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Commentary, Opinion

Quebec’s businesses and linguistic minorities need protection during COVID-19

by Michael Dickinson on

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Since gaining a majority government in the 2018 election, the Coalition Avenir Québec (CAQ)  has advanced a nationalistic agenda for the province, with one of their principal initiatives being the reinforcement of the primacy of the French language. Most recently, a report found that 40 per cent of Quebec businesses prefer employees who are fluent in English, agitating party officials such as French Language Minister Simon Jolin-Barrette. In response, he pledged to implement a series of stringent measures to protect the French language, particularly in Montreal, where the rate of companies that prefer English fluency stands at 63 per cent. Among these proposed measures is Bill 104, a measure that compels government bodies and crown corporations to deliver written communications exclusively in French. However, it is clear that such policies would harm businesses and minority populations, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic.

It is difficult to believe that the French language could be under threat in a province where nearly 95 per cent of people speak the language fluently. Jolin-Barrette argued that stronger measures are necessary to maintain French as Quebec’s official language of business, but the statistics that he cited to illustrate this need were misleading. He created a false equivalence between a business requiring a knowledge of English as opposed to merely preferring it. The survey found that only nine per cent of Quebec businesses turned down a candidate because they could not speak English. Although these studies are reminders that bilingualism is an asset for employees in a globalized economy, they are not sufficient evidence to suggest that French is at risk of being replaced as the primary language of business in the province.

The legislation that Jolin-Barrette is suggesting would be detrimental to a provincial economy that has already been devastated by COVID-19. Quebec was hit harder than any other province by the pandemic, causing a record deficit in the provincial government’s budget. With the economic situation still so dire, the CAQ should instead focus its attention on rebuilding businesses, not hampering them with bureaucratic measures such as legislating which languages they communicate or advertise in.

Moreover, the CAQ’s policy of cutting English services to promote the French language could have serious consequences for McGill students. Restricting these services to historic anglophone communities, which Premier François Legault defined as individuals whose parents attended English schools in Quebec, would exclude many members of McGill’s English-speaking community. This could make it difficult for them to understand notices from government agencies such as Hydro-Québec or health services. 

Indeed, the CAQ’s language politics have already had serious consequences during the pandemic. Despite promising that historic anglophone communities could continue to receive English services, certain COVID-19 information pamphlets were distributed exclusively in French throughout the province, putting those who do not have access to online information at risk. 

The policy of denying many English speakers access to English services markedly differs from the treatment of linguistic minority populations in other parts of the country. Consider Ontario’s French Language Services Act, which protects the right of citizens to receive government services in French. The Act applies to counties and districts with francophone populations of at least 10 per cent, as well as any cities with a population of five thousand or more francophones. This means that native francophones in Toronto can receive services in French even though they comprise only 1.3 per cent of the city’s population. By contrast, 13 per cent of Montrealers speak English as a first language, yet not all of them can be counted as part of the historic anglophone community that is to be exempted from the CAQ’s measures.

Bill 101 has already ensured the primacy of the French language in Quebec. Ignoring demographic realities, hampering economic growth, and reducing English services is unfair and dangerous, especially during this current time of crisis. The French language is already protected and the CAQ must shift its priorities to protecting all of its citizens and their livelihoods. 

Science & Technology

The McGill Scientific Writing Initiative introduces students to science writing

by Shafaq Nami on

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There exists a common stereotype that people in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) departments do not like to write. Even though students in STEM fields conduct groundbreaking research, many have no idea how to present their findings in a clear and concise manner, let alone an interesting one. The McGill Scientific Writing Initiative (MSWI) aims to support science students in developing their writing skills. 

MSWI is a new student-run initiative, started in the summer of 2020. It was co-founded and is led by Marina Nysten and Joyce Wu, both U3 Science students. As universities shifted to online classes in April 2020, many science courses replaced multiple choice final exams with end-of-term papers. This was a difficult transition for some science students, many of whom were never required to take writing-intensive courses at McGill and thus lacked experience in scientific writing. Observing these challenges that their peers faced, Wu and Nysten began to brainstorm ideas on how to bridge this knowledge gap.

