Held on Ste. Catherine Street across from the Bay, the candlelit vigil brought in supporters from a range of organizations calling for the end of the Gaza blockade, and for Canada to put pressure on the Israeli government.

“It’s very cold here, but it’s nothing compared to what the people in Gaza are going through right now,” said Mohamed Kamel, a member of the Canadian Muslim Forum, to the small crowd.

Last Wednesday, Israel launched military incursions into Gaza and on Thursday imposed an embargo, saying it was punishment for rockets fired over the border by Palestinian militants.

John Dugard, the UN Special Rapporteur on human rights in the Palestinian Territories, last week called the Israeli military operations war crimes that violated the Geneva Conventions and international humanitarian law. In September 2007, Israeli declared Gaza a “hostile entity” and has threatened a full-scale invasion.

Israel eased the blockade on Tuesday to allow some delivery of goods, but quickly strengthened it again. Yesterday, tens of thousands of Gaza residents flooded into Egypt to buy food and fuel after Palestinian militants breached the border walls.

“Gaza, it’s a prison… People cannot go out of it, they cannot fly in or out,” said Jean Gravend, a member of Palestinians and Jews United at the Montreal demonstration.

The European Union and many Arab countries have condemned the blockade, warning that it is hastening a humanitarian crisis in Gaza. The European external relations commissioner, Benita Ferrero-Waldner, said the Israeli actions constitute “collective punishment.”

At yesterday’s demonstration, Gravend and others called for Canada to also condemn Israel’s actions.

“We are an accomplice if we do not protest and try to change things,” Gravend said.

Feroz Mehdi, a member of Alternatives International, said grassroots actions such as the vigil were crucial for disseminating information, and for pushing the Canadian government to act.

“We have to impress upon the Canadian government that it’s got to get its act together, and call this a humanitarian crisis,” Mehdi said. “There are 1.4 million people in Gaza. These people are not terrorists; they’re ordinary people trying to live.”

Israeli military operations since last week have killed 40 Palestinians, at least 10 of them civilians. Palestinian militants killed an Ecuadorian kibbutz volunteer last week.

A coalition of various Palestinian groups organized the event, including the Coalition for Peace and Justice in Palestine, Solidarity for Palestinian Human Rights, Palestinians and Jews United, and Alternatives.

Also at the vigil were members of the Confederation des syndicats nationaux (CSN), Quebec’s largest trade union, and CEGEP teachers.

Solidarity for Palestinian Human Rights and other groups are planning a larger demonstration for tomorrow, starting at 2 p.m. at Concordia’s Hall Building.

The post Montrealers gather at candlelight vigil to condemn Gaza crisis appeared first on The McGill Daily.

According to administrators in McGill Facilities, Leacock has suffered from poor air quality and ventilation problems for many years. But the situation became urgent around April 30, when eight employees – most from the History department’s administrative office – reported symptoms including nausea, coughing, constrained breathing, burning in the throat, eyes, and nose, numbness in the mouth, and sore cheeks.

No factor has been positively identified as having caused the symptoms, but a number of theories were suggested – including the possibility that muriatic acid, a toxic and corrosive agent used that day to clean Montreal’s aqueducts north of campus, might have entered the building’s ventilation.

McGill requested that affected employees see doctors. When one employee, who requested anonymity, explained her symptoms, her doctor called the Poison Control Centre “to follow standard procedure.”

“It felt like my whole mouth was numb, like my teeth were falling out,” the employee said of her health condition in the first week of May, three days after problems were first reported.

“It was like I had this mouthful of metallic balls,” said another employee, who also asked to remain anonymous. “By the end of the day, I was slurring my words. I felt stoned. I threw up at the end of the day.”

One employee left work for ten weeks. Two staff members have been temporarily relocated to the Ferrier building. One remained on medication to treat a persistent respiratory problem following the incident.

Another employee who stayed in the office through early May reportedly noticed her asthmatic condition worsen, and left work on semi-permanent sick leave. A sessional lecturer working on the fourth floor also left work sick after the incident – though it was also never determined if symptoms were related. Both have not yet returned to work.

Following the incident, a building assessment conducted by McGill Facilities discovered that the building’s chillers – machines used to cool in-coming air – had been removed earlier in April. Their removal could have sent a metallic odor through the vents.

Further, the assessment found that both humidifiers in the building were not functioning, resulting in humidity levels as low as ten per cent – below Quebec building codes’ minimum of 20 per cent and far below the recommended minimum of 40 per cent.

One humidifier had been known to be malfunctioning for up to a year. In fact, the same employees who fell sick in the spring had also reported trouble breathing and dry air to the Health and Safety Office in fall of 2007.

Those affected said that their symptoms suggested chemical exposure had occurred.

“Something permeated the building. Our symptoms pointed to some chemical burn or chemical exposure, and it had to have been diluted,” an employee said.

However, the University’s assessment failed to prove that any one factor – muriatic acid, the chillers’ removal, or the malfunctioning humidifiers – caused specific health concerns in the spring, explained Jim Nicell, Associate Vice-Principal (University Services).

“We realize that people are making these statements, and people feel this is having an effect,” Nicell said. “But we can’t connect reactions reported by individuals with any specific event.”

The employees filed complaints with Quebec’s Commission de sécurité et santé du travail (CSST). But since causality had not been determined, and some employees had pre-existing health conditions including asthma and renitis – a condition making someone sensitive to barometric and air quality changes – the claim was rejected.

A spokesperson for the CSST said she could not discuss the case due to confidentiality reasons, but added that between 2005 and 2006 the office had investigated approximately 500 air-quality complaints in workplaces.

The University acted quickly to address the concerns. All of the vents in Leacock were changed over the summer – though it was later discovered that the new vents blocked fresh air from entering, and were later removed.

McGill also replaced one of the broken humidifiers and will be installing the second within weeks, according to Nicell.

The building’s entire ventilation system will be replaced this winter, likely starting in February, at a cost of $850,000.

Still, affected employees want to know exactly what happened to make them sick the week following April 30.

“I don’t know what it’s going to take to find out what we were exposed to that day,” an employee said.

The CSST only intervenes in cases when no action is undertaken in the workplace to rectify a problem, so McGill’s commitment to repairs in Leacock means employees will not likely find support for another external investigation.

Despite the apparent gravity of the health concerns, some workers say McGill’s non-academic staff union, MUNACA, did not do enough to support the employees during their counsel with the Univerisity.

Affected employees said that MUNANCA’s President, Maria Ruocco, told them that complaints from just five employees in a building of 200 were insufficient for MUNACA to mobilize.

“MUNACA is not an aggressive union. They could have made more noise,” said an employee. “I don’t know how unions work, but I would have taken it directly to Heather [Munroe-Blum, the principal]’s office and said, ‘We have a problem here. People are sick.’”

Ruocco said that her office stayed in close touch with the Health and Safety Office, and would be following up with the CSST once the last humidifier is installed this month.

“Our job was to get them out of there,” she said, adding, “The problem was being rectified.”

She also said that she would contact Legal Counsel to see “what else could be done for them.” But she also admitted that she had not been in touch with the affected employees in at least a month.

