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“Freedom for Ukraine!” solidarity rally

Photo by Joëlle Jalbert

Hundreds gather at Place du Canada on Sunday

Blue and yellow flags were raised and could be seen through the snowflakes as chants of liberty were heard: “UK-RA-I-NA! UK-RA-I-NA! UK-RA-I-NA!”

Michael Shwec, president of the Quebec chapter of the Canadian Ukrainian Congress, organized the event to raise awareness within the Montreal community and show solidarity to his compatriots in Ukraine.

“They are under tremendous stress, they’re suffering out there, the country’s been bombarded, all areas of the country,” Shwec said, “and we want to show them that the Ukrainian community of Montreal is definitely behind them.”

Shwec also wishes this demonstration will help unite the Montreal-Ukrainian community.

“Most people here have family in Ukraine and we need to congregate, stay together in our own community to show support to one another,” he said.

His daughter, Adelia Shwec, was also present at the event. “We’re here today because Ukraine believes in peace and a democratic future, and it’s a sovereign country,” she said. 

“Our people are dying so the least we can do is come support them at this protest.”

Adelia Shwec denounces the attacks of Putin on her population as hatred towards Ukrainians.

“Our aggressive neighbor wants to destroy all of Ukraine and its people, its identity,” she said.

Ivanna Skotar, a family friend of the Shwecs, agreed. “It’s not part of Russia, it never will be,” she said.

Skotar was also present to show support to her community. “We’re Ukrainian, we wear our hearts on our sleeves,” she said, holding up her Ukrainian flag proudly.

Michael Shwec acknowledged the outpour of support that has come from the Canadian population over the last few days and called on the people to increase the support they can lend to Ukraine.

“The arena of the battle is Ukraine, but it’s really a world problem. Democracy is really at stake here,” he said.

On Feb. 26, Canada and other western allies announced that Russia was removed from SWIFT, a “global member-owned cooperative and the world’s leading provider of secure financial messaging services.”

Shwec said this is a good move, but insists on all governments of the world to show support by creating a no-fly zone over Ukraine.

“If you can stop the Russian bombers from bombing kindergardens, hospitals and civilians then it’ll make a tremendous difference. So, I think that’s really the next step,” Shwec said.

The Canada-Ukraine Foundation already had a team stationed in Ukraine for humanitarian purposes prior to the war. They are scaling up what they usually do to lend a hand to the people trying to evacuate the country and offer support for those staying behind.

“We’re getting ready for immigration to Canada,” Shwec said, “As a community in Montreal, we’re gearing up to help anybody who might want to come and be with us here in Montreal.”

Even though the Canadian government match of $10 million has already been met, the Red Cross is still accepting donations.

According to their website, the Red Cross’ support “could include preparedness, immediate and ongoing relief efforts, long-term recovery, resiliency, and other critical humanitarian activities as needs arise, both in Ukraine and surrounding countries, including supporting populations displaced.”

“At home, you can share the right information with your friends and family, because there’s a lot of disinformation coming out from Russia,” Shwec said.

“He won’t get away with this, it’s ours, it’s our country […] our grandparents fought for this. We’re not handing it over easy, it’s not happening,” Skotar said.

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Broken Promises, Closed Community Organizations

Quebec community organizations have gone on strike across the province this past week as a result of intense pressures due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Organizers say they lack the funding needed to deal with the massive growth in the need for their services to house, feed, and provide care for vulnerable populations.

Video Editor Anthony-James Armstrong spoke with community sector workers at a massive demonstration near downtown Montreal on Tuesday, Feb. 22.

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Members of Park Extension community rally for social housing

Photos by Gabriel Guindi

Comité d’action Park-Extension members and tenants rally outside Montreal city hall to ask the city to purchase an available plot of land in their neighbourhood to build social housing in their community.

During a Montreal city council session Monday evening, Park Extension residents gathered outside city hall demanding the city and their borough to purchase a plot of land located on 700 Jarry St. W. to create social housing for community members affected by hiking rent prices and evictions.

Comité d’action Parc-Extension (CAPE) wants the city of Montreal to purchase the land to build a social housing project that will provide 50 units for people who are in need in the community.

