Latest News

a, McGill, Montreal, News

Fight for Fifteen panel criticizes casualization of McGill employees

by Regina Wung on

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As part of the In the Streets & In the Courts—a radical law forum organized by student associations in the Faculty of Law—the Fight for Fifteen panel opened a discussion about raising the minimum wage to $15 an hour by 2018, and improving worker benefits. Panellists Molly Swain, president of the Association of McGill University Support Employees (AMUSE), and Mostafa Henaway, community organizer with the Immigrant Workers Centre in Montreal, addressed the issues that affect casual workers within McGill. Casual workers are employees with irregular and unguaranteed schedules, earning hourly wages without the benefits that workers with permanent positions enjoy. 

“Over the past five [or] more years, [we’ve seen] a wave of casualization on campus,” Henaway said. “McGill is taking permanent jobs that are well-paid, very secure, [and] under union protection, and they’re […] breaking them up into casual jobs [.…] People doing the exact same work, on often a part-time basis, will be making literally less than half of the salary that their permanent counterpart was making.” 

Swain went on to state AMUSE’s objective and reasoning in spear-heading the Fight for Fifteen campaign, launched by a coalition of McGill labour unions, student organizations and faculty assocations.

“We want to make it less affordable for McGill to hire casual workers,” Swain said. “We don’t think any work that happens on campus, or anywhere, really, is casual work, and we think that everybody deserves to have the same treatment and access to the same resources.” 

 The Fifteen and Fair campaign aims to raise wages for McGill’s casual workers.

“We’re asking for a $15 minimum for academic work,” said Swain. “We’re asking for benefits for all workers, including […] healthcare, parental leave, as well as access to the Employment Assistance Program […] We’re also asking for library access with a McGill ID card for all employees, tuition discounts for everyone working on campus including students, and also subsidized transportation costs—particularly for people over the age of 26,”

Henaway turned the focus of the discussion to the precarity, or lack of job and wage security, that looms over foreign workers at the Immigrant Workers Centre and in Canada in general.

“The Fight for Fifteen [campaign] is really critical for us because in an age of neoliberalism, precarity has become the norm,” Henaway said. “To fill that need of cheap labour, migration and immigration and immigrant workers have sort of become the pillars of precarity in Quebec and the global north in general.”

Henaway further emphasized the critical role that foreign workers play in society as well as in large corporations’ success.

“If you […] look at where these precarious workers are, they actually hold immense strength in our society,” Henaway said. “They […] work as a key of not just the economy in Montreal, but of the global economy; they make things move for the Wal-Marts, the Dollaramas, the Sears.”

Swain and Henaway concluded the panel by answering questions and encouraging the audience to join the Fight for Fifteen movement. One student who attended, Gabe Hoogers, L2 Law, commended the panel and the speakers’ work.

“There were two very important perspectives from organizers,” Hoogers said. “[Swain] is organizing directly at McGill, organizing the workers who are in a worse position than any university workers […] in Montreal. [Henaway] is organizing foreign and temporary workers, people who are in serious situations of precarity. I think that they both provided different, important perspectives on how to get people who are working in precarious situations to work together for that movement.”

a, Off the Board, Opinion

A plea to Americans at McGill: Your vote counts, too

by Aislinn Kalob on

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The New Hampshire first-in-the-nation primary on Feb. 9 kicks off a long election season with many opportunities to cast a ballot on a national, state, and local level; however, engaging in one’s civic duty may seem like a daunting task when living abroad. Each one of the 2,276 students of American citizenship currently enrolled at McGill University is eligible to vote despite studying in Canada, but the process by which to do so is by no means intuitive. If an American citizen is planning on participating at all in this election cycle, now is the time to register to vote and request absentee ballots.

The participation of absentee voters is essential to the democratic process. The 18-24 age bracket is notorious for contributing to the lowest voter turnout of all. In 2012, only 38 per cent of those who were eligible actually voted. It is the responsibility of young voters, even those far from home, to stay engaged with issues that matter: The 2016 presidential election must not follow this trend.

By registering as an absentee now, one’s status will be documented for any upcoming election. The key to understanding the process is knowing the resources available within a given period prior to an election. The primaries and caucuses will decide the nominee for the Democratic and Republican parties by the end of July. Depending on when your home state holds its primary, the deadline to register may have already passed, or is otherwise quickly approaching. You only needs to register once, but it is required before being able to vote. So, request an absentee voter registration form as soon as possible to ensure less future stress, and to start receiving your ballots.

 

 

On McGill’s campus, Democrats Abroad at McGill not only assists students looking for answers about absentee ballots, but also hosts events related to politics, such as streaming the debates of both parties.

