Creating safe space can never be completely guaranteed in any setting, which is why groups often use the term safer space instead. Experiencing safer space is an individualized experience, and as such, one can never truly know how their language or actions may affect another individual. Just because a group might strive for safer space does not mean that deeply embedded systems of oppression are completely left at the door. Safer space is – more than anything – a goal.

I personally hold a lot of privilege in society. On a daily basis, I reap the benefits of living in a society that is white-supremacist, heteronormative, ableist, and so on. Despite my best efforts, I am regularly complicit in upholding systems that oppress certain identities that may not easily benefit from the way that society is ordered in the same way I do. My access to space can come at the expense of limiting someone else’s access, and by extension, can silence others. However, recognizing privilege is not about guilt. Guilt is not a productive tool in allyship. Rather, recognizing how my access might silence another’s is a basic step toward creating safer space. Turning this recognition into action is even more important.

I honestly think the argument that safer space impedes freedom of speech is a crock of classic right-wing ignorance.

Recently, McGill made the list of the ten worst universities for upholding free expression, according to the 2014 Campus Freedom Index, which is created by the Justice Centre for Constitutional Freedoms (JCCF). The JCCF itself has been criticized for having untransparent political leanings such as having several of its members affiliated with conservative organizations. Its criteria for determining freedom of expression has also been subject to much skepticism from the student body at McGill.

Campus media including the Bull and Bear and Le Délit have used this to problematize safer space as playing a part of McGill’s place on the list. I’d like to clear up the confusion: safer space is not impeding on anyone’s freedom of expression. I honestly think the argument that safer space impedes freedom of speech is a crock of classic right-wing ignorance, and I am reluctant to dignify this argument with space, but here it goes.

Frankly, a lot of the claims about freedom of speech being limited come from highly privileged people who have incredibly uncensored access to space in a society that explicitly upholds their powerful positions.

Violent prejudices are extremely normalized in our society, and this is compounded by people with identities deemed more valuable by society – read white, cis, male – who are too often pitted as the be-all-end-all authorities on issues they hold no stake in. An all-too-easy example: take abortion rights or access to birth control. If you ever want to hear about a woman’s experience on the matter, just turn to the nearest white male policymaker – he’s probably writing the bill on it, not to mention being the go-to authority in all media relations. Denying this enormous access to space and authority is a mere extension of utterly blinding privilege. Not everyone is lucky enough to be able to ignore this.

Safer space broadens the capacity for voices that are systematically silenced to be able to participate.

The only limitation put on freedom of speech as far as safer space goes is limiting hateful, homophobic, racist, ableist language, in order to make space safer for people who experience homophobia, racism, ableism and other ‘isms’ on the regular, at your expense. Is that really so outrageous an idea to get behind? I’m sorry our incredibly oppressive society is not enough space for you to share your hateful words – that the idea of creating an actively less oppressive society is so threatening to your dominance.

Safer space is difficult to achieve on a large scale, but striving to create safer space is a critical step in establishing a welcoming campus to a diverse student body. Safer space broadens the capacity for voices that are systematically silenced to be able to participate, and in this sense, opens the potential for an incredibly valuable dialogue that is seriously lacking on campus. Let’s get behind safer space – no one is losing anything from doing so.

Hannah Besseau is the Features Editor at The Daily, but the opinions here are her own. To contact her, please email hannahbesseau@gmail.com.

The post The case for safe space appeared first on The McGill Daily.

“There has been a very strong tradition of celebrating Women’s Day in Montreal,” Dolores Chew, President of the South Asian Women’s Community Centre, told McGill’s community radio station CKUT after the march. “We started organizing [the March 8 demonstration] because we felt that minority women – [meaning] women who were minorities either because of race, of language, age, any reason – were not getting out [to the demonstrations].”

Despite Montreal’s strong participation in International Women’s Day, for some it has not been without skepticism. “I think that [International Women’s Day] is often a thing that is co-opted by a lot of white Western women,” McGill student and staffer at the Union for Gender Empowerment Nicholle Savoie told The Daily.

“There’s this idea of solidarity in a woman’s experience, but this idea of a woman’s experience really often means a white, middle-class, Western woman’s experience,” Savoie said. “I’m not totally convinced of this idea of women as a whole, because I think that can often really [hide] difference of oppression.”

The theme of this year’s March 8 demonstration in Montreal was solidarity against precarity. According to Chew, the theme was meant to encompass the structural barriers that women, particularly minority women, face.

“It’s about the precariousness and insecurity of the lives of many women. [These can be] caused by things like economic austerity measures taken by governments that hit hardest the most vulnerable populations, [which are] usually women and other minorities.”
“The theme is on precariousness with regard to issues of health, reproductive health, [and] sexual violence,” Chew added. “We felt that more than ever we needed to draw attention to the precariousness of women’s lives.”

The day’s events began with a public meeting held at Dawson College, followed by the march. The march hosted speakers from different community organizations in Montreal, including the Filipino Women’s organization PINAY.

“[Since the typhoon] many women are still living in migration centres, or makeshift tents in their communities, which exposes them to greater health risks and gender-based violence,” a representative from PINAY told the crowd of demo attendees. “After the aftermath of the typhoon, a number of rape incidents were reported, and because of the lack of work and livelihood, many women are prone to [being trafficked].”

The subtitle of this year’s theme was “smash the glass cage.” Chew explained that despite people believing that there is legal equality and the public recognition of official women’s rights, in many parts of the world, there “are so many factors that keep women down, keep them back. So it’s a glass cage; it’s there but it’s not always as evident.” She added that often people’s experience was very different than legal forms of equality.

This year’s Women’s Day event also drew attention to the Charter of Values proposed by the Parti Quebecois (PQ), which seeks to ban all religious symbols for public employees in Quebec.

“The PQ’s Charter of Values was topmost on the minds of many of us [on the committee],” Chew said. “Not because we felt there is a problem with secularism, but we were really opposed to the way the government was using the notion of secularism to target vulnerable populations, particularly Muslim women and making an issue where there wasn’t and generating so much racism and xenophobia.”

The post Smashing the “glass cage” of insecurity appeared first on The McGill Daily.

“No sir, I do not,” I replied. He promptly hung up. And so, to the man who holds objectivity so dear, here I am, laying my subjectivity out on the table: objectivity doesn’t exist.

Tools of objective journalism

“I would say that ‘objectivity’ is a weapon of the corporate media,” said Martin Lukacs, a writer for the Guardian who has also worked for community media outlets such as the Media Co-op. “Objectivity takes on a different meaning in its propaganda usage. Objectivity basically means repeating what is said in the corridors of power.”

Objective journalism is considered the gold standard in mainstream and corporate press. The crux of this practice is the aim to provide unbiased and balanced reporting, and present the media consumer with straightforward facts so that they can form their own conclusions. This form of journalism aims to remove the journalist from the reporting, and by doing so, to offer media consumers ‘non-partisan journalism.’

“[In journalism school] we are taught to write stories as clear, concise, to the point,” a journalism student at Concordia, Saturn de los Angeles, told me. “And with that we’re taught to write as an inverted pyramid. At the top is the five W’s, who what when where why, and then you move into the details […] We’re taught objectivity as getting both sides of the story; […] in journalism school we’re always reminded that we can’t be biased without stories, but in reality thats another thing.”

But after pulling back the curtain of objectivity in journalism, it becomes clear that much gets lost on the way.

“I think that objective journalism […] presents the problem of false balance,” said Gretchen King, community activist and journalist. False balance is the practice, common in mainstream media outlets, of presenting an issue as having two equally valid sides, regardless of the actual validity of those viewpoints.
Stefan Christoff, who also identifies as both a community activist and journalist, brought up the idea of false balance when we spoke about objectivity.

“I think objectivity essentially means siding with power most of the time, because of the […] political and economic forces that dominate our society,” he said. “If you’re giving those forces equal weight to another voice which is marginalized, in that dynamic of power because our society prioritizes certain voices, those people without question have more power.”

“If you continually replicate the idea that those voices are equal then you end up with the situation where the more marginalized voice becomes more marginalized in the piece, in the report, in the story, because you’re just reinforcing the power dynamics that exist by claiming objectivity, when in fact you’re only reinforcing power,” Christoff went on to say.

Both Christoff and King’s dual identity as community activist and journalist is one that would be considered contradictory by almost all mainstream media outlets. Journalists aren’t supposed to be activists; they’re too busy being journalists.

The man called our office asking for ‘balance’ in the piece; in fact, what he sensed was an imbalance – an uncomfortable shift of weight away from the dominant and ‘legitimized’ voice on the article’s topic. His reaction could be viewed as an extension of a symptom of objective journalism: privileging the voices of power to the extent that those who are actually implicated in the lived experience are no longer considered legitimate voices of authority.

Professionalizing journalism

“I think a large majority of people in journalism these days, or who even study journalism, have learned that objectivity is something that was created over time within the practice of journalism to say ‘this is professional journalism and this is not,’” explained King.

