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News

“Queerify” your clothes with Queer Concordia

A selection of free patches were available to students at the event. Geneviève Sylvestre // The Concordian

Queer Concordia, in partnership with the Concordia University Centre for Creative Reuse, held an event on March 7 that allowed people to “queerify” and decorate their clothes for free

Queer Concordia held an event on March 7 in collaboration with the Concordia University Centre for Creative Reuse (CUCCR) to give students the opportunity to “queerify” their old garments with free patches, pins, paint and more.

The event, made possible by one of Queer Concordia’s event coordinators Jessica Winton, was a way for Concordia’s queer community to meet, join and craft together. 

“I think a lot of queer people are afraid of showing their pride in smaller ways, so it’s an encouraging environment when you have multiple people doing it at once so you don’t feel alone, and you can meet people while doing it,” said Winton.

Queer Concordia is a resource centre on campus for queer students and allies. They host different events and parties throughout the year and even have office hours. In addition to the ‘“queerify your clothes” event, they’ve also organized movie nights, greenhouse hangouts and laser tag, to name a few.

A handful of people attended the event to decorate their clothing with an assortment of pride flag iron-on patches, colourful threads and buttons. Some of the attendees were veterans of Queer Concordia events, while others were newcomers.

Isabella Bortot, an exchange student from Italy, attended her first Queer Concordia event to fix up an old pair of jeans. “I love embroidery and I love the fact that it was a queer event because I’ve been meaning to get in touch with my community since I’ve been here a couple of months,” she said.

Queer spaces not only build community, but they can also save lives. According to The Trevor Project, LGBTQ+ youth aged 13 to 24 years old report lower rates of suicide attempts when they can access LGBTQ+-affirming spaces.

These spaces can also help people feel less alone and build new connections. “I’m someone who had to abandon all of my friends when I came out as trans,” said Winton, “So, I know that if I wasn’t socialising at queer events, I probably wouldn’t have very many.”

For Bortot, even if she believes every university event should be a safe space for the LGBTQ+ community, she still finds value in queer events.

“As a minority, we find our strength in our community, in people that are like us, and so to be able to bond with people that are like us is to be stronger and to find our place in this city,” she said.

This event offers a change from alcohol-centered queer events. “It’s very important for people with anxiety, or people like myself who don’t drink, to try and have these more relaxed spaces rather than nightlife,” said Winton.

Upcoming Queer Concordia events can be found on their Instagram and other social media pages.

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News

complaints at Webster Library sparks talks about security issues

Complaints were made about a disruptive prankster who has recently been contacted by security

Students have taken to a Concordia Reddit page warning others about a potential security risk in the last week of February.

Two separate posts were made complaining about a young man filming himself intentionally playing audio at high volumes. The man in question is a YouTuber labelling his escapades as “pranks.”

The stunt itself included the prankster moving to different locations across the library, intentionally watching videos with unplugged headphones while pretending to be oblivious. This would eventually cause distraction and confusion among surrounding students, prompting many to confront him — which is exactly what the YouTuber wanted.

“It’s not hard to notice when someone is being obnoxious, to send a librarian or even security over,” said Araya Robichaud, a second-year political science student at Concordia. Robichaud was one of the original users to post about the incidents on the subreddit.

Robichaud’s post was prompted by a friend who had encountered the YouTuber at the library. Robichaud decided to air his concerns online after watching the video and seeing the rhetoric expressed by the creator.

The post generated a lot of attention, both from students and strangers alike. Many people sent official complaints to the University’s security to prevent similar instances.

Despite these recent events, Robichaud says he hasn’t encountered any disturbances at the library. However, Robichaud expressed his frustration with chatter at the library.

“I do think I recognize some groups of students that, when I see them, I’ll grab my stuff and move. I know they’re just there to talk,” he said.

To prevent future disturbances and complaints, Robichaud said he wishes for designated library staff to ensure general safety.

“I get frequent actual complaints about students asking me to tell other students that are being rowdy or noisy to keep it down,” said Noemi Marcaida-Golebiowski, a front desk worker at the library. “Everyday, like literally everyday.”

Marcaida-Golebiowski said she deals with patrons every day, both students and professors, loaning books, DVDs and miscellaneous documents. She learned about the recent disturbances through word of mouth and from the posts on Concordia’s Reddit page. When she reached out to the library’s administrator, she was happy to hear that security was already dealing with the issue.

Although Marcaida-Golebiowski sympathized with the library attendees’ complaints, she said that the library staff did not have the authority to remove people from the library. 

Director of Campus Safety and Prevention Services Darren Dumoulin said the department itself hadn’t received many complaints regarding the recent incident due to students contacting other departments.

Dumoulin said students who encounter these situations should contact security immediately by calling campus security.

“It’s so we can respond to it at that time and not be receiving an email several days after the fact,” Dumoulin said.

Dumoulin added that security agents would not immediately expel any disrupting person from the library and would intervene otherwise, as per protocol. However, repeated behavior might initiate what he called “an escalation process” which could prompt agents to ask the person to leave.

“We don’t profile people before they go into the library,” he said. “We really react to behaviour issues.”

According to Dumoulin, the security department has been in contact with the YouTuber. However, no official library staff member has yet to meet him. 

