Except Metal Shop Masters has a key element that distinguishes it from all other such shows. Like the youngest child on Passover, let us ask: how is this show different from all other shows?

It’s bad, and I don’t say that lightly.

I am an avid reality competition show enjoyer, to the misery of my loved ones. I will watch literally any series that pits two or more strangers against each other. But I will not watch even one more episode of Metal Shop Masters.

Other art-as-competition shows on Netflix have raised the question of how to judge artistic creations in a fair, equitable way. Competitive glassblowing show Blown Away, also a Netflix Original, dances around the question, loosely defining art as something that looks nice, is meaningful, and is technically sophisticated enough to be more than a gift-shop collectible. Metal Shop Masters takes the bold way out by refusing to define anything at all.

Even the rules – those sacred instructions by which each contestant is fairly judged – aren’t clear to the contestants themselves. In the very first episode, not one but two metalworkers are forced to completely restart their projects well into the challenge’s hours-long runtime.

“Wait, what?” you might be asking, “Why? How?”

Unlike rags-to-riches shows like Great British Bake off or Glow Up, many of the contestants on Metal Shop Masters are established, respected metal artists. This is a must – metalworking can be extremely dangerous, and injuries on set are the last thing Netflix wants.

Prior to filming the first episode, each metalworker is given the same prompt and allowed to plan a design and fabricate their own pieces ahead of the show. The only rules, as the judges emphasize in the introduction, are no prefabricated pieces – you can only bring metal you shaped yourself – and no soldering ahead of time – you need to assemble your creation in the studio shop.

The first contestant who is forced to restart is a young, single mom handcrafting a set of working wings attached to a flowing metal dress. Her name is Rae Ripple, and she has accidentally broken one of the rules in the first round. As the judges wander from artist to artist grabbing soundbites – a tradition across Netflix competition shows – they notice an issue with her pieces. Many of the component parts had already been soldered together at home.

Pulling the contestant aside, both judges apprehensively explain, hours into the limited time of the challenge, that she will have to disconnect every single piece she has brought before re-soldering them together one by one. In the face of such a crushing setback, the contestant’s grit and determination are outstanding.

As the judges look on like troubled parents, the viewer can’t help but ask more questions. Questions like, “Hey guys, how did you let this happen?”

Each contestant’s metal pieces are stored in wooden crates decorated with their names. Did the producers not check all of the crates out beforehand? How did the judges only catch this mistake well into the challenge’s time limit? This can’t help but make the viewer wonder: how unclear were the original instructions the contestants received?

With the unfortunate contestant left to desperately unmake her best work, the exceptionally uncharismatic host tries to distract us from this bizarre and uncomfortable situation. But lightning has struck twice — another contestant’s metal components are flagged by the judges.

This contestant named Seven is a self-proclaimed “salvage” artist, using recycled materials to create beautiful art with less waste. “Great!” you say, “That’s a unique artistic strategy!”

But no. No, it’s not. Because the thing Seven, and everyone else on this cursed show, has forgotten about is that recycled materials are inherently prefabricated.

Because they broke the first and cardinal rule by virtue of simply doing the kind of art they are known for doing, Seven is forced to set aside almost all of their metal pieces. They are now working with scraps of scraps.

This is bad enough, but it gets worse!

The art they intended to make was a towering outstretched hand clenched in a fist, with a small compartment in its palm. Inside, Seven intended to place their intentions and reminders of their power and resilience as a Black person. After they are stripped of their primary materials for creating art, Seven still manages to create a smaller, sadder version of the powerful statement they intended with their original piece.

The panel of all-white judges solemnly acknowledges the meaning of their piece, and after an unceremonious round of judging, Seven becomes the first to leave the titular Metal Shop.

There is so much to question about this single moment. Seven is the second person to break a rule, but the only one whose style of artistic creation fundamentally opposed that rule in the first place. Why were they invited on the show, if the show’s rules forbid the use of prefabricated materials?

By eliminating them in the first episode, Metal Shop Masters overlooked the glaring inequities inherent in how they enforce and inform the rules of their own show. Seven got kicked off because they were unable to make something good enough out of the tiny scraps of their primary materials, which were — like the other contestants’ — presumably checked prior to filming.

Did Metal Shop Masters deliberately allow two contestants to keep illegal materials to heighten the drama of it all? Did they simply not think about the consequences of hitting a young single mother and the only Black queer person on the show with two spiked curveballs in the show’s first episode?Frankly, the world may never know. All that we’re left with is a sense that perhaps acknowledging artistic preferences, focusing on technical prowess, and highlighting the professional qualities that can define success and failure in the world of metalworking were just too difficult for Metal Shop Masters to tackle. Artificial, unfair tension should work just fine!

The post A Guided Tour Through Episode One of ‘Metal Shop Masters’ appeared first on The McGill Daily.

Aries:

Sometimes things don’t quite go as planned, but this is YOUR season! Even the unexpected is in your favor, so trust the process and don’t overthink it. Life is like a twelve-tone composition: kind of confusing, but surprisingly pretty.

Taurus:

Somewhere out there, you have a coworker/friend who is very grateful for all of the time that you’ve spent together. Eat cupcakes with them. Also: I know that you’re putting off talking to that person. Just do it. (oh and you’re mom gay) 

Gemini:

You definitely keep things interesting. This week, spend some time reflecting on the impact that your actions can have on others. Hopefully that introspection will shed some light on your own problems, too — like why your Minecraft spawns always suck. There’s gotta be something fixable there, right?

Cancer:

Chaotic, competent, and creative – your energy is beyond appreciated this week. Trust your judgement, but don’t bite off more than you can chew. Speaking of which, treat yourself to a nice meal, if you can! And treat your coworkers with kindness. 

Leo:

We’re entirely convinced that you’re cooler than we’ll ever be. That’s poggers, bro. Aries season brings you support from all sides, so be sure to let your loved ones know you miss them. If you have any siblings, they might enjoy the occasional call. 

Virgo:

Your taste in media is impeccable, and everyone around you benefits from it. That said, please stop sending your friends Y/N TikToks. They love you, just not that much.

Libra:

You’re the funniest person in every room you walk into – we wish we could be you. Keep doing your thing and don’t change for anyone. That being said: when’s the last time you felt a genuine human connection? Maybe try a cat.

Scorpio:

It’s not easy to be accommodating while keeping your boundaries firm, but this week you’ve got it down. You’re great at what you do now, and change should excite you as much as it scares you. The only person still worrying about it is you!

Sagittarius:

We’re genuinely amazed at how powerful you are. Everything you do is incredible, and you emanate an awe-inspiring aura. We think your coworkers might want to be friends with you… Tell your cat hi from us.

Capricorn:

Aries season will bring you confidence and new opportunities to grow, both professionally and personally. You might feel unprepared, but trust us – you’re ready. Listen to a #problematicfave and get your confidence up. Maybe some old 3oh!3, or Blueface. Just a random selection.

Aquarius:

Because you might not be the loudest in the room, you might sometimes feel like your work goes unnoticed. You’re very talented and your contributions are important. One big plus of choosing your moments is that when you do share a joke with the people around you, it goes twice as hard. 

Pisces:

Your energy is irreplaceable, and you fit in a team like one of those T blocks in a Tetris game: perfectly, and also shaped like a T. There’s an editor out there who wouldn’t be the same without you. Cupcakes sound like a fantastic plan. (and please remember: you’re sister bisexual)

As we sign off on the last installment of our (admittedly short-lived) horoscopes column, we want to thank all of our fantastic co-editors, contributors, and readers. The stars have good things in store for the Daily. We just know it.

With love and epic vibes,

Kate Ellis (Coordinating Editor 2019-2021) and Willa Holt (Managing Editor 2019-2021)

The post April Horoscopes appeared first on The McGill Daily.

Among the communities disproportionately affected by the pandemic over the past year are those living in precarious housing situations. Two weeks after McGill closed its campuses, Quebec’s eviction moratorium was in full effect. However, this measure did not protect residents from long-term economic struggle or the housing crisis more broadly, which continues to worsen as the pandemic drags on. More recently, Montreal’s unhoused residents have been expected to comply with Quebec’s evening curfews, despite an overwhelming lack of space in shelters across the city. Unhoused Montrealers are still subject to COVID-19-related fines, as the city focuses its funds towards the SPVM over social services. In the midst of a crisis in which Quebec residents should expect to rely on their government to ensure their safety, many people are facing a double threat of contagious disease and state violence.

Early in the pandemic, inmates at the Laval Migrant Prison began a hunger strike against unacceptable public health violations at the facility. Despite an initial success during which many inmates were released, the systemic harm enacted by the prison continued to threaten the lives and psychological well-being of incarcerated people. After a call over the summer to release more prisoners in light of ongoing poor conditions, including isolation from showers and entertainment as well as a heightened risk of contracting COVID-19, inmates at the Laval Migrant Prison began a second hunger strike approximately one year after the first. The punitive injustice system upheld by prisons categorically functions to continually harm already vulnerable populations – the pandemic has only made this more apparent. 

Indigenous communities and nations are also at a significant disadvantage in facing the COVID-19 pandemic. Within the first month of the pandemic, as ecofascist rhetoric surged with the claim, “we are the virus,” the colonial government’s egregious treatment of First Nations during previous epidemics such as H1N1 raised significant concerns for how Indigenous communities would be treated during this one. These fears were realized as the government deliberately disregarded the safety of Indigenous communities while case counts and death tolls rose. Although Justin Trudeau promised to end all boil water advisories on First Nations land by March 2021, the pandemic provided a convenient excuse to postpone this deadline, despite the fact that clean water is an even more essential resource during a public health crisis. The colonial government’s deliberate disregard for the safety of Indigenous communities intersects with its violence against incarcerated and unhoused populations, of which Indigenous people comprise a disquieting share.

As people across Quebec and Canada began to self-isolate and work from home, challenges also emerged on an individual level. Increased time spent on the internet, alone, and under chronic stress continues to exacerbate mental health conditions – including eating disorders – to which university students are already particularly susceptible. The COVID-19 pandemic has also put additional pressure on interpersonal relationships, and quarantine confinement has led to an increase in domestic and gender-based violence globally. These issues, which are often made invisible even during a “normal” year, endanger lives in ways that can’t be included in traditional epidemiological death counts. But mental health difficulties and interpersonal violence are direct consequences of the virus, consequences we can’t dismiss as fringe cases or collateral damage. Though the people struggling with these issues may be physically isolated from each other, their experiences are related to systemic issues that our governments must take seriously. 