The process is made significantly easier with the help of online resources available at the click of a button, providing no excuse not to approach absentee voting. The Federal Voter Assistance Program (FVAP) and Votefromabroad.org offer any form needed to register and request an absentee ballot. Filling out and mailing a Federal Post Card Application, a form standard for every state and available on FVAP.gov, both registers and allows us to automatically receive a ballot for every upcoming federal election. Votefromabroad.org offers the same service, but with state and local election ballots included. Information on every state’s deadlines and election dates can be found on the Vote from Abroad website by selecting from a drop-down menu. Once the ballot has been filled out, one can download a free, postage-paid envelope from FVAP.gov, and either take it to the nearest Canada Post or drop it off at the US consulate in Montreal. Consulates and embassies around the world offer this absentee ballot mailing service, and can also provide in-person assistance with the process—just one more way voting from abroad is made easy.

Remaining engaged in domestic politics from abroad is easier than one would anticipate. Groups like Democrats Abroad and Republicans Overseas exist in chapters all over the world for the purpose of connecting Americans to their political organizations, thereby reducing the obstacles to being an informed constituent. On McGill’s campus, Democrats Abroad at McGill not only assists students looking for answers about absentee ballots, but also hosts events related to politics, such as streaming the debates of both parties. In the 2012 cycle, alternative voting—mainly absentee and early voting—comprised 32.7 per cent of all ballots cast.

Though some American students may have just started at McGill, and so will not be in the country for the next president’s first term, they have the opportunity to impact the results of other levels of government. Individual state and local elections are just as important as presidential races—if not more so. These generally happen in the early fall. While it often feels that voting in a non-swing state is a pointless and wasted act, this is simply not the case when considering the numerous other elected officials democratically selected in your state. Furthermore, if voting in one of the 26 states that allow for ballot initiatives or referenda, who have the unique opportunity to participate in directly voting on legislation.

All American students abroad have a stake in the upcoming presidential election—especially if they are considering returning to live and work after graduation. Given the ease of registering to vote, there is simply no excuse for failing to do so.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Aislinn is in her final year at McGill and is a news editor at the McGill Tribune.

 

@McGillTribOp | [email protected]

 

 

 

 

 
Rihanna ANTI
a, Arts & Entertainment, Music

Staff roundup: Rihanna’s ANTI

by Morgan Alexander, April Barrett, Christopher Lutes, Luka Ciklovan, Evelyn Goessling, and Eric Noble-Marks on

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In light of Rihanna's latest album, ANTI, and genre trasition that came with it, the Arts and Entertainment staff at the McGill Tribune got together to write up their initial thoughts on Rih-Rih's latest project.

Is ANTI a good album? Sure it is. It’s simple and stripped down, allowing for a cohesive but emotive performance that follows through with Rihanna’s title claim: This album is anti-everything else she’s made. It has its low points of course: “Love on the Brain” sounds like it was pulled straight out of your first middle school dance and “Work”—despite the fact that it’s the clear single pick—was a waste of a Drake feature. The stand-out track has to be “Desperado,” a slow, romance track with a traditional Rihanna edge that makes it come out feeling like a smooth club hit. But what ANTI is lacking is the bangers that make Rihanna who she is and that best display her vocal prowess. I wanted the album that “FourFiveSeconds”, “BBHMM”, and “American Oxygen” alluded too, or at the very least some more songs like “Stay,” which was the perfect mix of slowly emotional while still displaying a strong vocal performance. Instead we received an album that, if made by anybody else, would never have gone platinum, if it even made the Billboard Top 100. Without Rihanna’s name on it, ANTI is just another experimental pop album, and not a very memorable one at that.

—Morgan Alexander, Managing Editor

ANTI is Rihanna’s eighth studio album and a conscious, confident stride away from her harmless EDM-pop past. Since 2015’s brassily sung and coolly aggressive single “Bitch Better Have My Money,” Rihanna seems to be growing stronger and stronger with the power of not giving a fuck. Fortunately, this attitude translates into ANTI as a genre-bending sonic maturity. “Love on the Brain” and “Higher” show an affection for gushy classic soul. Then there are the hip-hop tracks like “Yeah, I Said It” and “Needed Me,” which show Rih at her most biting, as she drops lines like “didn’t they tell you I was a savage?” chill as hell over ominous Travis Scott-like beats. In “Work,” a dancehall inspired Drake duet, Rihanna is hard and to the point as she shout-sings in patois for her guy to, “Nuh bother text me in a crisis.” Drake then coos about how much he loves her, due to her work ethic, presumably. Perhaps the most compelling song is “James Joint,” a jazzy cool down from ANTI’s more aggressive moments. “James Joint” is reflective; Rihanna, full of curiosity and admiration, questions her lover: “How you live and love like, ‘F-ck rules?’” Her recent voice has been raspy, snarling and remarkably sensitive at the same time; ANTI demonstrates a new kind of rawness we can only hope takes off in popular music.