The affected employees stressed that McGill has acted in good faith to move forward with repairs. Yet, they say, they still have questions about the communication mechanisms used to address health and safety on campus.

“Our biggest insult: Why won’t you tell us what the hell is going on?” the employee Said. “They have to admit that McGill is old and crumbling – they should reassure us that bricks won’t fall on our heads, that the air you breathe is going to be good. If not, we have to know.”

Nicell stressed that because causality was never established, McGill decided against sending a mass email to Leacock occupants about the situation.

“We were stuck between a rock and a hard place,” he said. “Is it wise to tell everybody if you don’t have evidence?”

Neither MUNACA nor the History Department emailed staff or faculty members concerning the problems as well.

Workers from Leacock, Facilities, and Human Resources have formed a new working group to ensure that communication is improved. Louise Savard, Director of University Safety and the chair of the group, acknowledged that communication between the administration, the union, and workers had been insufficient.

“To me the problem is there has hardly been any communication of what’s been going on to the people who work and study in that building,” Savard said.

Savard stressed that the McGill Health and Safety case was not closed, and the work group would focus on monitoring the repairs through the winter.

This is not the first time McGill’s deferred maintenance troubles have possibly triggered health troubles. Problems in McGill’s McIntyre Building were brought to light in 2002, when a ventilation malfunction on the 13th floor caused students and professors to faint and vomit.

Further, three doctors working in the building during the 1990s were diagnosed with leukemia, and in 2003 one of these doctors died. He alleged that he fell ill due to poor ventilation in the building.

McGill currently has a list of 1,570 deferred maintenance projects, mostly due to underfunding from the Quebec government. But an injection of funds announced last year means McGill has been given $38-million this year, $28.5-million next year, and $25-million for each year following to address the list of deferred maintenance projects.

This summer it began intensive construction on the electrical and gas tunnel, in danger of collapsing because it is over 100 years old. The Otto Maas Chemistry building’s ventilation system had been next on the list.

“We’re constantly trying to play catch-up on this deferred maintenance,” Nicell said.

Despite the difficulty establishing causality in the Leacock incident, Nicell said that the symptoms described by some employees would correspond to what is known as “sick building syndrome,” a combination of ailments associated with poor air quality or other conditions in buildings.

“Even during the assessment we recognized [Leacock] is not in good shape,” Nicell said.

Even though several people will not return to work in the building, neither Nicell or the Dean of Arts Christopher Manfredi thought that there were any eminent health concerns in the building.

Still, According to Catherine LeGrand, the chair of the department of History, about five people in Leacock say they cannot work in the building for more than a few hours at a time due to chronic headaches and respiratory troubles.

“They’re like the canary in the coal mine,” LeGrand said.

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Located three blocks from McGill at 515 Ste. Catherine O., the eponymous apartment building rents exclusively to university students in Montreal. It holds 440 fully-furnished rooms in units of three to five bedrooms, and features a gym facility, games room, and small movie theatre.

“It’s pretty much like Solin Hall, but if IKEA constructed the building,” said Julia Hubbard, U0 Arts and the founder of a Facebook group for residents of the new building. Solin Hall is an off-campus residence in St. Henri with a similar structure to 515 Ste. Catherine.

“It doesn’t feel like you go back to rez; it feels like going home to your own brand-new apartment,” Hubbard added.

McGill’s residence system guarantees housing to all first-year students who request it, but each year dozens are put on a temporary housing list while students with secured beds accept or decline McGill’s residence offers. This spring the temporary list grew to about 200 students, forcing McGill to look for new housing arrangements, explained Janice Johnson, director of the Student Housing Office.

“I could have rented 100 or 200 apartments scattered around Montreal, but that wouldn’t have been the same experience for the students,” Johnson said. “We were lucky 515 was available to us.”

The McGill lease solves both the school’s last-minute space crunch and 515 Ste. Catherine’s ongoing difficulty with finding occupants; the building had been scheduled to open in fall 2007, but had been plagued with renovation complications, delaying the opening until this school year and leaving many rooms vacant.

The management of 515 Ste. Catherine approached the McGill market early in its development seeking collaboration and advertising opportunities at the school. Alice Leduc, property manager of the building, said that she had anticipated the over-spills from McGill residences would likely fill the building.

“There is a good demand here in Montreal, but there aren’t that many places students can go,” Leduc said.

515 Ste. Catherine is run by Terracorp/Aubon Real Estate, a development company that operates several other condominium and student-friendly apartment complexes in southern Ontario. The building’s residents are largely from McGill, but also comprise students from Concordia, Université du Montreal, Université du Québec à Montréal, and Lasalle College.

Students renting through McGill will pay $850 a month, $50 more than the building’s other residents. The extra fee pays for access to Floor Fellows, a Hall Director, and the residence council system that exists at all McGill residences.

The residence will be characterized as a MORE House under McGill’s student housing system, though it is not geographically close to the other group-living buildings in the MORE system on des Pins.

Students on the temporary housing list may be forced in their first month of occupancy to share a single room two or three ways. Since wait-listed students were offered a space at 515 Ste. Catherine in early August, students placed in other residences have also opted to switch into the new building.

But the hasty arrangement and scramble to complete construction has left several loose ends. The 11th floor remains unfilled, and several floors still lack Internet, window curtains, lighting fixtures, and postboxes. The movie theatre remains out of order.

Some say that McGill should have anticipated the space problems earlier, so that the school would not be forced into high-pressure decisions about its student residences.

“It’s ridiculous that the University seems so ill-prepared to deal with its residences,” said Roland Lindala-Haumont, U2 Political Science and Canadian Studies and a Frosh leader of some 515 Ste. Catherine residents.

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McGill solicited the Law Students Association (LSA) last semester for an $80,000 contribution to the University’s ongoing capital campaign. LSA executives consulted with the Dean of Law and Development Officers, and then asked its members at an Annual General Meeting two weeks ago to contribute to the campaign, with the money to fund an annual bursary for law students.

The proposal was shelved until a September meeting, due to opposition from students over what they perceived as an inappropriate use of the LSA’s surplus, according to students present at the meeting.

“It’s really problematic. I don’t think the LSA should be donating that kind of money to the campaign,” said Alexandra Dodger, a Law I student and Daily contributor.

LSA VP Finance Jack Fattal said that Development Officer Andrés Drew, a former President of the LSA, approached the LSA to see if it would be interested in making a financial contribution to the campaign out of its $150,000 surplus.

“It was their proposal. We thought it was one of many good ideas,” Fattal said.

Connie Todd, Associate Director of Campaign McGill, denied that the campaign actively sought donations – and instead claimed it coordinated outreach campaigns to poll students on their ideas about how to use possible donations.

“We haven’t been asking for anything. We have been asking – ‘If you were to make a contribution to the campaign, what things would you like to support?’” she said.

Todd said she was unaware that Development Officers were actively soliciting or providing ideas for donations – actions undertaken during discussions between McGill and the LSA about the donation of the latter’s surplus.

When asked whether he solicited a donation from the LSA, Drew refused to comment.