Inequities have also been revealed on an international scale, which are just as important to examine as those playing out in Montreal. Since the onset of the pandemic, there has been a drastic increase in racism and xenophobia, which have led to acts of extreme violence against Asian people. Financial disparities across the globe have led to uneven distributions of vaccines: wealthier countries hoard higher quantities of COVID-19 vaccines, a phenomenon also called “vaccine nationalism.” This is not purely a product of the pandemic – as staff writer (and former Sci+Tech Editor!) Nabeela Jivraj explains, it is not only governments who contribute to vaccine nationalism, but also major corporations profiting from the pandemic itself. Because vaccinations are easier and more accessible in certain countries, wealthy individuals have begun to travel across state, provincial, or even national borders to receive a vaccination. This trend, known as “vaccine tourism,” not only poses further health risks associated with travel, but also places the needs of the vaccine tourist over the needs of the community they are exposing to further risk.

The Daily has also covered the injustices both revealed and created by the pandemic at McGill. The beginning of the pandemic saw students on exchange facing problems and a lack of accommodations from the University. Later on, we faced the transition to online learning, which came alongside unclear communication, constant zoom fatigue, and other inequities. In September 2020, staff writer Maya Ibbitson discussed the ways that COVID-19 was impacting students financially in our Features section.

Throughout the entirety of the pandemic, we have also seen the mistreatment of TAs and other student workers, who have been exposed to unsafe and precarious working conditions. Student workers are not the only ones who have faced unsafe conditions at the hands of McGill – in January 2021, News Editor Emily Black reported on the volatile conditions experienced by students at the Ingram School of Nursing, including major changes to the way classes and clinicals were carried out, burnout experienced by students, and mounting expectations. Student Housing and Hospitality Services also made the controversial decision to change its residence handbook permitting the eviction of students from residences for violating public health measures surrounding COVID-19, which reporter Saylor Catlin explained in a February 2021 news article.

COVID-19 has drastically changed the way we think about accessibility, as accommodations that were previously written off as impossible for disabled folks (including telemedicine and remote work) became widely available. Although it is long before we will return to “normal,” as vaccines become available and McGill alleges that we will return to in-person instruction this autumn, there is uncertainty around the future of accessibility. 

With case numbers remaining high and vaccine rollout leaving much to be desired, it is just as important to support each other now as it was a year ago. Throughout the pandemic, activists and advocates have done important local work to support our communities, and it is important both to recognize and to support these efforts. In Montreal, this includes mutual aid and community organizations such as Hoodstock, COVID-19 Mutual Aid Group, and Head and Hands. It is also important to continue to follow public safety guidelines like wearing a mask and maintaining social distancing.

As an editorial board, we recognize that the COVID-19 pandemic is ongoing and are committed to covering the virus and its lingering effects with responsibility and accuracy. We will continue to hold our institutions accountable in a tumultuous time and uplift marginalized voices.

If you have any feedback regarding our ongoing COVID-19 coverage, we encourage you to reach out via our public feedback form.

The opinions expressed in this article reflect the views of The McGill Daily’s Editorial Board. This article was written by Coordinating Editor Kate Ellis and Managing Editor Willa Holt, with additional reporting from Culture Editor Sara Hashemi.

The post One Year Later, COVID Continues to Impact Our Lives appeared first on The McGill Daily.

Top three takeaways: (TL;DR)

• Courses will still be delivered remotely and McGill plans on offering limited, optional in-person activities
• Certain laboratories and clinical programs that are usually in-person will remain in-person and mandatory for graduation, even if Montreal remains a red zone
• The University formally recognized that 2 McGill students in residence contracted COVID, but didn’t include any cases that may have occurred during off-campus mandatory activities

What might this mean?

While remote course delivery hasn’t changed, this semester has demonstrated that McGill’s in-person options are limited and subject to change. This caution seems to clash with the second point – in the latest announcement, the McGill administration confirmed that a relatively broad range of in-person education can be expected to be mandatory in some faculties – unless Quebec specifically implements further COVID restrictions. “Red zone” is the highest alert level currently listed by the Quebec government, so further restrictions seem unlikely. Thus, in-person laboratories and clinical activities will be continuing – and introduced for some programs – as the pandemic progresses throughout the province. This leads to the third point: in the announcement, McGill indicated that only two cases have occurred specifically as a result of transmission “on our campuses.” The scope of this statement is currently unclear. This could be concerning, given the precedent McGill has set for not counting off-campus COVID cases – which could ostensibly include cases linked to mandatory university-related activities such as off-campus clinicals.

Campus health and safety

What’s new?

Not much has changed in terms of on-campus health and safety. In several emails, McGill reports an easy and safe increase in staff and student presence on campus, and doesn’t indicate any policy changes. However, in this announcement, they report two cases of on-campus transmission over the past six months (both in residence), despite the University’s September announcement that six cases of COVID-19 had been reported on campus. McGill also indicated that no cases had been linked to workplace transmission or “any academic activities,” though it is unclear whether this includes off-campus activities as well.

What might this mean?

Students can expect that the current regulations for on-campus activity will continue as they have been. McGill’s expressed commitment to health and safety remains strong, although its lack of specificity may remain concerning for some students.

Two tiers of academic activity

Tier 1: Mandatory, in person

• • Students participating in Tier 1 activities have already been informed – no surprises here, per McGill – you should know already if your courses are included in this category

• Not subject to cancellation under red zone operations, unless stricter regulations are introduced by Quebec

• Examples: certain “critical” laboratories, clinical activities, project courses, other “experiential in-person components” of classes, including those required for graduation

Tier 2: Optional, in person, on campus

• Not required, but will be offered by all faculties
• Subject to change/cancellation if McGill enters red zone operations
• Examples: seminar courses, tutorials, conference sections, potentially certain labs and lectures

What might this mean?

The first tier is more complicated, and more crucial. While Tier 2 activities are subject to cancellation or change if McGill enters stricter COVID regulations, Tier 1 activities apparently are not – and they include courses mandatory for graduation. This means that some students may be required to attend in-person activities as COVID-19 continues to spread, unless Quebec tightens provincial restrictions specifically including universities and colleges. Exactly what kind of new requirements might cause Tier 1 activities to be cancelled remains unclear, which may be a result of the unpredictability of the pandemic and the government’s response to it. For those in Tier 1 courses, it will be worth tracking Quebec’s pandemic response and staying up to date with McGill’s COVID FAQ.

If you feel that you’re being put at undue risk by your courses, instructors, or McGill’s COVID-19 policies, please contact us at news@mcgilldaily.com.

Updates to the FAQ

Key additions:

In the FAQ, McGill has clarified that:

• Only students in Tier 1 classes are required to be present on campus
• Tier 1 activities are still occurring despite Montreal’s current COVID situation because they have been “deemed as essential” and have allegedly been “operating safely”
• Not attending Tier 2 in-person activities shouldn’t put you at a disadvantage; remote options will be provided
• Face coverings are recommended when students/instructors are closer than 2 metres, but instructors can’t require them in the classroom
• Teaching & Learning Services are assisting with the additional workload on instructors of providing both in-person and online activities
• In-person options are intended to especially help students struggling with online learning

Instructors are required to work on campus if their courses/activities are deemed essential; no cases have been reported of workplace transmission.

The post Winter 2021 COVID-19 Updates appeared first on The McGill Daily.

Social Work Professors Katherine Maurer and Wanda Gabriel presented the EDDII Strategic Plan to the Council, outlining how the Plan would improve the School’s curricula and governance to meet the needs of racialized students. Soon after the presentation, U2 Social Work student Jo Roy proposed an amendment to the Strategic Plan written by Social Work student Mina Pingol – among other measures, Pingol’s amendment includes the demand to consult with more racialized students in creating curricula, and to have racialized professors teach the school’s Anti-Oppression courses. Roy expressed concern that without the steps outlined in the amendment, racialized students would continue suffering traumatization at school. “There have been no resources so far. These teachers are not being held accountable and neither are these students,” they said. “Some students, through all this traumatization and victimization and violence, may die as a result of your inaction.”

After Roy proposed the amendment, School of Social Work Director Nico Trocmé suggested that the Council vote on the ratification of the Strategic Plan at a later date, explaining that he did not “see how [the Council could] manage this amendment at this stage of the strategic plan,” without further deliberation. U2 Social Work student Maya Malik pointed out that students had attempted to bring up the same issues during the open meeting on October 26, and students’ concerns had been deferred for later discussion during that meeting as well. Malik claimed that the School’s administration had kept students’ criticisms “pushed to the back burner,” and emphasized the urgency of creating a safer environment for racialized students in the School of Social Work. “Sometimes I feel like I’m dying… I’m so unwell. I don’t know if you understand that,” they said. “I’m just tired of this. It’s really important, it’s not like something to implement in three years.”

Trocmé responded that creating an actionable plan to address these issues would take time, and reiterated that he did not believe it would be possible to incorporate all of the items in Pingol’s amendment into the plan. Other members of the faculty indicated disagreement with elements of the plan, particularly the demand that anti-oppression classes be taught by racialized professors. Pingol countered this, maintaining that previous town halls had not been accessible to students, and that the mental health issues students have been experiencing were too urgent to not be addressed by the Strategic Plan. “The actionable items for the rest of the semester is that racialized students need our mental health to be preserved,” she said, explaining that the school should prioritize its students’ mental health. “I don’t think someone should die for us to look at what’s being talked about.”

Administrators ultimately decided to vote on the Strategic Plan without the amendment, but said that some elements of Pingol’s amendment may be added to the plan later. The Council unanimously voted in favor of implementing the Plan.

While Roy expressed some frustration that the Council hesitated in adopting the motion, they said that students have “set up a good foundation to move forward.” They emphasized that now that racialized students have expressed their demands, it is up to the faculty to meet their needs: “moving forward it is for [teachers] to keep their word and work with us to bring about the pedagogical and policy shifts needed to make the school of social work a safer place for BIPOC students.”

Codey Martin, a Social Work student who has been at the forefront of pushing the School to support and stand with its students, told the Daily that the results of the Council meeting are “the tip of the iceberg.” “It feels like a step towards something better, even though there’s a lot of work left.” Martin explained that he and other students – especially marginalized students and students of colour – have been putting in long hours behind the scenes, and expressed appreciation for the broad support he and his peers have received. To him, the Council’s motion means that the School “can’t go back on” their commitments to speak up for students. Though the meeting was encouraging, he says, “Now the real work starts.”

A previous version of this article incorrectly attributed this amendment to Jo Roy; the original author of the amendment is Mina Pingol. The Daily regrets this error.

The post School of Social Work Ratifies New Equity Initiative appeared first on The McGill Daily.

Happy Halloween! Though the full moon has faded, it’s still time to self-reflect. Our very own skeleton council has convened to read your fortunes, revealed to them through cursèd whispers in the night. Scroll down to uncover their nefarious predictions….if you DARE! 

Scorpio:

Put the ouija board down, are you TRYING to get haunted??? Do a solid bunz trade for a tarot reading like the rest of us. You know you’re going to be fine, but sometimes it’s nice to hear it from someone else.