—April Barrett, Arts and Entertainment Editor

For most of my life, I’ve considered myself a Rihanna agnostic. Aside from her work with Kanye West and her fantastic video for “Bitch Better Have My Money,” her music has largely remained pleasantly catchy background noise, with songs like “Diamonds” and “Cheers (Drink to That)” intermittently bubbling up into my mind. So listening to her new album ANTI is by far the most Rihanna I’ve gotten in a single sitting, and I was surprised to find how fantastic and formally inventive the album is. She runs the gamut of genres across the album, starting heavy and hazy with “Consideration,” and then spends the rest of it gradually winding down into more soulful, ballad-y sounds–the pulsating drums and breathy vocals of “Love on the Brain” harken back to motown gospel in the best way possible. Despite this, it never feels like Rihanna runs out of energy. The 16 songs, written by Rihanna and literally 49 other people, make the wise move of not overstaying their welcome, resulting in an album that’s both densely focused and relatively huge in scope.

—Christopher Lutes, Arts and Entertainment Editor

After months of ‘ANTI-cipation’ Rihanna’s latest endeavor, ANTI, sets her up as more of a darker force amidst the pop culture landscape. While the album does have some forgettable tracks that blur together, there are a number of tracks, notably “James Joint," that expand the time tested R&B formula by adding unique melodies and instrumentation into the mix. Throw in the extensive amount of collaboration imbued into the album, from the SZA and Drake vocal features to the production work of Timbaland, and the result is an album that’s sure to resonate.

—Luka Ciklovan, Staff Writer

ANTI is like nothing Rihanna has ever released before, but even so the record feels like the perfect embodiment of Rihanna’s spirit: Sultry, cool, and ultra-confident. With impeccable vocals and stripped-down instrumentation “Consideration” is an enticing introduction, and the following songs “James Joint” and “Kiss it Better” are no disappointment. Overall ANTI presents a series of love songs to weed and sex, appropriate for late night smoke sessions or the quiet hours after everyone else has drifted out of a house party. This album could have been the soundtrack to many nights of my past and probably will be in the future: late night drives home from parties and dates and friends’ houses. Each track on ANTI tends to waver somewhere between romantic, sad, and sexy, although often Rihanna’s vocals (which have seriously never been better) embody all three. Many tracks blend jazz undertones with new-wave-y instruments, reggae, and Motown in a surprising turn away from Rihanna’s usual hit-machine repertoire. Plus, according to a friend, “Kiss it Better” is “the perfect song for Tindering because it’s the perfect rhythm. I’m literally swiping left to the beat of this song, and I love it.” I love it, too.

—Evelyn Goessling, Staff Writer

After a year of spotty singles, Rihanna is back with her most interesting album yet. Finally free from the clutches of Def Jam’s hitmaking goliath, Rihanna has only herself to answer to now. The results are scattershot, but intriguing nonetheless. “James Joint” and “Higher” are winning forays into traditional soul, while “Yeah I Said It” is a sultry and satisfying trip-hop slow jam. That being said, the record’s certainly far from perfect. “Never Ending” and “Close to You” are dreadfully bland ballads and “Same Ol’ Mistakes” doesn’t really add anything to what is already a great Tame Impala song. Nevertheless, this record was a pleasant surprise for me. If Rihanna can build on this, her next project will be special.

—Eric Noble-Marks, Staff Writer

Bernie Sanders, Killer Mike, and Lil B
a, Arts & Entertainment, Music

When rappers feel the Bern: The impact Killer Mike and Lil B can have on Bernie Sanders’ campaign

by Ian Rodgers on

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Brandon "Lil B" McCarthey, AKA The Based God is a mysterious figure. His online persona is something that should not have worked: He obviously and aggressively tried to make himself go viral by creating numerous Myspace pages and Twitter accounts. Michael “Killer Mike” Render gained his fame by more conventional means, first garnering recognition as a feature on an Outkast record, then on his own terms more recently as part of the dynamic duo Run the Jewels. Both of these figures have been actively voicing their support for Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders’ Democratic primary run.