Although Dumoulin understands the frustration behind these recurring issues, he said the library’s openness to the public and downtown environment creates a challenge for security staff. 

“Posting stuff on social media will not initiate a response,” Dumoulin said. “You can’t study if you’re afraid and if you don’t feel safe, call us.”

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News

Montrealers march for International Women’s Day

International Women's Day March in front of McGill University. Valentine Alibert / THE CONCORDIAN

Student unions denounce a continued lack of gender equity in universities

To mark International Women’s Day, demonstrators marched downtown to demand gender equality in Quebec and throughout the world.

Speakers at the march deplored the various ways women’s rights are undermined across the globe: from a lack of access to education, healthcare and reproductive rights or through threats of abuse, femicide, as well as sexual and domestic violence.

The most recent Statistics Canada study states that 34,242 women were victims of sexual assault over the course of 2021 in Canada. The data refers only to cases reported to the police and, according to the Regroupement québécois des centres d’aide et de lutte contre les agressions sexuelles (The Quebec Coalition of Sexual Assault Centers), it is estimated that only 10 per cent of women victims of sexual assault file a complaint with the police. 

Another Statistics Canada study released in 2020 found that 71 per cent of students at Canadian postsecondary schools “witnessed or experienced unwanted sexualized behaviours in a postsecondary setting in 2019.” These numbers include on-campus or off-campus situations involving other students or people associated with scholastic institutions.

Representatives from Concordia’s Inter-organizational Table for Feminist Affairs (ITFA) were present to support women and victims of sexual violence.

Composed of the Teaching and Research Assistants at Concordia (TRAC) union, the Concordia Student Union (CSU), the Graduate Student Association (GSA) and the Centre for Gender Advocacy, ITFA is a student-run group that advocates for student-led solutions, transparency and gender equity at Concordia.

Julianna Smith, the CSU’s external affairs and mobilization coordinator, and representative of ITFA, said the group wanted to use the attention that came with International Women’s Day to voice their demands and support feminist causes. 

“We had a rally back at Concordia in support of Concordia’s specific demands, supporting the boycott of the University’s SMSV [Standing Committee on Sexual Misconduct and Sexual Violence] and now we are here to support the broader women’s movement,” said Smith. 

ITFA started the ongoing boycott of SMSV, claiming that the fight against sexual violence at Concordia should take into account the voices of students and victims.

“The main argument that we have is that Concordia’s SMSV is in majority faculty and management and they don’t actually listen to students and what we need to see in order to manage and prevent sexual violence in the University,” said Becca Wilgosh, TRAC’s vice-president and ITFA representative.

Wilgosh said ITFA wants to call into question how the University has so far addressed sexual violence on campus. She pointed out that Concordia’s administration comes from a position of power, a factor that can lead to abuse.

“It should be bottom-up, it should be run by the people who are more likely to be subject to it, so we are trying to construct alternatives that actually centre survivors, students and staff workers.”

Said Wilgosh.

For Smith, there is still a long way to go when it comes to feminist movements in universities throughout Quebec. 

“One thing that I’ve noticed about the student movement in Quebec as a whole is that right now we’re very stuck in this gender parity issue, it’s very second-wave feminism,” said Smith. “For ITFA, we want to take an approach that’s much broader than that […] it’s about dismantling all structures of power.”

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News

The unseen struggles of women in engineering

Women in Engineering. Amelia Hart @ameliaohart / THE CONCORDIAN

Concordia students share their experiences as women in engineering 

When Gloria Anastasopoulos was 10 years old, her school organized a ceramics painting day. Excited, the young girl found a motorcycle ceramic to paint and went to ask for the monitor’s permission. 

“And she was like, ‘Why do you want to paint that?’” recalled Anastasopoulos. “And I was like, ‘Oh, I don’t know, it’s cool!’ And she’s like, ‘Oh, leave it for one of the boys to paint. It’s a motorcycle, leave it, maybe one of the boys wants it.’”

After making sure nobody else took the ceramic, Anastasopoulos ended up being allowed to paint it. Now in her third year in mechanical engineering at Concordia, she still has the motorcycle, and she still carries the experience that came with it.

The first time she spoke with The Concordian, Anastasopoulos could not think on the spot of this story nor any specific instances where she felt singled out as a woman in engineering. She could only share a feeling that these moments had occurred.

Shortly after the interview however, she requested a second talk. This time, she came armed with a list of microaggressions and subtle sexism experienced by herself and her colleagues. “You get so used to seeing it, you don’t even notice,” she said. 

Anastasopoulos is very involved in engineering societies and competitions at Concordia. She said that there are many women in these groups, but a lot of them fill management roles, while the men fill more of the design and programming roles. 

She recalled the story of one of her friends, who joined a society in which most of the members were men. They sometimes met until late at night to work on projects, but her friend was uncomfortable staying out so late with men, and having to take the metro and walk home alone at night. So she left early.

“She always had this thought: ‘Do they think I’m not putting in enough effort, because I don’t stay as late as the men in the room?’” said Anastasopoulos. “But really, they just don’t understand and they don’t have to think about the kind of stuff that she had to think about.”

Another one of Anastasopoulos’ friends was passed up for a coveted and highly technical society position two years in a row. As far as Anastasopoulos is aware, the position has not been held by a woman in recent memory. 