Sohnia Karamat Ali, organizer of tenant strikes at CAPE, explained that the community houses a lot of lower-income families and tenants who have dealt with rising rent costs and a lack of affordable housing.

“In Park Extension it has been long that nothing has been added regarding social housing. Every time we demand social housing we get this excuse that there is not enough land.”

CAPE member Amy Darwish said now is the time for the city to act and provide social housing for their community. “This is a project that has been by and for tenants of Park Extension in a neighbourhood that really needs them. It couldn’t possibly be more urgent, too many of our neighbours are being displaced by rising rents and evictions.”

Organization leaders say that now is the perfect time for the city and borough to purchase the land and create a co-op social housing program. “We say that housing is a basic human right and has to be respected by the governments. Especially in Park Extension it’s mainly low-income families, either on welfare or working poor. So to bring some instant relief in their life, social housing is the response,” Karamat Ali said. According to a 2016 joint study on working poverty by Centraide of Greater Montreal and the Institut national de la recherche scientifique, 30.7 per cent of Park Extension’s population are working poor, making it not only the highest rate of working poor in the city but also one of the poorest neighbourhoods nationally.

Mohammad-Afaaq Mansour, community organizer at CAPE said that since the land has been on sale, there have been constant biddings for it.

“Last year there was almost a luxury condominium project that got built but with community support it was defeated and the borough voted against it.”

CAPE is asking that the city of Montreal uses its resources to purchase the land and create something beneficial for the community rather than have the land be used for privatized projects that can ultimately speed up gentrification in the community.

“Park Ex has always been a community that has been disadvantaged, there were always housing problems. Now we have problems related to evictions, renoviction problems, and people are getting evicted because there’s a new potential market from students and professionals from the campus,” Afaaq Mansour said, referring to Vanier College’s Park Ex campus. “That is what’s pushing out the existing tenants.”

CAPE and Park Extension tenants will continue to fight for the community and their neighbourhood that becomes more vulnerable and susceptible to gentrification. “Park Ex is going to look beautiful in 20-30 years, but there’s going to be an existing community that will be forever gone,” Afaaq Mansour said.

“That’s what we’re fighting to keep. This condo project was a smaller issue that contributes to a larger problem so we really want to have some partial victories along the way and hopefully this is a site that cannot be lost for the residents of our community.”

Photos by Gabriel Guindi

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The state of Quebec’s supply chains in the face of climate disasters

How they can be fortified and how Canada can mitigate climate disaster impacts

Climate disasters have clear impacts on the environment, but they also disrupt supply chains across Canada.

The flooding in B.C. in late 2021 was the “most costly severe weather event in the province’s history,” according to the Insurance Bureau of Canada. As the flooding occurred prior to Christmas and much of Asian-made consumer goods entered Canada through the Port of Vancouver, Quebec’s supply chain for Christmas shopping was disrupted due to delays in delivery.

Dr. Satyaveer Chauhan, a Concordia professor who specializes in supply chain and business technology management, said that although the disruption is over, there is still a ripple effect on Quebec’s supply chains as they had to be readjusted.

During the floods, shipments had to be rerouted through the United States, as many roadways were shut down due to flooding and landslides.

Dr. Brian Slack, a Concordia professor in the Geography, Planning, and Environment department, mentioned how regional factors determine the local severity of the climate crisis.

“The port of Montreal is likely to be significantly less impacted than Vancouver by climate change and other factors,” said Dr. Slack. “We have no serious mountains between the port and the customers, [which] is the factor that amplifies environmental impacts for Vancouver.”

The lack of transportation options through B.C.’s mountainous regions can cause a logistical problem as the roads are susceptible to flooding and landslides.

Although the mountains are a factor in environmental disaster response, the environmental impacts ultimately stem from the climate crisis.

The frequency and severity of climate disasters have increased globally over the past 50 years, and in Canada, the average cost per disaster jumped by 1,250 per cent since 1970. Supply chain disruptions stemming from complications in sourcing, production, transport, and destination markets are a part of that cost increase.

It’s clear that Canada must be more prepared to mitigate the impacts of future climate disasters, and the Council of Canadian Academies (CCA) agrees.