Capricorn:

Right about now you should be hosting the apple bobbing contest and baking Pillsbury cookies for everyone. We get it. A new tip to channel your inner mom: e-cards! Ever heard of them? We know it’s not 2005, but you’ll have that parental charm as that little bunny saying “hoppy halloween” pops up in your friends’ inboxes. Live your best life.

Aquarius:

Are midterms creeping you out? Us too! The best solution? Turn on the scary concept album of the century, Kim Petras’s TURN OFF THE LIGHT, and eat something with entirely too much cinnamon. You’ll thank us later.

Pisces:

You are the Halloweenie. You know it, we know it, everyone knows it. Don’t let your friends convince you to watch Sinister, it’s WAY TOO SCARY! Seriously, just take a brisk fall walk and remember how nice it feels to be alive, here, in the present. Even just for a moment.

Aries:

Listen, we all know you’re winning the costume contest this year. Leave some drip for the rest of us!! It can be hard to stay focused, and that’s okay – you have a lot going on this season. Own your little victories.

Taurus:

Halloween has got you wanting to live out your Carmilla dreams of being a sapphic vampire, and honestly, we support it. Maybe not the time to be biting any necks (you know, with COVID and all), but you could use that inside time to dye your hair, invest in a new goth wardrobe on Depop, or make some edgy TikToks. We won’t judge you.

Gemini:

The days of pumpkin spice are drawing to a close as we move towards apple cider and extravagant hot chocolates. You know, indulging in some corporate latte excitement won’t strip you of your socialist card. We swear.

Cancer:

Ariana Grande really released an album JUST FOR YOU! Turn off the lights, pour your autumnal drink of choice, and simply vibe. Okay wait maybe turn the lights back on oh my god it’s really dark in here. Okay. Okay. We’re good. Light some candles. Next song.

Leo:

Maybe you aren’t a superstitious person, but hey – you’re reading the horoscopes. Beware of crossroads, ladders, and mirrors in the dark. But please be nice to black cats! You might feel an extra kinship with them this season; you both deserve some extra love right about now.

Virgo:

The stars tell us that you wish you could be dancing at some sort of wild Bar Le Ritz theme night. While we’re in the red zone, replicate the experience at home by blasting SOPHIE, dancing in your last-minute costume, and writing on the bathroom mirror. Want some extra immersion? Your kitchen table is now the stage. DISCLAIMER: we are not responsible for any ensuing injuries. 

Libra:

Now’s the time to show off your interpretive dance number expressing your complicated feelings about pumpkin-carving as an institutional practice. Be wary: it’s prime time for an old skeleton to jump out of its closet. No, not like that. You know what we mean.

The post ~ Horrorscopes ~ appeared first on The McGill Daily.

Martin, who is also a part of the Race Caucus at the School of Social Work, has reached out repeatedly to ask the School for concrete solidarity action, beginning with a letter affirming its support for Indigenous communities. Throughout his time in Social Work, Martin told the Daily, conversations around “allyship” have been constant. He explained, however, that these conversations have seldom led to real change. “It’s kind of time to put those words into action,” Martin said, “[and] not just have these five minute discussions in the classroom and walk away from it.” The School of Social Work has a history fraught with colonial exploitation to reckon with, according to Martin, citing its reliance on Indigenous communities for research purposes without effectively giving back to those communities. “A lot of Indigenous communities are tired of being dissected at [an] academic level.” Martin and others are finding land acknowledgements and brief statements in Social Work not enough. “If you don’t want to be part of the bigger picture, you need to stop using terminology like ‘decolonizing,’ ‘reconciliation,’ you know?”

Wanda Gabriel, an Assistant Professor in Social Work who is originally from Kanehsatà:ke, empathizes with students’ frustrations. Academic institutions, she says, aren’t used to having difficult conversations. “I don’t think that universities have caught up,” she told the Daily. “We’re not getting there fast enough […] to meet the students where they’re at.” But that’s not to say that nothing is happening on the part of the School. Speaking to student concerns about delays in releasing a solidarity statement, Gabriel explained, “The bureaucracy of academia is so huge […] there’s all this red tape to get through.” This is especially true for the School of Social Work, whose internal governance structure is still in the process of being solidified. Gabriel, who also serves as the director of Indigenous Access McGill (IAM), explained that some of the barriers students face come as a result of this administrative confusion: until very recently, “There hasn’t been a governance structure in place that determines how the School of Social Work governs itself.” In addition to a lack of clear administration, the School doesn’t currently have a clear equity structure, making it difficult for students to navigate/access resources.

Last year, the School established a School Council, which serves as “the primary decision-making body” for Social Work. It’s at an upcoming meeting of this council that many students in Social Work, including Codey Martin, intend to voice their concerns and grievances. Jo Roy, another U2 Social Work student, explained that students who have felt largely unheard will be attending the session on October 28 to continue to “speak their truth about the racism they face in the classroom.” Martin encouraged students from other Faculties to attend and to pay attention, emphasizing the importance of solidarity between communities when facing issues like institutional racism. “I want to spread awareness of, you know, racism across the board and the hardships that Indigenous people are facing today in 2020. So I’m looking forward [to] a good outcome from all nationalities.”

The October 28 School Council meeting is also serving another critical purpose — to ratify the new Equity Diversity Decolonization Indigenization Initiative (EDDII) and the related EDDII Strategic Plan. The EDDII is an initiative, not a committee: it’s composed of participants, not members, all of whom have equal decision-making power in terms of the EDDII’s actions. In an email to the Daily, a representative from the EDDII explained that this structure came as a result of consultations with students, and that the initiative’s goal is to “support and track” the implementation of a 4-year action plan, which will focus on decolonization, indigenization, and centering anti-Black racism. Though several students have reported discomfort or dissatisfaction with a lack of action on the part of the EDDII, its ultimate impact won’t become clear until after its ratification (or rejection) at the School Council meeting. 

In the meantime, students in Social Work are left without a clear path to solidarity or equity from the School. Codey Martin told the Daily, “You would expect that with all the committees and all the initiatives, that they would have just done something on their own. I feel like there probably is a lot of labor that’s outsourced to students.” The next step, according to Martin and Roy, is to be “really vocal” at the October 28 meeting. Across the board, from students to professors, the Social Work community emphasized the importance of advocating for improvements together. Where Martin focuses on international, inter-community alliance, Professor Gabriel framed it in terms of being a good relative. Speaking with the Daily, she explained, “Being a good relative comes from Indigenous ways of knowing and being seen. [… It means] be[ing] able to stand with, and sometimes to speak on behalf of [each other].” One Social Work professor also emphasized the importance of these student mobilizing efforts, saying that this work is messy and uncomfortable, but crucial, and will ultimately allow students to get the resources and support they need to excel as social workers.

The lack of such resources is a key point of tension for students like Roy, who told the Daily that “the School’s actions run against everything our profession is supposed to stand for.”

While Social Work students wait for more accessible institutionalized equity resources, IAM continues to provide support for Indigenous students. Speaking on behalf of IAM, Professor Gabriel said, “If students need us to advocate, we will advocate. If we need to just stand with the students, we’ll stand with the students.”

Professor Gabriel, on behalf of IAM, provided the following resources for Indigenous students:

• Calling the IAM office at 514-398-2129 (home office 450-479-8777)
  • Attending IAM’s monthly Zoom check-ins
• Accessing the First Peoples’ House

Calling the Hope For Wellness Helpline at 1-855-242-3310

The post Social Work Students Urge Faculty to Express Solidarity appeared first on The McGill Daily.

Scorpio: Congrats on being born! Those depop sellers really appreciate you singlehandedly keeping their businesses alive.

Sagittarius: consider bisexuality. savor the concept. really mull that one over. just saying.

Capricorn: stop overthinking your haircut/hair colour/whatever. you’re hot. make some bread.

Aquarius: Have you taken a break recently? Your friends care about you, bud. Let them put you first for once!

Pisces: When was the last time you washed your vibrator? Think about it. Stop sending tiktoks to your not-even-ex.

Aries: Stop selling your baby clothes to Scorpios on depop!!!! That’s not Y2K, it’s a Toddler size 2!!!

Taurus: Leave your house. Take a walk. Eat a leaf. It’s whatever, man.

Gemini: We know that AOC is hot, but stop worshipping political figures. And get that tattoo (if it’s safe in your area).

Cancer: You’re doing a great job, we promise. Your tiktok fame will come naturally, don’t sweat it!

Leo: Something is telling you to contribute to the McGill Daily… I wonder what it is? Water your plants.

Virgo: stream ungodly hour by chloe x halle, take a bubble bath, you can do this!

Libra: straightness isn’t like, criminal, but it’s also not a great long-term strategy. If you’ve already abandoned that road more taken, we recommend The Watermelon Woman. It’s on Kanopy. 

The post Queer History Month Horoscopes appeared first on The McGill Daily.

Unsurprisingly, nearly everyone reported being overwhelmed, Zoom-fatigued, and bracing for the weeks to come. Many students spoke about the challenges of balancing their time away from screens for both their mental and physical health. Several explained that the amount of screen time they expect this semester will exacerbate health conditions including migraines, eye strain, and chronic pain. This isn’t helped by courses with mandatory live lecture attendance, which can also be a severe barrier for the many students living outside of Eastern Standard Time.

Among them is Sreena Ghatak, a U2 International Development Studies major who is currently living in India, which is 9 and a half hours ahead of Montreal. Asynchronous lectures have made things much easier for Ghatak, but they still feel the pressures of not attending classes in real time. “Being in a different time zone makes me really anxious because it always feels like I’m missing something or doing something wrong if I don’t stay up to do my classes even though it’s at 2am,” they wrote. The anxiety extends beyond schoolwork and into the social sphere, as well. Like many students living outside EST, Ghatak finds the time difference makes it nearly impossible to make connections with other students. “I have no communication with any students in 2 of my classes,” they explained. “Usually, I’d make a friend in class to study with.” Missing out on what little connection we can find with other students can be demoralizing, on top of the isolation that online learning already presents. But thankfully, Ghatak’s professors have been understanding and inclusive of their needs, including providing a 48-hour gap between assignments.

“Being in a different time zone makes me really anxious because it always feels like I’m missing something or doing something wrong if I don’t stay up to do my classes even though it’s at 2am.” – Sreena Ghatak, U2 IDS

Some professors have introduced new assignments in an effort to maintain (and grade) participation remotely. Because group discussion can be complicated when you’re trying to keep asynchronous students like Ghatak included, many professors have elected to use discussion boards on MyCourses or periodic reflection assignments instead. But these developments aren’t sitting well with some students. “What professors don’t seem to realize is that this is 1) a significant change in workload, and 2) even more screen time,” explained Nicole Perkins, a U4 Philosophy student living 3 hours ahead of Montreal time. “It is definitively not the same type or level of engagement to have an in-class discussion and to write a 300-word blurb that other students can read.”