Dodger, a former executive at the University of Toronto Students’ Union, said that the U of T had sought contributions from students’ societies during its capital campaign.

“They always do this at other universities. They’re constantly approaching smaller associations,” she said. “I’m sure [McGill is] doing this because it’s worked at other places.”

Sitting on a gold mine

At the LSA General Meeting, students reportedly accused the LSA executives of failing to adequately fund its clubs this year, and others complained that the association hadn’t consulted students on how to spend the money.

“To find out that all this money exists shows this kind of disconnect between what students want and what student unions do,” said Eric Van Eyken, a Law student and former VP Finance & Operations for SSMU.

Fattal explained that the LSA has been accumulating a surplus of $150,000 over a number of years, and had been looking for ways to spend the money. While several proposals were considered, LSA favoured giving to Campaign McGill because the Dean was willing to match the LSA’s contribution, thereby creating a fund that can distribute an annual $4,000 bursary.

“We looked at which [projects] are likely to be met by the Dean,” Fattal said.

Dodger and van Eyken argued that the money should be used internally to benefit more students, rather than to fund just one student bursary through Campaign McGill.

“It’s not the responsibility of our collective to fund. The LSA wanted to finance what should be the government’s responsibility, or at least the school’s,” Dodger said.

Should students pay?

Todd explained that although such donations were not yet being solicited, plans were in the works to launch a “Campus Community Campaign” that would seek donations from faculty, staff, and students.

She would not elaborate on when this stage of the campaign would begin.

Any donations to the school while the Campus Community Campaign is in action would count toward Campaign McGill. This includes the Class Action Gift, an annual donation solicited from students through Student Organization for Alumni Relations (SOAR).

Temi Akiniana, Alumni Services associate for Student Programs and the overseer of the Class Action program, explained that SOAR uses poll results from the students to decide what project to fund. Since its creation in 1989, students have never opted to donate a gift to Scholarships and Financial Aid.

“Whether students may say it, there’s a bit of caution about the administration of scholarships and student aid,” she said, adding that it is much harder to specifically direct funds to scholarships and student aid, which is why many students are wary of the scheme.

However, Adrian Angus, SSMU VP University Affairs, said he was in support of the LSA’s proposal to donate to Campaign McGill.

“I think it would have been a wonderful initiative,” Angus said.

But Dodger objected to students making financial contributions to Campaign McGill, arguing that it was unfair to ask students to compensate for inadequate government aid programs.

“I don’t think it’s the role of students to be funding financial aid for their peers,” Dodger said. “It’s absurd to me that the capital campaign would be funding financial aid in general.”

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The referendum came in the wake of new regulations from the Quebec Ministry of Education mandating that ancillary fee increases either be approved by student consultation or under a certain amount – $15 per year, in McGill’s case.

While the decree does not specify what kind of consultation is appropriate, the Music Undergraduate Student Association (MUSA) voted nearly unanimously, with one abstention, to hold a referendum.

MUSA President Alex Dyck, who was in a piano lesson when the executives voted, said he was not in favour of holding a referendum.

“This easily allows very negative consequences on the basis of potential for misinformation,” Dyck said.

A committee consisting of representatives from MUSA, SSMU, and the School of Music is drafting an information report for students about the music lesson fee and the referendum. MUSA will not be creating “Yes” or “No” committees.

Naomi Perley, Academic representative for MUSA, said that except for Dyck, council was in favour of a referendum.

“The majority of the executive felt like the students really had a right to choose this one for themselves,” Perley said.

While Don McLean, Dean of Music, was in favour of the referendum process, he explained that a “No” vote could slow down the construction of practice rooms and delay the purchase of new pianos.

“It’s going to be a real setback,” McLean sad.

The School of Music levied a new fee for music lessons in 2006, to be phased in over a period of three years. This year students paid $667 annually for music fees, and the proposed ancillary fee increase raises the amount to $1,000.

SSMU VP External Affairs Max Silverman said that in 2006, when tuition fees were frozen, that year’s fee increase was illegal because it served educational purposes.

“When it was first brought in, MUSA constituted that it was a tuition fee increase and therefore illegal under Quebec law,” he said.

McLean said that he faced a $244,000 budget cut from the administration this year. He added that the administration was much more likely to contribute more to Music if the School found other sources of funding.

“The most important part of the fee is not revenue, but the leveraging effect it has with the University to continue to supply other things, such as renovations and rental space,” he said. “We’ve been in a chronic shortfall situation for years. There’s just not enough money – including tuition – to operate a music school of our size and calibre.”

Many students expressed frustration that lesson fees have increased despite flashy donations and a new music library, built after a $20-million donation from philanthropist Seymour Schulich.

Kate Molleson, a graduate in music performance, argued that, while the School of Music had gained prestige through the recent completion of the new library, students often didn’t see the results of such benefactions.

“There’s a lot of glamour, and it’s a great thing for international prestige. But that isn’t really experienced by the day-to-day student,” she said. “Of course people are upset with paying more fees when they don’t see the results.”

Damon Hankoff, a recent graduate in music theory, said that as an international student, lesson credits cost $500 a semester without the new increase, meaning that if next year’s fee increase were to pass, the cost of one lesson would be about $80. He pointed out that, outside the school, professional lessons tend to cost just $50.

Hankoff argued that such steep fees were unfair, especially for music students, whose degrees tend not to be worth as much.

The referendum will run from Wednesday to Friday this week, with Elections McGill running the online vote.

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SSMU Council voted overwhelmingly in favour of a motion that will see The McGill Tribune become editorially and financially independent by 2010, with the Students’ Society pledging to support the paper through any referenda and negotiations with McGill.

The motion, brought by most of the SSMU executive, was drafted just two days before Council – without consulting The Tribune editorial staff.

Editor-in-Chief Tiffany Choy criticized SSMU at the Council meeting for not coming to The Tribune with concerns.

“This is not the way to initiate this type of change,” Choy said.

“In a perfect world, that motion would have been scrapped entirely. It should not be initiated by SSMU; it should be [The Tribune] stepping forward and declaring its own independence,” Choy added later in an interview.

Many SSMU councillors sided with The Tribune, saying the paper should have been consulted, and that more time was needed to construct a sound business plan for the future.

SSMU President Jake Itzkowitz publicly apologized, but pointed out that the issue of independence had been brought up repeatedly in recent years. SSMU executives said they had privately discussed Tribune independence since January.

“We’ve already had the ‘How is our relationship going’ talk. This is the breakup talk,” Itzkowitz said. “A decision has to be made one way or the other.”

Both The Tribune and SSMU acknowledged that the relationship had soured in recent years.

“Right now it’s the worst of both worlds. We’re legally liable, and yet we have no control over editorial content,” said Senate Caucus Representative Erica Martin, adding that taking away The Tribune’s editorial autonomy was “a disgusting idea.”

But the process of moving toward independence remains hazy. According to the motion, The Tribune must become fully autonomous by January 2010 – though next year’s Council could move the date ahead if it chooses.

Council voted to amend the motion several times before it was passed. As it stands, SSMU will take several steps next year toward The Trib’s independence, including striking a committee to establish a business plan, initiating a student referendum, and helping The Tribune in negotiations with McGill. SSMU has also pledged to conduct consultations with students.