A new expert panel report from the CCA released early 2021, goes into detail about the consequences of climate disasters in Canada. Although the country is especially susceptible to climate disasters, the consequences of the disasters “are not inevitable — they are the result of choices that put people in harm’s way,” said Scott Vaughan, chair of the Expert Panel on Disaster Resilience in a Changing Climate.

While the report discusses different strategies to combat the climate crisis, it also mentions that the private sector can “improve their competitiveness by assessing and managing the disaster risks they face in a changing climate by building in supply chain redundancies.”

Dr. Chauhan noted a similar approach to improving Canadian supply chains.

He cited an example of how Home Depot has bulk distribution centres and holding facilities on the East coast of the United States in preparation for hurricane season, so that their supply chain is not disrupted by any hurricanes.

While fortifying Canada’s supply chains is important, the most critical factors to consider here are the mounting risks associated with climate disasters, which ultimately lead to potential disruptions.

Eric M. Meslin, president and CEO of the CCA, said that “Building disaster resilience hinges on a coordinated strategic approach involving government, businesses, and the public.”

The report outlined several strategies, including investment in disaster risk reduction, supplying decision makers with prompt access to data on climate disasters to better inform decisions, and climate-proofing buildings and infrastructure through improving building codes and engineering practices.

One of the most important proposed strategies included in the report is changing Canada’s “[continued] underreliance on Indigenous and Local Knowledge and the underutilization of disaster-related expertise developed by Indigenous organizations and in Indigenous communities.”

This devaluation of important information undermines Canada’s disaster resilience efforts, and increases the effects of supply chain disruptions in Quebec and across Canada.

Graphic by James Fay

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Queering Montreal’s Map

Interactive database Queering the Map reveals the queer experiences that are everpresent yet invisible in the physical world

In May of 2017, Lucas LaRochelle launched Queering the Map, a crowdsourced digital archive for queer experiences, which now features over 20,000 written entries from around the world. 

The idea for Queering the Map came to LaRochelle while passing a tree where they had met and shared numerous experiences with a long-term partner. Reflecting on their own mental map and queer experiences led to the concept of a database where anyone could anonymously share their own experiences with a pin on the space where they’ve occurred. “The aim of the project is to make legible memories, histories and moments of queerness that would otherwise disappear,” said LaRochelle to CBC Arts in 2018. 

Submissions are entered as pins on the map and comprise feelings, events and stories. Ranging from love, sex, heartbreak, and happiness they reveal an honest image of queerness relative to the physical spaces it occupies. “Our first date. We talked for hours and you kissed me outside my apartment. 2 years later and I still think about you” shares a submission pinned in the Plateau-Mont-Royal. In February 2018, engagement shot up after the map went viral on Facebook, sparking growth from around 660 pins to 6,500 pins in just three days and garnering attention worldwide.

During their time as a resident of the Fine Arts Reading Room (FARR) at Concordia in Design and Computational Arts, LaRochelle created the map with a little help from friends and tech consulting from the FARR Lab. LaRochelle noted, “I was primarily inspired by Tumblr in the early 2010s, which is one of the places where I for the first time saw queer and trans people expressing themselves on their own terms vis-a-vis text and image.” For LaRochelle and those they connected with online, anonymity helped form the digital landscape into a place where identity and queerness could exist at ease and as intended by each user. Anonymous submissions on Queering the Map serve to mirror the positive effect a platform which universalizes user presentation has had for online queer community.

After five years online LaRochelle is seeing how a queer approach to space develops after its first steps and successes. With the project’s expansion to the global scale, it must reckon with how the growth of the space we inhabit conflicts with a core facet of the Map: the intersection between queer liberation and decolonization. 

Its moderation system, which vets submissions for hate speech, spam, and personal information shows where they must adapt, given how moderation is currently based in Montréal but overlooks entries coming from global, specifically non-Western, perspectives. 

“Rather than myself and most of my friends [who do the moderation] who are located in the western context, a better moderation system would be moderated by people who have more knowledge of that specific culture and context,” said LaRochelle, referring to a localized moderation system across geographic regions.