“Last April, we both noticed a lack of science communication resources at McGill,” Wu and Nysten wrote in an email to The McGill Tribune. “MSWI’s purpose is to act as a supplementary resource to support students and professors, especially considering the transition to writing-centric assessments this semester.”  

Throughout the upcoming academic year, MSWI will be organizing workshops on a variety of topics, from how to expertly read research articles to presenting scientific material and communicating science to the public. MSWI will also provide comprehensive online resources on its website, including a concise ebook on scientific writing that Nysten and Wu penned over the summer in collaboration with faculty members, TAs, and students.

According to Nysten and Wu, the club’s main goal is to become a “hub” for science communication at McGill. One of the ways they hope to achieve this is by supporting as many students as possible through their partnerships with faculty members and other student organizations. 

Some student clubs and organizations such as the Student Research Initiative and McGill Science Undergraduate Research Journal have missions that broadly align with that of MSWI, creating a cohesive network of writing-centric student support opportunities. Whether as a part of their personal research or as a result of the increased writing requirements in many online classes, Nysten and Wu predict that students from across disciplines will benefit from MSWI’s services. 

“We hope to offer unique services and resources that fill in the gaps that currently exist at McGill,” Nysten and Wu wrote. “An essential factor in this goal is to listen to what students are looking for, which we achieve by conducting surveys and creating online feedback forms.” 

There are plenty of opportunities for students to get involved with MSWI, such as attending monthly workshops, contributing a blog post to the MSWI website, or by helping to create learning resources in a subject they have experience in. 

Their first workshop, entitled “Reading Research Articles,” is on Sept. 24 and will be co-hosted by Tommy Markopoulos, a graduate student in the Integrated Program in Neuroscience.

One of the biggest events that MSWI planned for this year is the first annual MSWI Science “CommunicaScion” Case Competition set to be held in the winter semester. With this competition, Nysten and Wu aim to challenge students to effectively communicate a scientific topic to three different ages and educational backgrounds. This year’s theme remains a secret, but will be revealed in the coming months.

If you are interested in learning more about the MSWI and what they offer, you can stay updated on future events and resources by following their social media and subscribing to their newsletter.

Art, Arts & Entertainment

MMFA’s post-impressionist exhibit leaves mixed impressions

by Pascal Hogue on

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From July 4 to Nov. 15, the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts (MMFA) is showcasing—in person—its most extensive exhibit on the post-impressionists yet, Paris in the Days of Post-Impressionism: Signac and the Indépendants. The exhibit boasts an impressive, sweeping collection of over 500 works from France’s leading post-impressionists, spanning Paris’ late 19th-century heyday to its final, tense years preceding the First World War. 

The period was an artistic and culturally ripe one for the French capital, and the MMFA displays it unsparingly in all its messy efflorescence: Neo-impressionists, Fauvists, Symbolists, Nabis, Expressionists, Cubists, and just enough Picasso to brag about in the brochures. Most of the exhibit’s focus, however, is on Paul Signac, for both his pointillist paintings and his immense influence on French visual art during la belle époque. In 1884, he founded the Salon des Indépendants, an annual exhibition that catalyzed a generation of creative misfits until 1914, the start of World War I. Many of the paintings on display at the MMFA exhibit had their first glimmer of fame at the Salon.

Aside from Signac’s curatorial genius, his collection of paintings is the exhibit’s low point. Rainbow (Venice) is a decadent mess, melding garish, Candy Land-type colours with an ill-fitting, boxy-like pointillist style that looks eerily like a collection of Minecraft blocks. Here, Venice loses its medieval charm, and its gondolas and spires are transplanted in what looks like the Emerald City of Oz.

Throughout his collection of pastel pink-and-blue fantasies, Signac struggles to recreate the natural effervescence of, say, George Seurat’s pointillist masterpiece, A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte. Instead, most of his paintings come off as laboured and artificial, even gimmicky. Signac’s pointillist style encumbers, rather than enables, his creative visions.