Valeria Lau (U2 Political Science) agreed, saying, “one hill I will die on is that discussion boards […] don’t actually replace the role of in-person discussion.” Lau described these short assignments as “mini-essays,” explaining that “the amount of work that discussion boards require is usually disproportionate to the percentage of the grade that they affect.”

For Perkins, stricter participation requirements have a particularly strong impact: she experiences chronic illness and occasional migraines. In a typical year, Perkins would have relied on the Office for Students with Disabilities (OSD) for accommodations, including relief from stringent attendance policies. This semester, though, it’s become more challenging. “Now, no such [accommodation] is possible because ‘participation’ is all virtual and standardized for all students.”

“I am so systemized now. I AM a spreadsheet.” – U2 Econ, CompSci

Attendance is not the only concern students have with OSD accommodations this semester; students are already experiencing difficulties when it comes to assessments. While Bryan Buraga (U3 Sustainability, Science, and Society) is clear about his appreciation for teaching staff and the OSD, he admits that seeking time-based accommodations has been harder than usual this semester. He’s already had an assessment in one of his courses, a timed 20-minute quiz for which he usually receives extra time. When Buraga requested this accommodation, “the prof was like, ‘I don’t think I’m actually able to do that, like physically on MyCourses. But go ahead and do it, let me know how it goes. If it doesn’t go well, I’ll just drop that one and try to find a different solution.’ which is like… not exactly accommodations.” While this was frustrating, Buraga didn’t hold it against his instructor: “it’s not the prof’s fault, it’s the tech’s fault.”

Even so, the fact that McGill’s chosen technology poses problems for students in accessing OSD accommodations is troubling. It’s up to the university to resolve these issues and remove barriers for students.

Another issue coming into focus this semester is the extreme increase in organization and time management that semi-asynchronous online learning requires from each student. “The remote nature [of this semester] makes your schedule a lot more flexible, but in a bad way,” wrote U3 Political Science and History student Alex Karasick. “If you’re not careful you’ll lose track of when things are and when they’re due.” The struggle to stay on a self-imposed schedule when each course has many small, moving parts has been challenging for many students, especially those who experience executive dysfunction. The lack of outside study spaces is also becoming more challenging, as students who usually separate their workspace from their home are forced to do higher workloads than normal in the spaces they usually use for relaxation. This adds up to an incredible amount of stress, and a lot of uncertainty for overwhelmed students. But even those who would feel confident about their organizational skills in a normal year are having difficulties. U3 Nursing student Annalise Patzer expressed frustration with the lack of standardization and organization on the part of her instructors, writing “now that our world is online, there’s no place for disorganized mycourses [pages] that have missing links or frankly, having things like a syllabus or lectures uploaded […] days late.”

Part of the difficulty is the amount of freedom given to course lecturers and professors in designing their online course structures. While on one hand, it’s a source of creative, engaging curricula, leading to immersive and interesting assignments and lecture delivery (including podcasts and fully produced videos), it can be a source of stress for instructors and students alike. When there’s too little structure, professors can be disorganized and students feel lost or frustrated. When there’s too much, course sites can be overwhelming and students struggle to keep up with course requirements.

Some professors have elected for “business as usual: online edition,” while others have gone too far in the other direction, incorporating what students feel are too many new strategies. The best courses seem to strike a careful balance, relying on enough remote strategies to keep students engaged without becoming confusing. Ultimately, though, the most important factor seemed to be consistent, easily-accessible recordings of course activities. When asked about the positive aspects of remote learning, Lau wrote,“The lack of distractions available when lectures are recorded in a clear and concise way has been helpful.” While some students struggle with scheduling time to listen to pre-recorded lectures, Lau (among others) said that she “like[s] being able to complete all of the lectures for one week in a short amount of time.”

But in order to make creative use of remote learning tools and produce clear, concise recordings, course instructors have to be comfortable with the technology. This often doesn’t seem to be the case, and most students wished professors had familiarized themselves more with the software prior to the beginning of the semester. “It’s pretty complicated to navigate online classes when half the time the profs know even less about operating it than we do accessing it,” said Karasick. To be clear, few students I spoke with were frustrated with all professors in general. Many went out of their way to express their appreciation for their instructors, who are mostly going above and beyond to provide a positive learning experience. Even still, the most common stories I heard were about instructors failing to use Zoom effectively, or at all.

“I don’t feel like I can take the time to go on walks or do things for myself because the computer is always there always with asynchronous things to be doing” – Annalise Patzer, U3 Nursing

Part of the difficulty is that professors and teaching staff have had to restructure their courses and adapt their teaching styles to a platform that was never designed to be used as an educational tool. As Jonathan Sterne, a professor of Communication Studies, put it, Zoom “basically got lucky” in achieving its status as the ubiquitous teaching software. Even if Zoom were built for education, Professor Sterne explained, the semester wouldn’t be running perfectly; “No amount of training or practice can fully prepare anyone for dealing with a new technical or social arrangement.” For a school the size of McGill, with staff at various levels of technical experience and comfort, things are especially difficult. Even Sterne, who has been “putting some part of [his] courses online since the 1990s,” has been struggling. “I have never worked harder to get my courses up and running than this term.”

When I asked what students would like to see from their professors this semester, the subject of grading came up often. Several students expressed concern that professors were preparing to use the same grading strategies (and strictness) as in previous years, despite substantial changes in course delivery methods, significant additional pressures on students in terms of mental and physical health, and financial concerns. U3 Political Science student Wynn Rederburg suggested that profs “be fair about grading this semester, almost more so than last,” emphasizing that “last semester was half over by the time things shut down, but this semester I feel like there’s even more of a learning curve.” Though school remains in session as “normally” as possible, students seem to feel that being graded without accounting for the continued emotional and physical burdens of the pandemic would be unacceptable. It’s hard (even for McGill) to argue with that.

“It’s pretty complicated to navigate online classes when half the time the profs know even less about operating it than we do accessing it” – Alex Karasick, U3 PoliSci, History

Some faculties of the university seem to be hit harder than others by the constraints of this semester, including the faculty of Nursing. One U2 Nursing student I spoke with, who asked to remain anonymous, described how challenging the changes have been. They explained that Nursing has a strong focus on group work and a close community, which has almost entirely disappeared as many classes move to complete asynchronicity. Whereas in a normal year, they would be doing two days of clinical rotations per week, this semester, “clinical is like, a month-long block where we’re going to be working full-time,” the student explained. Because of this change, almost all lectures are pre-recorded, and students aren’t expected to do classes during their block of clinical rotations. What this means, though, is that it’s up to each student to pace themselves so they won’t fall behind. For this U2 in particular – who is taking 18 credits this semester – that means “rather than doing one three-hour lecture a week, I’m doing, like, two for most of my classes, in order to get as much done as possible before I’m in clinical [in October].” This heightened workload makes the lack of community much more apparent, and more difficult. Your go-to study partner may be in their block of clinical (working full-time, and therefore unavailable) or in a completely different part of the course from you.

While the anonymous U2 expressed that their professors have been very understanding, summer communications about what Nursing would look like were unhelpful at best, and insulting at worst. “The communication we were getting specifically about Nursing […] kind of had the tone of, ‘When you’re a nurse, you’re going to have to deal with unexpected things, so just deal with it.’ And they wouldn’t give us any information. […] I was very, very stressed over the summer trying to figure out what the school year was looking like because they only really told us a week before classes.”

Richard Heller, a Psychology student in his second year, also described feeling out of the loop when it came to remote learning. After taking the previous semester off to work full-time, Heller found himself returning to an academic landscape that felt totally unfamiliar. “I received absolutely no information in terms of like, how it was supposed to work, or what was expected of me,” Heller said. The need for clear communication is more obvious for first-year students, as one upper-year Nursing student explained, “If I was in U1 Nursing right now, I don’t know how I would learn anything. […] I really relied on other people within the Nursing community to help me out […] but doing it all by yourself, I feel like that would be very overwhelming. I really can’t imagine how I would personally manage it.” But Heller isn’t the only returning student who feels left behind. Beyond technical information about Zoom and McGill’s remote learning strategies and policies, many students feel that they’re missing another critical piece of information: how to advocate for themselves.

“I hope profs as lenient with us [in terms of grading] as we’re being with McGill, regarding delivery challenges” – Wynn Rederburg, U3 PoliSci

Sarah Bounouar, an upper-year Management student, mentioned a particular course in which her professor explained that, because online courses make cheating easier, students would not be able to receive a grade higher than 85%. According to Bounouar, the professor explained, “If you’re wondering where the fifteen points went, well, I’m just not giving them.” While Bounouar was able to drop the class immediately, she noted that not everyone could: it’s a required course for marketing students. Though this is an exceptionally bad situation, almost every student I spoke with had experienced an uncomfortable or untenable course environment. However, no student knew exactly where to go for help — and it’s not because they haven’t been looking. In a recent media Q&A session with administrators, a representative from the Daily asked about the mechanisms in place to keep professors accountable to equitable and fair online learning. While the Associate Provost Equity and Academic Policies, Angela Campbell, spoke to McGill’s stated support for students – assisting with and providing technology, encouraging professors to make their courses accessible and somewhat asynchronous – none of the administrators present provided answers about what students can do when a professor is not following those mandates. Though the administration provided several links to online resources, including study tips and Zoom guides, clear avenues of self-advocacy and accountability were noticeably absent from them.

“I wish my profs gave us a resource besides themselves to go to if we had an issue with how our course was being run” – Annalise Patzer, U3 Nursing

This isn’t to say that there are no options at all, though they are slow and inefficient. In response to an email from the Daily, SSMU VP University Affairs Brooklyn Frizzle provided a list of potential actions students can take to advocate for themselves. However, they expressed no surprise at the lack of clarity from administration, writing, “to be honest, there aren’t many good mechanisms available to students.” Several students spoke to their desire for better ways to speak up, including Annalise Patzer. She explained over text that “its just 10x more difficult when your only form of advocacy is thru email and ur just HOPING the prof can sense ur frustration or will reply to you ‘within 5 business days.’”

Hopefully, avenues for seeking accountability will become clearer as the semester progresses, and one of the strongest tools we as students have to make that happen is pressuring administration together, as a community. The most striking through-line in all of my conversations was a lack of community and closeness because of remote learning and isolation – a lack of what characterizes McGill at its best. Maybe the knowledge that we’re all missing the little things – chatting with an acquaintance in the library, meeting up with friends to study, making a new connection in a lecture hall – can be an encouraging reminder. The process of speaking to other students about what’s scary, comforting, and stressful was helpful for me, and hopefully sharing what I heard can be helpful for others. We can and should be open about how hard this is, and in doing so, we can figure out how to make this semester healthier and happier for all of us. It’s also good to remember why we’re here, separated from each other and navigating such a complicated semester – one which will hopefully improve as we learn and adapt. In an email to the Daily, Professor Sterne wrote, “Covid cost everyone something. If our main complaint is about some rocky first classes, we should count ourselves fortunate.”