The notion of objective journalism is actually relatively new in the media landscape. The 19th century media landscape was dominated by overtly opinionated outlets. The printing and penny press were part of this phenomenon of free and open media. “Any person who could afford to and was literate could print something,” King told me. “You had this rise in newspapers and newsletters that were very much from social movements from certain perspectives and so on.”

Lukacs also brought up the difference between earlier journalism and the way it’s practiced today. “[Objectivity] came into vogue in the early 20th century when corporations started consolidating control over media. Labour unions owned papers, ownership was much more diverse and papers were unabashedly partisan.”

One of the main forces in the shift toward the professionalization of journalism was the rise of the war reporter. The journalistic form came into its own throughout the two World Wars. “You saw this professional class of journalists who were just there to tell the objective story and get the news out […] and journalism becoming a practice by professionals and not something that just anybody can do,” said King.

And yet, it wasn’t really until the early 20th century that corporations began consolidating control over media.

“[Objective journalism was] almost in response to [the fact] that you see a professional class of journalism rising to say ‘We’re separate from them, we’re different than them’ but when you look at that objectivity you see it’s very much geared toward advertisers, toward the profit of the newspaper, toward the political opinion of the newspaper editor,” King told me.

The process of professionalizing journalism has, over time, worked to construct the idea that there is ‘legitimate’ and ‘illegitimate’ reporting, where objectivity is pitted as the voice of absolute truth in its supposed removal of the reporter. As Lukacs points out, “What the corporate media prints is considered objective, and what it doesn’t is considered non-objective.”

In this process, non-objective journalism is deemed biased, ‘emotional,’ and sympathetic, language used as political strategy to dismiss any legitimacy for the practice of subjective journalism.

A case for honest journalism

There’s a real danger to supporting the ideal of objective journalism. It is not just a question of whether objectivity can even exist in practice, but more importantly, one of the greater implications of supporting objectivity as it currently stands in wielding dominant power in media.

Journalistic practices that embrace subjectivity open up space for a diversity of voices, perspectives, and experiences; all of which tend to become diluted through the processes of objective reporting.

“A lot of mainstream journalists – corporate journalists – say things like ‘You can’t participate in a protest, that’s crossing a line, it’s quote unquote too involved.’” Lukacs told me. “I always wonder why they don’t ask themselves [if it’s] becoming too involved if you go to, let’s say, a corporate gala or […] become embedded in work with the Canadian army in Afghanistan.”

Lukacs believes that corporate media serves to police the boundary of acceptable debate, and furthermore, to keep this boundary quite narrow. By the standards of objectivity, he said, “When you fall outside these lines is where you become biased.”

It is this regulation that is responsible for the violence to those voices and communities that become silenced and ignored as a result. Campus and community radio station CKUT 90.3 FM offers a great example of actively breaking the silencing, in particular with the Homelessness Marathon, an annual national radio event that brings the microphone to the hands of people who are homeless so that they can speak for themselves about their lived experiences.

During the 2012 Homelessness Marathon, an anonymous speaker from Vancouver spoke on how they felt media treated them, “What would I want the news to report? You can’t really reach [people who are homeless] in the news,” they said. “What we have to say is more complicated than what the media can do for us.”
Lukacs also pointed to the role journalists assume in stepping on the toes of those they report on.

“Journalists tend to appoint themselves too much power […] imagining that they’re more important than they actually are. [They] should never forget that real power rests with social movements not with journalists […]. That’s one of the intoxicants of the professional class of journalists – [to] give themselves the conception that they’re removed from ‘ordinary people,’ and that’s something that results in [a conception of] a close identification with people in power.”

Another speaker at the 2012 Marathon also identified a neglect on the media’s part to acknowledge what they felt were key issues, referring specifically to media coverage of an Occupy Vancouver event. “I think that [the] media ignores the fact that mental health issues are going on. That was the biggest hurtful thing, was that people who were on the street were ignored [by] most of society, people didn’t see directly how [people with mental health issues] helped [each other],” they said.

How objective media fails

“The reader [of objective journalism] loses out on a lot,” King said, referring to the hidden nature of objective journalism’s goals.

King explained that context is often lost in process of creating objective reporting. “The reporter has to remove a lot of context because it might not be considered objective to tell a point of view that’s not the mainstream point of view,” she said. “Anything that would be perceived as going against the status quo could be considered as advocating a political end goal, so objective journalism would try to remove a lot of these things.”

Both Christoff and King gave the example of a policed protest. In this case, there is a tendency for mainstream corporate media to remain outside the protest and to interview police. “The police aren’t the ones who called the demos, the police aren’t the ones putting their bodies on the lines,” said King, speaking about the armour and weapons police wield when regulating protests. “There’s an over-reliance on official sources. Often official sources are not even named, we’re just told they’re official.”

The police’s voice, and other ‘legitimate’’ voices, are often used in mainstream media as ‘official sources’ despite the fact that they have no stake in political protests aside from their role in enforcing their regulation. In objective journalism, quoting ‘legitimate’ sources is considered unbiased reporting. Media consumers in all forms have to ask themselves: whose agenda is being put forth in objective journalism?

“I think that embracing one’s subjectivity is actually more honest than pretending to produce an objective piece of journalism,” said King. “Embracing subjectivity means that you put your politics on display […] That kind of honesty is what’s missing from the so-called professional journalists who hide behind a curtain of objectivity.”

Embracing subjective journalism is necessary in the fight to dismantle the hegemony of corporate media and the myth of objective journalism, in its relentless crusade against giving a platform to the lived experiences of those directly implicated in the stories it reports. So to the man who called looking for objectivity: you won’t find it here.

The post Unmasking objectivity appeared first on The McGill Daily.

Resistance to the conference

According to the website of the blockade, lockoutpetrocultures.wordpress.com, the resistance came from concerns that the conference “positions support for fossil fuel extraction as one valid opinion among others” while ignoring opinions of environmental degradation and ongoing colonialism.

“MISC [is] creating an environment that condones ‘acceptable’ levels of racism in order to generate interest at the expense of Indigenous students,” Molly Swain, an Indigenous student, told The Daily before the conference in an email.

The blockade occurred just before the conference’s registration at 8:00 a.m. on Friday morning. The group of resisters fastened a rope on the inside of the Faculty Club’s main entrance door. They also blocked each of the building’s fire exits and dropped a banner from the roof that read: “Shut down the tar sands, décolonisons.”

Divest McGill, a group that calls on McGill to divest from fossil fuels, also held a demonstration later that day at 4:30 p.m., this time in front of the Faculty Club. The self-described “counter-conference” asked passersby to write down what a fossil-free future will look like.

“The debate inside is whether Canada is a ‘petroculture’ or not, but the debate we think we should be having is – well, we know we are a ‘petroculture,’ [and] that the Canadian economy and Canadians are socially [reliant] on oil. The question is how to get away from that and move toward renewable sources and away from oil,” Amina Moustaqim-Barrette of Divest McGill told The Daily.

“We stand in solidarity with [the morning demonstrators]. They are there to represent the grassroots movement and that was really poorly represented in this conference. We were inside the conference to continue that conversation,” added Moustaqim-Barrette.

QPIRG McGill also spoke out against the conference in a letter to The Daily earlier that week, stating that it felt the conference “legitimizes a mode of socio-economic organization that is having already-devastating effects on communities and ecosystems.”

Petrocultures conference

The conference featured presenters with experience or expertise on the topic of ‘petroculture.’ Many of the presenters at the conference are directly involved with oil companies and developers although some activists and scholars were also featured.

“The MISC [is] known for being a place where diversity can be shared,” said a member of the MISC board. “It’s known for being a nonpartisan forum [where] you can be unafraid to share your views.”

However, Mona Luxion, one of the resisters at the Faculty Club and a former Daily columnist, felt the event was far from nonpartisan. “There are a variety of types of presenters at this conference, some work directly for the oil industry […] There are people [who are] adamant advocates for fossil fuel extraction, but still aren’t challenging uncontrolled growth that is at the heart of capitalism and is part of the colonialism that goes on in this land,” said Luxion.

“So [in] this debate, the only position available is maintaining status quo rather than striving for ways to get out of an economic and political system that is running into the ground,” Luxion continued.

Shaina Agbayani, a McGill student, agreed that the conference held inherent biases. “The theme of the conference is ‘Oil, Energy, and Canada’s Future.’ But the conference fails in its absence of proper recognition of, and critical inquiry into, [what] this ‘Canada’ is that is being projected and involved in the discussion,” said Agbayani.

“Only 1 of 11 talks at the conference seems to […] include the voices of Indigenous folks on whose territory we reside,” she added.

In response to the blockade and some of the criticism, MISC Director Will Straw expressed his concern with the conference. “I think we have tried to make it [balanced], but you can’t have perfect balance. I do really think we all benefit from hearing a wide range of views,” Straw told The Daily at the blockade.