Following the inconsistent selection of neo-impressionists, the early 20th century print collection is refreshing and distinct. A movement that fully utilized the era’s innovative print technologies and benefitted from the growing consumerist thirst, the Art Nouveau style completely freed itself from the shackles of the impressionist period. The posters’ bold black fonts and vivid primary colours are beautiful, even if they were only trying to sell you the latest dishwasher soap. While many of these prints are instantly recognizable and have been reprinted to near-ubiquity (Théophile Steinlen’s Le Chat Noir probably hangs in your roommate’s bedroom), it is exhilarating to see them in their proper historical context. The revolutionary ways in which these prints redefined the artistic world becomes immediately apparent at the exhibit. 

Among the collection’s other non-oil-on-canvas works, Swiss printmaker Félix Vallotton is a true revelation. His black-and-white woodcuts are caricature-like in style, yet somehow radiate an emotional and energetic purity. In The Brawl, or Café Scene, one of his more detailed woodcuts, four tuxedo-clad men clash over a white table in a posh café as onlookers gawk; although the black of their suits overlap without demarcation lines, the men’s discombobulated shapes lose none of their intensity. Valloton’s austere textures and his characters’ raw emotions are fitting for the exhibit’s latter half: As the late 19th century’s debaucheries subsided, the grim thought of an incoming world conflict haunted artists’ psyches.

The MMFA’s lively post-impressionist exhibit is ill-fitting for these dark, pandemic-burdened times. But there is a joy—however escapist it may be—in physically visiting the museum, and embedding one’s self in the world of a long lost, more playful and innocent past.

Paris in the Days of Post-Impressionism: Signac and the Indépendants is on display at the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts until Nov. 15. For more information and ticket prices, visit their website.

Commentary, Opinion

BIPOC voices will no longer be silenced

by Sepideh Afshar on

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On Aug. 29, protestors toppled a statue of John A. Macdonald in Montreal. Besides serving as Canada’s first prime minister, Macdonald is infamously known as the creator of the residential school system and as someone who starved Indigenous groups to forcibly relocate them. Macdonald’s treatment of Indigenous Peoples was reconsitiuted as cultural genocide by the Canadian government in 2015, due to the work of Indigenous activists. The distress caused by statues of those who contributed to the marginalization of minority groups is not new. On McGill’s campus, there is a growing movement demanding the removal of the statue of James McGill. The calls to remove statues honouring Canada’s colonial legacy is a direct result of the inaction of those in positions of power to denounce the harmful acts of those before them. Silencing minority voices and ignoring their labour to build a more equitable society will no longer be tolerated by BIPOC and their allies.

The conversation surrounding harmful commemoration is not unique to Montreal; rather, it is one being held all over Canada. In 2018, the City Council of Victoria, British Columbia, voted to remove their statue of Macdonald. Those who want statues of racist historical figures to remain often argue that removing them is equivalent to erasing history, insisting that there is no middle ground between commemoration and erasure. This argument fails to acknowledge that many Black and Indigenous people face the harmful legacies of residential schools and slavery in their everyday lives. One cannot celebrate the societal contributions of men like Macdonald and McGill without considering the harm that they have also perpetuated and acknowledging the fact that their success came at the expense of Black and Indigenous peoples.

There may have been alternative solutions to the removal of these statues when concerns first arose, but the government’s reluctance to acknowledge its racist past has led protesters with no other choice than to force change. Montreal activists have been asking for the removal of Macdonald’s iconography through petitions and peaceful demonstrations but they have been ignored by those able to authorize its removal. The tearing down of the Macdonald statue demonstrates a shift: Marginalized voices are tired of inaction and are now taking matters into their own hands. BIPOC are no longer waiting for white men to make the right decisions.