Itzkowitz said that SSMU could continue to provide free rent to The Trib for as long as five or 10 years, until the paper can attain financial stability.

“They’ve had a good year this year, but the newspaper business isn’t profitable these days,” he said. “Who knows how long it will take them to get on their feet?”

The McGill Tribune currently costs SSMU about $200,000, and generated about $120,000 this year, Itzkowitz said. A new fee would have to make up the remaining $80,000, meaning a new undergraduate student fee would be at least $2 per semester.

SSMU would likely not reduce its base fee, and The Tribune will have to ask students to fully support the paper financially – a prospect that worried Choy.

She pointed to last year’s Daily Publications Society (DPS) referendum to increase the fee for The McGill Daily and Le Délit by $1.50, up from its current fee of $5 a semester. Students voted against the fee increase by a 12 per cent margin.

“I feel like a lot of students agree there should be multiple venues of independent press. But whether they want to fund it is another question,” she said.

Still, SSMU VP External Max Silverman argued that with Council support for a referendum Yes committee, students would likely support a new Tribune fee. He pointed to the DPS’s successful referendum this year on renewing the current fee for The Daily and Le Délit.

“We saw a 80.9 percent vote for a newspaper that pisses off a lot of people. I can’t imagine people would vote No [to The Tribune],” he said.

The McGill Tribune was founded in 1981 after The Daily became fully independent from SSMU.

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SSMU President Jake Itzkowitz questioned how committed McGill is to making the University a safe space for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgendered (LGBT) people, considering the volunteer structure of the Safe Space program.

Deputy Provost (Student Life & Learning) Morton Mendelson said that the University is committed, but noted that the Safe Space Program is in jeopardy.

“The future of Safe Space is uncertain and what the administration can do is limited,” he said. “It doesn’t have sustainable staffing.”

The Safe Space program – started by three volunteers – provides training to staff and faculty at McGill to better sensitize them to LGBT issues. The program is likely on the way out unless more volunteers can be found.

Jana Luker, Executive Director of Student Services, said she hoped to see the creation of a queer administrative position at McGill that would oversee the operations of Queer McGill, Student Services, and the Social Equity and Diversity in Education (SEDE) office – which could monitor the Safe Space program.

“If SEDE’s mandate were expanded to include a half-position person [to oversee the Safe Space program], then it would be able to continue,” she said, adding that Queer McGill and Student Services only provide services to students.

But Mendelson said it wouldn’t be possible given current budget cuts.

Jim Nicell, Associate Vice-Principal (University Services), responded to a question Senator Sean Waugh posed about disability accessibility, saying that McGill had tripled its budget – up to $400,000 this year – to improve accessibility.

“[Accessibility] is an issue of striking a balance with maintaining the heritage value of properties,” he said.

Several senators pointed out where McGill could be doing more. Senator and Music Professor Stefano Algieri followed up to Waugh, describing a student in a wheelchair who came to Pollack Hall for an audition and could not access to the stage.

Senator and Physical and Occupational Therapy Professor Beverlea Tallant also noted that snow clearing creates accessibility problems.

“A shovelled width for a path is not sufficient for a wheelchair. Certainly no one in a wheelchair could access the Brown Building by the top entrance,” Tallant said.

Finally, Arts Senator Daniel King questioned what McGill could do to improve communication between Mental Health Services and the rest of the University.

Mendelson shied away from making any concrete commitments, responding only that Luker was drafting a review of Mental Health Services and would be implementing “a framework to move forward.”

King suggested that regular meetings could occur between the Director of Mental Health Services and the Deans.

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Staying active in community organizing as a parent is hard, but the
Montreal Childcare Collective (MCC) is making life a little easier for
the city’s politically-minded moms and dads.

Formed in 2004, the collective consists of volunteers that provide
free childcare for community groups during meetings and
demonstrations, explained Leslie Bagg, a former McGill student and
volunteer with the MCC.

“We provide help for groups that don’t have a huge budget for
childcare, but who want to make their organization more accessible for
parents,” Bagg said.

The collective works closely with groups working in the social justice
field in Montreal that often need childcare – such as the Filipino
Women’s Centre, the Immigrant Workers’ Centre, and Solidarity Across
Borders.

MCC also runs workshops for groups that want to begin doing their own,
autonomous, non-authoritarian childcare – such as the Montreal Urban
Community Sustainment Project’s Free School in NDG, where they held a
workshop last Sunday.

The collective functions out of the Concordia chapter of the Quebec
Public Interest Research Group (QPIRG) as a working group, funded in
part by Concordia students. In the past it has also functioned through
QPIRG-McGill.

Volunteers stressed that the childcare network is first and foremost a
form of political action, aimed at allowing more families to get
involved in community organizing. It also provides a non-authoritarian
approach to childcare.

“It’s kind of a statement, that kids don’t just exist in their houses
and in their own families. They exist in the world,” said Selena Ross,
a former McGill student and organizer with the MCC.

“It’s a more communal approach to child-raising, where the community
can get to know the kids.”

Both Bagg and Ross stressed that the very existence of the group
allowed activism to become more open to families and women.

“Part of the goal is to get more families involved, and to make
meetings more family-friendly,” Bagg said.

“It’s also about making community organizing more accessible to women,
especially single moms,” Roy added, saying there is huge demand for
the MCC’s services among new immigrants.

“It’s a class struggle. So many people can’t afford babysitters,” Roy said.

Ross explained that a major influence on non-authoritarian childcare
was the work of Haim Gibott, whose techniques for conversing with
children have been taught for decades. Gibott stressed strong
interpersonal skills, an emphasis on communication, isolating problems
rather than people, and the importance of play.

But the collective is not all carefree fun and games. The organization
faces major ongoing difficulties and questions, many of them ethical
ones.

One is a question of money – by offering free childcare, some have
questioned whether it lowers the value of childcare as a whole and
suggests that childcare is something which should not be paid for. As
well, volunteers are often offered money for their services – but the
offerings are so random that it is hard to decide on a fair and
equitable way of distributing the extra funds.

Another, more pressing issue is whether the volunteers should make
themselves available for private, free childcare. Roy stressed that
she has often personally offered free childcare for recent immigrants,
for whom Quebec subsidized daycare may be impossible.

But on the whole, while the volunteers realize that childcare is
inaccessible for many, a free, volunteer-run childcare system is at
present unsustainable.

“We can’t open ourselves up – there’s just so much need,” Bagg said.

Still, the volunteers stressed that collective childcare serves as a
crucial political tool in making organizing more accessible, and
making political work a community affair.

“It’s nice to know how many of them can make it, and stay involved –
moms, dads, and kids,” Bagg said.

Groups wishing to get organized with the MCC should contact them at
childcarecollective@riseup.net.