Despite this candidate’s qualifications, the role went to another candidate, who is male. “But the president told me, almost word for word, ‘I don’t want to take her because she speaks up a lot,’” shared Anastasopoulos. “This read to me like, ‘I don’t want to take her because she goes against what I say.’”

“I regret not saying something at the time,” said Anastasopoulos. “I guess you get so used to it.”

In 2010, faced by the low number of women in engineering, the Association of Professional Engineers and Geoscientists of Alberta created the 30 by 30 initiative. The goal of this plan was to ensure that 30 per cent of newly licensed engineers are women by 2030. This initiative was soon adopted throughout Canada.

Today, 20 per cent of newly licensed engineers in Quebec are women, and according to their 2022-24 strategic plan, Engineers Canada fears they will not reach their goal. This year at Concordia, 23 per cent of new undergraduates and 28 per cent of new graduate engineering students were women, reported the Office of Institutional Planning and Analysis.

The difficulties faced by women in engineering are the topic of Dr. Ann-Louise Howard’s thesis. Howard is an assistant professor in Concordia’s department of applied human sciences. She started her career as an engineer, but left because of the hostile work environment. Only when she started her research did she understand that her experience was tied with gender. On March 8, International Women’s Day, she gave a webinar about her research. 

Howard’s research focuses on the female engineers who suffer in the workplace and on the microaggressions they experience. According to her, while there exists a lot of research on women in engineering, there is a gap when it comes to microaggressions.

“We talk so much about how women are welcome in engineering, there’s so much effort to showcase successful women in engineering,” said Howard. “But engineering is a very gendered profession, and microaggressions are manifestations of implicit bias.”

She also mentioned that people often fail to consider the experiences of women in engineering who are part of other marginalized communities, like women of colour or LGBTQ+ women, and the additional barriers and struggles they may face.

Anastasopoulos shared a variety of other instances where she felt her male peers did not respect the women around them. One of her colleagues told her that “girls can just go cry to the professor and get a better grade,” and that, as a man, he didn’t “have that luxury.” Another argued that the reason why Anastasopoulos had more connections than him on LinkedIn was because she is a woman.

“It’s just little stuff like that,” said Anastasopoulos. But it’s a trend.

Rania Alioueche, third-year mechanical engineering student and co-VP of the outreach team of Concordia’s Women in Engineering association, had similar experiences. Before starting at Concordia, she expected that 40 per cent of the students would be women. 

“But actually, I was the only girl in my lab class,” she said. “There would be a whole auditorium of 160 people, and there would be only 30 girls, maximum.”

In group projects, the ideas of her male peers were often accepted without question, Alioueche said. “If I would propose something, they would have to double-check, ‘Let’s check with the teacher, let’s check online if it’s true.’ They would always doubt what I said.”

The worst comment she got was after an exam. “We received our grades back,” she recalled, “and I had a good grade, and the guy next to me during the lab said something along the line of: ‘You’re flirting with the TA, that’s why you got a good grade.’”

“All the women that I know in engineering experience this,” said Alioueche. 

Alexandra Gagliano is a second-year mechanical engineering student. She noticed inequalities between the work of her male and female peers when it came to group projects.

This semester, for the first time since she started in engineering and after going through five different lab groups, Gagliano has only women in one of them. “Best lab group I’ve ever had,” she said. “Everyone does their work on time, communicates well, it’s so easy, simple.”

In her other lab groups, some of her male colleagues ignored her when it was time to write the report, and others simply did not show up to the lab.

“Maybe women are more conditioned to be responsible, so sometimes the work does fall on the woman in the group,” Gagliano said.

She also shared that making friends with the men in her program was very difficult. Many of her attempts at friendship ended when she rejected her male friends’ romantic advances.

“Sometimes, I feel a bit like an outsider if I’m the only girl in the group of like, six guys,” Gagliano said. “Sometimes it’s a bit difficult.”

Howard felt like all these examples could have been plucked from her research, as they were so similar to other women’s experiences in engineering.

“One of the things that I found was that women in engineering tough it out,” said Howard. “Part of that was, they disregard the price that they’re paying.”

These visible instances are only the tip of the iceberg, according to Howard’s research. Many more are just subtle enough to be felt but not recognized. But these small cuts add up.

Howard wondered what women internalize about themselves along the way: That they cannot be too bold? That they must become “one of the boys?” That they are not as talented as their male colleagues, and that the attention they receive is simply due to them being women?

“I feel a little alone, talking about this,” she said. “The dominant narrative is that we want women in engineering. ‘Here, look at these women who are successful in engineering,’ and they give all the credit in the world. But there’s stories that are conspicuously absent from that narrative.”

“People ask me why I did this research,” Howard said. “And I really never wanted to do this research. I wanted to be an engineer.”

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Quebec announces new Observatory on the well-being and mental health of students in higher education

Graphic by @sundaeghost

Concordia’s involvement in the project remains uncertain

On Tuesday Feb. 21, Pascale Déry, Quebec Minister of Higher Education, announced the creation of an Observatory to research student mental health in higher education. The Observatory will partner with researchers and students in various disciplines. Quebec will  invest $2.8 million over five years in the interdisciplinary project. The Observatory is part of the government’s Plan d’action sur la santé mentale étudiante en enseignement supérieur 2021-2026 (action plan for student mental health in higher education).