Politicians have been largely ignoring the protestors but have spoken out about the statue’s fall, insisting that it was not their own inaction that led to the toppling of the statue. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau condemned the protestors’ actions, arguing that vandalism does not pave the way for progress or addressing injustice in Canada. Previously, Trudeau has apologized to Indigenous groups for Macdonald’s actions but the Prime Minister’s acknowledgement of Macdonald’s legacy as important only highlights his unwillingness to listen to Indigenous groups’ need for justice—the bare minimum of which would be to stop honouring Macdonald’s racist legacy. Both Trudeau and Quebec Premier François Legault argue that removing a part of our history is not productive, but their tactics to ignore marginalized voices demanding change is also stalling progress. The government’s neglect of the needs of BIPOC and their unconcerned attitude while making decisions that harm Indigenous groups, such as approving the Trans Mountain pipeline, emphasizes the performative activism in their response to Black Lives Matter and other such social justice movements. 

McGill’s administration has added a statement acknowledging their namesake’s role in enslaving Black and Indigenous people, but still has yet to mention that they were Black and Indigenous. The university has had more than enough time to listen to BIPOC students’ needs in regards to McGill’s racist legacy but as time passes, students are getting tired of waiting. The administration is blatantly disregarding Black students’ demands for equity. Other than an emailed statement about the Black Lives Matter movement, the university has yet to comment on the statue of James McGill. McGill’s lack of tangible action is reminiscent of the Canadian government making blanket statements and ignoring their active role in perpetuating the marginalization of people of colour. 

McGill students are losing patience. The administration’s inaction is leaving many students of colour uncomfortable with the institution that they attend and questioning the values that it holds. Protesters should not have needed to tear Macdonald down; the government should have listened to the people that his legacy has harmed and cooperated to remove the statue peacefully. It is now time for McGill to take action. Passivity only leads to escalation, and there is nothing to say that the James McGill statue will not be next. 

Arts & Entertainment, Film and TV

The Royalmount Drive-In offers a nostalgic escape during uncertain times

by Signy Harnad on

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It’s a familiar scene in popular culture: Groups of teenagers and families packed in their cars, radio dials tuned to FM signals, billowing cigarette smoke forming clouds in the projector light. Such was the magic of the drive-in cinema, with its eclectic blend of innocence and rebellion, sociability and privacy. With its rebirth during the COVID-19 pandemic, moviegoers can experience this magic for themselves. The Royalmount Drive-In Event Theatre, Montreal’s first multipurpose drive-in, has succeeded in emulating this beloved past, providing audiences with a safe outlet to enjoy the big screen.

With the fate of cinema and live performance uncertain, the Royalmount Drive-In, which opened on June 21, has come at an opportune time. By its very nature, the drive-in adheres to physical distancing requirements: Viewers can watch films from the comfort of their cars or seated right outside of them, within demarcations that ensure moviegoers remain at safe distances from one another. In addition to movies, the venue hosts comedy shows, charity and fundraising events, and live music.

Drive-in theatres have resonated with audiences since their inception for a variety of reasons. Cultural Studies professor Ned Schantz explained that drive-ins were symptomatic of mid-20th century car culture.

“[People would be] looking for any reason to be in [their] car because it was so important,” Schantz said. “Cars [were] so deeply tied to peoples’ identities. They were essential status symbols, and just loved in all sorts of ways.”  

The drive-in emerged in part because of white flight, the postwar movement during which many white Americans left urban centres that were becoming more ethnically diverse.

“With the new suburb, it [was] cheaper to just throw up a screen [at] a dirt lot at the outskirts of town,” Schantz said. “Largely because of the antitrust legislation of the late ’40s […] there [was] suddenly a lot more money in making cheap B-movies [….] The other thing going [was that] drive-ins thrived wherever there [was] cheap land. The three places with the biggest drive-in cultures are the U.S., Canada, and Australia, countries with more land than people.”

With the resurgence of drive-ins across North America, it’s clear that the enthusiasm for the summertime custom remains undiminished. Those seeking out new avenues for social interaction have increased traffic for drive-ins. Whispers and laughter amongst friends and families, some seated inside their cars with their windows rolled down, others lounging outside on folding chairs, all delighting in a shared movie experience, gives the Royalmount Drive-In a refreshing community atmosphere. 