The Daily first reported that MCC organizers considered its work partially a charitable gesture; in fact this is not the case. Also, it misspelled Selena Ross’s name. The Daily regrets the errors

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The McGill Student Parents’ Network (MSPN), a small support group run out of McGill Chaplaincy, is planning the forum with backing from the Senate Subcommittee on Women. It aims to accomodate the personal and institutional needs of student parents at McGill and in Quebec – the primary concerns of which are access to daycare services, problems with flexibility, and isolation of student and staff parents.

Rosemary Thomas, an international Social Work student with three children, said that student parents often faced psychological isolation in an academic environment.

“Once you get into a safe space, you begin to talk about it – the self esteem, the guilt, the high pressures at school,” Thomas said. “You cry at night and pull down the shutters and then you have to go to school and try to smile.”

Pamela Lilrio, a PhD student in Organizational Behaviour and a single parent, said that the University must do more to provide support structures for students taking classes at McGill.

“Sometimes it feels like you’re trying to do schoolwork with one hand tied behind your back,” Lirio said. “If the administration and faculty knew that, you’d have more professors that understand their needs. It’s about starting that awareness.”

Gwenda Wells, Ecumenical Reverend and former director of McGill Chaplaincy Service, has worked with the MSPN since its inception in 2001.

Wells said there was a need for more structured support for student parents at McGill, pointing to issues like access to daycare, a need for more structured flexibility for student parents, guidance for international students with children, access to baby-changing stations and lactation sites, and addressing problems of isolation of student parents.

“We’ve really been penalizing people who want to make the best choices as parents,” Wells said. She called for McGill to integrate its childcare services with research on child development to create a more holistic student parent centre, complete with a full-time staff.

“There’s so much more we could be doing to be a leader on family services and research,” Wells said, adding that the student parent organization at McGill is where disability issues were at 20 years ago.

Abby Lippman, Chair of the Senate Subcommittee on Women, said that McGill needs to take a more proactive stance to providing structural support for women and parents who want to enter the workforce with children.

“We need a society that allows women and parents to continue their work and studies, and are not jeopardized because there are not enough daycares,” she said.

“Is the University really prepared to have parents in its student body and its work staff?” Lippman questioned.

The McGill Daycare Centre has 106 spots, and prioritizes staff children. The SSMU Daycare gives priority to undergraduate students, but can accommodate fewer than three dozen children.

At other schools, such as the University of Alberta and the University of Victoria, there are many more childcare service options for students. The University of Alberta has five daycares, and the University of Victoria provides services for children up to 12.

At McGill, students have found that daycare and support networks – provided for those four months to four years old – are almost nonexistent.

Jay Ploss, a Master’s student in herpetology and Daily contributor, couldn’t bring his child to the McGill daycare because the waiting list is three years, and takes priority for McGill staff over its students.

“At McGill, daycare is almost irrelevant,” Ploss said. “Right now you have to sign up almost before your child is even born.”

Other services required by student parents include diaper changing stations and lactation areas, as well scheduling flexibility for student parents – including a special “student parent” designation, so student parents can have first choice for labs or tutorials. But above all, Wells

called for a broader recognition of the needs of student parents at McGill.

Student parents also expressed a need for greater flexibility for parents at McGill. Wells said that a more formal structure – such as a downloadable form, similar to one for religious observances or disability leaves – should be available for student parents who must postpone handing in a paper due to parental obligations.

“It would be brilliant, if we had a form that was consistent, where there are no questions asked,” Wells said. “I would hope that we can get enough of a profile, so that caring staff will interpret this into thinking about best practices in their area of the University.”

Lirio echoed this need.

“I’m doing as much as I can as fast as I can…. If they had some understanding of how the student-parent track might differ, that would be helpful to me,” Lirio said.

“I think it behooves McGill to have me graduate.”

The Student Parent Forum will run in early May, with the date to be determined.

The post McGill to host forum on student parents in May appeared first on The McGill Daily.

This year’s protest will condemn what organizers call the “social cleansing” of public spaces in Montreal. Organizers allege that the Ville-Marie borough’s recent crackdown on loitering in public areas after midnight and its movement to limit pet owners to bring only two dogs to public spaces target homeless and street people.

“When we talk about police, we’re also talking about the government. The police is the muscle for the City of Montreal,” said a member of the COBP collective, who asked not to be named due to targeting of organizers by the police.

The march will also stress political repression, like that at the Security, Prosperity, and Partnership meeting at Montebello last August, where police planted a number of provocateurs.

“[The police] are always there. That’s why Montebello was so important, the public eye finally saw it,” the organizer said.

Saturday’s march will also focus on recent high-profile deaths linked to tasers that occurred under police custody. Robert Dziekanski, Claudio Castagnetta, and Quilem Registre all died this year after being tasered by Canadian police.

But the COBP stresses that police brutality will not end with a moratorium on tasers.

“It’s one tool the police use. If they’re not going to use tasers, they’re going to use guns,” the COBP member said.

Last year’s demonstration drew attention when, after the march ended in Côte-des-Neiges, a number of individuals took the metro to Berri Square, breaking bus station windows and a McDonald’s sign.

Despite these actions, the COBP member stressed that the collective doesn’t support violence.

“We don’t support the random breaking of stores and windows. But at the same time, we very much understand it. A lot of the street kids consider it their night to go out and take a stand,” he said.

The march begins at 3 p.m. Saturday at Berri Square. Demonstrations are also being organized in Trois-Rivières, Toronto, Belleville, Guelph, Winnipeg, Calgary, Vancouver, and Oaxaca, Mexico.

The post News Brief: March against police brutality Saturday appeared first on The McGill Daily.

In response to a question from SSMU VP University Affairs Adrian Angus, Munroe-Blum suggested that it was ultimately the administration’s responsibility to set strategic priorities for the University, and that the Board of Governors and Senate are responsible for “providing advice in relation to strategy.”

In the late 1960s and early 1970s, she said, McGill demonstrated an “avant-garde” approach to governance, but fell behind other universities in developing an academic administration “that would define strategic direction and actively manage the University’s functions.

“These matters – both the strategic direction and day-to-day management – fell to our governing bodies and resulted in the fusion of governance and administration that I inherited in 2003,” she said.

Munroe-Blum said the University had undertaken the restructuring efforts of the Board of Governors and Senate as a way of more explicitly defining administration and governance.

“More broadly, Senate serves as a forum for engagement with members of Senate as representatives of the community on the heart of our mission as a University…provid[ing] assistance and support to the senior administration in its management of the University, by acting as a sounding board and as a source of institutional memory,” she said.

In an interview after the Senate meeting, Angus said Munroe-Blum’s comments pointed to the increased corporatization of the University structure.

“University governance is always premised on the idea of collegiality. ‘Advice’ is not strong enough to mean collegiality,” Angus said. “My concern is that the modernization is bringing more corporatization.”

Later in the Senate meeting, tension crackled between some Senators and the administration over Senate restructuring, when the body was asked to approve a change to the powers of the Senate Subcommittee on Courses and Teaching and Programs. The change would allow the chair of the subcommittee – an administrator, Deputy Provost (Student Life & Learning) Morton Mendelson – to unilaterally approve all minor and moderate changes in degree programs.

At the meeting, Angus, all student senators, and several faculty senators, voted against the change. It ultimately passed, with an amendment mandating the change be reviewed in three years.

