trillion a year.

His own team seems to have a somewhat cavalier attitude about numerical accuracy, considering it forecasted greater savings on prescription medications than we actually spend on them (which is impossible) and $160 billion annually in savings just from plastic surgery. It’s since revised the first figure to an actually possible number, though how they’d gotten it so wrong they never explained; instead, to skeptics of his math, his campaign director responded with another soundbite: “They’ve picked sides with Hillary Clinton.” Regardless of whether you think these radically more progressive values are worth fighting for—I think they are—the slogan-heavy, detail-light manner in which he’s promising to fight for them should be concerning.

A similar narrative of “feel-good” proposals that are arithmetically unworkable emerges from his promises on criminal justice. Sanders repeatedly promises that “at the end of [his] first term, we will not have more people in jail than any other country.” This would be impossible, for the simple reason that there are more prisoners in state prisons and county jails, which no President has any control over, than there are prisoners in China (the country with the second-most prisoners). He has framed his proposal for a national $15 minimum wage as necessary to keep workers out of poverty. While such a policy would benefit cities with higher prevailing wages and costs of living, its possible effects on lower-cost areas are far less certain. In both these areas, Sanders refuses to engage with the details and nuances of policy making, instead contenting himself with simple, emotive narratives that seem hard to oppose.

With substantial momentum in the primaries in, Sanders should clearly be treated not as a protest movement. Instead, he should be viewed as a candidate with serious aspirations of defeating Hillary Clinton and winning the general election; however, the myriad gaping arithmetic holes in his policies mean that they’d have to be watered down, or, like Vermont’s healthcare, abandoned altogether. The end result would be an electorate disillusioned by the progressive project.

Stanwood is absolutely right that we can’t let ourselves be “swayed by catchy information on the internet.” By this measure, Sanders, whose campaign revolves around catchy information, requires the most scrutiny.

a, Opinion

Truth and reconciliation beyond negotiations

by Albert Park on

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Throughout the many changes and evolutions in Canada’s history, there is one issue that has always plagued the nation: The inability to meet the needs and demands of Aboriginal peoples; however, recently, after many years of negotiations and struggles, three Innu nations are on the verge of reaching a historic land settlement agreement with the federal and Quebec government.

In retrospect, this welcome news has come with impeccable timing. Last summer, the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) released a report on Canadian Aboriginal residential schools, which prompted Canadians to rethink their country’s treatment of Aboriginal peoples, and recommended several changes that the Canadian government should implement to make amends with the Aboriginal population.

Although none of the proposed suggestions were directly about land claims, it is unmistakable that this recent agreement between the nations and the government is a step towards making amends by recognizing the sovereign rights of the Aboriginal peoples, which was the overarching aim of the TRC recommendations. But in order for further reconciliation to be achieved, non-aboriginal Canadians must make a greater effort to interact and communicate with Aboriginal members of their community in order to build a mutual relationship. This will pave the way for further political actions to correct historical inequality and bridge the gap between governmental policies and the tangible reality of friendship between non-Aboriginal and Aboriginal people in Canadian society.

Reconciliation with Aboriginal peoples has a deeper meaning than compensations and land settlement agreements. It requires the nation to respect the ideas and opinions of Aboriginal  people and realize their vital role in Canadian society. In part, this calls for increased educational content about Aboriginal peoples in Canada in school curriculums, which was among the TRC’s recommendations under “Education for Reconciliation.” However, a government-introduced curriculum is only a small facet of this objective; it is also imperative that there is increased direct communication between non-aboriginal and Aboriginal communities in order to facilitate a personal understanding of the needs and values of Aboriginal peoples of Canada.

The importance of community relations in aiding political agreements can be seen in the land settlement issue. Marc Chaloup, who represents the Essipit Innu, explained that protests from local communities were a large barrier to reaching an agreement on the treaty.