Further, the drive-in offers a genuine, immersive movie experience, with its 50-foot LED screen and premium sound quality. This gives viewers two ways of approaching the event—either as a means of consuming cinema, contemporary and old alike, or as an authentic and nostalgic social experience. Drive-in staples, such as concessions  delivered right to your car door, and screenings of throwback films, from Casablanca (1942) to Grease (1978), bolster the Royalmount Drive-In’s sentimental spirit, transporting spectators back to simpler times. 

The Royalmount Drive-In Event Theatre brings the golden age of the drive-in cinema to our present, fostering togetherness and connection. In the age of social distancing, the drive-in cinema provides a breath of fresh air, bringing strangers together through a continued tradition of movie-watching.

The Royalmount Drive-In Event Theatre will continue to run films and live events until the end of October. Tickets can be purchased online through driveinmtl.com.

Arts & Entertainment, Theatre

From The Viewpoint: The Festival of Marionettes

by Noma Mirny on

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No one likes marionettes. In my mind, a marionette is one of three things: A lying rascal named Pinocchio, a demon-possessed puppet that haunts an abandoned Opera House, or, simply, entertainment for children. Marionettes are uncanny—miniature human figures stripped of all bodily autonomy, hanging limply with lifeless eyes. I never thought there was any artistic merit in puppetry, that is, until I saw it performed.

Le Festival Marionnettes Plein La Rue – Édition 9.5 is a multi-week event featuring pop-up performances and scheduled shows on Saturdays and Fridays at the Wellington Promenade in Verdun. The event features not just marionettes—puppets moved strictly by strings—but also other puppets of varying shapes and sizes. Some were propped up on sticks, attached to mouths, laid out flat in 2D, or even put on as costumes by actors. It is a festival that swells with life, showcasing the multitudinous mediums of puppetry.

The first pop-up event on Sep. 11 was a set-up of endearing cardboard homes where onlookers could pop their heads into a cut-out window and view a miniature image inside the boxes. Kids formed lines leading up to the boxes, excited to peek inside the pocket-sized show. 

The second was an interactive street show with two actors miming a performance. One was a short man dressed in a Magritte bowler-hat, while the other was a towering, skeletal Raggedy Ann, balancing on multi-foot stilts, dressed in a flowing 16-foot Victorian dress. Both had white-painted faces, red lips, and black diamond eyes.

The performers had multiple scenelets set to music playing from the actors’ suitcases. The radio crooned “Sous Le Ciel De Paris,” and the clowns became lovers, grasping one another’s hands as the Raggedy Ann stooped down like a giraffe to kiss her partner. Suddenly, the music switched to the rumbling of a storm, and the actors scuttled out of the rain, running with water-sprinkler-topped umbrellas. 

Finally, when the tune changed to a crackly tango, the giantess opened her suitcase, from which a puppet of an elderly man peered out. With a swift grace, the actress, now a puppeteer, manoeuvred the puppet’s body up the suitcase handles as if he was climbing a pole. In response, her scene partner leaned close to watch, and when the puppeteer moved her finger so as to threaten the balance of the old man perched atop the handle, her scene partner gasped, on the brink of tears. As she moved the old man up the shoulders of the bowler-hatted performer, he reacted to the weight, his shoulders jumping and arms shaking.

Soon, it became clear that the actors were both the puppets and puppeteers. Their movements were sudden, slap-sticky, charming, and incredibly precise. I had never before considered the Herculean work of these performers. From the twitch of a pinky finger to the twist of a torso, everything was methodical, exact, and hypnotizing. For the first time, I finally understood the appeal; puppeteering, unlike other artforms, hides nothing. There is no backstage. No crew. Puppeteering does not attempt to convince you that you are watching real life, that the puppets are moving on their own. Instead, it embraces the visibility of the puppeteer’s hands. You see the human moving the puppet, yet you cannot look away because it moves as if it were alive. And the puppeteers know that this is where the magic lies: In our ability to make life out of stillness.