Although he was a relative unknown outside of Vermont, Sanders has become the main competition to the presumed favourite of the Democratic primary, Hillary Clinton. Sanders has been criticized for his perceived lack of appeal to black voters while his defenders have instead been mainly focused on his lack of visibility.

As such Killer Mike and Lil B's endorsements of Sanders stand to be significant both culturally and politically. Killer Mike is an easier figure to understand. He comes from an activist background, and questions authority and government frequently and poignantly in his music. In this way, it’s not surprising for him to be supporting a candidate who is positioned as outside of the establishment—hopes Sanders won’t be controlled by “the man behind, the man behind, the man behind the throne.” Mike has spoken publicly about the connection he sees between the democratic socialist ideals Bernie espouses and traditional values of the black christian community. Killer Mike has become active on the campaign trail: He conducted a six-part interview series in a traditional black barbershop with Sanders and has even given interviews in the 'Spin Room' after debates.

With Lil B, it is more difficult to know where he stands. He initially supported Clinton, but dropped this support and moved towards Sanders in the summer of 2015. Lil B has up to this point seemed like a relatively apolitical figure, a kind of living meme. Because of the nature of his music, which is delivered from a stream of consciousness, it is difficult to find a consistent message in his music. He supported Hillary’s presidency earlier, but within a song titled “Bitch I’m Bill Clinton.” The defining feature of Lil B is his completely earnest persona. He seems to speak directly from the heart both in his interviews and in his music, but it gets lost among the enormous amount of material that his persona generates.

All this said, Lil B currently has 1.22 million followers on Twitter, many of whom actively engage with him and seem inspired by his positivity while Killer Mike has 193,000 followers. Thus, Mike’s more lucid, consistent position can have difficulty making the same impact as Lil B’s embrace of Sanders. At the very least, Lil B's tweets on the issue have sent the name out to people in America who could then be led to looking up Sanders, which could help him reach minority voters who don’t know his name.

The Iowa caucus is a dead heat, but Iowa is a state with a mostly white population, and Bernie’s success could ride on the upcoming South Carolina primary, where there are many more voters of colour. The race has been a bitter one to this point, with clashes from the highest level of campaigns down to individual supporters on Twitter. The nature of the modern fragmented world of politics means that people get their information in radically different ways, and social media and cultural figures undoubtedly are a part of that. From this point on, all that's left to do is watch and pray to the Based God.

track
a, Martlets, Men's Varsity, Sports

McGill Team Challenge sees record breaking performances

by Nicholas Jasinski on

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Dalhousie University went home with both the men’s and women’s titles at the 21st McGill Team Challenge, the largest indoor track and field meet in Canada. About 600 athletes from 15 universities competed on Friday and Saturday at Richard Tomlinson Fieldhouse with the Redmen placing fourth and the Martlets finishing third overall. The Dalhousie Tigers’ pair of wins are the first men’s title for the university and the second for the women’s team, who last won in 2005. Dalhousie’s men’s and women’s teams each earned 13 medals.

Overall, McGill collected three gold, three silver, and six bronze medals between the Redmen and Martlets. This marks a significant improvement over last year’s McGill Team Challenge, when the Redmen finished sixth and the Martlets came in ninth overall. Fourth-year Assistant Coach Jim McDannald was proud of the way his teams ran in front of a home crowd.

“I thought they all performed well,” he said. “It definitely helps when you have better teams coming in and being at home. People want to perform well in front of friends and family. Hosting this meet in Montreal gets athletes excited to go out there and have high quality performances.”

The best McGill performance came from senior Helena Reinfels in the women’s pentathlon. Her gold medal-winning effort for 3,777 points beat both the meet and McGill records of 3,767 and 3,515 respectively. The Puslinch, Ontario-native also qualified for the 2016 CIS National Championship at York University in March, the only competitor from McGill to do so.

“[Reinfels’] high jump is something that she’s been working really hard on,” McDannald said. “That came through for her this weekend and led to a big score and hopefully she continues to progress through the season and have the chance to end up on the podium at CIS [championships] and have a similar performance.”

Other strong performers from McGill included junior Francois Jarry, who set a McGill record in the 3000m with a time of 8:18.79, and senior Vincent Parent-Pichette, whose 2:25.51 1000m time set yet another McGill record. Jarry’s record replaces a previously set record of 8:22.00 by Francois Binette in 1990 and also earned him a silver medal in the event.