The research project will be co-directed by researchers from the Cégep de Jonquière and Université de Sherbrooke. The Observatory’s mandate will assess and monitor the state of mental health in higher education on a large scale. It will also link research to practice in the field by guiding educational institutions in the implementation of their mental health policies.

Scientific director of the Fonds de recherche du Québec en Santé, Carole Jabet, pointed out that the findings on the mental health of students were worrisome.

“We have talked about the pandemic, a health crisis that has affected all of us, but especially our students, and all this has definitely accentuated the problems of physical and mental health,” she said.

Jabet added that the Observatory wished to meet a great diversity of needs since any student in higher education is at risk of suffering from mental health issues.

“There is no correlation between mental health and the discipline in which one studies, the institution where one studies,” said Jabet. “Every young adult around us is likely to suffer from mental health issues.”

One of the cross-cutting objectives of the Observatory will be to train members of the student population to become mental health professionals. This idea fits in with one of the main goals of the Observatory, which is to decompartmentalize mental health research.

Neuroscience researcher Rémi Quirion said that despite the frequency of mental illnesses, they remain stigmatized.

“Mental illnesses are not rare. We estimate it touches 20 per cent, and in the student population it’s even 25 per cent,” said Quirion. “If you look around the room, one out of four people around you will suffer from a mental illness in their life.”

Concordia spokesperson Vannina Maestracci said that the involvement of the University in this project is still to be decided.
“Concordia would certainly be willing to be involved but it is too early to say in what role,” said Maestracci in an email to The Concordian.

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News

The Montreal Holocaust Museum’s lifetime preservation of survivor Marguerite Élias Quddus’ story

The importance of taking part in the future of Holocaust education

Attendees gathered at the Montreal Holocaust Museum (MHM) to test out the latest Dimensions in Testimony (DIT) exhibit, which allows one to have an almost real-life first-person interaction with a Holocaust survivor via pre-recorded video responses. 

The test exhibit, based on survivor Marguerite Élias Quddus, features a francophone interactive biography that enables conversation through a 2D interactive display. 

On Feb. 12, the museum held three free, one-hour sessions which took place from 11:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m.

Camille Charbonneau, the museum mediator of the session, shared the initiative’s hopes in gathering over 8,000 interactions with Quddus over the next six months, to ensure the project’s accuracy. 

“It’s very important to give a voice to the people that we still have with us today,” she said.

The University of Southern California’s Shoah Foundation, an institute for visual history and education, developed the DIT project in 2010, gathering over 55,000 video testimonies of Holocaust survivors and witnesses. 

They partnered with the MHM and the Canadian Museum for Human Rights to bring their very first French-speaking survivor testimony to life and to preserve Quddus’ story of resilience.

Quddus was born in December 1936 in Paris, France. After Germany’s occupation of France in 1940, the four-year-old and her family found themselves affected by the antisemitic ruling of the Nazis and the Vichy Regime.

In 1942, her father was murdered in Auschwitz. Quddus and her sister were separated from their mother, where they spent three years hiding in convents and farms, under false identities.

The two sisters reunited with their mother after Liberation. Quddus has resided in Canada since 1967 and has devoted the last decade to speaking with thousands of students to help bring Holocaust education to future generations.

In 2013, she published and illustrated her novel, In Hiding, which is her memoir of the Holocaust. 

MHM executives took part in a five-day real-life question period with Quddus. The team recorded over thousands of interactions with the survivor. Quddus’ pre-recorded responses are in the present beta testing display. 

Charbonneau felt touched after hearing some of Quddus’ earliest childhood memories. 

“She was a child,” said Charbonneau. “She was five years old, and she had to stay in those convents with nuns… She needed to change her complete identity and religion to fit into this mold, to be considered a non-Jewish kid. She had to hide herself. That can be very traumatic for a child.” 

Claire Berger is a volunteer tour guide at the MHM and a second-generation Holocaust survivor. Her father, Emil Berger, was born in Chernivtsi, Romania, and lived in a Ghetto. 

“He remembers living in the ghetto, of course, and being hidden on a farm for six months, which saved him from being deported,” she said.

Berger enjoyed the humane, relatable aspect of conversing with Quddus.

“I love these spunky sort of retorts. I think it humanizes the fact that, you know… that they were children, just as we are,” said Berger.

As a former educator, Berger strongly believes in educating today’s younger generations about the Holocaust, especially in ways that make the most of technology.

Berger plans to take part in the future of Quddus’ interactive display, in the hopes of sharing more survivor stories, like her father’s. 

“My dad passed away 18 years ago and every week now we’re seeing in the paper all of our survivors who are aging… I feel like doing my bit to keep the memory going as much as I can,”

Berger Said.

The MHM’s beta testing of DIT is free and takes place at the museum, on the first and second Sunday of every month until July 2023. With the assistance of an animator, attendees are welcomed to ask Quddus questions at the session.

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Concordia Student Union News

Concordia students plan the future of new student building

The CSU held a town hall to discuss what to do with the new building they bought

Community fridge, meeting rooms and open spaces: those were some of the many ideas the Concordia Student Union (CSU) and other student groups discussed at the town hall Tuesday, Feb. 21.

Unlike many other universities in North America, Concordia did not have its own official student building — until now. Bought in Winter 2022, the new student building will see its renovations start in Jan. 2024 after students agree on how they envision it being constructed. 