 

Arts & Entertainment, Books

‘You Will Love What You Have Killed’ presents a haunted childhood

by Lowell Wolfe on

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Content warning: Violence, child abuse, and sexual assault

Murder, rape, and infanticide are not usually present in conventional coming-of-age novels. In Québecois author Kevin Lambert’s You Will Love What You Have Killed, however, these themes take center stage. Exploring individuality and childhood, Lambert’s novel is about children who are victims of violent deaths and reincarnated to plot their revenge on the adults of their small town. Published in French in 2017 and translated into English this year by Donald Winkler, the novel won the Prix Découverte du Salon du livre du Saguenay, and was a finalist for the Prix littéraire des collégiens. 

“It’s a fun and funny book,” Lambert said in an interview with The McGill Tribune. “The children in the story are very cruel and mean, […] but they are powerful individuals that can […] destroy the adult world. The feeling that this book describes about growing up in a society where you feel there is no consideration for the younger generations, that’s a universal feeling today.”

Lambert drew from his own memories and experiences to weave an emotional story about children growing up in his hometown, Chicoutimi, Quebec. 

“There was hatred that I felt towards Chicoutimi,” Lambert said. “I didn’t feel that I could be gay there, [and I felt that] I had to move to Montréal to do that. I wanted to give the story a sense of vengeance by using that feeling which I had towards my childhood.”

Yet, Lambert’s sense of estrangement did not dissipate once he moved to Montreal. After he participated in Quebec’s 2012 student strikes, he understood that intergenerational conflicts can exist in urban areas just as they had in Chicoutimi.

“I was politically educated during the student strike of 2012,” Lambert said. “This time was important for Quebec society because political leaders [basically] told the younger generation, ‘What you ask for is not important. We do not care about what you want and we do not want to hear about your opinion.’”

Lambert emulated his political and personal life experiences through his troubled and isolated protagonist, Faldistoire. 

“[Faldistoire] at the beginning, has [a] rage that has no purpose or form,” Lambert said. “He does not know what the cause of this anger is, but he feels a great energy. His development in the story is linked to understanding this anger, and to the society in which he grows up.”

Now completing his Ph.D in creative writing at l’Université de Montréal, Lambert wrote the novel in part to explore the misconceptions that urban society often has about rural towns.

“I found the idea of writing about places which are special to me because I grew up in them, but are trite and suburban to others, very interesting,” Lambert said.

You Will Love What You Have Killed tells an unique story that draws its imaginative power through anecdotes. Together, Lambert’s contrasting influences have told an otherworldly story meant to resurrect childhood memories and explore their lasting effects in adulthood. Echoing past authors with similar interests in history’s hold over the present, Lambert shows that the past is never really dead. 

News, SSMU

SSMU holds the first legislative council of the semester

by Kate Addison on

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The Students’ Society of McGill University (SSMU) held its first legislative council meeting of the Fall 2020 semester on Sept. 8. As McGill has transitioned to online learning platforms, student organizations such as SSMU have similarly adapted to social distancing restrictions by holding their meetings via recorded Zoom calls. While the meeting lacked the usual energy of in-person SSMU assemblies, the council introduced new standing rules for future legislative council meetings and provided updates from the summer. 

Speaker of the Council Lauren Hill outlined changes to these rules that, when passed, will officially supersede SSMU’s pre-existing parliamentary procedure. Seeking to make council proceedings more efficient, another motion proposed banning late additions to the agenda.

“Up to one motion submitted after the deadline shall be considered as a late motion,” Hill said. “This is new from last year, […] but if you were on council before, you understood the issue with late motions, so we’ve decided that we’re essentially going to ban the practice [altogether].”

SSMU further increased its commitment to decorum within SSMU proceedings by instituting penalties for late or absent council members.

“If [a member of the council is] unexcused twice, [they] are automatically suspended,” Hill said. “If [they] are late, four times excused, [they’re] automatically suspended. All committees and reports must be submitted by the Sunday prior to Legislative Council [….] If [a council member] submits a late report, [it will] be equivalent to half of one absence since failure to submit a report will be equivalent to one absence in total.” 