Disagreement over blockade

One of the attendees at the conference found the presentations perturbing. “When I saw his speech, it was very disturbing for me […] I would consider [the presentation] a violent experience,” Indigenous student Tiffany Harrington told The Daily in reference to Sun Media personality and pro-tar sands advocate Ezra Levant’s presentation.

“For me, there were a lot of right-wing sentiments, and they didn’t recognize Indigenous sovereign voices as being able to speak for ourselves. Seeing that [MISC was] only putting forth one point of view I didn’t feel like they were actually opening up any discussion,” said Harrington, adding that MISC also showed “two polarized views that didn’t allow for any consensus on anything.”

Several of the attendees outside of the blockade expressed their discontent with the political actions taken against the conference, with several calling it “immature” and asserting that it was “stifling dialogue.”

“I understand their position; however I think blocking the door and not letting people into a conference that is supposed to be about open discussion and rational debate isn’t a very productive way of supporting or representing your opinion,” Justyna, a Concordia environmental humanities student, told The Daily outside the blockade.

Harrington disagreed. “I think protesting an event like this was a courageous act of speaking up and holding a voice.”

“This is not a neutral debate,” Luxion added. “[MISC has] to understand it is a very political decision to have a conference that debates the role of the tar sands in some sort of ‘both sides are equal’ way, rather than acknowledging [that] the tar sands and global warming are killing people right now, and will continue to do so […] we need to shut them down.”

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Montreal’s mayor, Denis Coderre, campaigned on homelessness, and his suggestions for structural change in treating homelessness show promise. They would include an agency encompassing various levels of government, as well as businesses, community, and health organizations – and an increase in spending on the issue.

At the moment, many community organizations in the city address the immediate and long-term needs of the homeless. Included in this list – which is non-exhaustive and does not include facilities with confidential addresses – are various facilities located in or close to the downtown area. Typical services offered by shelters and day centres, some of the most vital resources available to the homeless, include access to some form of social services, hot meals, clean clothes, and access to showers. Additional resources offered are noted on a case-by-case basis.

The post Winter in Montreal without shelter appeared first on The McGill Daily.

The Network is a “cross-disciplinary faculty learning community of approximately 15 instructors” according to Marcy Slapcoff, Educational Developer at Teaching and Learning Services (TLS). The group of staff members from the McGill Writing Centre, TLS, and the McGill Library meet on a monthly basis. Formed back in 2008, the group aims to create stronger links between teaching and research to enhance student learning. According to Slapcoff, “The goal of the group from the beginning has been to understand how to best use coursework to promote students’ understanding and active engagement with research.”

Almost all McGill Faculties are represented in the Network. Geography professor Sarah Turner is one of the members of the Teaching Inquiry Network. Last semester, Turner implemented some of these ideas from the Network in her GEOG 409: Geographies of Developing Asia course by having students write journal entries for each week of readings. “From the student feedback [journal entries] seem to work really well as a learning tool and students appreciate the ability to take time crafting their responses rather than taking an exam that they have to cram for.”

“Although it might seem weird,” continued Turner, “Professors don’t have that many opportunities to really debate and critique different teaching approaches, because we’re so busy just getting all the parts of our job done. So this is a fun and productive way to think through new ideas.”

A student in GEOG 409 (who wished to remain anonymous) attested to the overall positive experience. “The course was structured really well. […] It was my first time having to write journal entries for a course. It actually forced [students] to think about what the author was saying and relate it to the class, and ourselves personally. I thought it was really good.”
The Network has also received support from the University. In 2011, the Nework facilitated the Joint Board Senate meeting where the Board of Governors supported the Network’s idea that “enhancing students’ understanding of research is a powerful way to improve student learning and the overall undergraduate experience.”

“The goal of the group […] has been to understand how to best use coursework to promote students’ understanding and active engagement with research”

McGill currently has a number of other services dedicated to promoting undergraduates’ involvement in research. Some of these groups include Summer Undergraduate Research in Engineering, the Arts Undergraduate Research Internship Award, and the Office of Undergraduate Research in Science. Though these services benefit students, they are not without their limitations, as they are only open for a limited audience. Many of them are very Faculty-specific or only available to students who actually apply to volunteer. According to Slapcoff, this stands in contrast to the Teaching-Research Project, which has the goal of reaching every McGill undergraduate through their coursework.

Enhancing and discussing teaching methods is a step toward improving the undergraduate experience at post-secondary institutions, where generally the main qualifier of a professor is their research rather than their teaching skills and methods. Turner maintained, “Hopefully students then feel they benefit from a wider and more dynamic range of teaching approaches and assessment strategies.”

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“The public policies around HIV determined by governments and the United Nations were largely set out by the activists on the ground,” Lewis said, going on to explain that in Africa, for example, it was a number of grassroots gay men’s movements that spurred the initiatives in HIV awareness and policy. He traced the impact of the Treatment Action Campaign (TAC) in South Africa, which set out a model for the entire continent in terms of non-state actor (a person with signficiant power not tied to a government) strategy. Using empirical research and the concept of treatment as prevention, Lewis worked with TAC to communicate the message that “we have a crisis, the government isn’t sufficiently responding, we need some help,” until the government was forced to acknowledge the public health movement and its demands. “That’s what advocacy is,” Lewis stated. “It isn’t simply about making sure people will survive, it’s about making a discernible impact on actual public policy.”

Lewis went on to say that advocacy also depends on not giving up, that, “You go out on what you feel is an uncompromising position, you’re tenacious, you’re emphatic, you alienate everyone. We’re experts at alienation, but you keep the work going, and ultimately, you will break through.”
Throughout his talk, Lewis stressed what he called “the exquisite dimension of advocacy, whether one be a student, or a member of a discipline unrelated to a particular cause – a difference can be made if you grit your teeth. One day, the pendulum shifts and real change can be achieved.”

Advocacy and safe space at McGill

Lewis’ words provide a useful lesson for the youth advocate who wants to press for change at the campus level. In that vein, we can find many useful examples of advocacy groups at McGill, most of them student-run – most notably the Quebec Public Interest Research Group (QPIRG).

The Inclusive Mental Health Collective

The Inclusive Mental Health Collective is one example of the new working groups within QPIRG. The Collective offers “open meetings to connect, collaborate, get input from, and build community allies,” Ethan Macdonald, one of the organizers of the Collective, told The Daily by email.

The Collective provides a “base camp” for individuals with “shared experience” when dealing with distress, trauma, emotional or psychological diversity, diagnosis, et cetera. Macdonald highlighted the importance of mental health advocacy in a society where few have the chance to define their psychology for themselves. This is because the vocabulary of psychology revolves around ‘disease’-oriented language, which is not typically used outside of the doctor’s office. Macdonald asserted that such language is not reflective of individuals’ experiences.

The Collective tries to provide a safe space for individuals with these “shared experiences,” where they can be free to share a non-judgemental space. Macdonald went on to state that there is a “continued silence about marginalization, coercion, discrimination (ex. racism, cissexism, et cetera), and abuse within psychiatry and medicine.” People may be coerced into seeking help or taking medication that isn’t legal yet – or that may have long-term negative side effects.

An individual with “shared experience” can feel a “shame over emotions, thoughts, behaviours, and perceptions, even when they are harmless,” Macdonald continued, probably because of stigma attached to mental health. The Collective helps do away with that stigma layer by layer, and is an invaluable safe space at McGill in a time when other mental health services are lacking.

The Indigenous Women and Two Spirit Harm Reduction Coalition

The Indigenous Women and Two Spirit Harm Reduction Coalition emerged this year as a new working group of QPIRG McGill. The Coalition aims to provide harm reduction resources and materials to Indigenous women and Two Spirit (a member of an Indigenous community who doesn’t identify with their biological gender) identified people.

McGill student Molly Swain and Concordia student Lindsay Nixon started the coalition in hopes to work toward “[providing Indigenous and Two Spirit people] with resources and materials that will contribute to the safety, respect, and legitimization of their choices and circumstances,” the Coalition told The Daily over email. “Whether it be clean needles, condoms and dental dams, or zines about navigating the prison system, we want to ensure Indigenous women and Two Spirit people can access what they need to make the best choices for themselves.”

The Coalition functions under a non-hierarchical and Indigenous feminist framework and is open to all Status and Non-Status First Nations, Métis, and Inuit people, and Indigenous people from other lands. “We wanted this very much to be work we’re doing for our community,” said Swain. “We wanted the chance to do things that are really important for our communities and outside the academic context.”

“Indigenous students can have a more difficult time navigating university services, loans programs, etc., or experience racism, sexism, cissexism, or homophobia within the institution, all of which can make their post-secondary experience more challenging,” Swain and Nixon continued in their email to The Daily.

“Groups and organizations run by and for Indigenous people are important as spaces of activism, community, and solidarity in an institution like the university where we have historically not been permitted,” and where Indigenous people are highly underrepresented within “settler academia.” The Coalition is a way to re-make settler space, and “bring [the organizers’] work as Indigenous Feminists strongly committed to decolonization and resurgence into the wider community of urban Native people in Montreal.”