This town hall invited students and community members to take part in a small group discussion around a table filled with possible sketches of the new building. After this consultation process, the CSU will share a report on the different possibilities the building could offer students.

Located just across the Hall Building on Bishop Street, the new student building will help foster an even stronger student community, according to CSU sustainability coordinator Sean Levis. “It’s important for us that students are consulted in the planning process for what is going to be a part of the building.” 

After more than 20 years of raising funds, the CSU is now in a consultation process to find out how to make this new building an active and collaborative space. The student groups discussed the possibility of open spaces, a greenhouse, kitchen, and even showers for the brave souls biking to school.

Student groups attended the town hall to take part in the discussion. “This is a real important building. It is going to be a focal point on campus for years and years, centuries actually,” said Donald Armstrong, one of the collective members of Le Frigo Vert. 

Student groups asked students to have their voices heard and express their needs to make this future building their own. “You come to university to get a degree, but also to meet people, develop as a person and find what you are passionate about, and I think a lot of the groups sitting here today really represent that,” said Angelica Calcagnile, the president of the Concordia Student Broadcast Corporation.  

The CSU invites students to take part in the next annual general meeting in April to vote on the report gathered by the CSU and the student groups. 

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Briefs News

Concordia Unveils Master Plan for Campus Development

Concordia University's Sir George Williams Campus. CATHERINE REYNOLDS/The Concordian

Loyola campus’ future expansion sparks concerns for residents, faculty, and students

On Feb. 23, a panel of Concordia representatives and Notre-Dame-de-Grâce borough councillors gathered at the Loyola Jesuit Hall and Conference Centre to reveal their master plan for the expansion of Concordia’s Loyola Campus to residents of the area, faculty members, and students alike. 

This long-term project is aimed at enhancing campus infrastructure, interior, and exterior environments, as well as increasing mobility and the amount of green space available. 

“We are back [in-person] and need more classrooms, labs, and spaces,” said Dominique Dumont, director of strategic planning and development at Concordia. She clarified that while the team working on this project “cannot [yet] provide answers about when and where” these additional spaces will be added, the master plan is intended to serve as a guide for future endeavours. 

The master plan project first began in August 2020. “It’s been three years that we are in consultation with the city of Montreal,” said Marie-Claude Lavoie, associate vice-president of the facilities management department.  

In the first stage, the team assessed the needs for the Loyola campus and reviewed municipal regulations. The second stage focused on outlining the project’s guidelines to preserve key heritage sites across campus. Currently, the team is halfway through the third phase. At this time, they are seeking feedback for their current campus development plans. The fourth and final stage will release a finalized development plan and outline the steps moving forward to enact the plan. 

According to Rocio Carvajo Lucena, the project’s architect, the team aims to incorporate an indoor parking space for students, outdoor classrooms and fitness equipment, as well as more entry walkways for bikes and pedestrians. Project leaders are also working with key community members and upholding the University’s Indigenous Directions Action Plan by incorporating inclusive signage and planting Indigenous plants, as well as its Sustainability Action Plan through the inclusion of more green spaces, said Carvajo Lucena . 

Nonetheless, NDG residents, Concordia students, and faculty members alike have expressed their criticisms of the project. During the question period, several residents raised their concerns about the expansion of the campus. Some were concerned that the expansion could potentially reduce street parking spots. Others were concerned about the potential for noise pollution caused by the construction in an otherwise quiet neighbourhood. 

Others expressed their worries about the plan’s neglect for the Loyola daycare Centre de la Petite Enfance P’tits Profs. While the panel clarified that the daycare would not be expropriated, former Concordia student and communications advisor for the University Elena Raznovan expressed her disappointment for the lack of consultation with the daycare prior to the conference. The panel encourages all community members to provide their input via a survey they set up to complete the last part of phase three, which will remain open until March 31.

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News

Native Women’s Shelter of Montreal organizes vigil for MMIWG2ST+

Indigenous researchers blame the ongoing crisis on a lack of support for Indigenous communities

On Monday Feb. 14, Montrealers gathered at Cabot Square for a march in solidarity with Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women, Girls, Trans and Two-Spirit People (MMIWG2ST+) held by the Native Women’s Shelter of Montreal (NWSM). The vigil began at 6 p.m. with Indigenous activists, artists and community organizers speaking out against the violence inflicted on Indigenous people.

MMIWG2ST+ is a phenomenon across Canada (and more broadly across the Americas) of Indigenous women and persons of gender minorities going missing and being murdered. This feminicide crisis is understood by researchers as a consequence of colonialism and police inaction when it comes to Indigenous victims. It is estimated that Indigenous women in Canada are murdered at nearly seven times the rate of non-Indigenous women.

Nicole Janis Qavavauq-Bibeau, the research coordinator for the Iskweu project at NWSM, believes that these figures are much higher. Qavavauq-Bibeau’s research has found that the actual numbers of MMIWG2ST+ are four times higher than the RCMP estimate.

“When an Indigenous woman passes away, it is often ruled super quickly as a suicide or overdose,” said Qavavauq-Bibeau. 