Closing Tuesday’s meeting were executive reports from SSMU President Jemark Earle and Vice President of University Affairs Brooklyn Frizzle. Earle summarized SSMU’s progress over the summer and addressed issues with the absence of a French translation of the new SSMU constitution.

“This summer, there was a Judicial Board hearing on the validity of the 2020 Constitution that was approved last year [that] went to a referendum because it wasn’t submitted in French,” Earle said. “The results of the case are that the 2020 constitution that was voted on was declared invalid because it wasn’t approved in French. But the judgment won’t come into effect until Nov. 1, giving us enough time to run a special referendum which will be coming soon to approve both the English and French versions.”

Moment of the meeting:

Notable during the SSMU livestream was the upbeat game show-like music that played for a total of over 35 minutes during the three-hour meeting. Played as a lengthy musical interlude to open the proceedings and to punctuate each recess taken by councilors, the whimsical soundtrack truly set a fun tone for the student council meeting. 

Soundbite: 

“There’s a tech drive […] to raise awareness and collect technology for folks who might not have it this year, given that at least the fall semester is going to be conducted remotely. So basically, we’re looking to collect old laptops, or iPads, whatever that people have lying around or are not using. We’re hoping to hire someone who’d be able to fix them up if they’re broken. And then we would be delivering [the electronics] to students or community members in need so that they can study appropriately given the [online] semester.” – Jemark Le Jean

The meetings can be accessed on the SSMU Livestream Youtube channel.

Football, Sports

NFL 2020 Season Preview: Looking for a new dynasty in the AFC

by Adam Menikefs on

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The 2019 NFL season ended with the Kansas City Chiefs, led by Super Bowl MVP Patrick Mahomes, capturing the Lombardi Trophy in Super Bowl LIV over the San Francisco 49ers. The subsequent off-season has been unstable and unpredictable and is sure to change the landscape of the NFL for the foreseeable future.

While COVID-19 has instilled discomfort and uncertainty in the months leading up to the restart of the NFL season, the NFL has subsequently addressed several concerns regarding the pandemic. Players, coaches, and team personnel will be tested daily to ensure minimal spread of the virus and are required to wear masks throughout the facilities. In addition, special devices called SafeZone tags must be worn at all times while on NFL property for the purpose of advanced contact tracing. Concerns have arisen that cases could rise when team travel resumes, as was the case with the MLB earlier this summer, but protocols have been put in place in the event of positive tests, with expanded practice squads and future time slots for games that may be cancelled. 

Racial injustice has also been a dominant concern regarding the 2020 NFL restart, as players voiced their frustration with institutions throughout the United States. League Stars such as Michael Thomas, Ezekiel Elliot, and Patrick Mahomes, among many others, were vocal during protests this summer, demanding that the NFL support the fight for racial justice. In response, the league has committed $250 million dollars over the next 10 years to help fight “social injustice.” The league has allowed players to put social justice messages on their helmets and has chalked “End Racism” into the back of all endzones.

AFC

The American Football Conference has experienced a drastic shift for the first time in almost two decades with increased parity among teams and a new leading title contender for the foreseeable future. The New England Patriots lost quarterback Tom Brady in the offseason, a partnership that won six super bowls, nine AFC championships, and saw sixteen seasons atop the AFC East. The end of the Patriots’ dynasty this season marks the end of an era for the entire league and has subsequently paved the way for the newly-crowned Super Bowl Champion Kansas City Chiefs to dominate the field in the coming years. The Baltimore Ravens and 2019 NFL MVP Lamar Jackson, however, will be looking to dethrone the Chiefs after a disappointing divisional playoffs loss. Though these two juggernauts will likely lead the conference this season, the Buffalo Bills, Pittsburgh Steelers, and Tennessee Titans are also all talented, proven teams within the conference. 