One recommendation for a starting point is the SSMU equity council for undergraduate students looking to get more involved in social equity and campus advocacy building efforts. “They’re consistently so thoughtful and so aware of what’s going on around campus, and so prepared to help students find a variety of options for what they want to do and what their needs are,” said Sarah Malik, Social Equity and Diversity Education (SEDE) Office Equity Educational Advisor, agreeing that the avenues for different types of advocacy and inclusion initiatives are already in place at McGill. The challenge for some students lies in discovering the opportunities that are out there and connecting with them in relation to their needs.

Social Equity and Diversity Education Office

Initiatives looking to make McGill a more inclusive space exist beyond the spheres of action and student advocacy. One example of this is the wide array of workshops offered by SEDE. Malik explained that SEDE’s mission is “to inform members of the community on equity, diversity, and education in order to create a better, more inclusive campus climate.” Workshops touch upon a variety of topics, such as anti-racism, equity, inclusion, and the originating concept of safer space. These workshops have expanded to offer a certificate to students who participate in the full suite of workshops, so that students can carry out their knowledge and apply it to real-life situations, and educate their peers.

Partnerships have branched out across the McGill Community from SEDE. One such example is an alliance with Teaching Learning Services (TLS), in the form of workshops offered, named “Skillsets,” which have a mandate to provide transferable skills to graduate students and faculty staff. The Daily spoke to David Syncox, Graduate Education Officer at Teaching and Learning Services, on the efforts being made to create a wide variety of workshops for graduate and teaching staff, using input from various groups. “Partnerships include a variety of faculty and departments[…] not just at a higher level of the Skillsets suite, but for something which is available for consumption of all, for any departments who want to help their student groups become more aware,” said Syncox.

The workshops are designed to create an engaging learning experience, with an aim to “create an experience where participants can take away practical things, as well as where they can really engage in a framework with analytic concepts and issues,” said Syncox. This, along with the expansive material and supporting documents offered on the SEDE website, aims to give people the opportunity to practice values and ideas in the hopes that it will empower them to respond to discrimination.

In the future, SEDE hopes to advance a “public awareness strategy that will take a lot of the concepts [they] use in the Safer Spaces workshops and will engage in a lot of the concerns raised [to be put to use] by students and the partners we work with.” The Safer Spaces workshops (in collaboration with TLS, First Peoples’ House, and the Office for Students with Disabilities) have focused on issues ranging from disability and universal design, to race and cultural identity, to Indigenous perspectives on campus, to sexual orientation and gender identity. SEDE also hopes to raise the level of discourse on campus, to “move away from the topic of whether or not we should care about these [issues],” Syncox concluded, “to talking about[…]what kind of campus community we want, to move the conversation beyond one that’s about debate and one toward which is more constructive and creating an inclusive environment that so many people seem to be asking for.”

The post Spaces you can count on appeared first on The McGill Daily.

“The Quebec Civil Code attaches sexual organs to gender, which in turn attaches certain stereotypes,” said Marc-Antoine Cloutier, executive director of the legal clinic Juripop, in French.

“These laws cause deaths, we should not forget that. When you impose a law like this, you force trans* people to out themselves to everyone.”

The Centre asserts that the law is discriminatory against trans* people. According to Gabrielle Bouchard, Peer Support and Trans* Advocacy Coordinator at the Centre, the law sends the wrong message to trans* youth.

“It asks young people to live out their adolescence at school with a gender dichotomy and legal identity, [only] in order to reach the age of 18 and get a sex change,” said Bouchard. “Currently the rate of suicide among trans* people is 40 per cent, and this is largely due to the fact that they cannot live their lives like everybody else.”

The Centre also challenges the law’s enforcement of sex reassignment surgery in order to change one’s gender on legal documents.

“When we talk to young trans* people, we promise them that when they reach the age of 18, if you want to stop being discriminated against, you have to have a sex change,” said Bouchard, “We are talking about mandatory sex changes. These include a complete hysterectomy or vaginoplasty. Right now they don’t have a choice.”

Bouchard explained that both these surgical procedures lead to sterilization. “Right now we don’t talk about the people who refuse to go under the knife to biologically alter their bodies. They only exist in the background.”

According to Bouchard, the decision to take this issue to courts is a preliminary step to making Canada a safer place for trans* people. “Our society is gendered and there is no way on earth that [we] will change that. […] We have to work within a binary society, where there is either male or female,” Bouchard said. “What we’re hoping to achieve with this is at least giving somebody the possibility to choose which one they’re more comfortable with or the least uncomfortable with.”

The Centre initially filed a complaint with the Quebec Commission of Human Rights and Youth Rights in August of this year. According to Bouchard, the Commission confirmed that the current law is discriminatory. However, the Commission was unable to take the case without a clear victim.

“We’re taking it to court [because] the process of modifying the law has been dragging on forever. If the [members of Quebec’s National Assembly] cannot come to a conclusion on this, then we have to use the tools that have been known throughout the years to be working,” said Bouchard.

“We are talking about mandatory sex changes. These include a complete hysterectomy or vaginoplasty.”

“Today we have in our hands all the elements in order to pursue a judicial case which will happen in the coming weeks,” Cloutier added. “Because we cannot accept the discrimination of these people, they have to integrate and live peacefully in society the way they are.”

On November 25 and 26, Quebec’s National Assembly will debate potentially striking down some of the articles. Even if they make changes to some parts of Article 71, Bouchard stated that the Centre would still go ahead with its legal challenge to the other parts as well.

“The Minister of Justice knows the law is discriminatory,” said Cloutier. “If the Minister of Justice does not take responsibility for this case next week then that will cause a great delay.”

“These laws cause deaths, we should not forget that,” he added. “When you impose a law like this, you force trans* people to out themselves to everyone.”

With files from Ralph Haddad.

The post A legal challenge to institutional violence against trans* people appeared first on The McGill Daily.

“At least three or four [detainees] are still on hunger strike,” Syed Hussan, a member of No One Is Illegal Toronto, told The Daily. “[These detainees] are locked in segregation. They’re denied showers, et cetera, simply for speaking out.”

The detainees’ demands include better access to medical care, social services, food, legal aid, and more consistent phone calls, all of which have been limited since the detainees were moved from a federal prison in the Greater Toronto Area to the CECC.

One detainee, Michael Mvogo, is taking matters further. According to a press release from No One is Illegal Toronto, Mvogo has reached out to the Working Group on Arbitrary Detentions at the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights to petition for his release.

Mvogo’s case challenges his detainment as a violation of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.

“I’ve spent nearly a decade in jail and this suffering does not look like its going to end. The Federal Court won’t hear my case. I’ve been forced to go on hunger strike, and to approach the United Nations because the Canadian immigration system is just broken. Canada should either remove immigrants like me within 90 days, or release me. Jailing people endlessly should not be an option.”

“Mr. Mvogo has been detained basically because Canada has no bar,” said Hussan, referring to Canada’s indefinite limit as to the length of migrant detentions.

Mvogo has been held in detention for seven years, and according to No One is Illegal Toronto, has been denied a hearing by the Federal Court of Canada. Originally from Cameroon, Mvogo cannot be deported without travel documents, which cannot be obtained. However, he is far from the only one. Hundreds of migrants are currently facing similar arbitrary detention.

“The province is saying they’re just holding [the detainees] for the federal government, but they’re also being paid by the federal government to hold them,” said Hussan, referring to prisoners at the CECC.

Mvogo wants Canada to establish a ‘presumptive’ period for detainees. “Mvogo hopes [for the United Nations] to instruct Canada to release him. If that happens, it would apply to all long-term detainees,” Syed said.

“I’ve spent nearly a decade in jail and this suffering does not look like its going to end,” Mvogo told endimmigration.com.  “The Federal Court won’t hear my case. I’ve been forced to go on hunger strike, and to approach the United Nations because the Canadian immigration system is just broken. Canada should either remove immigrants like me within 90 days, or release me. Jailing people endlessly should not be an option.”

“We hope that the Canadian government stops breaking international law [and] legal practice,” said Hussan. “We believe people should not be detained on immigration grounds at all.”

The post Immigration detainees continue resistance appeared first on The McGill Daily.

Series like Culture Shock, said Kira Page, External Coordinator at QPIRG, are important in a “broader context of neoliberalism that is telling people that racism is not an issue – that colonialism is not an issue.”

“At McGill specifically, I think there’s a comforting discourse [about] multiculturalism – that this is a diverse school, it’s all good, there’s a lot of diversity,” Page said. “Representation is certainly a barometer we can use […] but just the fact that it isn’t just white people who go to this school doesn’t mean that people don’t experience institutionalized racism in a McGill context.”

Another motivation for Culture Shock is McGill’s position on unceded Mohawk territory, Page said. “The fact that McGill is on stolen land is not just a historical issue. It’s a current issue.”

See The Daily’s Culture section for more coverage of Culture Shock events, or head over to Multimedia to listen to an interview with and performance by Lady Sin.

“Canada Behind Bars: On the Incarceration of Indigenous Communities”

Written by Hannah Reardon.