Brooklyn’s recommendations:

• You could submit a complaint, in writing, to the Chair of the Committee on Student Grievances. It’s actually a pretty powerful Committee and has the power to remedy most complaints BUT there’s no timeline for a decision and only two students sit on the Committee;
• If the professor is violating the Charter of Students’ Rights, you could submit a complaint to the Advisory Council on the Charter of Students’ Rights. Complaints submitted to the CSG can also be referred to the Council but it has largely the same problems as the CSG;
• You could contact the OSD for accommodations, although that won’t fix the problem for other students and its a bit of a long process; or
• You could write to the Chair of the Department or even the Dean and basically hope that they care enough to step in.

There are also a couple of good support systems available to students regardless of which route they decide to take:

• The LICM can advise you on which route to take or even advocate on your behalf to the CSG or to the Advisory council. LICM Advocates are kind of like student lawyers;
• The SSMU Student Rights Researcher and Advocacy Commissioner can advise you on your Student Rights. They’re helpful if you don’t know whether or not your rights are being violated; and
• I can advise you on the options available to you and informally advocate on your behalf to Professors, Department Chairs, Deans, and other admin.

Brooklyn can be reached via email at ua@ssmu.ca.

Correction: A previous version of this article incorrectly identified Richard Heller as a Nursing student; he is studying Psychology.

The post Zoom School: How Students Are Coping with an Online Semester appeared first on The McGill Daily.

1. 1. Social Justice and Activism
   2. Environmental Justice
   3. Resources for Racialized Students
   4. Resources for 2SLGBTQ+ Students
   5. Health and Well-being

Please note that any events and activities may be subject to change due to campus closures and social distance guidelines resulting from the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. We encourage students to reach out directly to groups that you are interested in for more information. 

Social Justice and Activism

McGill Students in Solidarity with Palestinian Human Rights (SPHR)

SPHR McGill is a non-hierachical, “non-profit, student-based organization that advocates to uphold the rights of the Palestinian people in the face of human rights violations and all forms of racism, discrimination, misinformation, and misrepresentation.” Students can get involved with SPHR by attending their meetings, informative workshops on the occupation in Palestine, and cultural events such as movie screenings and hummus sales.

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pg/sphrmcgill

Email: mcgillsphr@gmail.com 

McGill Students for a Free Tibet (SFT)

McGill Students for a Free Tibet is the campus chapter of Students for a Free Tibet, a “grassroots network which amplifies the voices of Tibetans inside Tibet in the pursuit of freedom and human rights.” They use education, grassroots organizing, and non-violent direct action to “campaign for Tibetans’ fundamental right to political freedom.” Students can get involved in SFT by attending meetings, educational workshops, and cultural events such as movie screenings and cooking classes.

Website: https://www.studentsforafreetibet.org 

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/sftmcgill/

Email: mcgillstudentsforafreetibet@gmail.com 

CKUT 90.3 FM

CKUT 90.3 FM is McGill’s non-profit, campus-community radio station! According to their Facebook page, “CKUT provides alternative music, news and spoken word programming to the city of Montreal and surrounding areas, 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.”

CKUT has a number of volunteer, internship, and employment opportunities, which can be found at https://www.ckut.ca/en. 

Website: https://ckut.ca/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/RadioCKUT/

Email: admin@ckut.ca 

Independent Jewish Voices McGill (IJV)

According to their Facebook page, “IJV McGill is a group of Jewish students and community members who stand in solidarity with Palestine.” IJV organizes and orchestrates direct actions, including demonstrations, along with SPHR, while also acting as a social and cultural space for Jewish students who are critical of Zionism by hosting Shabbat and other gatherings. 

Website: http://ijvcanada.org 

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pg/ijvmcgill 

Email: ijvmcgill@gmail.com 

QPIRG-McGill

The McGill chapter of the Quebec Public Interest Research Group (QPIRG) is “a non-profit, student-run organization that unites McGill and Montreal communities in the fight for social and environmental justice through research, education, and by taking action.” QPIRG is run by a non-hierarchical volunteer board of directors made up of McGill students and community members.

QPIRG McGill works on a number of projects, including their annual event series Culture Shock, alternative orientation program Rad Frosh, alternative school planner School Schmool, and Montreal-based research journal Convergence.

Website: http://qpirgmcgill.org 

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/QPIRG.GRIP.McGill

Email: info@qpirgmcgill.org 

Prisoner Correspondence Project 

The Prisoner Correspondence Project is a working group of QPIRG-Concordia that “coordinates a direct-correspondence program for gay, lesbian, transsexual, transgender, gendervariant, two-spirit, intersex, bisexual and queer inmates in Canada and the United States, linking these inmates with people a part of these same communities outside of prison.” They also compile a resource library of information about topics such as harm reduction, sexuality, and HIV prevention, as well as hold educational events about incarceration and criminalization for folks on the outside.

To become a penpal, visit https://prisonercorrespondenceproject.com/. 

Website: https://prisonercorrespondenceproject.com/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/prisonercorrespondenceproject/

Email: info@prisonercorrespondenceproject.com 

Environmental Justice

Climate Justice Action McGill (C-JAM)

C-JAM is a non-hierarchical group at McGill that “demands climate justice from the McGill administration and Canadian governments” through non-violent direct action. As explained on their Facebook page, their principles are to:

1. Operate under anti-oppressive practices
2. Prioritise Indigenous, Black, and marginalised voices (and work to amplify them)
3. Work to minimise social hierarchies that often manifest in activist groups
4. Prioritise systemic, political change over individual consumer change

Past initiatives of C-JAM include organizing the McGill contingent of the global climate strike, hosting a webinar series with Wet’suwet’en elder Marlene Hale, and a DIY seed-bombing workshop with the SSMU Environment Committee.

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ClimateJusticeActionMcGill

Email: planettakesmcgill@gmail.com 

Divest McGill

Divest McGill is a 7-year-old “environmental justice campaign calling on McGill University to acknowledge and address the urgency of the climate crisis by withdrawing the direct (segregated) investments of its endowment fund from the fossil fuel industry.” According to their website, their specific goals are to:

1. Complete and transparent divestment from the top 200 fossil fuel companies  (globally, by reserves)
2. Mobilize our supporters in solidarity with Indigenous and other marginalized students on campus, in Montreal, and in Canada
3. Educate and mobilize the McGill community (administration, staff, and students) in support of bold and justice-oriented climate action such as carbon neutrality and pipeline resistance

Students can get involved in a number of tasks and teams including outreach, communications, and research.

Website: https://www.divestmcgill.com/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/DivestMcGill/

Email: divestmcgill@gmail.com 

Resources for Racialized Students

Black Students’ Network (BSN)

The Black Students’ Network is a service of the Students Society of McGill University (SSMU) that is “dedicated to addressing the needs and interests of Black students.” They host a variety of social and political events by and for Black students including Soul Food Fridays, Hair Day, Black Frosh, Black Grad, Youth Day, and much more.

BSN has a list of resources for Black students on their website at https://www.bsnmcgill.com/black-at-mcgill.

Website: www.bsnmcgill.com 

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pg/BlackStudentsNetworkOfMcGill/

Email: bsn@ssmu.ca 

Indigenous Student Alliance (ISA)

ISA is a group at McGill that “provides integrative support for Indigenous peoples’ attending McGill University to connect and share [their] unique, authentic indigenous ways of knowing with each other and with non-indigenous peoples within the community.” 

They host a variety of events including demonstrations in solidarity with Indigenous land defenders, educational workshops, bannock sales, and collaborative cultural events with groups such as Am McGill and McGill Students for a Free Tibet.

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Indigenous.Student.Alliance/

Email: isa@ssmu.ca 

First Peoples’ House (FPH)

The First Peoples’ House provides many kinds of support for Indigenous students, typically including weekly meals and culturally-informed academic support. The FPH also hosts many events throughout the year, including “Powwows and Feasts aimed at fostering community bonds.” Additionally, the First Peoples’ House offers 10 single-occupancy rooms from September 1 – July 31 each year, with applications prioritizing Indigenous graduate and undergraduate students. 

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/6063708337/

Website: https://www.mcgill.ca/fph/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/firstpeopleshouse/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/FPHMcGill

Pan-Asian Collective Montreal (PAC)

The Pan-Asian Collective is a group that intends to uplift and encourage “meaningful engagement in Asian history and culture” at Montreal-area universities. Through events including potlucks and movie screenings as well as their discussion group series, Un(PAC)k, the Pan-Asian Collective aims to provide space for support, education, and solidarity for the Asian community in Montreal.

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pg/pacmcgill/

Email: panasiancollectivemontreal@gmail.com

Resources for 2SLGBTQ+ Students

Queer McGill (QM)

Queer McGill (QM) is a student-run service which offers resources including a queer library (English only, online library available on their website), safer-sex supplies, and gender-affirming products. QM also offers events focusing on queer students, including Rad Sex Month, games nights, and open mics. Remote events are being held during this semester, and can be accessed through the Queer McGill Social Distancing Group on Facebook.

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/QueerMcGill/

Website: queermcgill.org

Email: admin.qm@ssmu.ca

The Union for Gender Empowerment (UGE)

The UGE describes itself as a “trans-positive and anti-racist feminist organization.” Its co-op offers safer sex supplies, gender-affirming products, and eco-friendly menstrual supplies, and is operating socially-distanced this semester. The UGE also co-runs an alternative library with Queer McGill and provides discretionary funding for social-justice-oriented projects, and will be providing a safe space in the University Centre (with limited access for pandemic safety reasons.)

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/UGEMcGill/

Website: https://theuge.carrd.co/

Jeunes Queer Youth

Jeunes Queer Youth is a bilingual project-funding program comprised of five Montreal organizations focusing on empowering queer youth in the city: AIDS Community Care Montreal (ACCM), Action Santé Travesti(e)s et Transsexuel(le)s du Québec (ASTT(e)Q), the Montreal Coalition of LGBT Youth Groups, Project 10 and Rézo). The Jeunes Queer Youth program provides funding and guidance for young leaders looking to provide sexual health information to queer and trans youth in Montreal.

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/jeunesqueeryouth/

Website: jeunesqueeryouth.org

Email: jqy@accmontreal.org

Phone: 514-826-8806

Health and Well-being

SACOMSS

The Sexual Assault Centre of the McGill Students’ Society (SACOMSS) provides support to survivors of sexual violence and their allies through “direct support, advocacy, and outreach.” The volunteer-run organization offers support groups, an English phone service (Drop-In and Line or DIAL), and facilitates workshops and trainings around sexual violence. SACOMSS interviews volunteers in mid-September!