NFC

In the past five seasons, the National Football Conference has sent a different team to the Super Bowl each year, demonstrating the and dispersed talent that exists within each division. Unlike the AFC, several teams have a legitimate chance of dethroning the defending conference champion 49ers. San Francisco’s largest threat may be within their own division: The Seattle Seahawks, led by Superbowl Champion quarterback Russell Wilson. In the South, Drew Brees and Tom Brady look to bring New Orleans and Tampa Bay back to the Superbowl. Although neither franchise has gone that far in more than a decade, the two future Hall-of-Fame signal callers and Lombardi Trophy winners are looking to change that. In the East, the Dallas Cowboys are looking for a rebound season with a loaded roster and first-year Head Coach Mike McCarthy. The Philadelphia Eagles also hope to return to championship contention by staying healthy this year, after two disappointing seasons riddled with injuries following their Super Bowl victory in the 2017 season. The lack of a clear favorite for the NFC this season is sure to make for several upsets and an interesting postseason.

McGill, News

Certain international graduate programs see sharp tuition hike

by Sarah Farnand on

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International students in some non-thesis masters’ programs will see their tuition rate jump by 30 per cent, compared to a 3.1 per cent tuition increase for students in other programs relative to the 2019-2020 school year. The increase comes after the Quebec government announced a policy in May 2018 that allowed public universities to deregulate international tuition rates, meaning that McGill was able to set its own tuition rates without legislative oversight. The policy came into effect in Fall 2019. 

Although the increased tuition will help McGill run programs and research, the rise in tuition for some programs was thought to be drastic by many. Michael Overton, a master’s student in the Sound Recording program, expected to pay approximately $11,100 in Fall 2020 tuition fees. When his tuition increased by more than 28 per cent to over $14,300, Overton was alarmed. 

“It makes me feel as though international students are simply seen as a revenue stream instead of people that come from different economic situations,” Overton said.

 For many students, this increase came as a surprise. Connie Shen, Financial Affairs Officer of the Post-Graduate Students’ Society (PGSS), believes that many students were not given enough notice to financially plan for the tuition fee spikes.

“Many students did not anticipate such a large increase, and therefore did not get the chance to budget and plan accordingly,” Shen said. “Some students were not even aware of this increase until it appeared on their bill in August.”

Given that the COVID-19 pandemic has already exacerbated the financial strain for many students, the massive increase added unnecessary stress for many of Shen’s classmates who were expected to pay their bills by Aug. 25. Shen would have preferred if McGill had implemented the increase gradually and communicated the changes more clearly.

“The timing of this increase is very unfortunate,” Shen said. “There will be many students who will be unable to pay increased tuition due to the pandemic. There are many students who relied on income from part-time work in order to pay tuition. Many graduate students also have dependents, and the added pressure of caring for children during the pandemic has made it difficult for student-parents to work as they normally would.”

Although not all students experienced a tuition increase as drastic as 30 per cent, all 2020-2021 tuition rates increased by 3.1 per cent compared to last year. International student Ahmad Hendie, U1 Engineering, is concerned that these increases may force students who are already struggling to pay tuition to study at another university. 

“McGill needs to expand its financial aid offerings for returning [international students] in need,” Hendie said. “As [even] the annual three to four per cent fee increases might squeeze out internationals who are stretching to afford McGill.”

However, Hendi also acknowledged that the tuition increase will help McGill stay competitive among other top-tier universities in Canada.

“Funding, of which a large [percentage] comes from international tuition, is vital for [McGill’s] rankings as it highly affects research output.”

McGill Media Relations Officer Frédérique Mazerolle explained that the increase in tuition would help to fund academic programs and services.

“This policy change will allow McGill to retain tuition paid by international undergraduate students to support academic programs, services, and financial assistance delivered to McGill students,” Mazerolle wrote to the Tribune. 

The Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies (GPS) society will be helping the affected students, such as those in Overton’s program, to offset the increased costs. In addition, McGill’s administration noted the creation of certain programs to help students pay for their elevated tuition rates, such as a “line of credit” for students in critical need. The administration also offers the McGill Student Emergency Support Fund, which serves to assist students affected financially by the COVID-19 crisis. While these programs can potentially help international students afford attending McGill, the tuition increase continues to burden many.

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