“We’ve had people protest in neighbouring communities — they took to the streets and yelled, ‘No treaties for the Innu,’” Chaloup said. “They carried signs that said, ‘No to the treaty.’ They lobbied the government. It was rough.”

a, Letters to the Editor, Opinion

Letter: Motion Regarding Support for the Kahtihon’tia:kwenio at the SSMU GA

by Ashley Dawn Louise Bach on

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On the motion regarding support of the Kahtihon’tia:kwenio

Indigenous students at McGill University suffer from underrepresentation and, consequently, misrepresentation. Stereotypes, prejudice, and systemic racism are just the beginning of complex Indigenous relations at McGill. With only 230 Indigenous students attending the university, consultation with Indigenous students is simply overlooked. As coordinator of the Indigenous Student Alliance (ISA), I am obliged to change that. The Motion Regarding Support of the Kahtihon’tia:kwenio has forced me to publicly address the lack of Indigenous student consultation and the ramifications of these actions.

The motion is certainly complex. Some resolutions in the motion, for example, requiring the Students’ Society of McGill University (SSMU) to lobby McGill’s administration to listen to Indigenous voices, hint at similar goals that Indigenous groups on campus have been working towards for years. But the motion, which was described as being created with “extensive consultation with Indigenous women,” never asked for the ISA’s input or the input of the Indigenous Education Advisor or the First Peoples’ House. SSMU’s Indigenous Affairs Coordinator had advised the motion movers to consult Indigenous students first. They declined to.

Indigenous peoples are not homogenous; we are politically pluralistic and represent a diversity of perspectives. For example, in Fall 2015, a handful of student groups hosted events with Kahentinetha Horn. Some members of the ISA felt it was necessary to ask these groups to invite additional Indigenous speakers because Kahentinetha Horn is a radical Indigenous speaker who often claims to represent all Indigenous peoples. The student groups simply did not know Kahentinetha Horn’s history and did not think to ask Indigenous students on campus if it was appropriate to invite her.

Kahentinetha Horn is a driving force behind the development of the motion and is the author of the notice of seizure sent to McGill in September. The motion movers referenced the notice as an important reason for their motion; however, Kahentinetha Horn has produced controversial works previously, without the support of the Longhouse of Kahnawake, and her notice of eviction was no exception. In my own experience, the eviction notice raised concern amongst uninformed students who saw the notice as a legal threat from hostile natives. Of course the intention of the notice was to give the air of legal significance, but being issued by just one community member of the Mohawk Nation does not actually give it any weight. Had the motion movers consulted the ISA or First Peoples’ House, Indigenous students would have been able to explain these nuances non-community members might overlook. Consultation with the community would be even better, and ISA could have pointed them in the right direction.

The motion’s resolutions also contained troubling points of action. The Kahtihon’tia:kwenio are not, to my knowledge, students at McGill, and yet the resolution asks SSMU to “support [them]… through methods including, but not limited to: Education, publicity, funds, and material support.” The resolutions include no mention of consultation with Indigenous students, Indigenous services on campus, and, most importantly, the communities the Kahtihon’tia:kwenio are from. The motion movers explained they were told it was “not their place to consult with [the women’s] community,” which may be true, but is also rather suspicious given that Kahentinetha Horn has not received much community support on this issue and Six Nations has been pursuing litigation against the federal government on the loan repayment for quite some time.

In sum, this motion was made without consultation with Indigenous students and relies upon a controversial Indigenous figure’s statements, which are not backed by her community. Its resolutions bring up important points on hearing Indigenous voices but the motion movers excluded most of those voices in the first place. Had Indigenous students and administrators in the university been approached before the motion was made, we would have had a chance to explain the controversy behind the notice of eviction and make the motion more appropriate. After the motion was postponed, I had a chance to talk with the motion movers, and we agreed to discuss and work together on the motion and similar motions in the future. I hope this situation serves as a learning point for the university and will encourage future consultation with Indigenous students on Indigenous issues.

 

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