Besides Reinfels’ stunning performance in the pentathlon, McGill won gold medals in the men’s 4x800m relay and the men’s pole vault. The Redmen team was composed of junior Cody Rountree running first leg; followed by juniors Ethan Wilkinson and Benjamin Forestell; and finally Parent-Pichette in the anchor leg. The team ran 7:43.05, less than five seconds away from qualifying for Nationals and just short of the school record of 7:41.90. Senior Riley van Ryswyk of Surrey, British Columbia cleared 4.79m in the pole vault, also just short of the CIS Championship qualifying mark of 4.83m.

McGill’s final home meet of the season is on Feb. 13, followed by the championship portion of the season. This year’s RSEQ Championship will be held at McGill on Feb. 26.

“We’re hoping this [is] a kind of a building block to some bigger things down the road for us this season,” McDannald said. “We encourage the McGill community to come out and support us.”

Quotable:

“I think our team is getting more mature. We’ve had younger teams the last couple of years and in track and field–especially in field events–the practice it takes to acquire the skill in those events just takes time. Having a strong core of veteran athletes that has stuck together and made a commitment to get better over the long term has led us to where we are this year.”—McDannald on his teams’ improvements over last year’s McGill Team Challenge

Stat of the game:

Two fieldhouse records, three meet records, and three McGill records were set over the weekend.

Moment of the meet:

Helena Reinfels’ pentathlon score of 3,777 is the best university women’s pentathlon in Canada so far this season and consists of a cumulative score in the 60 metres hurdles, high jump, shot put, long jump and 800 metre race.

a, Hockey, Men's Varsity, Sports

Hockey: McGill extends streak over Queen’s in 31st straight victory

by Nicole Spadotto on

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McGill (20-6-0) proved themselves the kings of Queen’s (14-8-0) as they propelled themselves past an early deficit to a 3-2 victory in front of 598 fans at the annual “Renew the Rivalry” hockey game. Centre Mathieu Pompei and defenceman Samuel Labrecque were the stars of the night, helping seal the Redmen’s 31st straight victory over the Gaels. The victory was all the more sweet after the Redmen lost two games this past week.

“We weren’t really concerned with momentum [after last week’s losses],” Redmen Head Coach Kelly Nobes clarified. “We were more focused on our process and how we were playing the game. We weren’t necessarily concerned about the outcome.”

The focus on the process came to fruition as the Redmen outplayed Queen’s from the onset. Queen’s, however, took an early lead in the first period due to some costly McGill turnovers—a scrambled goal in the crease from Andrew Wiebe and power play snapshot conversion from Patrick McGillis, both of Queen’s, put the Redmen down 2-0.

The tides turned in the second period, when the Redmen began to convert their control of the game into bona fide scoring opportunities. With McGill rookie goaltender Joe Fleschler standing strong, the team was able to focus almost exclusively on offence. Samuel Labrecque cycled the puck to the hash marks to set up freshman defenceman Dominic Talbot-Tassi for a goal from the point to put McGill on the board. Graduate student Liam Heelis picked up the second helper. McGill further capitalized on their momentum when speedy forward Mathieu Pompei tied up the game at 17.55 after picking up a bad Queen’s turnover in the defensive zone, outskating the remaining Queen’s defender to get a breakaway, and shooting, in stride, glove-side to beat All-Canadian goaltender Kevin Baillie.

McGill sealed the victory in an exciting third period, during which they killed off three penalties, including a 5-on-3. Pompei, coming up strong once again for McGill, slammed the puck home after it popped free from a scrum behind the net. A late powerplay for Queen’s with 8.9 seconds left looked like it could be a late surge game-changer, but the Redmen held on to break their two game losing streak and reassert their position at the top of the standings, tied with UQTR for points.

“Despite going down 2-0, when we could have had a really big let up, we pushed back and we showed a lot of character,” Nobes said of the victory.

With his assist, CIS points leader Labrecque tied the record for most points in a season by a Redmen defenceman. Initially credited with breaking the record after recording helper on the final goal, Labrecque humbly corrected the statistician, saying he had not touched the puck in the play, giving credit to rookie forwards Christophe Lalonde and Daniel Milne.

“I actually don’t know what felt better,” Labrecque elaborated. “The win or the [record tying] point.”

 

Quotable:

“We set objectives for tonight’s game in eight different categories and we looked at our game in those eight categories and I felt that we did well in those categories. I think that’s what probably pleased the coaching staff the most. It’s a good sign for things to come.” – Nobes on the Redmen’s process and how it will benefit the team as playoffs begin this month.

 

Stat corner:

McGill outshot the Gaels 56 to 28, dominating offensively throughout the match.