Queering the Map has since used event opportunities to explore the project’s themes and questions in a concrete space. In 2019, Concordia’s 4TH SPACE hosted Queering the Map: On_Site, a public exhibition which sought to embody how it’s themes interact in a complex way when brought off the digital platform. The collaborative event held curated workshops and performances including digital self-defense for marginalized communities, a latin dance partner class, counter-cartography through beadwork, self-reflection through hip hop, and mapping desire through movement.

With potential for a podcast and docu-series, there is much on the horizon for Queering the Map. Still, it’s impact in the past five years can be seen on the site itself across the thousands of heartfelt contributions which connect the queer community across the map.

Check it out or submit your own queer experiences at www.queeringthemap.com

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More than just a budget cut

Photo by Kaitlynn Rodney

The Quebec government’s decision to abruptly cut the $100 million worth of funding once promised to Dawson College raises questions, especially for what they had planned on doing with the funding

The Coalition Avenir Québec’s (CAQ) sudden change of heart to cancel the Dawson funding project has left many in the English community scratching their heads as to why the once-promised $100 million project to expand the institution is no more.

Over seven years in the making, the long-term project supposedly guaranteed Quebec’s largest English CEGEP funding to expand its medical technology department. According to Dawson’s Communications Coordinator Donna Varrica, the funding would have improved upon the current lack of adequate space to comfortably host all of the CEGEP’s students, all while providing a medical clinic in the area that would serve the community and train their students.

 “Over the past two years, we’ve been hearing about the lack of skilled labour in those areas”, Varrica said when referring to Quebec’s healthcare system. “The fact that it’s overburdened, the fact that there’s a burnout because they’re understaffed, the timing couldn’t have been any worse. Here we were providing a solution for the healthcare system and had the rug pulled from under us,” Varrica said.

Former Dawson alumni, lawyer, and Quebec Community Groups Network secretary Matt Aronson said the sudden budget cut emits “a feeling of betrayal, disappointment and outrage,” among many in the English-speaking community. “The funds that have been previously committed for a shovel-ready project that met the needs of not only the community, but of the healthcare system were being withdrawn so that they can prioritize French institutions.”

The decision makes less sense when put into context. Last November, the CAQ unveiled a new $3.9 billion investment plan to attract 170,000 students interested in enrolling in essential sectors like health and social services. The decision to cut funding seemed entirely propelled by language as Quebec’s Minister of Higher Education Danielle McCann advised Dawson that the decision to scrap the expansion project was based to prioritize francophone institutions and students. 

For many, the swift motion to pull funding from Dawson not only seems like a political chess move with an upcoming election on the horizon but also felt like the government was picking sides, choosing to favour francophones. “There really is no two ways about it, it’s clearly the case that the decision was made entirely arbitrarily because, had Dawson College been a francophone institution, they’d be getting the money,” Aronson said. 

“They have an election coming in October, and in the event that they fulfill their obligations as good government they would allow for the possibility that they would be pillory in some very nationalist French press for doing anything to assist an English-speaking community to thrive.”

 More than a matter of space

 Though all students have experienced the same space issue over the past 20 years, students studying in health programs especially need the extra room for the machines that they operate. “Because our programs are technologically advanced, we had to invest in some big and expensive equipment,” Varrica said. “The entire nurse simulation room is an old closet.” Though Dawson’s students are still getting their education, the infrastructure in which they’re receiving it is too small to accommodate both students and equipment.

 “Even to this day if you walk through our halls, you’ll see a student on the floor with their laptop plugged into a wall socket because that’s the only place where they could sit,” Varrica explained.

 “We’re not looking to get more students; we have a cap of 7900 students and that’s what we’re sticking to. But even at that we’re still short of space,” described Varrica.

Dawson has been trying to find alternatives to comfortably accommodate the ones currently enrolled. Legault and the CAQ have already acknowledged the need of over 11,000 square metres of added space despite Parti Quebecois pushback. The decision to pull back in the final hour raises questions regarding why now the government saw fit to cancel the project, especially when they’ve defended it in the past.