For Mohawk artist and activist Ellen Gabriel, this colonial vision of Indigenous women of all age groups comes from all layers of Canadian society. In a speech at the vigil, she mentioned how the Canadian government’s inaction regarding Indigenous people’s requests and the 231 Calls for Justice stemming from the National Inquiry’s Final Report into MMIWG2ST+ are the reasons why the current system is so reluctant to protect Indigenous women.

“When will you teach your children about the genocidal history in Canada, in Quebec, in all its provinces?” said Gabriel. “When is this going to happen? Because until this happens we are going to have vigils like this forever.”

Concordia’s Director of First Peoples Studies Catherine Kineweskwêw Richardson said this issue is on the minds of Indigenous scholars and professors at Concordia.

“In the scope of our program we educate students about the issue of MMIWG and I think we try to bring some issues in how the media talks about it,” said Richardson. “They never talk about who is killing these women.”

Richardson pointed out that the crisis is often framed as Indigenous women being vulnerable more so than focusing on the people perpetrating these crimes. 

According to her, one of the ways Concordia could help Indigenous women is by creating more opportunities for Indigenous students with policies specifically designed for their needs.

Richardson’s research echoes the words of activists who argue that colonial violence stems from all institutions that were built on a colonial system, like the police, social services, as well as schools and universities. 

“It’s a long term issue and if we don’t act to increase support for Indigenous students and Indigenous education, they’ll continue to fall off the edge,” said Richardson. “Like most universities, we at Concordia could be doing more to assist and uplift Indigenous students.”

Richardson pointed out that Indigenous communities, too, are finding their own solutions for educating youth. 

“We don’t look to the University to do everything but we could certainly do more to help,” she said.

For Richardson, some policies that could be implemented to help Indigenous students include encouraging them to go into graduate studies, building student housing, facilitating people moving from Indigenous communities to the city to study, and overall educating people around Indigenous issues. However, these solutions are slow to implement and the current administration is ill-suited to support Indigenous students. 

“I’ve stopped holding my breath,” said Richardson. “For every aspect of life at Concordia, they have to understand that Indigenous students have particular needs and we need to create opportunities.”

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News

It takes a village: justice for Nicous D’André Spring

Protesters took the streets of Montreal on Feb. 10, calling for justice for Nicous D’André Spring. Photo by Sakib Hossain/THE CONCORDIAN

Protesters take to the streets demanding release of video footage after the death of the poet and boxer in police custody

Montreal community members gathered on Feb. 10 to march for justice for 21-year-old rapper, poet, and boxer Nicous D’André Spring, who died on Dec. 24, 2022 while being illegally detained in Bordeaux Prison. 

Officials at the prison have stated that there was an altercation which led to the guards fitting him with a spit hood and pepper-spraying him twice. Spring was then taken to a hospital, where he later died. 

The circumstances surrounding Spring’s death have led to an investigation into the actions of the prison officials and the treatment of inmates at Bordeaux Prison. The case has gained widespread attention, sparking public outcry over the treatment of prisoners and the need for reform in the criminal justice system.

As of Feb. 14, only one correctional officer involved in the altercation has been suspended, and the footage of the incident has not yet been released to the family. The, Justice for Nicous Action Committee, continues to call for the release of the footage of Spring’s death to advance justice for his family.

The event organizers wore green bandanas on the upper arm to maintain visibility. At the start of the protest, Karim Coppry, one of the organizers, referenced the African proverb, “Il faut un village pour élever un enfant et le village est ici” (It takes a village to raise a child and the village is here), highlighting the importance of the community’s solidarity.

The march began at 1 p.m. and proceeded down Sherbrooke St. W. towards the Palais de justice de Montréal. Protesters chanted slogans like “No justice, no peace” and “When Black lives are under attack, what do we do? Stand up, fight back.” Marlene Hale, a Wet’suwet’en Elder, led the protest with the beat of her rallying drum.

Throughout the protest, Spring’s family members spoke, demanding justice for their loved one. Spring’s sister, Sarafina Dennie, and mother, Niquette Spring were in attendance. 

“I’m just looking for justice,” said Spring’s mother.

Spring’s sister also expressed her grief and anxiety: “Every day, I wake up and hear a siren, and I have anxiety — we came here to have a different life, and you took that away,” referring to the guards at Bordeaux. 

Protesters marched through Montreal, passing the Government of Canada building while shouting “release the video.” Volunteers wearing construction vests guided the crowd. A child watched in awe at the number of protesters and waved at a police officer on a bicycle, unaware of the fight for justice happening all around her. 

The protest ended at the Palais de justice at 2:45 pm. Spring’s mother closed the protest. “I can’t sleep, I can’t eat, I can’t work. I need justice for my son!” she exclaimed.

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Concordia scholar helps Ukrainian refugees heal through dance

Tetiana Lazuk leads Ukrainian refugees in a dance-movement therapy session. Photo by Bogdan Lytvynenko/THE CONCORDIAN

As Ukraine enters the second year of war, Tetiana Lazuk uses dance-movement therapy to help refugees

One year after the beginning of the war, Ukrainian refugees in Montreal are working to heal from their difficult experiences and get settled in their new life. In the heart of the Mile End, the Ukrainian National Federation of Canada (UNF) offers wellness activities to help refugees find community through dance-movement therapy.