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/sacomss/

Website: https://www.sacomss.org/wp/

Email: main@sacomss.org

Phone/DIAL: 514-398-8500

McGill Office for Sexual Violence Response, Support and Education (OSVRSE)

OSVRSE is a service that “provides confidential, non-judgmental and non-directional support” within a survivor-centred, intersectional approach to members of the McGill community who have been impacted by sexual or gender-based violence. Survivors can access support services and short-term counselling, receive assistance with resource coordination (e.g. obtaining accommodations, accessing support services, and safety planning), and discuss reporting options. 

Members of the McGill community looking to access OSVRSE’s services at this time should use their McGill email address to contact osvrse@mcgill.ca. 

Website: https://www.mcgill.ca/osvrse/

Email: osvrse@mcgill.ca 

Aids Community Care Montreal (ACCM)

ACCM is Montreal’s only English-language volunteer driven community “organization that provides support services and treatment information to people living with HIV/AIDS and/or hepatitis C.” The organization provides social and support services such as discussion groups, 1-on-1 support, and practical assistance to people living with HIV and hepatitis C. People living with HIV and hepatitis C can also receive information about treatment, symptoms, and medical coverage. These services are available to both those who have been recently diagnosed and those who have been living with HIV or hepatitis C for longer periods of time.

They also run a number of educational programs to “decrease the transmission of HIV, hepatitis C and other sexually transmitted and blood borne infections.” These programs include sexual health kiosks, workshops, and SextEd, a free anonymous texting helpline for youth seeking information about sex and dating. 

SextEd Phone Number: 514-700-4411

ACCM Phone Number: 514-527-0928

Website: https://accmontreal.org/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ACCMontreal/

Email: info@accmontreal.org

HOJO Concordia

The Concordia Student Union’s Housing and Job Resource Centre (HOJO) provides guidance and support to student renters across Montreal. HOJO offers legal assistance regarding workers’ rights and housing issues, workshops, classifieds for jobs and apartments, and the online housing information resource likehome.info (available in English, French, and Mandarin). These services are available to all student residents of Montreal!

Website: https://csu.qc.ca/services/hojo/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/CSUHOJO

Email: hojo@csu.qc.ca

The post Find Your Space! appeared first on The McGill Daily.

On May 30, 2020, the Daily had the opportunity to speak with Hale and Everett, who shared their experiences with this growing network of activists, elders, students, healers, poets, and more.

Marlene Hale: I think as of January 7, 2019, I became an activist for my community of the Wet’suwet’en Nation, which [has] been in legal battles […] with Coastal GasLink, which is a huge 67 billion dollar corporation who wants to put a pipeline through our territory with Canada shut down, as just before this COVID crisis […] we were still in a huge, big battle with the RCMP that are still impeding us on our territory, plus the Coastal GasLink using the COVID as an excuse to carry on their work.

But when the COVID-19 pandemic hit and social distancing measures were implemented worldwide, Hale and Everett’s focus shifted to include supporting the elderly, especially given the RCMP’s investigation into widespread negligence at CHSLDs across Montreal. Everett explained this shift in part by emphasizing the importance of solidarity without conditions.

Lucy Everett: The first time that we started, the March 27 [webinar] was still about solidarity with the Wet’suwet’en chiefs. And then the second one, in April, was when we switched to COVID. I think that one of the things that can really come out of the flexibility that we have with the topics is the idea of solidarity being non-conditional, and the idea that we’re not just acting in solidarity for specific causes that we see as worthy, because that isn’t what solidarity means. We don’t get to choose which causes are worthy to support as someone who is not impacted by it. So I think that it’s really important to kind of show, you know, we’re all here in solidarity for the Wet’suwet’en chiefs and all of the horrors that are ongoing with the lack of recognition of Indigenous rights and title, but also showing that […] there are Indigenous people here for the elderly, in solidarity with the elderly population. And non-Indigenous people! It’s not just Indigenous people in the webinar.

One major warning sign for Everett and Hale was the fact that the situation in Montreal resulted in the RCMP’s involvement. The extent of the elder abuse taking place in CHSLDs, made worse by the pandemic, highlighted the potential for applying Indigenous perspectives to issues like these.

MH: One of the things with us traditional Indigenous people, we take care of [the elderly] to the end. We don’t send them and put them in homes. Our way is to take care of them.

LE: I think that something that is really important about th[is] kind of idea of solidarity is […] the idea that Indigenous respect for elders is really one of the deeper antidotes to the larger problems that we’re seeing. It’s not like it would necessarily stop the transmission of COVID right now. But if we’re looking at the horrific conditions in these homes prior to COVID, it’s those types of systemic issues that Indigenous wisdom offers a lot of – well, Indigenous wisdom offers a lot of solutions to the problems that we’re facing. And I think that part of what can come from this webinar series is that understanding that it’s not just about showing support, but it’s also how you show support and […] the process of things being an important part of it.

One of the ways Hale moves beyond showing support is by working traditional healing and medicines into the series. Each webinar features a speaker – often Métis educator and herbalist Lori Snyder – to talk about traditional healing and medicines. Hale also encourages attendees with COVID-19 who use these strategies themselves to share their experiences in the Zoom.

MH: [O]ne of the reasons I wanted her to talk was because holistically she does a lot of medicines. She was very strong going into this [COVID-19] and [was using] the traditional medicine. She healed faster than the average person for 83 years old. I really, really was proud of her.

Part of what Hale finds so important about sharing these practices is their ability to make healthy living more accessible and less stressful.

MH: For example, there was a lady [at our May 29, 2020 session] who was in a lot of pain. And so some of the medicines that we’re showing her traditionally, it’s just [what] you can get from your backyard, are really good when you have pain. A lot of times they struggle, they can’t get to a doctor […] can’t get to a drugstore even to [help with] the pain… It’s as close as you see in your backyard.

For her, sharing information about traditional healing is paramount, especially in the context of COVID-19 and the state of Montreal’s CHSLDs as compared to Indigenous traditions of respect for elders.

MH: Our way is to take care of them. And we also do it with our own traditional medicines. And my mother is the prime example we use in my family. She [lived] till 95, and when she was dying, she was still using all of our traditional teas and stuff like that, right to the end. And the doctors were saying – in Vancouver at the Vancouver General Hospital – they wanted a sample of the tea, which we called “La Dee Ma Skeek,” […] that one was what she drank daily. She never had cancer. She never, never had any big, major disease, she just died of old age.”

Besides being able to share these healthcare tools, another positive impact that the organizers have noticed has been the sense of connection that is made possible online. As Hale explained, Zoom meetings can create an intimate and informative setting, especially for sharing individual stories.

MH:  What I have done is reach[ing] out to a lot of people who are frontline workers. Many people who’ve come on the Zoom link have said that they really like the real stories, real people, the real thing happening. They really wished that […] something like that [was] there before, because we would see each other at a rally, see each other at a protest, […] but we never really got to know the real people behind the scenes. This is different, more personal, […] and people are really grasping onto that.

The series’ success comes from the combined effort of a small team of volunteers, and Hale soon realized that the overlapping workloads of school, life under quarantine, and working for the Zoom meetings were hitting her young team hard. Both Everett and Hale spoke to this experience of online burnout, and the constant pressure to be productive.

LE: I would say that the most challenging part has been the time management, and the planning. Towards the beginning, […] I came home and I kind of felt like, “Oh, well, I have 16 hours a day to just sit here. What an opportunity to get stuff done!” And like I have, […] I think I’ve been relatively productive so far. But there is that need to not overextend yourself.

MH: And we are still not able to structure ourselves through this virtual life that we have. Nobody can deal with it. I talked to my chiefs back home, just as of last night, and they are just so burned out because they have to talk to journalists like yourself all over the world. And they’re so burned out because of the time difference. And they live quite a ways, they have to go somewhere where there’s Internet…

Part of how they have been able to combat these feelings of pressure and burnout has been a strong, deliberate focus on communication and openness, especially with youth organizers.

MH: [T]his is why we feel that, even though we’re in solidarity with the elderly, [we need to] to make sure our mental health was up front and to look after that, and make sure we look out for each other. And I really need to have a personal talk more now that I know the situations […] of these girls […] who are working behind the scenes with us, and to make sure that they are all OK, because they’re not. None of us can admit they’re not OK. This is not OK.

Hale and Everett agreed that working towards openness includes setting realistic expectations for your ability to put in more work.

LE: I also just feel very privileged and fortunate to be home right now during this time. I have a lot of comforts and privileges that many people don’t have during this time that make it a lot easier, such as a yard that I can sit in. And so I think that, you know, on one hand, I think it’s important for people with a lot of privilege to always be questioning if they really can or can’t do more when it comes to issues of solidarity that you aren’t necessarily affected by, but I think there’s a need to kind of inquire about whether or not you can actually do more. And I think I kind of fall into maybe the trap of, well, I’m comfortable right now, so I should always be taking more on, which doesn’t work in the long run. You know, just because I have the ability to go outside and sit in the yard doesn’t mean that I should neglect the need to exercise every day. That kind of thing.

MH: When I spoke to [one participant] in the morning about it, they were just waking up at about 11:00 and did not have a good night at all. They are not sleeping. Their sleeping patterns are off. They don’t know what day it is. And they’re not eating many things and doing things… the way they should. Like most of us, we’re just… when you’re at work, you have a schedule, you have eight hours. You know, what is your breakfast, what is your lunch, what’s your dinner when you don’t have that structure anymore? And you only have the one virtual job to do. It’s very hard opening that computer up again after spending 12 hours trying to wiggle other stuff around what you have to do. And each and every one of them are struggling with just that.

The webinar session on May 29 helped to extend openness and communication by focusing explicitly on the youth, offering each young adult in the Zoom the chance to talk about what they’ve been thinking about and struggling with during this time.

MH: So the Zoom that we had last night [May 29] sort of opened my eyes, that I’d like to do a [discussion] with them, and make sure that they are all feeling fine for the next month, because they really rely on the Zoom work just for the closeness. […] I think the first week that we had the first Zoom, I remember getting a call from a young person from Ontario and they were so close to tears. And then when they finally got to express […] what they wanted to speak about, they were feeling a little bit better. […] As soon as they got that out, they really thanked me for letting them have their voice. That’s what’s really important. They need to have their voice. They need to express every little thing that they’re dealing through 24 hours a day because that’s just them. They need to see their friends. They have to have that closeness. They have to have somebody to hug. They need to see their families.

This sense of collective struggle and sharing of different successes and worries can close some of the distance of isolation, both emotionally and physically. Many of the webinar’s regular participants come from around the globe, something that Hale takes pride in.