The budgetary decision may affect francophone students enrolled at Dawson, the students the government has intended to protect. Dawson Student Union President Alexandrah Cardona said the students she represents aren’t exclusively anglophone, and the narrative from the government that Dawson is exclusively for English speakers is far from the truth. “In the day-to-day lives of Dawson students, we are francophone, we are anglophone, we are bilingual, we’re allophones, we speak all types of languages and so that’s where the confusion comes from.”

Photo by Kaitlynn Rodney

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Concordia’s Annual SCPA Panels are Underway

This year’s overarching theme is “Utopia,” giving students opportunities to discuss plans for a better future in Montreal through policy changes

After two semesters of planning, teams of students from the School of Community and Public Affairs (SCPA)  have begun presenting their panels on various social issues. The first panel took place on Feb. 1, and more will follow until the end of March.

The panels are a part of a class called “Social Debates and Issues in Public Affairs and Public Policy,” or SCPA 301. As described on Concordia’s website, the focus of the class is to help students “on developing both communication skills, through oral and written presentations, and organizational skills as each team must organize one public panel discussion on one of the selected issues.” Six panels will be presented, and the class typically consists of no more than 25 people. The goal of each panel is to bring awareness to a specific issue, like food insecurity, accessibility, or policing, and showcase the ideas of experts in their respective fields.

“Our panel is on food insecurity,” said student Romy Shoam. “The goal of our panel is to hear from experts on differing specific aspects of food insecurity in Montreal and in Canada. They’ll be talking about fixing this problem in an affordable and healthy way for all people. We want to hear about how we can reform our food system in Montreal, both in the short-term and long term.”

The panel will dive into specific problems that affect food security, ranging from accessibility and affordability of food as well as community cooperation to improve food insecurity. The panelists all have expertise within the Canadian food system in differing ways, ranging from the Montreal Food Policy Council to the Quebec Farmers’ Association.  The panelists are Omar Elsharkawy, Erik Chevrier, Anne Marie Aubert, and John McCart.

Rose Chisholm is a student working on a panel that deals with ageism in urban life. “Our panel is called ‘Generation All: Reimagining Montreal.’ We want to have a big brainstorm about creating intergenerational environments. In Montreal, we’re really divided by age, especially in this epidemic of loneliness,” she said.

“In our capitalist society, if you’re not seen as part of that ‘productive’ age bracket, you’re disregarded,” she added. The panel will feature experts and researchers on creating age-friendly cities and bringing an end to the crisis of elder abuse. The students involved have partnered with RECAA (Respecting Elders Communities Against Abuse), the West-end Intergenerational Network, Concordia’s Dr. Meghan Joy, and engAGE Concordia to make this panel happen.

Ace Baldwin is working on a panel on policing in Montreal and its effects on certain communities. “Our panel began as a discussion on police reform, but our group wanted to take it a step further. Many people don’t understand what defunding the police really means or looks like, and I think it’s because it’s hard for people to imagine what defunding or abolishing police looks like — we’ve built our society around this. We know that policing has a negative impact on marginalized and racialized people,” they said.

The panel will focus on alternatives to the current systems in place regarding policing and its impact in Montreal, like defunding the SPVM and gearing those funds towards social workers and community organizations. Panelists will include experts and activists who have witnessed the horrors of police brutality, all of whom happen to be women of colour. The panelists are Marlihan Lopez, Amy Edward, Jessica Quijano, and El Jones.

This year-long course is now reaching its long-awaited climax as students present their panels. Each presentation will be around two hours long, with the last half hour reserved for questions. Due to ongoing pandemic restrictions, the panels will be taking place online. Information on how to sign up and watch the panels can be found on the SCPA Student Association’s Facebook page.

 

Visuals by James Fay

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PHOTOS: Community organizations strike amidst pandemic pressures

Coalition des Tables régionales d’organismes communautaires (CTROC) kicked off their mobilization week with a massive protest in the Berri-UQAM area on Tuesday, Feb. 22.

The CTROC is a coalition of Quebec’s community organizations primarily supporting the area’s health and wellness needs. According to the organizers, the need for their services by vulnerable people has increased greatly since the pandemic began, whereas their resources remained the same.