Tetiana Lazuk is a Ukrainian dance therapist and a scholar-in-residence at Concordia, and she leads dance-movement sessions at the UNF. During these classes (which are taught in Ukrainian), she helps refugees heal from their difficult experiences in the war through dance. 

“It’s not only this psychological support, wellness,” she said, “but it’s also helping to connect people who have a lot in common, and helping them to find their place and to establish here in Canada.”

While the war has faded from public attention in the past few months, it is still very real for Ukrainians in Montreal and throughout the world.

“On Feb. 24, 2022, many people thought that Ukraine would cave within a few days, if not a few weeks,” said Michael Shwec, president of the Quebec Provincial Council of Ukrainian Canadian Congress. “We’re coming up to a year, right now, where the Ukrainian people are very resolute in their defense of their territory, their culture, their language.”

The Ukrainian Canadian Congress represents 1.4 million Ukrainians around Canada, according to their website. While they have supported the Ukrainian community from their beginnings, work has increased considerably in the last year. 

“We need to help [displaced Ukrainians] land and be successful in Canada, for those who wish to stay,” said Shwec. “That means everything from housing to education, to employment, to have some sense of normalcy in their lives, and help them bridge that gap from Ukraine to here, as best as possible.”

This is exactly what Lazuck strives to do. She lived in Ukraine until 2009, when she moved to Canada to continue her studies in dance-movement therapy. She started working with Ukrainian refugees at the UNF in September.

Lazuk pointed out that her experience moving to Canada was very different from many refugees. She was prepared for her new life, for the changes it would bring, and for the challenges she would need to overcome. The refugees she works with did not get that preparation.

“These people were forced to leave their country, and many of them had excellent, great professions, perfect life conditions, and now they are forced to move to another country,” said Lazuk. “Many of them don’t speak English or French, so they need to learn, they need to adapt.”

The UNF’s aim is to provide refugees with the resources to do just that. The organization helps Ukrainians find a community and adjust to their new life in Canada. 

According to Lazuk, specialized psychotherapy is important to help them process their experiences in the war. On the flip side, her dance-movement sessions help Ukrainians connect with their community and handle the hardships of leaving their homeland.

“They meet all together, they discuss what problems they’re facing, and how to get through this,” she said.

“The dance-movement therapy sessions provide something through the body that allows them to not only be in their head, but moving, connecting, and sometimes forgetting what they have in their head.”

Since last year, the Canadian government has implemented many measures to help Ukrainians coming into the country. In March 2022, the government created a new emergency travel visa for Ukrainians. 

However, the war is not over, said Shwec. “As long as genocide continues in Ukraine, which it does, there’s never enough done. Enough will be when Russian forces are out of Ukraine and the genocide stops,” he said.

“Before our lives, livestreamed, is a genocide happening in what has been a very peaceful European country. The onus is on every single student to reflect on what is actually happening, and to make sure that you take a stand, and you defend the values that you believe in.”

The last time Lazuk visited her home land was in November 2021, to see her and her husband’s families — a few months before the beginning of the war. She looks forward to the next time she can visit her country, hopefully soon.

“We all hope that finally, peace comes to Ukraine, and we will be able to visit our family and help in rebuilding our country,” she said. 

“Here in Canada, life continues. We have plans, we continue working. Dancing.”

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Concordia students impacted by Turkey-Syria earthquake

Graphic by James Fay // The Concordian

On Feb. 6, a magnitude 7.8 earthquake struck northwestern Syria and southern Turkey. On Monday, rescue and recovery efforts were still bubbling when a separate 6.3-6.4 magnitude earthquake occurred

“Their building collapsed in the first earthquake… help didn’t get there for three days. When [it did], they were already gone,” said Ari Inceer, a Turkish student studying at Concordia who lost one of her childhood friends. Inceer is from Kahramanmaraş, a city hard-hit by the disaster.

Over the past two weeks, the death toll has climbed to over 46,000. Around the border between Turkey and Syria, there is a convergence of tectonic plates that makes the area seismologically vulnerable. Millions are displaced. 

“I don’t know if they were alive [or died instantly]. I don’t know if they called for help,” said Inceer, referring to her friend.  

“I haven’t seen my brother, sister, mother [in years]… almost losing them, even just one of them, is so scary,” said Inceer. At a cousin’s home in Istanbul (further from the earthquake’s epicenter) her family waits for answers. Their home in Kahramanmaraş has not collapsed, but it may be unstable.

Sarah Dadouche, a Syrian student, described parents that are unable to reach dead or trapped children. “People are going crazy…They know they’re dead, but…they want to take them and bury them with their own hands.” Dadouche’s family is physically okay. “They were very shaken. They [fled onto] the streets…I was thinking, ‘this is down in the south in [Damascus].’ If you go up to the north, it’s crazy.”

International sanctions have made getting aid to Syria difficult. “Because of the sanctions… no one [cares] about us,” said Dadouche. “My mind is with my parents, my mind is with my people… I don’t feel like I deserve to be here.” 

“Sometimes you need to be like an actor [when] coming to class and deliver the content to the best of your ability; irrespective of what you feel,” said a Turkish professor at Concordia who wished to remain anonymous. “You need to go on and start the show.”

Furkan Göçmez is another Turkish student. From Malatya, his home has been destroyed. “I don’t know how long they’re going to be on the streets. My family just became homeless, in like two minutes,” he said.