 

Play of the game:

Pompei’s breakaway to tie the game not only gave McGill the momentum they needed, but also showcased his skating prowess as he out-sprinted a flat footed Gaels defender to release a quick in-stride shot that found the twine over the glove of a dazed Bailie.

a, Martlets, Sports

Martlets dominate in bounce-back win against Vert et Or

by Ellie Solloway on

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Despite a tie for second place in the division standings, McGill Martlets (13-6) pulled off a dominant, lopsided win against Sherbrooke Vert et Or (12-7) Saturday night, cruising to a 3-0 sweep on the heels of Friday’s loss against the first-place Montreal Carabins (17-3) .

Senior setter Yasmeen Dawoodjee’s electrifying performance began with two aces at the start of the game—the Martlets rarely looked back after that, taking the first set by a commanding 25-15 margin. Head Coach Rachele Beliveau said that their dominant start, though punctured by a short, shaky period of Sherbrooke dominance, set the team up for success in the rest of the game.

“We started very good, but then we had a little bad sequence,” Beliveau said. “I think the thing is you just keep going, keep going, keep going, and then the ball started to go for us, and we started to relax.”

This resilience was evident throughout the game, particularly at the beginning of the second set—the Martlets trailed slightly before taking an 11-10 lead, and eventually pulled off a 25-18 win. Despite Sherbrooke’s early lead, McGill’s aggression and energy paid off, and the team broke through thanks to strong individual performances by Dawoodjee, as well as power hitters sophomore Emilie Matte de Grasse and senior Catherine Amyot.

[metaslider id=42915]

“I think they [Sherbrooke] had a tough game last night, and I think they opened the door for us,” Beliveau said of her team’s dominant performance, which ended with a 25-16 win in the final set. “We were really aggressive on the court. When we play like this, we are really good and hard to beat”.

Beliveau’s lofty praise for her team comes in the wake of a weekend double-header against two strong conference rivals in Montreal and Sherbrooke—two teams that will likely comprise the Martlet’s toughest competition in the playoffs, which begin on Feb. 19. The win against Sherbrooke was a crucial play in what is sure to be an intense, close-fought battle for second place going into semi-finals.

For Beliveau this win speaks more to the team’s abilities and goals going forward than does the previous loss against Montreal. Nonetheless, McGill and Sherbrooke are relatively far from both first place Montreal and fourth place Laval—these standings will ensure that all of McGill’s remaining games have playoff implications.

“I think our goal is, if we still have a chance to be first we’ll work at it, but our second goal is we just want to have home court advantage,” Beliveau said.

Quotable:

“The girls are working hard, and they deserve what is happening. We are putting in a lot of training—court training, gym training, weight training—and they are working for what they get.” —Beliveau of her team’s recent success and training regimen

Stat corner:

The Martlets had 10 aces to the Vert et Or;s 5.

Play of the game:

The final set began with a long, aggressive rally between the two teams, tied 1-1, and the Martlets pulled out a point after a minute of close calls and electrifying keep-ins thanks to good communication and team resilience. The Martlets would go on to dominate every aspect of the final set thereafter, winning 25-16.

a, News, SSMU

SSMU Council sees controversy over involvement in new student federations

by Jenna Stanwood on

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At its Jan. 27 Council meeting, the Students’ Society of McGill University (SSMU) clarified questions regarding their involvement in forming two new provincial student federations: The Union Étudiante du Québec (UÉQ) and the Association pour la Voix Étudiante au Québec (AVÉQ). Council additionally took an early step toward establishing a smoke-free campus, and renewed its commitment to maintaining a positive relationship with the Milton-Parc community.

Provincial student federations 

Council heard presentations from representatives of the UÉQ and the AVÉQ.  SSMU Vice-President (VP) External Emily Boytinck has been involved with their formation since this past summer. Council is scheduled to present one of the federations to the student body through a referendum this semester, although it has yet to choose which one. Concerns over SSMU’s involvement with the federations’ formations were raised at the meeting, especially in regards to using SSMU’s payroll system to hire a coordinator for AVÉQ.

“There were […] these false allegations [raised at the confidential Council session] that I was sneakily hiring a coordinator of the AVÉQ and unfairly treating them, and that I was presenting these associations [in a] really biased [way,]” Boytinck said. “This was grossly misleading. First of all, it was in all of my Council reports; second of all, we didn’t actually pay for this coordinator— we just put him on our [human resources] HR software and other associations paid his salaries.”

SSMU had put the coordinator for AVÉQ on its payroll software to help the organization in its early stages; however, according to Boytinck, no SSMU funds were used to pay this employee.  