“This is another example of a corporate system, where you have deciders and decision-makers. Senate voted to streamline the process,” Angus said.

The full text of Munroe-Blum’s response can be found online here.

The post University Reform: Principal clarifies administration-governance divide appeared first on The McGill Daily.

You’re talking!
I’m so sorry.
No, it’s OK. It’s fine.
I know I’m dreaming.
But I don’t recall going to bed.
Well, I’m sure this
is very disconcerting.
This is a bit of a surprise to me.
I mean, you’re a bee!
I am. And I’m not supposed
to be doing this,
but they were all trying to kill me.
And if it wasn’t for you…
I had to thank you.
It’s just how I was raised.
That was a little weird.
– I’m talking with a bee.
– Yeah.
I’m talking to a bee.
And the bee is talking to me!
I just want to say I’m grateful.
I’ll leave now.
– Wait! How did you learn to do that?
– What?
The talking thing.
Same way you did, I guess.
“Mama, Dada, honey.” You pick it up.
– That’s very funny.
– Yeah.
Bees are funny. If we didn’t laugh,
we’d cry with what we have to deal with.
Anyway…
Oan I…
…get you something?
– Like what?
I don’t know. I mean…
I don’t know. Ooffee?
I don’t want to put you out.
It’s no trouble. It takes two minutes.
– It’s just coffee.
– I hate to impose.
– Don’t be ridiculous!
– Actually, I would love a cup.
Hey, you want rum cake?
– I shouldn’t.
– Have some.
– No, I can’t.
– Oome on!
I’m trying to lose a couple micrograms.
– Where?
– These stripes don’t help.
You look great!
I don’t know if you know
anything about fashion.
Are you all right?
No.
He’s making the tie in the cab
as they’re flying up Madison.
He finally gets there.
He runs up the steps into the church.
The wedding is on.
And he says, “Watermelon?
I thought you said Guatemalan.
Why would I marry a watermelon?”
Is that a bee joke?
That’s the kind of stuff we do.
Yeah, different.
So, what are you gonna do, Barry?
About work? I don’t know.
I want to do my part for the hive,
but I can’t do it the way they want.
I know how you feel.
– You do?
– Sure.
My parents wanted me to be a lawyer or
a doctor, but I wanted to be a florist.
– Really?
– My only interest is flowers.
Our new queen was just elected
with that same campaign slogan.
Anyway, if you look…
There’s my hive right there. See it?
You’re in Sheep Meadow!
Yes! I’m right off the Turtle Pond!
No way! I know that area.
I lost a toe ring there once.
– Why do girls put rings on their toes?
– Why not?
– It’s like putting a hat on your knee.
– Maybe I’ll try that.
– You all right, ma’am?
– Oh, yeah. Fine.
Just having two cups of coffee!
Anyway, this has been great.
Thanks for the coffee.
Yeah, it’s no trouble.
Sorry I couldn’t finish it. If I did,
I’d be up the rest of my life.
Are you…?
Oan I take a piece of this with me?
Sure! Here, have a crumb.
– Thanks!
– Yeah.
All right. Well, then…
I guess I’ll see you around.
Or not.
OK, Barry.
And thank you
so much again… for before.
Oh, that? That was nothing.
Well, not nothing, but… Anyway…
This can’t possibly work.
He’s all set to go.
We may as well try it.
OK, Dave, pull the chute.
– Sounds amazing.
– It was amazing!
It was the scariest,
happiest moment of my life.
Humans! I can’t believe
you were with humans!
Giant, scary humans!
What were they like?
Huge and crazy. They talk crazy.
They eat crazy giant things.
They drive crazy.
– Do they try and kill you, like on TV?
– Some of them. But some of them don’t.
– How’d you get back?
– Poodle.
You did it, and I’m glad. You saw
whatever you wanted to see.
You had your “experience.” Now you
can pick out yourjob and be normal.
– Well…
– Well?
Well, I met someone.
You did? Was she Bee-ish?
– A wasp?! Your parents will kill you!
– No, no, no, not a wasp.
– Spider?
– I’m not attracted to spiders.
I know it’s the hottest thing,
with the eight legs and all.
I can’t get by that face.
So who is she?
She’s… human.
No, no. That’s a bee law.
You wouldn’t break a bee law.
– Her name’s Vanessa.
– Oh, boy.
She’s so nice. And she’s a florist!
Oh, no! You’re dating a human florist!
We’re not dating.
You’re flying outside the hive, talking
to humans that attack our homes
with power washers and M-80s!
One-eighth a stick of dynamite!
She saved my life!
And she understands me.
This is over!
Eat this.
This is not over! What was that?
– They call it a crumb.
– It was so stingin’ stripey!
And that’s not what they eat.
That’s what falls off what they eat!
– You know what a Oinnabon is?
– No.
It’s bread and cinnamon and frosting.
They heat it up…
Sit down!
…really hot!
– Listen to me!
We are not them! We’re us.
There’s us and there’s them!
Yes, but who can deny
the heart that is yearning?
There’s no yearning.
Stop yearning. Listen to me!
You have got to start thinking bee,
my friend. Thinking bee!
– Thinking bee.
– Thinking bee.
Thinking bee! Thinking bee!
Thinking bee! Thinking bee!
There he is. He’s in the pool.
You know what your problem is, Barry?
I gotta start thinking bee?
How much longer will this go on?
It’s been three days!
Why aren’t you working?
I’ve got a lot of big life decisions
to think about.
What life? You have no life!
You have no job. You’re barely a bee!
Would it kill you
to make a little honey?
Barry, come out.
Your father’s talking to you.
Martin, would you talk to him?
Barry, I’m talking to you!
You coming?
Got everything?
All set!
Go ahead. I’ll catch up.
Don’t be too long.
Watch this!
Vanessa!
– We’re still here.
– I told you not to yell at him.
He doesn’t respond to yelling!
– Then why yell at me?
– Because you don’t listen!
I’m not listening to this.
Sorry, I’ve gotta go.
– Where are you going?
– I’m meeting a friend.
A girl? Is this why you can’t decide?
Bye.
I just hope she’s Bee-ish.
They have a huge parade
of flowers every year in Pasadena?
To be in the Tournament of Roses,
that’s every florist’s dream!
Up on a float, surrounded
by flowers, crowds cheering.
A tournament. Do the roses
compete in athletic events?
No. All right, I’ve got one.
How come you don’t fly everywhere?
It’s exhausting. Why don’t you
run everywhere? It’s faster.
Yeah, OK, I see, I see.
All right, your turn.
TiVo. You can just freeze live TV?
That’s insane!
You don’t have that?
We have Hivo, but it’s a disease.
It’s a horrible, horrible disease.
Oh, my.
Dumb bees!
You must want to sting all those jerks.
We try not to sting.
It’s usually fatal for us.
So you have to watch your temper.
Very carefully.
You kick a wall, take a walk,
write an angry letter and throw it out.
Work through it like any emotion:
Anger, jealousy, lust.
Oh, my goodness! Are you OK?
Yeah.
– What is wrong with you?!
– It’s a bug.
He’s not bothering anybody.
Get out of here, you creep!
What was that? A Pic ‘N’ Save circular?
Yeah, it was. How did you know?
It felt like about 10 pages.
Seventy-five is pretty much our limit.
You’ve really got that
down to a science.
– I lost a cousin to Italian Vogue.
– I’ll bet.
What in the name
of Mighty Hercules is this?
How did this get here?
Oute Bee, Golden Blossom,
Ray Liotta Private Select?
– Is he that actor?
– I never heard of him.
– Why is this here?
– For people. We eat it.
You don’t have
enough food of your own?
– Well, yes.
– How do you get it?
– Bees make it.
– I know who makes it!
And it’s hard to make it!
There’s heating, cooling, stirring.
You need a whole Krelman thing!
– It’s organic.
– It’s our-ganic!
It’s just honey, Barry.
Just what?!
Bees don’t know about this!