Statistics Canada findings show that 30 per cent of female offenders in federal prisons are Indigenous, and this figure is steadily climbing, according to Patricia Eshkibok, one of the speakers at the Canada Behind Bars panel on October 10.

Panelists Eshkibok, Jessica Danforth, and Kawate Tawe, focused mainly on the incarceration of Indigenous women in Canada, while also highlighting the crisis facing Indigenous youth. The “pipeline from school to prison,” as Danforth referred to it, is an intergenerational effect of the residential school system. Many of its effects, such as alcohol and drug abuse, identity loss, and high suicide rates, are all serious and pervasive problems, the panelists stressed, which push Indigenous youth disproportionately out of the education system and into the prison system.

Dismal health conditions, extreme homophobia, racism, and violence are all issues that face Indigenous people within the prison system. However, some efforts are being made to improve the rights of Indigenous people in the prison system. Danforth is the founder and executive director of the Native Youth Sexual Health Network, an organization that works to protect the health rights of incarcerated individuals. “You don’t lose your right to health as soon as you enter prison. Just because you’re incarcerated doesn’t mean you lose your rights as a human being,” she said.

“Colonization is happening,” said Danforth, adding that racism and loss of identity are day-to-day realities for Indigenous people. There is a pressing need, according to the panelists, to spread the truth [about] the present-day effects of colonization. Raising awareness and fighting for justice for marginalized Indigenous people is the only way to move forward, the panelists stressed. “We are here to speak truth to power,” said Danforth.

For more on the incarceration of Indigenous communities, visit the Life after Life Collective.

“Roundtable Discussion on Solidarity City”

Written by Olivia Larson.

QPIRG McGill and SSMU co-hosted a roundtable discussion on Montreal’s Solidarity City declaration, presented by migrant justice network Solidarity Across Borders. Dozens of public service organizations across Montreal have signed the declaration in an effort to make basic resources such as education, food, and housing accessible to non-status migrants. At the roundtable discussion, representatives from various public service organizations were present to share their successes and to discuss the challenges they have faced in implementing the declaration.

Quebec’s residency clause bars thousands of undocumented children from free schooling every year, pointed out Anne, a CEGEP teacher. She works with the committee on education, which has successfully “made this problem exist” for the government through persistent lobbying in the hopes that the word ‘resident’ will be omitted from the law.

The Food For All committee, a part of the Solidarity campaign, reaches out to food aid organizations and banks, asking them to adopt the declaration and implement a ‘don’t ask, don’t tell’ policy in regards to immigration status. So far, the committee has had relative success in signing organizations on, and thereby increasing “food justice,” as one representative put it, for non-status migrants.

Several organizations are working with Solidarity City to increase the number of subsidized housing projects across Montreal, and to make shelters for those who identify as trans* or as women safe spaces for those who are undocumented.

The shortage of available social housing for Quebec residents has made the government reluctant to expand the list of people who qualify for public housing, leaving many who are non-status homeless. Shelters have had issues with the Canadian Border Services Agency raiding and subsequently deporting paperless immigrants. The declaration, for both social housing agencies and shelters, has been extraordinarily difficult to implement, as the struggle for increased accessible living is being waged at all levels of government.

Despite myriad obstacles, Solidarity City’s powerful declaration to “fight back with solidarity, mutual aid, and direct action” is making headway in achieving equal status for all those living in Montreal.

For more information on Solidarity City, visit Solidarity Across Borders’s website.

“Race at McGill”

Written by Dana Wray.

Racial microaggressions, systemic and institutional racism, and the specific experiences of racialized people at McGill were all topics of discussion at a workshop co-facilitated by Shaina Agbayani and Annie Chen on October 16. The first half of the workshop, presented by Chen, focused on the basics of racial microaggressions, in addition to systemic and individual racism.

Microaggressions are small, everyday actions – whether verbal, behavioural, or environmental – that are hostile, derogatory, or negative racial slights. Although not always done intentionally, the slow accumulation of these microaggressions over a lifetime adds up to a marginalized experience.

Agbayani gave an example of the McGill-centric website McGill Microaggressions, where people at McGill send in their experiences with racism on an interpersonal, often casual and everyday level.

Chen’s part of the workshop also debunked the myth of reverse racism. A term thrown around to describe discrimination against white people, reverse racism is often used in arguments against programs such as affirmative action.

Agbayani focused more specifically on race at McGill, and how racism manifests itself on an institutional, day-to-day, and curricular level. She highlighted that there is an underrepresentation of people of colour within McGill’s faculty, as well as a lack of financial support for initiatives addressing racism, such as the Social Equity and Diversity Education Office.

Agbayani attributed the underrepresentation of faculty and staff of colour at McGill to a “feedback loop” between a lack of diversity in the student body and in staff. “Some [people of colour] who were offered jobs at Counselling Services rejected the offers because they noted that they wanted to serve student populations that [was] more diverse, and they wanted to be a mirror of identity in a position of authority for students of colour, which they didn’t see a lot of at McGill.”

In interviews with a former McGill dean and his daughter, a current staff member, Agbayani said the lack of diversity appeared to be a systemic problem that wasn’t getting any better. “[The former dean and his daughter] haven’t seen much progress [over the past few decades]. They’ve seen a decrease in diversity visibly – not of students, they noted more students of diverse backgrounds – but in terms of faculty and staff.”

According to Agbayani, diversity is used as a superficial buzzword for McGill. “Diversity for McGill [as stated online] would reflect a pursuit of diversity as a pursuit of cosmopolitanism, as opposed to diversity as a pursuit of social justice and [a process of] redressing historical injustices.”

Want to read more on issues of racism at McGill? Read Amina Batyreva’s feature “Colouring the conversation” or read our editorial on racism at McGill. 

“Ongoing colonization: Addressing systemic violence against Indigenous women”

Written by Dana Wray and Anqi Zhang.

At the trial of two men for the brutal murder of an Indigenous woman named Pamela George, the judge presiding over the case lamented that it would be “dangerous” to convict the “bright, promising young men” that were her murderers, and that George was “just a prostitute.”

According to Candice Cascanette, a member of Missing Justice, a Montreal-based organization and the leader of the workshop, this racist and sexist language is common in the media and the broader Canadian society when talking about Indigenous women. In Canada, there are 600 missing or murdered Indigenous women, although some activists argue that the number is closer to 3000. In addition, Indigenous women are five times as likely to face violence, a fact Cascanette called proof of “ongoing colonization.”

“Talking about the colonial present requires us to go to the colonial past,” asserted Cascanette, before giving a brief historical account of the theft of Turtle Island and subsequent colonization. As Indigenous women had power connected directly to this land within their communities, Cascanette explained, they were a threat to the patriarchal European forces, and therefore a target.

More recent practices like the residential school system continued the process of colonization by separating families, forcing Christianity upon Indigenous children, and attempting to destroy Indigenous culture. According to Cascanette, the “cultural genocide” extended past the schools, into the forces – such as the Indian Act – that imposed patriarchy, capitalism, and other oppressive European structures on Indigenous communities.

However, Cascanette also dispelled the notion that Indigenous people were victims without any agency. “There have been over 500 years of colonization and over 500 years of resistance – I just want to make that clear.”

Be sure to read The Daily’s annual coverage of the March for Murdered and Missing Indigenous women. As well, read The Daily’s editorials on the subject: one from October 2013, another from February 2013, and one from October 2012.

“Teach-In Against the Charter of Values”

Written by Cem Ertekin.

In preparation for the October 20 demonstration organized by the Ensemble Contre la Charte Xénophobe Coalition, Aishah Nofal, Bochra Manaï, and Vincent Tao facilitated a teach-in on resisting the proposed Quebec Charter of Values. The event focused on what the Charter is presently, and what social ramifications it could have.

Tao, one of the lead organizers of the upcoming demonstration on October 20, outlined the Parti Québecois’s proposed content of the Charter. The Charter aims to ban the wearing of religious symbols, a goal which Tao critiques as discriminatory. “This is state sanctioned social exclusion of women of faith who need government services,” said Tao.

Manaï, a PhD candidate in Urban Studies at Institut National de la Recherche Scientifique, said that the Charter has a clear electoral agenda. After conducting research looking at inter-ethnic relationships in middle class neighbourhoods, Manaï has concluded that people see diversity mostly when there is political discussion surrounding it.

Nofal, a second-year Law student at McGill, called the Charter blatantly discriminatory. “The PQ claims that the ban of religious symbols will neutralize [the] public sector. It deprives minorities of choice. They can’t simply discard their beliefs. What this Charter is saying is that some beliefs are suitable while others are not. […] This is really frightening. As a person wearing the hijab, I feel I’m subject to public scrutiny.”

Read The Daily’s coverage of the first anti-Charter of Values protest. 

“Political Prisoners’ Struggles in Palestine”

Written by Ralph Haddad.