“AVÉQ now has it’s own bank account, but while it was getting off the ground we volunteered to do that,” Boytinck said. “Basically […] we signed a contract with Concordia and the Université du Québec à Trois-Rivières […] to basically pay the salary of this coordinator. SSMU didn’t pay any of it, we have a break-even AVÉQ department. We’re essentially like a bank account and we didn’t gain or lose any money because of this transaction.”

Smoke-free campus 

Council unanimously approved a plebiscite question for the Winter Referendum period to gauge student interest in establishing a smoke-free campus.

“Would you support McGill becoming a smoke-free campus if smoking cessation resources were provided and there were ongoing educational campaigns?” the plebiscite question reads.

The question comes in the wake of a student survey that showed student interest in progressing toward a smoke-free campus. The question, as SSMU Councillor David Benrimoh explained, is a means for the administration to gauge student interest in this initiative.

“This [question] is in response to the survey […] which got over 620 responses,” Benrimoh said. “We met with some members of the administration and basically they are saying ‘we’ve been waiting for students to come to us with this, we’re willing to move on it but we need to know that we have student support.’”

SSMU VP University Affairs Chloe Rourke explained that if students vote to approve it,  the transition will happen gradually, with a harm reduction approach in mind.

“Harm reduction measures can be included simultaneously with a smoke-free campus,” said Rourke. “For example, Health Services can continue to provide nicotine patches, or other harm reduction drugs or e-cigarettes as a method of quitting […] that are in line with a harm reduction approach.”

Community Action and Relations Endeavour 

Council approved updated messages for the Community Action and Relations Endeavour (CARE), which creates a framework for the relationship between students and residents of the nearby residential area, Milton-Parc, under Boytinck’s portfolio.

“The CARE agreement was written in 2010; it was meant to be sort of a series of messages and a framework to address ongoing problems between SSMU and the Milton-Parc community and McGill,” Boytinck said. “So we set up this sort of formalized relationship structure that means that we meet annually. I meet with Milton-Parc representatives on a very regular basis, and this has actually resulted in concrete improvements in the way our relationship [functions].”

The update aims to further SSMU’s commitment to developing a positive relationship with the community, explained Matthew Satterthwaite, Arts and Science councillor. 

“I’ve been a Frosh coordinator the last two years and a Frosh leader the year before that, and I saw how poorly our relationship was at the start with the [Milton-Parc] community,” Satterthwaite said. “It’s a lot better than it was before but there’s a lot of room to keep going.”

Making a Murderer
a, Arts & Entertainment, Film and TV

Making a Docudrama: Is Making a Murderer really the ‘true story’ it’s cracked up to be?

by Anne Karam on

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Warning: This piece contains spoilers.

Making a Murderer has become an omnipresent subject of discussion in the media since its release in late December. Creators Laura Ricciardi and Moira Demos initially started working on the project in 2005, following the arrest of Steven Avery for the murder of photographer Teresa Halbach. The idea has since been shaped into a 10-hour long docu-series available on Netflix.

The story is shocking and succeeds in catching viewers’ attention from the onset. Steven Avery lived in Manitowoc County, Wisconsin his whole life. In 1985, he was wrongfully convicted of sexual assault against a well-known local, Penny Beerntsen. Once exonerated on DNA evidence and released in 2003, he returned to his family, only to become a suspect in a murder case two years later, in the midst of arguing a legal suit against the county for wrongful imprisonment. The series includes personal interviews with different members of his family and legal team, as well as phone calls with Avery himself and clips from various court hearings held over the years.

The aim of the show is to present a strong indictment of the US judicial system, even if that means sometimes cherry-picking facts that fit the creators narrative. While the start of the series manages to clearly show that Avery was framed and unjustly imprisoned, the uncertain circumstances around the Halbach's death may leave viewers, like the people of Manitowoc County, more skeptical about Avery’s innocence.

Before even presenting the case that the murder investigation has made against Avery, the creators repeatedly show the legal team and the family claiming Avery’s innocence. The angle used to approach the investigation of the Halbach murder presumes that the police of Manitowoc County were exercising ‘revenge’ against Avery for finding a way out of prison two years prior and subsequently suing the Sheriff’s Department for $36 million. For example, Avery’s lawyers attest during his trial that the crucial pieces of evidence against Avery, including the victim’s car keys, were planted by the police. In this way the show and the creators have received a great deal of backlash for omitting crucial pieces of evidence—such as multiple phone calls made from Avery to Halbach the day of her murder—as well as creating a bias for the audience by constantly insisting on Avery’s guiltlessness. Some viewers have criticized Ricciardi and Demos for not abiding by proper journalistic ethics, instead using the docu-series as a platform to express their discontent with the penal system.