This is stealing! A lot of stealing!
You’ve taken our homes, schools,
hospitals! This is all we have!
And it’s on sale?!
I’m getting to the bottom of this.
I’m getting to the bottom
of all of this!
Hey, Hector.
– You almost done?
– Almost.
He is here. I sense it.
Well, I guess I’ll go home now
and just leave this nice honey out,
with no one around.
You’re busted, box boy!
I knew I heard something.
So you can talk!
I can talk.
And now you’ll start talking!
Where you getting the sweet stuff?
Who’s your supplier?
I don’t understand.
I thought we were friends.
The last thing we want
to do is upset bees!
You’re too late! It’s ours now!
You, sir, have crossed
the wrong sword!
You, sir, will be lunch
for my iguana, Ignacio!
Where is the honey coming from?
Tell me where!
Honey Farms! It comes from Honey Farms!
Orazy person!
What horrible thing has happened here?
These faces, they never knew
what hit them. And now
they’re on the road to nowhere!
Just keep still.
What? You’re not dead?
Do I look dead? They will wipe anything
that moves. Where you headed?
To Honey Farms.
I am onto something huge here.
I’m going to Alaska. Moose blood,
crazy stuff. Blows your head off!
I’m going to Tacoma.
– And you?
– He really is dead.
All right.
Uh-oh!
– What is that?!
– Oh, no!
– A wiper! Triple blade!
– Triple blade?
Jump on! It’s your only chance, bee!
Why does everything have
to be so doggone clean?!
How much do you people need to see?!
Open your eyes!
Stick your head out the window!
From NPR News in Washington,
I’m Oarl Kasell.
But don’t kill no more bugs!
– Bee!
– Moose blood guy!!
– You hear something?
– Like what?
Like tiny screaming.
Turn off the radio.
Whassup, bee boy?
Hey, Blood.
Just a row of honey jars,
as far as the eye could see.
Wow!
I assume wherever this truck goes
is where they’re getting it.
I mean, that honey’s ours.
– Bees hang tight.
– We’re all jammed in.
It’s a close community.
Not us, man. We on our own.
Every mosquito on his own.
– What if you get in trouble?
– You a mosquito, you in trouble.
Nobody likes us. They just smack.
See a mosquito, smack, smack!
At least you’re out in the world.
You must meet girls.
Mosquito girls try to trade up,
get with a moth, dragonfly.
Mosquito girl don’t want no mosquito.
You got to be kidding me!
Mooseblood’s about to leave
the building! So long, bee!
– Hey, guys!
– Mooseblood!
I knew I’d catch y’all down here.
Did you bring your crazy straw?
We throw it in jars, slap a label on it,
and it’s pretty much pure profit.
What is this place?
A bee’s got a brain
the size of a pinhead.
They are pinheads!
Pinhead.
– Oheck out the new smoker.
– Oh, sweet. That’s the one you want.
The Thomas 3000!
Smoker?
Ninety puffs a minute, semi-automatic.
Twice the nicotine, all the tar.
A couple breaths of this
knocks them right out.
They make the honey,
and we make the money.
“They make the honey,
and we make the money”?
Oh, my!
What’s going on? Are you OK?
Yeah. It doesn’t last too long.
Do you know you’re
in a fake hive with fake walls?
Our queen was moved here.
We had no choice.
This is your queen?
That’s a man in women’s clothes!
That’s a drag queen!
What is this?
Oh, no!
There’s hundreds of them!
Bee honey.
Our honey is being brazenly stolen
on a massive scale!
This is worse than anything bears
have done! I intend to do something.
Oh, Barry, stop.
Who told you humans are taking
our honey? That’s a rumor.
Do these look like rumors?
That’s a conspiracy theory.
These are obviously doctored photos.
How did you get mixed up in this?
He’s been talking to humans.
– What?
– Talking to humans?!
He has a human girlfriend.
And they make out!
Make out? Barry!
We do not.
– You wish you could.
– Whose side are you on?
The bees!
I dated a cricket once in San Antonio.
Those crazy legs kept me up all night.
Barry, this is what you want
to do with your life?
I want to do it for all our lives.
Nobody works harder than bees!
Dad, I remember you
coming home so overworked
your hands were still stirring.
You couldn’t stop.
I remember that.
What right do they have to our honey?
We live on two cups a year. They put it
in lip balm for no reason whatsoever!
Even if it’s true, what can one bee do?
Sting them where it really hurts.
In the face! The eye!
– That would hurt.
– No.
Up the nose? That’s a killer.
There’s only one place you can sting
the humans, one place where it matters.
Hive at Five, the hive’s only
full-hour action news source.
No more bee beards!
With Bob Bumble at the anchor desk.
Weather with Storm Stinger.
Sports with Buzz Larvi.
And Jeanette Ohung.
– Good evening. I’m Bob Bumble.
– And I’m Jeanette Ohung.
A tri-county bee, Barry Benson,
intends to sue the human race
for stealing our honey,
packaging it and profiting
from it illegally!
Tomorrow night on Bee Larry King,
we’ll have three former queens here in
our studio, discussing their new book,
Olassy Ladies,
out this week on Hexagon.
Tonight we’re talking to Barry Benson.
Did you ever think, “I’m a kid
from the hive. I can’t do this”?
Bees have never been afraid
to change the world.
What about Bee Oolumbus?
Bee Gandhi? Bejesus?
Where I’m from, we’d never sue humans.
We were thinking
of stickball or candy stores.
How old are you?
The bee community
is supporting you in this case,
which will be the trial
of the bee century.
You know, they have a Larry King
in the human world too.
It’s a common name. Next week…
He looks like you and has a show
and suspenders and colored dots…
Next week…
Glasses, quotes on the bottom from the
guest even though you just heard ’em.
Bear Week next week!
They’re scary, hairy and here live.
Always leans forward, pointy shoulders,
squinty eyes, very Jewish.
In tennis, you attack
at the point of weakness!
It was my grandmother, Ken. She’s 81.
Honey, her backhand’s a joke!
I’m not gonna take advantage of that?
Quiet, please.
Actual work going on here.
– Is that that same bee?
– Yes, it is!
I’m helping him sue the human race.
– Hello.
– Hello, bee.
This is Ken.
Yeah, I remember you. Timberland, size
ten and a half. Vibram sole, I believe.
Why does he talk again?
Listen, you better go
’cause we’re really busy working.
But it’s our yogurt night!
Bye-bye.
Why is yogurt night so difficult?!
You poor thing.
You two have been at this for hours!
Yes, and Adam here
has been a huge help.
– Frosting…
– How many sugars?
Just one. I try not
to use the competition.
So why are you helping me?
Bees have good qualities.
And it takes my mind off the shop.
Instead of flowers, people
are giving balloon bouquets now.
Those are great, if you’re three.
And artificial flowers.
– Oh, those just get me psychotic!
– Yeah, me too.
Bent stingers, pointless pollination.
Bees must hate those fake things!
Nothing worse
than a daffodil that’s had work done.
Maybe this could make up
for it a little bit.
– This lawsuit’s a pretty big deal.
– I guess.
You sure you want to go through with it?
Am I sure? When I’m done with
the humans, they won’t be able
to say, “Honey, I’m home,”
without paying a royalty!
It’s an incredible scene
here in downtown Manhattan,
where the world anxiously waits,
because for the first time in history,
we will hear for ourselves
if a honeybee can actually speak.
What have we gotten into here, Barry?
It’s pretty big, isn’t it?
I can’t believe how many humans
don’t work during the day.
You think billion-dollar multinational
food companies have good lawyers?
Everybody needs to stay
behind the b…