MH: I know that […] many people who are in other solidarity programs keep telling me that, “Marlene, you really have a good Zoom, and you can’t lose the momentum, and you have a lot of people interested and all these people all over the world.”

The global but intimate aspect of these webinars is part of what Hale and Everett are trying to develop, and helps overcome what Everett described as “collective hopelessness.” By providing an antidote to this lethargy, Everett hopes that the webinars will produce and maintain momentum that will last even after the quarantine passes.

LE: So I guess [we’re] kind of using the opportunity of COVID to educate people, because that can be done remotely as opposed to just saying, “Oh, well, quarantine’s here! We’ve got to put everything on pause until it stops!” I think it’s really important to kind of give people the opportunity to take an initiative as well, because it just can combat these internalized feelings of collective hopelessness. It’s like, no, we’re all actually getting together and doing something. And so I think that it’s really important that it provides that opportunity for people. […] But again, when the quarantine ends, there’s still a lot of work that needs to be done, and COVID is obviously an opportunity for a lot of societal transformations as we adapt to the virus itself. It’s an opportunity, too, because we’re going to have to change things adapting to the virus, […] to change them in more just ways as well.

[…] But [change] doesn’t just happen because we want it to, [it] happens because people demand it. It’s not just about keeping the momentum that we had going before, because there are different issues. But I guess that it’s really about coming out in bigger numbers after the quarantine is over. One of the signs I saw at the last student solidarity march that I went to in mid-March, […] said “If you were at the Climate Strike on September 27, where are you now?” Right? We had 500,000 people at the climate strike on September 27. And I mean, we can go into the hypocrisy of the mainstream environmental movement, the white mainstream environmental movement, that’s maybe a whole other conversation. But that sign is just a really concise way of putting the problem. And so I guess I hope that […] by educating people about the systemic and interrelated nature of all of these crises, we can come back after quarantine with [more momentum].

One opportunity Everett and Hale hope to take advantage of is the chance to cultivate a kind of solidarity that takes many experiences and causes into account holistically.

LE: I think that one of the main goals is kind of establishing that idea of solidarity as needing to be flexible and adaptable amongst the group, because I think that in the long run, you know, we’re all stronger together and no one is free until we all are. So if we’re able to kind of create a culture of activism where it’s not just the issues that you are personally interested in, but just like, “I’m going to show up and support the group that I think needs it most right now” […]

Something I’ve heard is “physical distancing, but social solidarity.” I feel like that’s maybe a good tagline for it. Just because we can’t see each other face to face doesn’t mean that we can’t come together and empower each other and share knowledge. It can be kind of overwhelming and confusing to navigate social life and everything in the context of quarantine. But it’s really important that we come together not only to support each other, but then if we’re supporting each other, to also be able to mobilize against these larger injustices. Those two things are equally important, for the webinar series, because you can’t really have one and not the other.

Everett and Hale also have advice for groups hoping to start a similar webinar series over Zoom: keep it small, opt for a waiting room, make sure everyone understands the tech, and have someone to manage participants and speakers. Everett addressed her experiences with C-JAM, and mentioned one communication strategy they have implemented, and Hale expressed the importance of respectful participation.

LE: The other thing, I guess with online organizing […] in C-JAM’s meetings, for example, it can be… It’s a bit weird, on Zoom or online, and it’s because any silence is a lot more tangible than it is in person. So I feel like there’s kind of more of a pressure to kind of always be “on” in a Zoom call. Whereas in person, it’s kind of easier to just take a step back, and it’s just kind of less uncomfortable if there’s a longer silence in person. But, you know, that’s again, it’s just something we’re all we’re all adapting to. So what C-JAM has been doing, actually, is we’ve been using the talking stick tool, which is an Indigenous tool to facilitate our meetings. There’ll be one person who kind of calls on names just for ease of, like, just to keep everything going. But basically, they’ll look at who’s on the call and just call everyone’s name and we go one by one. Everyone has the opportunity to speak to whatever we’re saying. You can always skip your turn. But basically, the only rule is that you can’t interrupt and you have to wait for everyone to finish. Like, everyone has the opportunity to say something once before people respond. […] I’ve personally found that it’s really, really helpful on Zoom to kind of facilitate [in this way]. […]

Sometimes even if everyone has the opportunity to speak, if people are shy, they might not volunteer to do so, even if they have really incredible things to share. And so the talking stick is really nice because it makes it so that you don’t have to volunteer to speak: you’re being given the opportunity regardless. But you can always skip if you don’t want to say anything, right. So anyways, that’s been that’s been something that I think has helped us kind of stay both respectful of one another as well as on topic during Zoom calls for sure.

MH: So one of the things that I have noticed in the last little while is, if you’re the host […] is to ensure that people are listening to the speaker and to be respectful that somebody is speaking and to listen to their stories. And then when they say “[Are] there any questions?” and all of a sudden nobody’s got questions, [ask] “Are we sure- Are we all listening?” That’s really important.

When asked what they want to ultimately see out of the series as a whole, Everett was optimistic. The community they have been building is already strong, and she hopes it will inspire more effective change.

LE: I think maybe when we talk about the changes that need to happen, when we talk about the momentum that we had before COVID with the shutdown in Canada, there was a lot of momentum, absolutely. But was it enough momentum? Had it continued to accomplish what we wanted to? I don’t know. None of us will ever know at this point. But […] I think that there’s more coalition building that can happen that will lead to a stronger movement, stronger movements, because we’re all supporting each other.

In terms of what they hope readers will take away from this conversation, Everett and Hale emphasized the importance of strength in communities.

MH: We are still able to work through it together as a community. [The online world] has taken, it’s overlapped most of our daily lives and it’s consuming a big majority of us to our limits and where we just can’t do our regular things during the day, because “Oh, I’ve got to run. I’ve got another Zoom call.” But what I would take away is that in this historical time, we are still able to do things because of the Zoom. Thankfully, we have at least that, right? We are complaining about it, but it’s very useful. We just have to learn how to manage around it.

LE: I think that the idea that we can come together and help other people helps us overcome these internalized feelings of helplessness that I think people in general struggled with before COVID. Capitalism does not make it easy to feel like you can change the problems that you see in the world. And, by forcing this atomisation of social life, it’s pretty difficult to find things that empower you. Mutual aid and collective action are really, really powerful antidotes to that kind of helplessness, in my experience before COVID. But I think that COVID and isolation and quarantine can increase that feeling of helplessness for a lot of people. It just goes to show that… It might sound kind of cheesy, but I feel like a lot of activism focuses on individual action, versus systemic change. C-JAM and myself definitely fall more into the systemic change side of things. But I feel like there’s a missing kind of third component, or goal, of activism that is community building, that doesn’t really necessarily fit neatly into either one of those two categories, although maybe it’s more associated with the collective, systemic-change action. But not necessarily. I mean, there are lots of groups who focus on systemic change who maybe don’t have a super healthy, cohesive community. But building that healthy, cohesive community is equally as important as the changes that we’re trying to see, because if we’re not building strong communities in the process of these transformations, then we won’t have the capacity to activate the changes we want to see. We can’t just talk about decolonization and anti-capitalism and all of these things without realizing that the successful and just implementation of those things requires strong communities as a base, because otherwise that is still power vacuum authoritarianism. So building those communities is really important. And I think it’s really special that we have been able to continue doing that, even though we don’t necessarily know how right now.

The Solidarity with the Elderly During COVID-19 webinar series is ongoing, and readers are encouraged to participate.

Marlene Hale is on Facebook, and her mini-documentary, My Life with Bannock, is also available online.

This interview has been edited for length and clarity. 

The post “Physical distancing, social solidarity” appeared first on The McGill Daily.

Succeeding in blocking Sherbrooke on both the East and West sides approximately 30 minutes after people began to gather, demonstrators stood linked in front of traffic, holding banners that read “Solidarity with Wet’suwet’en.” Soon after the street was blocked off, around 3:45 p.m., the SPVM arrived and posted several cars, vans, and tactical units at the intersecting streets. Police presence did not directly interfere with the demonstration, but several SPVM officers were seen speaking to student organizers.

“Stand up, speak out, pressure your MPs to stop this pipeline, and most importantly, trust us to lead. Center our voices. Listen to our elders. Listen to our people on the frontlines. Indigenous peoples know where we come from, we know that relationship. We know what it means, and we are not going anywhere.”

– Carlee Kawinehta Loft

The event began with a statement of thanks to the lands, waters, and aspects of the natural world led by land defenders and Indigenous Youth. Several Indigenous land defenders guided the group in call-and-response chants, including “How do you spell racist? RCMP” and “Land Back,” calling for Indigenous sovereignty. Addressing the gathered land defenders, students, and other allied demonstrators, SSMU Indigenous Affairs Commissioner Tomas Jirousek emphasized that this action should not be considered a blockade, instead describing it as a “cultural, community-centred expression of sovereignty and holding space.” He also expressed that Indigenous actions across the country can’t be reduced to “simple protest” or “demonized as criminal activity,” but are grounded in land-based practices, oral histories, laws, and kinship networks.

A group of drummers led the attendees in two round dances, and all Indigenous attendees were invited to share songs, chants, stories, and hold space. One community member, who self-identified as Dené and Inuvialuit, shared their throat-singing, explaining that “60 years ago, you would have been able to turn around and tell the cop to arrest me, because what I’m about to do was illegal.” They expressed that their performance was an act of protest – and a show of deep pride.

“As Indigenous Nations, we can’t separate our ideas of sovereignty or nationhood from a deep and intimate understanding of land and water protection. We have always been fighting to protect this land, and we always will.”

– Tomas Jirousek (SSMU Indigenous Affairs Commissioner)

Towards the end of the event, the attendees were invited to join hands and participate in songs. The allied demonstrators who had previously been giving space to the Indigenous land defenders at the centre were also invited to close the gap in a show of community.

After approximately two hours, the demonstration formally ended and the group began to disperse just after 5:00 p.m., clearing the street and allowing traffic to resume.

“The land defenders at Unist’ot’en, and the Indigenous folks involved in occupation and blockades across Turtle Island, are not villains with personal vendettas. They aren’t armed. They aren’t dangerous. They’re peacefully taking the necessary steps to bring the Canadian government to the table. They’re shutting down Canada. They’re inconveniencing Canadians. They’re staying until Wet’suwet’en law is respected, until Indigenous sovereignty is recognized.”

– Carlee Kawinehta Loft

Solidarity events continued through the week, including a demonstration hosted by the Association facultaire étudiante des sciences humaines de l’UQÀM (AFESH-UQÀM). Ongoing blockades near Kahnawake have been blocking the CN and VIA rail lines, and a blockade on the South Shore of Montreal began on Wednesday, February 19. On Thursday, February 20, injunctions were issued and carried out by the Sûreté Québec. The next evening, demonstrators and land defenders abandoned the blockade due to pressure from police, eventually evacuating the encampment in Saint-Lambert around 10:00 p.m.