Tadamon!’s workshop on October 16 discussed the harsh reality that Palestinians in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip face when arrested by the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF). Tadamon! – an Arabic word for solidarity – is a Montreal-based collective that works in solidarity with struggles for self-determination, equality, and justice in the Middle East as well as diaspora communities in Montreal and beyond.

As of 2013, there are an estimated 5,000 Palestinian prisoners in Israel. These prisoners are illegally held in poorly-maintained facilities, tortured in interrogations, and are subject to immediate maltreatment upon arrest. Israel was condemned by the UN earlier this year for its “abusive” treatment of prisoners, who are also denied family visits, Palestinian-based education, and basic healthcare.

What is important to note is that Jewish settlers and Palestinians in the West Bank are subject to separate legal systems – Jewish settlers are seen by an Israeli civilian judge, while Palestinians are seen by an Israeli military judge. Furthermore, rates of incarceration for Palestinian children are almost ninefold compared to those for Jewish children in the occupied territories, according to the workshop. Some Palestinians are arrested using administrative detention, supposedly used in times of emergency for strict security reasons (though Israel has an almost perpetual state of emergency). This form of detention allows for prisoners to be prosecuted without trial and charge, and are kept in prison for a period for up to six months, subject to renewal.

Today, there are around 178 Palestinians under administrative detention. The number has decreased “due to international grassroots pressure,” claimed Paul Di Stefano, a member of Tadamon!, “but the number is still extraordinarily high.” He continued that this form of detention allows the state to “circumvent” people’s rights.

According to Tadamon!, Israel also outsources its human rights violations by employing a private security company, G4S, to run its prisons. This privately-owned British security company also provides the IDF with equipment for checkpoints. Pressure in the form of hunger strikes on behalf of prisoners, or from movements such as Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) are still used today in order to pressure Israel to stop its maltreatment of prisoners and give them better care and humane services.

“Palestinians can be tried as adults as young as 16, and are interrogated by Israeli soldiers,” said Amy Darwish, an organizer for Tadamon!

For more resources, visit Tadamon!’s website.

“Unsettling and Decolonizing: An Introductory Workshop”

Written by Joelle Dahm.

Heidi Pridy and Philippe – who preferred not to give his last name – of the Anti-Colonial Solidarity Collective led an introductory workshop on unsettling and decolonizing, urging settlers to be respectful and effective allies to Indigenous populations on Turtle Island – also known as North America.

After an introduction to the vocabulary of decolonization and the history of colonialism in Canada, and specifically in the Montreal area, participants engaged in an interactive discussion on works by Cree artist Kent Monkman and documentaries dealing with decolonization.

Later in the workshop, Pridy explained that people often react to negative stereotypes, but feel comfortable about positive stereotypes that might glorify the group in question and give it a preconceived identity. “It does not matter if a stereotype is negative or positive. The problem is that it’s is a fixed representation and an abstraction of a complex dynamic.”

“When one group is marginalized, another one is benefitting. We need to understand ourselves as complicit in and beneficiaries of the illegal settlement of Indigenous people’s land,” said Pridy. “This appropriation often leads people to experience feelings of guilt. Guilt is a state of self-absorption that upholds privilege in a lot of ways and can really immobilize people from doing anything. We would encourage people to embrace that discomfort as a sign of a much-needed shift in self-consciousness.”

In special regard of upcoming Halloween festivities, Pridy urged people to be conscious about their self-representation, especially considering “sexy Native women costumes” sold in stores.

“Given the grade of sexual violence against Native women, that is really problematic,” Pridy stated. “Using someone else’s cultural symbols to exercise a personal need in self-expression is an exercise in privilege. That does not mean that cultural exchange never does happen and that we never partake in someone else’s culture, but there needs to be some element of mutual understanding for it to be a true exchange.”

Additional resources for decolonization can be found through Missing Justice, or read Mona Luxion’s column on decolonization and Idle No More in The Daily. 

“Indigenous feminisms and historical and contemporary two-spirit identities in North America”

Written by Hannah Besseau.

On October 10, Molly Swain and Lindsay Nixon facilitated a workshop on contemporary Indigenous feminisms, anti-capitalism, and two-spirit identities. The workshop tackled what Swain described as ‘the sexist and racist colonial values” of Canada’s ongoing violence against Indigenous people.

“We hear a lot about the victimization of Indigenous women, but not a lot about the resistance,” Swain told The Daily. “I wanted to introduce people to the topic of Indigenous feminisms and get them thinking of it not just in terms of within [academic settings], but in their daily lives.”

Swain emphasized environmental degradation and the role of capitalism in the oppression of Indigenous peoples. “Canada was […] founded very much on the principles of resource extraction, pushing further and further inland. […] John A Macdonald, the first prime minister of Canada, and his project of the Canadian Pacific Railway, was very much an extension of that need to keep pushing and [to] quell Native dissent and any Natives’ resistance to bring these dissenters under the fold.”

According to Swain, “colonialism, misogyny, and capitalism are deeply intertwined.” Decolonization – a continuous process whereby settlers, or non-Indigenous people, attempt to help heal the consequences of colonialism – is a crucial step in the struggle.

“It’s one thing to talk about decolonization and to acknowledge the land that we’re on, but it’s another thing to go out there and actually get involved in the struggles that are taking place, and to learn from those communities to figure out how to engage in a real responsible relationship with these folks. I think that’s a really important aspect of decolonization.”

Swain and Nixon are both co-founders of QPIRG McGill’s new working group, the Indigenous Women and Two-Spirit Harm Reduction Coalition. The group aims to provide resources and materials to Indigenous women and two-spirit people.

“We’re hoping to provide people with free materials such as needles, condoms, as well as resource guides to things like consent, safe sex, good drug-use practice, navigating the prison system, and guides to Montreal services,” said Swain. “Our group is open to Indigenous-identified folks only because we wanted this to be very much work we’re doing for our community.”

Culture Shock also featured a workshop on decolonization for settlers – scroll up to read Joelle Dahm’s article on it. For more information on the Indigenous Women and Two-Spirit Harm Reduction Coalition, contact ndn.harmredux@gmail.com.

The post Culture Shock appeared first on The McGill Daily.

In August, the detainees were moved from prisons in the Greater Toronto area to Ontario’s Central East Correctional Centre (CECC) in Lindsay, Ontario, in light of the upcoming closure of the Toronto West Detention Centre.

“We’re talking about a mass civil disobedience action within prison cells,” Jaggi Singh, an activist with No One Is Illegal Montreal, told The Daily. “This is very significant. These are people who are in a very precarious situation, who might not get support from wide sections of society.”

Conditions at Ontario’s Central East Correctional Centre

The migrant detainees were moved in two batches from Toronto to the CECC in Lindsay, Ontario, according to Emelina Ramos, an activist with Toronto-based migrant justice group Fuerza/Puwersa. While the Toronto West Detention Centre is a low-security public prison, the CECC is a high-security private prison.

“There’s been a lot of wondering as to why the detainees were moved to a private prison,” Ramos told The Daily.

As a private prison, CECC offers fewer classes and life skills programs than the Toronto West Detention Centre. According to Ramos, these programs are crucial for many detainees.

The transfer of prisoners from Toronto to Lindsay also means that prisoners are now two hours away from essential services such as legal resources, social services, and for some, their families.

One of the prisoners, Jalal Joshton, is originally from Iraq. He has lived in Canada for 16 years, and has been detained for seven. For Joshton, the move meant that he was cut off from his family.

“I can’t even see my son. Windsor is six hours away [from Lindsay]. [My family doesn’t] have the money to come all the way down here – my wife and son are on welfare,” Joshton told The Daily in an interview. “I haven’t seen my son in seven years – he was 14 months and now he is eight years old.”

“I’m suffering here, I’m suffering. In my country they don’t let you suffer, they shoot you and you’re done. Here, they make you die very slowly.”

A major issue with the transfer has also been access to phone calls. Detainees are not given access to making international and long-distance phone calls, according to Ramos, and local calls have been consistently dropping.

Erik Kusi, a current detainee, told The Daily that the inconsistency with the phone service has strained the detainees’ communications with lawyers and families. Kusi is a permanent resident of Canada. He arrived as a refugee from Liberia, and was detained due to a prior conviction. Before his detention, Kusi was two years away from being eligible to apply for citizenship.

“Their [CECC] phone systems cannot get ahold of our lawyers and families because supposedly their phone system […] is very sensitive,” said Kusi. “You cannot make 20 minute phone calls without the phone cutting off. The phone systems are most important to access our lawyers and our family members. This is [one of] the demands we’re striking for.”

Access to medical services and social workers have been limited since the transfer as well.

“There is no social worker. They say they are going to get a social worker but there is no social worker yet. They hired one, but she hasn’t [seen] anyone yet. The situation, if they are making money off of me or what, I have no idea, they must be making money. Three years of my life, and next to [no changes],” said Joshton.

Detention in Canada for non-status people

A joint statement on the issue was released on September 23 by Books to Bars Hamilton, Dignidad Migrante, Fuerza/Puwersa, No One Is Illegal Montreal, No One Is Illegal Vancouver, and Solidarity Across Borders Montreal.