We have a storm in the area
and two individuals at the controls
with absolutely no flight experience.
Just a minute.
There’s a bee on that plane.
I’m quite familiar with Mr. Benson
and his no-account compadres.
They’ve done enough damage.
But isn’t he your only hope?
Technically, a bee
shouldn’t be able to fly at all.
Their wings are too small…
Haven’t we heard this a million times?
“The surface area of the wings
and body mass make no sense.”
– Get this on the air!
– Got it.
– Stand by.
– We’re going live.
The way we work may be a mystery to you.
Making honey takes a lot of bees
doing a lot of small jobs.
But let me tell you about a small job.
If you do it well,
it makes a big difference.
More than we realized.
To us, to everyone.
That’s why I want to get bees
back to working together.
That’s the bee way!
We’re not made of Jell-O.
We get behind a fellow.
– Black and yellow!
– Hello!
Left, right, down, hover.
– Hover?
– Forget hover.
This isn’t so hard.
Beep-beep! Beep-beep!
Barry, what happened?!
Wait, I think we were
on autopilot the whole time.
– That may have been helping me.
– And now we’re not!
So it turns out I cannot fly a plane.
All of you, let’s get
behind this fellow! Move it out!
Move out!
Our only chance is if I do what I’d do,
you copy me with the wings of the plane!
Don’t have to yell.
I’m not yelling!
We’re in a lot of trouble.
It’s very hard to concentrate
with that panicky tone in your voice!
It’s not a tone. I’m panicking!
I can’t do this!
Vanessa, pull yourself together.
You have to snap out of it!
You snap out of it.
You snap out of it.
– You snap out of it!
– You snap out of it!
– You snap out of it!
– You snap out of it!
– You snap out of it!
– You snap out of it!
– Hold it!
– Why? Oome on, it’s my turn.
How is the plane flying?
I don’t know.
Hello?
Benson, got any flowers
for a happy occasion in there?
The Pollen Jocks!
They do get behind a fellow.
– Black and yellow.
– Hello.
All right, let’s drop this tin can
on the blacktop.
Where? I can’t see anything. Oan you?
No, nothing. It’s all cloudy.
Oome on. You got to think bee, Barry.
– Thinking bee.
– Thinking bee.
Thinking bee!
Thinking bee! Thinking bee!
Wait a minute.
I think I’m feeling something.
– What?
– I don’t know. It’s strong, pulling me.
Like a 27-million-year-old instinct.
Bring the nose down.
Thinking bee!
Thinking bee! Thinking bee!
– What in the world is on the tarmac?
– Get some lights on that!
Thinking bee!
Thinking bee! Thinking bee!
– Vanessa, aim for the flower.
– OK.
Out the engines. We’re going in
on bee power. Ready, boys?
Affirmative!
Good. Good. Easy, now. That’s it.
Land on that flower!
Ready? Full reverse!
Spin it around!
– Not that flower! The other one!
– Which one?
– That flower.
– I’m aiming at the flower!
That’s a fat guy in a flowered shirt.
I mean the giant pulsating flower
made of millions of bees!
Pull forward. Nose down. Tail up.
Rotate around it.
– This is insane, Barry!
– This’s the only way I know how to fly.
Am I koo-koo-kachoo, or is this plane
flying in an insect-like pattern?
Get your nose in there. Don’t be afraid.
Smell it. Full reverse!
Just drop it. Be a part of it.
Aim for the center!
Now drop it in! Drop it in, woman!
Oome on, already.
Barry, we did it!
You taught me how to fly!
– Yes. No high-five!
– Right.
Barry, it worked!
Did you see the giant flower?
What giant flower? Where? Of course
I saw the flower! That was genius!
– Thank you.
– But we’re not done yet.
Listen, everyone!
This runway is covered
with the last pollen
from the last flowers
available anywhere on Earth.
That means this is our last chance.
We’re the only ones who make honey,
pollinate flowers and dress like this.
If we’re gonna survive as a species,
this is our moment! What do you say?
Are we going to be bees, orjust
Museum of Natural History keychains?
We’re bees!
Keychain!
Then follow me! Except Keychain.
Hold on, Barry. Here.
You’ve earned this.
Yeah!
I’m a Pollen Jock! And it’s a perfect
fit. All I gotta do are the sleeves.
Oh, yeah.
That’s our Barry.
Mom! The bees are back!
If anybody needs
to make a call, now’s the time.
I got a feeling we’ll be
working late tonight!
Here’s your change. Have a great
afternoon! Oan I help who’s next?
Would you like some honey with that?
It is bee-approved. Don’t forget these.
Milk, cream, cheese, it’s all me.
And I don’t see a nickel!
Sometimes I just feel
like a piece of meat!
I had no idea.
Barry, I’m sorry.
Have you got a moment?
Would you excuse me?
My mosquito associate will help you.
Sorry I’m late.
He’s a lawyer too?
I was already a blood-sucking parasite.
All I needed was a briefcase.
Have a great afternoon!
Barry, I just got this huge tulip order,
and I can’t get them anywhere.
No problem, Vannie.
Just leave it to me.
You’re a lifesaver, Barry.
Oan I help who’s next?
All right, scramble, jocks!
It’s time to fly.
Thank you, Barry!
That bee is living my life!
Let it go, Kenny.
– When will this nightmare end?!
– Let it all go.
– Beautiful day to fly.
– Sure is.
Between you and me,
I was dying to get out of that office.
You have got
to start thinking bee, my friend.
– Thinking bee!
– Me?
Hold it. Let’s just stop
for a second. Hold it.
I’m sorry. I’m sorry, everyone.
Oan we stop here?
I’m not making a major life decision
during a production number!
All right. Take ten, everybody.
Wrap it up, guys.

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