“I’m kind of pinching myself like, ‘oh, is this really happening?’” said Göçmez. While fleeing their building, his mother fell and broke her nose. “I don’t know where to call home. If I decide to go now, where would I go?”

While some students report professors being insensitive to their experiences, others feel supported. 

Inceer said, “All of [my teachers] separately asked if I needed anything from them personally.”

Karam Helou is the internal vice-president of the Syrian Student Association at Concordia (SSA). “[One professor from JMSB] reached out to me on the day of the earthquake. She made sure that my family was okay. I thought that was really sweet of her,” he said. 

On Feb. 7, the International Students Office (ISO) at Concordia sent an email to members of the Syrian and Turkish community offering support. “We are devastated to hear of the earthquakes in Syria and Turkey this week. I would like to personally let you know that we are thinking of you and your families,” wrote Kelly Collins, manager of the ISO. The email contained links to various University resources.

From international students to Quebec residents, a number of University members received the email, including Inceer. Göçmez, Helou, and Dadouche are among students who reported not receiving the ISO’s message.  

Dadouche feels that the University was very outspoken when the Russian invasion of Ukraine began. “[It] was like, ‘the news that is happening in Ukraine is a lot on all of us, so take all the time you need and these are the mental resources that you may need.’” Dadouche does not feel the same message was put out by Concordia after the earthquake. “I just keep thinking, are we not human? Do we not matter?”

When the war in Ukraine officially began on Feb. 24, 2022, the University published a notice online with resources for those who may be impacted four days later. On March 3, 2022, Concordia President Graham Carr came out with a statement on the war.

After the Feb. 6 Turkey-Syria earthquake, Concordia published a notice online with links to resources seven days later. 

“The notice for students was posted on the Student Hub [on Feb. 13] when we realized this was not done [on Feb. 10] which was an oversight on our part,” said Concordia spokesperson Vannina Mestracci.

“I don’t think we’re waiting for any sort of statements from [President Carr]… we’ve [gotten] used to it,” said a Syrian student studying at JMSB. “We got used to being left out,” they added.  

“Hearing the voice of the administration a little bit louder would be helpful. Helpful to whom? Helpful to us, to the people here [in Montreal]. But hearing that, [will it] do anything to the people who simply perished under concrete over there?” said the anonymous professor mentioned earlier. “From a PR point of view, this is important. I wish there was a louder and more compassionate voice from the administration.”

Tuana Bıçakcı is a Turkish student who has been a part of fundraising efforts on campus. “The lack of acknowledgement and support from the University is a little sad…It is really heartbreaking and scary to be so far away from your loved ones when a tragedy like this happens… we could have been so grateful if the University supported us a little more.” 

Hindered by international sanctions, getting aid to Syria has been tough. “[Syrians are] human just as much as the Turkish people, just as much as the Ukrainian people,” said Dadouche. “I think the bare minimum [that] the dean or the president or any professor can do is just raise awareness for a couple of minutes. For example, at the beginning of the class.”

Inceer has felt differently. “I actually didn’t pay attention to [the University’s acknowledgement]… I had other worries.” She has been preoccupied with her family feeling secure again. “I’m just trying to find work and help my family…They left everything they own…it keeps me up [at night] and I just want to be able to help them and send money to them. That’s my main focus right now.”

Göçmez also has finances on his mind. “Concordia could open up bursaries for people who are impacted by these events…My family lost their house. My father’s business has stopped there. I will be having financial hardships,” expressed Göçmez.

Combating feelings of helplessness, Göçmez and Inceer volunteered at the Turkish Student Association’s (TSA) donation site. The site was on the seventh floor of the Hall Building from Feb. 7-10. While the TSA is no longer taking material donations, they are still taking monetary donations.

“I focus on what I can control and I feel like this is something I have to do,” said Mert Kaan Kaseler, co-president of the TSA. From sanitary pads to flashlights, the collected materials were swiftly flown to Turkey. 

Turkish Student Association’s donation site in the Hall building. Photo by Tristan McKenna

Tolga Osmancik is a Turkish student heavily involved with the fundraising efforts. “This can happen to anyone in any country. When something like this happens, we should remember that we are human beings,” he said.

On Feb. 13, the SSA had an event in the Hall Building as well. In order to support the SSA, you can follow them online. 

Jana Noufal Al-Atassi is the SSA’s vice-president of finance. “It would be great if more people talked about what’s happening and what’s been happening even before the earthquake.” She discussed how the world let politics block humanitarian hurdles. “You have to keep in mind [that Syrians are] not numbers. These are humans that are dying.”

“There’s one difference between what’s happening in Turkey and Syria… the sanctions placed on Syria,” said Helou. 

“If certain powers wanted to send aid to Syria, they could have,”

Said Talal Akkad, A Syrian Student. 

Inceer discussed how Turkey could have been better prepared. “It’s a big earthquake. Three of them happened on the same day… another one happened two weeks after…[but] this shouldn’t have been the result,” she said.

When growing up, Inceer would hear discussions about her area (atop the East Anatolian Fault) being overdue for an earthquake. She is perplexed at how Turkey was unprepared. “You think [the overdue earthquake] is a myth because you trust that the system knows better…when it actually happens, you feel so helpless because it’s the system… you by yourself can’t change the system.”

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