Over the past ten years, according to the statement, the number of people without full status – including temporary workers and refugees – has risen to 60 per cent, and yet the number of permanent residency visas granted is the same. Less than 25 per cent of refugee claimants are accepted.

Approximately 82,000 migrant people have been detained in Canada since 2004, and 25,000 have been imprisoned, according to the statement. One third of detainees are held in maximum-security provincial prisons.

In 2012, Canada passed Bill C-31, which amended the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act. The Justice for Refugees and Immigrants Coalition – comprised of groups such as the Canadian Civil Liberties Association and Amnesty International – argued that the bill works to arbitrarily detain groups of refugees, and has too much power to deem those who hope to escape violence and persecution in their home country as illegal.

The amendments gave the state “broad, unfettered, and unprecedented powers,” according to a press release by the Coalition. Provisions in the bill allow the government to “arbitrarily detain groups of refugees; keep parents, children and spouses apart for years; […] and authorize the stripping of permanent residence from refugees.”

There are many reasons why non-status people can be detained, according to Ramos, including but not limited to: not having the correct travel documents, an inability to be deported because their home country will not take them, or having prior convictions.

“We should be aware of the reality of the immigration detention and the injustice of it. We aren’t [necessarily] talking about people who are being detained for being convicted of a criminal offense. These are people in administrative categories – that is, they haven’t necessarily committed a crime, their only ‘crime’ is to have been a migrant. So it’s particularly insidious that detention is being used against people,” said Singh.

“The system is flawed, it’s not working,” said Ramos. “Some people who have prior convictions, their convictions are completely bogus in our courts. For example, in countries where it is illegal to be gay, and you have a conviction for it – you could come here and all the government of Canada sees is that you have a prior conviction and so you get detained.”

Unlike the United States and the United Kingdom, which limit detention of immigration detainees to 90 days, Canada does not have a limit to how long people can be detained.

While immigration detainees are supposed to undergo a monthly detention review, at CECC, their isolation from lawyers has impeded progress on their cases.

“Some of these individuals have been held in detention for ten years and they’re not being told when they’re going to be released because Canada doesn’t want to release them in their own community,” said Ramos. “In some cases, their home country doesn’t want to take them either – and [so] they’re stuck.”

The majority of migrant detainees at  the CECC come from African countries and the Middle East, according to Ramos, and there are no European migrants currently detained.

Strike actions and response

On September 17, the detainees led a walkout where they left and refused to re-enter their cells. The detainees were forcefully put back into their cells by the guards, according to Ramos.

On September 18, detainees held a hunger strike that lasted 24 hours. A second hunger strike started on September 23, and lasted the subsequent 11 days. At least six detainees were reported hospitalized during the hunger strike.

“[People are feeling] frustration, headaches, anger, and other stuff too,” said Kusi, who went on hunger strike. “There is [a lot of] yelling going around. It’s just getting people stressed out. I’m getting frustrated myself.”

The CECC responded to the strike by enforcing lockdowns, Ramos told The Daily, where detainees are not allowed to leave their cells for extended periods of time – even up to 18 hours a day. Certain detainees were put into segregation. According to Ramos, the communication between the CECC and the detainees has been limited, and only furthered frustrations.

“The warden has told them he was going to make the canteen better, which he did. But he also told them they would get a better phone line, but calls continue to drop and are fuzzy. They hired a social worker, but she has yet to show up. The relationship [between the detainees and CECC] has not been very good at all,” said Ramos.

As for a response to better health services, Ramos said the CECC did bring in nurses, but the initiative fell short of a real change.

“They asked for better access to medical services, and there were nurses, but only because of the hunger strike. Now that the hunger strike is over, the nurses are gone. It was a very conditional thing,” said Ramos.

* * *

The hunger strikes ended on October 1, Ramos told The Daily, because of complications with health and hospitalizations, in addition to a lack of response from the Canadian Border Service Agency (CBSA).

The detainees are still on strike, but are trying a different tactic to have their demands met. They will now be boycotting their hearings that will decide the outcomes of their cases since, according to Ramos, many of the detainees report seeing no progress at their monthly meetings.

The strike has garnered the attention of the United Nations Refugee Agency, who have since visited the CECC to talk to detainees, according to Ramos.

“They said they’re working on it, but that the government is not budging,” said Ramos.

“The CBSA has told detainees they they’re going to deport 60 of them Monday [October 7] or Tuesday [October 8],” Ramos told The Daily. “No one thinks it’s going to happen because they bluff like this all the time. But if it does happen, it means that we’ve lost.”

“What we need is a way to regularize the status of people who are dealing with irregular status,” said Singh. “People who are detained are the tip of the iceberg in terms of people who live in Canada without full status. There are anywhere from half a million to a million people who live without status. In the U.S. it’s closer to 12 million.”

“First and foremost this is about undocumented people struggling to get dignity and justice within the limitations of the Canadian system,” said Syed Hussan, an activist with No One Is Illegal Toronto.

“These are people trying to get better standards. People should not have to go hungry to have access to phone calls, to call their family, to call their lawyer, when you’ve been jailed without [being charged with a] crime. That in itself should call people to act, to rise up, and to question the immigration system in Canada.”

With files from Emelina Ramos.

The post A call for dignity and justice appeared first on The McGill Daily.

The ride was declared illegal by the Service de police de la ville de Montréal (SPVM) at 6 p.m., as soon as cyclists took off from Square Phillips. Cyclists moved through the downtown area heading east before finally dispersing at the Fullum and Hochelaga intersection. Despite police tailing the cyclists on motorbikes and in cars, no arrests were made, and the ride remained peaceful.

Critical Mass aims to make a statement in favour of sustainable transportation, but reasons for individual participation vary. “I think it’s really bad what’s happening in the city right now with the police,” Nellie Briar told The Daily. “I am here to send the message that police intimidation should not work.”

Participant Fannie Dulude offered a similar sentiment. “The more people there are, the more festive it is and the safer people feel. There’s the idea that we are looking out for each other.”

Last month’s Critical Mass sparked an outcry in the media and among cyclists after an unexpected police crackdown landed some participants with a $500 fine, while 23 others were arrested.

Cyclists were ticketed under article 500.1 of the Highway Safety Code of Quebec, which prohibits the obstruction of vehicles on a public road without authorization of, and control by, the police.

Ian Lafrenière, Commander of the SPVM, told Le Devoir that cyclists were arrested in July for zig-zagging between cars, cycling against traffic, running through red lights, and, in two cases, trying to bike on the Jacques-Cartier bridge.

Darren Becker, Director of Communications for the city of Montreal, told Le Devoir that the city supported the intervention of the SPVM at the Critical Mass in July.

“I have the impression that police were profiling some of the participants last month because they thought they might have been involved in the student strikes. They don’t have a tolerance and I don’t think it is a good enough reason for their intervention,” Briar told The Daily.

The police crackdown on Critical Mass is part of a larger picture: the SPVM has been paying special attention to enforcing highway safety code provisions more strictly as part of a summer-long cyclist safety campaign.

“The issue is that we gave privilege to a police force and they’re abusing it,” participant Katie Nelson told The Daily at July’s Critical Mass. “At some point this isn’t just a cyclist issue, its an issue for everyone.”

News sources and Montrealers have taken very different stances on the crackdown. In an editorial, the Montreal Gazette supported the police crackdown, concluding, “Rather than seeing injustice in police enforcement of rules of the road for cyclists, or trying to frustrate it, cyclists would best be served by strictly obeying reasonable rules enforced in a reasonable manner.”

In contrast, the Link’s managing editor Erin Sparks published an opinion piece in June decrying the “outdated laws” for cycling in Montreal. In the Gazette’s editorial, they referred to Sparks’s piece as “the cycling lobby complaining bitterly about the crackdown.”

“The majority [of tickets] appear to be misguided attempts to criminalize cycling in a city oriented towards car travel,” Sparks wrote, adding, “Considering the increase in cyclists in the city, as well as how easy it is becoming to travel by bike around the city, the law should be adjusted to reflect these changing realities.”

A crowd-sourced Google Map created by Montrealer Dominik Richard has also garnered significant attention; it allows Montreal cyclists to mark locations where police have been seen ticketing cyclists.

Those critical of the crackdown have pointed out that many of the offenses are petty and obscure, such as $37 fines for missing pedal reflectors. In response, police promised in mid-June to focus on more severe offenses such as running red lights, and promised to meet with Vélo Québec.

To avoid being hit with these potential fines, participants of this month’s Critical Mass came prepared with extra reflectors to give out to fellow cyclists.

Statistics from both the city of Montreal and the SPVM show that accidents are not increasing, but instead decreasing, even with more cyclists on the road. In recent years, according to statistics provided by the SPVM on their cyclist safety campaign page, the total number of injuries (both minor and serious) as well as deaths has fallen from 733 in 2009 to 641 in 2011. According to Le Devoir, the number of cyclists has increased by 10 to 20 per cent each year.