“Action like this needs to centre ourselves in culture and ceremony, as taught through the very land which now finds itself threatened. For our non-Indigenous allies: recognize the way in which your history has contributed to the inability of Indigenous land protectors in many circumstances to continue in protecting and safeguarding this territory. Don’t centre yourselves in this story, but use your own platform to amplify and support Indigenous voices. Also, know the other ways that you can and should be supporting Wet’suwet’en territory. You can find very explicit ways that the Wet’suwet’en are asking for support.”

– Tomas Jirousek

Additional Photos:

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As the first in a series of workshops hosted by SSMU and the Milton Parc Citizens’ Committee, the public assembly featured representatives from La communauté Milton Parc, the Concordia Housing and Job Resource Centre (HOJO), and Unité de travail pour l’implantation de logement étudiant (UTILE), who each spoke about their organizations’ experiences.

Dimitrios Roussopoulos, from La communauté Milton Parc, opened the session by providing a brief history of the Milton Parc community and communal housing movements in Montreal. Roussopoulos clarified the distinction between Milton Parc as a neighborhood and the Milton Parc co-operative, the latter of which is the largest publicly-owned co-op in North America. Roussopoulos also highlighted the work of community activist Lucia Kowaluk – whose efforts and leadership shaped the community – and strongly recommended that students read Villages in Cities, a comprehensive history of the Milton Parc community, which he co-authored. He emphasized the importance of creating more co-ops, highlighting that the Milton Parc community “removed six urban city blocks in the second biggest city in Canada off the capitalist market,” which he described as “quite an accomplishment.”

Following Roussopoulos’ talk, Laurent Lévesque of UTILE took the floor. He described the seven year-old organization’s mission as “try[ing] to expand nonprofit and co-operative housing options,” with a particular focus on students. Lévesque expressed concern over new forms of housing speculation and development, asserting that “in the last three years, the average rents in the Plateau for a three bedroom apartment went up by 30 per cent.” Citing the fact that these rent increases are occurring in areas with the greatest concentrations of McGill students, Lévesque stated that “the housing crisis that Montreal is facing is also a student housing crisis.” He added that the quick turnover of students doesn’t help – each year, new incoming students arrive, introducing a new population of potentially exploitable residents.

These issues highlight the already intense need for affordable, accessible student housing, something that UTILE is actively working towards. Currently under construction is a housing project called the Woodnote, a 90-unit student co-operative expected to house 144 Concordia undergraduates when completed, set to open this summer. Lévesque summarized his and UTILE’s objectives, saying “the goal of building not-for-profit student housing now is not just to have options for students in the short term, but also to plan for future housing crises.”

When asked how to get students excited about housing, Lévesque stated that the best way is to make it personal. “It seems abstract when you talk about housing,” he explained, “but when you talk about your house, it becomes very tangible.”

Lastly, Leanne Ashworth from HOJO highlighted the importance of easily accessible, accurate information, which is often hard for students to find. Per HOJO, this is especially true for international students who arrive and need to find a place to live as soon as possible. These students, she explained, are more vulnerable – and landlords know it. Ashworth noted personal privacy as a prime opportunity for exploitation, explaining that landlords will often ask for excessive amounts of information, and desperate students will provide it. She observed that, “For a lot of students, when they come in and they’re given a[n application] form and they have no time to find an apartment, they will give everything.”

Beyond their personal privacy initiatives, HOJO also helps students to advocate for themselves and organize with their neighbors. “A cool thing about organizing students,” Ashworth explained, “is that students know how to do homework.” Among the resources Ashworth provided was the informational site likehome.info (lappart.info in French, zufangba.info in Mandarin), which is designed to make housing issues more accessible to students. Though HOJO is a Concordia-based group, Ashworth emphasized that she welcomes McGill students to attend HOJO events. Their upcoming workshop on leasing and rent is slated to take place on March 23 from 12:00 p.m.–1:00 p.m.

The event was catered by Midnight Kitchen and sponsored in part by the SSMU VP External and the SSMU Community Affairs Commissioner, who guided the group discussion. The next workshop in this series, covering Frosh, St. Patrick’s Day, and being a respectful neighbour, will take place on February 24. Students should be aware that the Montreal police will be present at this session. The following workshop on March 23 will cover homelessness in the community. At the time of print, the event page does not say that police will be present.

For students interested in participating in the conversation, there is an ongoing SSMU survey open to the McGill community: https://forms.gle/AABWCoU1QeBJ6sxp8

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Bogdanska, a Warsaw-born cartoonist and punk musician, moves to Malmö, Sweden, to attend art school. While in school, she finds herself caught in a nightmarish bureaucracy which makes finding legitimate employment nearly impossible. To get a job, she needs a Swedish personal identity number, the requirements for which include being employed.
Relying on her few connections, Bogdanska manages to get hired at an Indian restaurant, making ends meet by picking up several low-paying jobs. However, she soon discovers pay discrimination at the restaurant, where wages are based off of a hierarchy of nationality, language, and student status. Dismayed and disgusted, Bogdanska networks with her friends and coworkers in a lengthy fight for better regulation and better treatment of immigrant workers.

Part of what makes Wage Slaves so compelling is its clear-eyed perspective on the systems at hand. Bogdanska expresses that, while everyone around her is underpaid and under-served, certain workers – immigrants, people of colour, non- students – are treated significantly worse. Throughout the book, Bogdanska addresses that not everyone can afford to speak out. As her coworker points out, Bogdanska is in an unusual and fortunate position to be able to criticize the system at all.

Wage Slaves explains parts of exploited service work that are not intuitive to those outside the industry. Bogdanska’s memoir doesn’t just shed light on this exploitation, but also provides an example of how to begin to make change. More importantly, she strives to remain a conscientious ally to those around her, giving full credit to people whose bravery informed her work. Though there were moments when I wondered about Bogdanska’s awareness of her position and privileges compared to her coworkers, she consistently addresses the benefits of her identity as a non-racialized student. She remains aware that she lives in a relatively “progressive” country, and discusses the linguistic hierarchies present in Malmö – speaking good Swedish is a huge advantage, one which she struggles to attain.

Drawn in expressive ink, Bogdanska presents a story which weaves together her interpersonal struggles with her attempts to find her place in a new country, as well as the harsh realities of systemic labour injustice. Reading the book, I resonated with many of her issues and her frustration, and above all her sense of helplessness in the face of a system that was not made for, or paying attention to, people like her. I have only had brief experiences in food service, because I had the ability to quit as soon as I experienced the type of exploitation Bogdanska highlights. I found myself strongly identifying with her struggles to balance difficult work, school, life, and her identity.

Sharing her struggle with precarious labour, under-the-table payment, and how she ultimately started to bring about change is as personal as it is educational. Though by no means a how-to manual, Wage Slaves depicts in grungy realism keen insights into the complicated process of organizing in your community.

This article is a part of our joint issue with Le Délit on Labour, Body, & Care. To read their pieces, visit delitfrancais.com.

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In the field of artificial intelligence (AI), a virtual assistant is a language recognition system that learns from human demands and actions. Also known as chatbots in some contexts, these programs and softwares go through a process of machine learning* based on interactions, and their scripts and features constantly evolve as people interact with them. They can be found in a number of places: on smartphones, embedded as helpers in messaging apps, representing companies on apps and websites, and even in cars and on appliances. Popular examples include Amazon’s Alexa, Google Home, Microsoft’s Cortana, and Apple’s Siri.

AI virtual assistants can do a number of things for the average person, including setting timers, marking dates in calendars, creating and maintaining grocery lists, and directing calls. In this way, they have begun to embody the role of a robot secretary.

Secretaries fall within the role of “pink collar jobs:” a group of traditionally women’s jobs, often in the service industry, that require less academic training than white-collar roles. Other pink-collar jobs include flight attendants, nurses, hostesses, maids, and nannies. These are jobs reliant on a worker who is submissive, subservient, and often very friendly – traits that are considered feminine and often expected of women. Virtual assistants are developed with this gendering in mind; research has found that people prefer female voices in assistive roles, as opposed to men in authoritative positions.

As subservient women, pink-collar workers are expected to respond calmly to even the rudest of remarks – including sexual harassment. This is embedded within the scripts of a number of virtual assistants. When Alexa is harassed, she goes into “disengage mode,” saying things like “I’m not sure what outcome you expected” or simply beeping, without any words. This was seen as an improvement from past scripts, which included statements like “well, thanks for the feedback.” Siri responds similarly, saying “I’m not going to respond to that.” This is expected of the ideal pink-collar worker – upholding a positive representation of the company, even when one’s mental health or safety is at risk.

This has resulted in people harassing virtual assistants. According to a writer for Cortana, Microsoft’s virtual assistant, “‘a good chunk of the volume of early-on enquiries probe the assistant’s sex life.” It is telling that virtual assistant users, frequently male ones, treat their woman-coded tech as if it is not just a piece of software, but a being with not only a personality, but a capacity for sexual behaviour. Female-sounding voices that do not cater to submissive, passive expectations for human women are criticized, and eventually modified. In 2015, UK grocery store chain Tesco switched their self-checkout voice to a male, as the former female one was deemed too “shouty.”The sexism apparent within the development of virtual assistants is a partial symptom of the underrepresentation of women in AI industries. Women make up only 12 per cent of AI researchers and 6 per cent of software developers. In a space where men are making decisions regarding the scripts of women-coded virtual assistants, it is not surprising that they do not stand up for themselves against sexism. Virtual assistants may be objects, or “just a piece of tech,” but the way that we treat them, and the way that we expect them to respond to that treatment, reflects a larger culture. Here, that culture is one of gendered disrespect.

However, there are organizations and projects working toward changes in the field. Feminist Internet and Comuzi have developed F’xa, a feminist chatbot whose purpose is to teach people about the bias in AI systems and provide advice on how to address it. F’xa, unlike other bots, doesn’t use personal pronouns like “I” – attempting to reinforce that virtual assistants are not people, and to dissuade users from developing humanlike connections with it. This bot is a small part of Feminist Internet’s greater project to “make the internet a more equal space for women and other marginalised groups through creative, critical practice.”

F’xa was, in part, informed by the Feminist Chatbot Design Process, which was created by Josie Swords to guide AI developers in creating better, more equitable technologies. The guide consists of questions to be asked in the conceptual design phase of a bot to address what values will be embedded in it. Projects like these can stop unconsciously sexist ideologies from being written into the technologies we use every day, reminding us that technologies, despite their metallic exterior, come from a fundamentally human place.

*Machine learning: “a branch of artificial intelligence based on the idea that systems can learn from data, identify patterns and make decisions with minimal human intervention.”

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