Accompanying the mounting pressures of the pandemic, many feel a lack of moral and financial support from the provincial government. Workers in these community organizations have struggled to adapt on their own without clear guidelines to follow. According to those who attended, some 2500 protesters filled the streets, and the strike will continue for at least the next week with demonstrations taking place across the province.

Photo Story by Catherine Reynolds

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Algerians commemorate Hirak Movement’s third anniversary

The Hirak Movement is back to show solidarity to all the people in Algeria who are arbitrarily imprisoned.

On Feb. 19, a group of hundreds of protesters gathered around Place du Canada to commemorate the third anniversary of the Hirak Movement in Algeria. 

The Hirak Movement started back in 2019, six days after long-ruling president Abdelaziz Bouteflika announced his fifth presidential term. The protest became a movement that denounced military dictatorship and its corrupted government. Around 250 protestors were sent to jail.

The leaders of Saturday’s protest were dressed in prison uniforms inside a rolling cage to symbolize the hundreds of Algerians serving prison sentences for expressing their political views during the Hirak protests.

A poster attached to the cage read, “Algeria, free the prisoners that are detained because of political opinions.” 

One of the march’s main goals was to spread awareness of the injustices in Algeria. The Algerian government continues to censor journalists and anyone who opposes their ideas. 

“We are here to support our friends, our brothers and our Harkis who are in Algeria and are suffering every day,” said Leila Cheurfli, a member of Hirak Canada. 

To show solidarity, demonstrators held posters and flags proudly while filming live videos of the march with their cell phones. 

“We want freedom of the press,” said Kouider Abbad, one of the organizers. “There are 450 Algerians in prison because of their opinions,” Abbad added. 

Algerian censorship goes beyond journalists but also to anyone who is on social media.

“For a foreign video that was posted, somebody gave it a like. […] He was put in prison for a year.”

Marchers walked around downtown and stopped at the Consulate General of Spain in Montreal. The stop symbolized Spain’s complicity in deporting Brahim Laalami and Mohamed Abdellah, two activists who previously expressed their opinions on Algeria’s corruption and dictatorship. 

They chanted, “Spain, Spain, shame on you!” 

“Algeria paid [Spain] to have the two young people back, and right now, they are being tortured. These people have kids who were born in Spain, who have families and who work. Despite this, they returned them to Algeria,” explained Cheurfli. 

Protestors sang various traditional songs about the Algerian Revolution in remembrance of the war from 1954 to 1962 that marked Algeria’s independence from France. This symbolic act of honour demonstrated the group’s opposition to oppression, tying this protest back to one of the country’s victories towards freedom.

“We don’t want countries like Spain [and] France to hand in Algerians in exchange for money,” said Cheurfli. 

Bouteflika is no longer in power since 2019; however, the Hirak Movement will continue to march until there is justice for the imprisoned and radical change in the government. 

Photos by Catherine Reynolds

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Students to decide whether CSU purchases a student center

The decision to purchase 2045 Bishop St. will appear as a referendum question in the upcoming CSU General Election

The CSU unanimously voted to let students decide whether the union should purchase a building on Bishops street for a new student centre in the upcoming election.

The purpose of this new building is to create a student centre that would include office space for the CSU, as well as a space for other student clubs and fee-levy groups to operate out of. The CSU would also be able to use the space to host their own events.

The price per square foot for the building is $419.31, rendering the 13 thousand square foot building a $5.5 million cost to purchase. The CSU is also exploring the option of adding an additional floor. Since it is not a heritage building, the CSU will have the ability to renovate and make modifications to the building as needed.

The CSU has been exploring the possibility of creating their own student center for some time. Initially, they approached Concordia about renting a space, however, these spaces were deemed to be unaffordable. However, according to CSU President Eduardo Malorni, Concordia will offer financial support in other ways, although those were not specified at the special council meeting held on Feb. 17.

The downtown property is located directly across the street from the Hall Building at 2045 Bishops St. “In terms of location it doesn’t get more ideal than this,” said Malorni.

The prime location is one of the many reasons that Malorni believes now is the right time for the CSU to buy the building.

​”Other reasons why now is a good time is we do have a good surplus in the fund, where we could expense this and not be left completely depleted or be left in a situation where we might not be able to maintain the building for long term.”