The post Critical Mass celebrates urban cycling appeared first on The McGill Daily.

23 arrests were made, and many of the 100 participating cyclists were fined $500 for participating.

“It was really a surprise to everyone,” Katie Nelson, one of the cyclists at the event, told The Daily. “[Critical Mass] is meant to be a peaceful event, and has always been one.”

The monthly installment of Critical Mass – which has been happening in Montreal for close to two decades without any official leadership or run-ins with the police, according to Nelson – met at Square Phillips before heading to Old Montreal and cycling up McGill College. It was in front of Beaver Hall that the group was stopped.

“Riot police came running at us out of an alley and started throwing people off their bikes,” Nelson said. “There was lots of hitting and shouting. It was really unexpected and unsafe to have these steel frames being thrown around, hurting people.”

During the collective bike ride, according to Nelson, a couple of police officers on bikes followed the crowd, which she described as, originally, a “non-threatening presence.” Prior to the arrests, she said, police made no announcement that the event was illegal.

“Even though a few police were present before and talking to people, they did not ask for route or itinerary or state that they require[d] one,” Nelson said.

Ian Lafrenière, Commander of the Service de police de la ville de Montréal (SPVM) told Le Devoir that cyclists were arrested for zig-zagging between cars, cycling against traffic, running through red lights, and, in two cases, trying to bike on the Jacques-Cartier bridge.

Cyclists were ticketed under article 500.1 of the Highway Safety Code of Quebec, which prohibits the obstruction of vehicles on a public road without authorization of and control by the police.

Darren Becker, Director of Communications for the city of Montreal, told Le Devoir that the city supported the intervention of the SPVM at Critical Mass.

According to Nelson, it was the world’s first Critical Mass with any police intervention. “The issue is that we gave privilege to a police force and they’re abusing it,” Nelson said. “At some point this isn’t just a cyclist issue, it’s an issue for everyone.”

The tickets and arrests at the rally, which advocates for more access to improved bicycle transportation, comes at a time where the police crackdown on cyclists in Montreal has increased since 2009. From June 4 to August 26, the SPVM has been paying special attention to enforcing highway safety code provisions more strictly as part of their cyclist safety campaign.

Statistics from both the city of Montreal and the SPVM show that accidents are not increasing, but instead decreasing, even with more cyclists on the road. In recent years, according to statistics provided by the SPVM on their cyclist safety campaign page, the total number of injuries (both minor and serious) and deaths has fallen from 733 in 2009 to 641 in 2011. According to Le Devoir, the number of cyclists has increased by 10 to 20 per cent each year.

News sources and Montrealers have taken very different stances on the crackdown. In an editorial, the Montreal Gazette supported the police crackdown, concluding, “Rather than seeing injustice in police enforcement of rules of the road for cyclists, or trying to frustrate it, cyclists would best be served by strictly obeying reasonable rules enforced in a reasonable manner.”

By contrast, the Link’s managing editor Erin Sparks published an opinion piece in June – that the Gazette’s editorial referred to as the “the cycling lobby complaining bitterly about the crackdown” – decrying the “outdated laws” for cycling in Montreal.

“The majority [of tickets] appear to be misguided attempts to criminalize cycling in a city oriented towards car travel,” Sparks wrote, adding, “Considering the increase in cyclists in the city, as well as how easy it is becoming to travel by bike around the city, the law should be adjusted to reflect these changing realities.”

Those critical of the crackdown have pointed out that many of the offenses are petty and obscure, such as $37 fines for missing wheel reflectors. In response, police promised in mid-June to focus on more severe offenses such as running red lights, and promised to meet with Vélo Québec.

In early July, Montrealer Christopher Lloyd made headlines when he was fined $651 for “obstructing justice” by warning other cyclists of a “red light trap” where police were fining cyclists $41 for running a red light.

While the Gazette argued in its aforementioned editorial that cyclists needed to learn the rules of the road, others suggested that the police were trying to rack up a ticket quota or make money.

Criminal defence lawyer David Sutton told CBC’s Daybreak that Lloyd’s actions did not actually interfere with police actions – rather, he argued that Lloyd was helping police by encouraging cyclists not to run the red light.

A crowd-sourced Google Map created by Montrealer Dominik Richard has also garnered significant attention; it allows Montreal cyclists to mark locations where police have been seen ticketing cyclists. Sparks called the initiative “an ingenious idea” that “helps foster a community of individuals.”

The post Critical Mass event disrupted by police appeared first on The McGill Daily.

Humanities 101 is run out of Forward House, a community organization dedicated to providing community-based mental health services. The course offers discussions and workshops, and is specifically targeted towards people with mental illness.

“I started reading a lot about radical humanities in other places in Canada; a big part of it was learning to think critically about the systems they were involved in, and feel empowered by this knowledge instead of weighed down by the systems,” Larlee explained in an interview with The Daily.

The initiative offers a wide range of discussion topics, including history of film, climate change, radical black activism, Indigenous issues, and anti-oppressive media.

In the past year, 16 lectures have already been given. “It has opened my mind up to a lot of things I haven’t thought of before,” said a participant of the project, who wished to remain anonymous. “It was nice just being able to go in to a place like McGill, even if just for a short period of time. We can feel like we have access to something most of us don’t.”

Professors, lecturers, and students of the McGill community volunteered their time to teach the class. Adam Cantor was one of these volunteers, facilitating a class on the history and function of film editing. For Cantor, it was a humbling experience.

“One thing that struck me was that while I was showing some film sequences that are quite common in film studies, some of the people at Forward House found the violence and the intensity of the scenes too much to bear and asked me to turn it off,” Cantor recounted to The Daily. “I felt like the message of the film with regards to senseless violence and political brutality got through to [them] in a way it can’t to me.”

According to Larlee, these emotional reactions took place in many of the classes and discussions. “For me, what’s missing a lot of the time in academia are the voices of those living through what people in universities are theorizing.”

The participants from Forward House were equally enthralled with the professors and lecturers that offered their time.

“I had no idea what I was getting into and I found all the lecturers and topics to be very original,” said another anonymous participant. “One of the things that impressed me the most was that the professors took us seriously.”

The project hopes to resume in fall 2013 with new and returning topics and participants.

The post Humanities 101 broadens educational capacity appeared first on The McGill Daily.

Around 80 sex workers and allies gathered at the park at 2 p.m. as part of a national series of demonstrations in recognition of sex workers’ rights and the decriminalization of sex workers. The demonstrators celebrated their cause with sparklers, music, and dance.

The demonstration was organized by multiple groups, including Stella; Projet Travailleuses du sexe, Émiss-ère; Action Santé Travesti(e)s et Transsexuel(le)s du Québec; l’Alliance Féministe Solidaire pour les droits des travailleuses et travailleurs du sexe; Pink Bloc; and PolitiQ.

The family friendly event opened with rallying speeches given by representatives from different organizing groups, followed by a dance-a-thon. A speaker system blasted dance music as demonstrators broke out into song and lit sparklers. The demonstration dissolved naturally by 3:45 p.m.

The action was organized the same weekend as the Formula 1 Grand Prix du Canada racing event in Montreal, further pushing the safety of sex workers to the forefront of people’s minds. With the influx of Grand Prix attendees each year, Montreal sex workers see a rise in clients.

In addition, the upcoming Bedford v. Canada case has made the issue very relevant. The Supreme Court of Canada will hear the case on the constitutionality of Canada’s prostitution laws brought forth by Terri-Jean Bedford, Amy Lebovitch, and Valerie Scott, who claim Canada’s prostitution laws are unconstitutional as they infringe on the rights guaranteed in the Canadian Charter. Their claim was upheld by an Ontario judge in 2010 before being appealed by the federal government and brought before the Supreme Court.

“We are talking about people’s lives right now,” explains Anna-Aude Caouette, Clinical Coordinator of Stella, a community-based sex worker justice group. “This case is about people’s right to security and life. We are in support of that.”

As laws governing prostitution stand now, the act of prostitution is itself not illegal, however many of the acts around it are, such as communication for the purpose of prostitution in any place open to public view. This means that sex workers have limited options for communicating and coordinating with clients, which can contribute to the lack of security sex workers may face on the job.

Article 213 of the Criminal Code of Canada details the restrictions of prostitution practices, limiting solicitation in ‘public places’ and by way of stopped motorized vehicles. In addition, sex workers may not receive clients in the same place more than once.

“The Criminal Code 213 of Canada criminalizes both the clients and the sex workers,” Caouette explained. “With this article, we cannot communicate what we are going to offer, how much it will cost, and safer sex negotiations. We are more vulnerable to aggressors or bad clients, and even [the] police sometimes.”

“We cannot organize with sex workers to improve our security,” she added, “None of this is possible in the legal context of Canada. It forces us to be very vulnerable.”

 The Supreme Court of Canada will begin to hear the case on June 13. Demonstrators hope that the Supreme Court will strike down three major criminal provisions that criminalize sex workers. Concordia’s Simone de Beauvoir Institute was granted official intervener status in the Supreme Court case.

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