The series has established a large fan base of crime show devotees who have begun coming up with theories of their own, with some viewers going as far as to have created a petition for a pardon from the White House, spreading the news using the hashtag #FreeStevenAvery. In reality, it seems onerous not only for the spectators of this story but also for the justice system to actually identify Avery’s role in the murder. While there is a multitude of evidence against Avery, as well as his nephew’s confession of aiding in the rape and murder of Halbach, there is the undeniable history of the Manitowoc County police’s animosity towards him and the unorthodox ways in which the investigation was carried out; however, it might be plausible that these 'agents of the law' would go to the extreme lengths of framing this man again (including, planting blood and DNA) just because they disliked him. Despite these discrepancies, the Making a Murderer undoubtedly succeeds in instilling the idea that the American justice system, destroys the lives of more individuals than it protects.

Belle de Jour
a, Arts & Entertainment, Film and TV

Flashback: Belle de Jour (1967)

by Nico Wada on

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Belle de Jour is Luis Bunuel’s most recognizable and commercially successful film, praised for its status as an erotic masterpiece despite demonstrating virtually no sexual explicitness. Friends with both Salvador Dali and André Breton, Bunuel was a pioneer of surrealist cinema and enjoyed using the medium of film over his 50-year-long career to demonstrate his fascination with Freudian conceptions of the mind. Bunuel experimented with virtually every genre, from melodrama to western, consistently depicting just how powerful and invasive the subconscious can be. He reflected on the radical Belle de Jour in an interview, saying: “By the end, the real and imaginary fuse; for me they form the same thing.”

The film opens with a wide shot of a black horse-drawn coach approaching on a country lane: A beautiful Victorian image juxtaposed against the film’s exploration of sexual fantasy. Séverine (Catherine Deneuve) and her husband Pierre (Jean Sorel) are the coach passengers. A physically stunning and refined couple, the two appear to be a paragon of marital bliss; however, once the carriage is parked, Pierre orders the coachmen to bind, strip, and flog Séverine. She cranes her neck and appears to be warming to this brutal ravishing when the scene abruptly cuts from fantasy to reality—“What were you thinking about?” Pierre asks Séverine—Bunuel strategically begins and ends his film with this question and demonstrates the difficulty involved in offering a candid response.

The name Séverine is the feminine derivation of Séverin, the protagonist from Baron von Sacher-Masoch’s novella Venus in Furs (1870). As the term “masochist” originated from Sacher-Masoch and his perversions, Séverine proves to be an appropriate name for this fetish-driven female lead. Séverine’s icy-cold demeanor and demure attitude disguise her libidinous impulses to be dominated and controlled. The film’s plot revolves around Séverine surreptitiously deciding to spend her afternoons working in an upscale brothel, run by an experienced businesswoman named Madame Anais (Genevieve Page).

Madame Anais is referred to Séverine by her husband’s friend Henri (Michael Piccoli), despite the fact that Henri is attracted to Séverine for her purity. Upon discovering her day job later, he chides: “What attracted me about you was your virtue. You were the wife of a boy scout. That’s all changed now. I have principles—unlike you.” This moment of irony is just one of Bunuel’s references to the repressive patriarchal order dictating bourgeois society and forcing Séverine to conceal her fantasies.

While at the brothel, Séverine receives the sobriquet “Belle de Jour” and is doted upon by her two coworkers, Charlotte (Françoise Fabian) and Mathilde (Maria Latour) for her remarkable class. Throughout her time at the brothel, Belle de Jour daydreams about having black muck flung at her as she wears a white dress, performs in a hasty necrophilic ritual, and falls for a metal-toothed thug named Marcel (Pierre Clémenti). “For you there is no charge” is what she tells Marcel when they first meet, instantly attracted to his cruelty, insults, and arrogance however, Marcel is merely a sexual prop for Séverine, perfectly ornamented in shiny boots of leather with a matching overcoat and a walking stick. When he begins to pursue her, Séverine’s fantasy world and reality clash in a disastrous way resulting in the film’s highly ambiguous ending.

Belle de Jour not only dives into the subconscious of a bored housewife, but laughs at the morals of bourgeois society. At Madame Anais’ brothel, the audience is introduced to a flock of lecherous businessmen along with an internationally-known gynecologist begging to be punished. Pierre’s character is the pinnacle of irony, as he remains blissfully ignorant of Séverine’s life as Belle de Jour and wishes that she could be more sexually attentive. The film is overall much like Séverine’s character—beautiful and elegant in its costumes and design with deeply complex and bewildering implications.

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