Purchase of the building would also give the CSU more independence and control of the events and activities they want to create for students.

“This is a step in the future of the CSU being more independent from the university. Even though Concordia is acquiring buildings, that doesn’t necessarily mean that those buildings are going to be used for student life,” said CSU Councilor Lauren Perozek.

“This building would be under our purview and our control. We could use it for more student life related activities and our contribution to the students.”

Primarily the project will be funded by the Student Space, Accessible Education & Legal Contingency Fund (SSAELC fund) fund. The SSAELC fund was created 20 years ago and in that time has been used for other purposes. Its initial purpose was to be used for the purchase of a property and creation of a student centre. The fund has now accumulated enough capital that this initial goal is possible. The CSU will also pursue other grants to fund the building’s purpose.

The union will have to undergo a hefty due diligence process involving many inspections of the building. Some parts of it will require renovations, but others are usable at this moment. The result of the referendum question as well as the results of the many building inspections will determine if the CSU goes through with the purchase of the building.

“There are spaces that are not in great condition, but it’s in usable condition. So we could definitely use it for a lot of purposes already. Starting from day one that we own it,” said Malorni.

According to Malorni the CSU actually does not need to send this expense to referendum at all, but he believes students should be involved in the decision.

“I personally think that if we’re going to spend such a large amount such as $5.5 million, our decision should be backed up with the students’ consent on this, which is why I want to send it to the referendum.”

Photos provided by Catherine Reynolds

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PHOTOS: Montreal’s Trucker Convoy Protest

Photogallery at the scene of the anti-mandate manifestation

After a march in Villeray, protesters gathered in Jarry Park among dozens of cars and trucks in support of the Freedom Convoy in Ottawa. The crowd was a sea of red and white from the protesters’ Canadian flags, several of which were flown upside down.

The anti-mandate protest, “Unis dans l’amour pour la liberté” (United in Love for Freedom), was organized by groups Quebec Pro Choix and La Jeuness au Front, among others. Many protester signs referenced religion, such as “Love of life starts with Jesus Christ!” and “Jésus sauve nous” (Jesus save us).

There were also numerous flags and signs supporting former U.S. President Donald Trump. Protesters voiced their opposition to Canada’s vaccine mandates, with signs stating “Assez la division et l’oppression. Non au passeport vaccinal” (Enough division and oppression. No to the vaccine passport). Many also wore black t-shirts with the words “#LibreChoix” (#FreeChoice).

Police officers on bikes observed the crowd at Jarry Park as well as the nearby metro station.

Photos by Catherine Reynolds

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Town Hall on Anti-Black Racism: Why there is nothing wrong about Black-only spaces

 This event was done in part to value and protect spaces for Black students to share their experiences and voice their opinions freely

Concordia’s President’s Task Force on Anti⁠-⁠Black Racism held an online Town Hall on Anti-Black Racism on Feb. 10 during which students and alumni gathered to discuss the preliminary recommendations put out by the Task Force in Nov. 2021.

The online event was exclusively open to Black Concordia students and alumni with the goal of creating a safe space and prioritizing Black voices.

The event gathered about 30 individuals from different departments and was coordinated by three members of the Task Force’s leadership committee — Camina Harrison-Chéry, Alysha Maxwell-Sarasua, and Isaiah Joyner.

“In terms of interactions, people were very vocal, Concordia students are always ready to share their experiences,” said Harrison-Chéry, communications student and external affairs and mobilization coordinator at the Concordia Student Union (CSU).

“We had some really great discussions, and it made me recognize that we need these spaces more often — spaces where we can prioritize Black voices being heard,” said Maxwell-Sarasua, political science student and intern for the Black Perspectives Office.

“There’s a sense of safety in terms of being in a group that understands you and shares the same experiences as you,”  said Maxwell-Sarasua.

“This was to prioritize our safety essentially because unfortunately, despite people’s best efforts and best intentions, they might not understand how they continue to perpetuate the harm that we’re trying to stop,” said Maxwell-Sarasua.

The event was exclusive to Black students and alumni in an additional goal of protecting their privacy and encouraging participants to speak freely, without any judgment.

“On the sensitivity issue, we [organizers of the event] signed up for this to act as representatives, but they [other participants] did not sign up to be the display,” said Isaiah Joyner, former general coordinator of the CSU

“Right now, we’re in brainstorming mode, but there’s going to be a time for allyship, there’s going to be a time for when people want to support the Black community,” added Joyner.

Main Feedback from participants

The Task Force offered 12 preliminary recommendations detailed in their report, as part of their two-year mandate to address systemic anti-Black racism at Concordia.

In getting students and alumni to register for the Town Hall, individuals were asked to fill a form indicating which recommendations they wished to prioritize during the meeting.

The following three are the recommendations that were the focus of this Town Hall.

  1.       Create a certificate and minor program in the short term that focus on Black and African diaspora studies in the Canadian context and commit to the ultimate creation of a major program.

Participants had two main strands of thought regarding this recommendation, says Maxwell-Sarasua.

“One was that it can’t just be an isolated certificate or course that you can opt into — it should be part of a core-curriculum within all faculties.”

“The other strand was to see how to corporate a diverse view of Black and African diaspora in terms of the curriculum and having an intersectional approach to building these programs while recognizing that we’re not all a monolith — we don’t all come from the same places or have the same experiences.”

  1.       Implement a mandatory and continuous university-wide training program on anti-racism that includes a specific chapter on anti-Black racism.

“The main points for that one was mainly to offer Concordia students a kind ground line and basis of information about microaggressions,” says Maxwell-Sarasua.

However, participants during the Town Hall said they were skeptical about a one-off training that many would forget shortly after completing it, according to Maxwell-Sarasua.

“I think the main focus was that there should be lived, and practical experiences implemented into the training,” says Maxwell-Sarasua, “it shouldn’t just be given by someone with a PowerPoint, rather it should be offered by local community members who can give more of a practical base rather than just generalized theories of microaggressions.”

  1.       Create a permanent student centre servicing Black students.

“Now that we have the Black Perspectives Office, it’s kind of growing itself and has the potential to become this Black student center where you’ll have an office space and more social space for students,” says Harrison-Chéry.

Participants shared how important they felt it is to have these dedicated spaces on both campuses, which are often predominantly white spaces, adds Harrison-Chéry.

Another goal of this centre would be to reflect the diversity of students and understand different perspectives, including those of Black students who live in residences, or international students.

“The goal is really to have a Black students center that revolves around all those different needs that Black students have across campus,” says Harrison-Chéry.

Forced to repeat messages 

Despite this being the first time the Task Force opened up its floor to hear from  Black students and alumni about its preliminary recommendations, many sub-committees and the CSU have previously held similar student consultations regarding anti-Black racism.

“The CSU had a town hall specifically related to the Black Lives Matter campaign and we noticed a lot of things overlap and similar discussions,” said Harrison-Chéry.

“It’s important to acknowledge that these aren’t new ideas that we’re communicating,” she added.

As part of the sub-committee that deals with history, Harrison-Chéry said she often comes across documents from the ’60s and the ’70s of Black students voicing similar opinions as today.

“Black students say the exact same things and the exact same demands so hopefully this institutional push means that there’s no need for town halls like these in the future,” she adds.

More work needs to be done

“Even though this work won’t affect us right now in the short term, we know in the long run this is what needs to get done,” said Maxwell-Sarasua.

“I find that there’s this sense of erasure — that this has been done by many people before us, so there’s this sense of ‘how much longer do we have to yell for us to be heard.’”

Maxwell-Sarasua added that though we are far from the 1968 computer centre incident era, “we still have a lot of work to do.” The 2015 documentary Ninth Floor depicts the events also known as the Sir George Williams Riot, where Montreal students occupied the university’s computer room for 13 days to protest discrimination — one of the most important student protests in Canadian history.

“It’s not being told to Concordia students even though it’s part of Concordia history,” said Maxwell-Sarasua.

Similar to this Town Hall event, the Task Force is hosting a Roundtable on Campus Safety and Security on Feb. 17 for Black students and alumni to share their ideas on making safer and more welcoming and supportive spaces.

Visuals by Alex Hawksworth

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