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Endometriosis, a gut-wrenching disease that continues getting ignored

Endometriosis is a disease so debilitating it can wreak havoc on the physical and mental well-being of women all over the world

A pain so searing the simple task of getting out of bed becomes a chore. Unable to move, you lay there, immobile, never knowing if the pain will lessen or ramp up. Hoping that if you position yourself a certain way the crushing pain will dwindle to something bearable. Alone you cry, trying to remedy the situation via a concoction of self-administered methods and prescribed medications — all to no avail. As the suffering progresses you begin to lose hope, asking yourself why doctors continue to doubt your symptoms, assuring this as normal and turning you away.

Endometriosis is a disease that affects one in 10 women and can present itself in four levels of severity. It occurs when the lining tissue of the uterus, similar to the endometrium, grows outside of the organ. The exposed tissue thickens, breaks down, and bleeds inside the body with no way of escaping, causing inflammation resulting in bouts of extreme pain and in many cases possible infertility.

Maria-José Arauz is one of the many people who deal with the disease. Before her diagnosis, Arauz dealt with symptoms related to endometriosis for five years. After visiting multiple specialists, she continued receiving the same conclusion: that her pains were related to menstruation and there was nothing that could be done. “They were good doctors, I mean they weren’t bad doctors with bad reviews, […] they’re just not prepared to treat people with endometriosis so most of them told me to take Advil.” Though she waited for nearly half a decade before getting diagnosed, Arauz says it usually takes some women even longer to receive a definitive diagnosis.

Dr. Sarah Maheux-Lacroix is a gynecologist who specializes in research and clinical care for endometriosis at the CHU de Québec Laval University research centre. Maheux-Lacroix believes that medical negligence that women like Arauz face  derives from the complexity in identifying endometriosis in the body to provide a proper diagnosis. “The gold standard to diagnose endometriosis is surgery. The fact that it requires surgery is one of the factors that can contribute to a delay in diagnosis.” Maheux-Lacroix says the only way to avoid misdiagnosis is to spread awareness on both a medical and societal level. “There are some doctors that are good in women’s health and others that are not, so I think we need to talk about it more.”

“For me to get all of that was a really hard process because I had to fight and advocate for myself, I had to show that my life wasn’t normal and that all the pain I was having and the anxiety I was living due to this wasn’t normal,” Arauz said.

“I wasn’t functioning like a normal person.”

Endometriosis affects women living with the disease at different levels. It can vary in four stages of severity that define the extensions of lesions in the pelvis. Some may be at a stage four and asymptomatic, while others can be at stage one and experience high sieges of pain imminently impacting their quality of life.

Women experience pain caused by endometriosis usually when they’re about to begin their menstrual cycle. The pain forced Arauz to plan around her disease instead of freely living her life. “There are days I can’t cook or can’t eat. I cannot work, I have to cancel all my plans. It’s like I have to plan everything according to the day I have my period,” Arauz said.

“I’m on the floor crying in pain and at the same time I’m vomiting from the pain as well.”

The disease can be very extensive in the abdomen and pelvic regions creating a slew of many other complications. “It can affect fertility, it can also lead to chronic pelvic pain, and can create cyst ruptures that can cause acute pain that would require emergency surgery,” Maheux-Lacroix said.

Other complications that Maheux-Lacroix noted include torsion of an ovarian cyst, and possible infections that can lead to detrimental health problems. “Endo can invade some structures such as the rectum and urinary tract system and could affect the function of the kidneys and bowels.” According to her research, there are likely different types of endometrioses that affect women differently.

Being diagnosed with breast cancer a few months after her endometriosis diagnosis in 2019, Arauz noticed a difference in care when comparing her cancer treatment to her experiences with endometriosis. “I got my treatments on time, I had a really good follow up, but I can’t say the same thing for endometriosis. Endo doesn’t kill you like cancer does, but it can kill your quality of life,” Arauz said.

“I actually find that the pain that I went through with endometriosis was worse for me than breast cancer treatment.”

More Funding for Research Is Needed

According to EndoAct Canada, the disease costs the country $1.8 billion per year. Though much more research is needed, Maheux-Lacroix believes that funding only happens when diseases are a societal concern. “As a society we decide that we want to focus on cancer or we want to fund diabetes so it’s the lack of discussion and because it’s taboo there’s that lack of discussion.” However, she’s hopeful that desensitizing the disease will eventually further funding and development for proper solutions. “It’s political and there are plenty of priorities and unfortunately endo is definitely not one but I think people are ready to hear about the disease and put more money to properly study it. It deserves to be studied a lot more.”

On Jan. 28, EndoAct Canada started the #ActOnEndo campaign to raise awareness for endometriosis. Their goal is to contact all MPs in the house of commons to advocate for the federal government to develop an action plan for people living with the disease. Since the campaign started, executive director of EndoAct Canada Kate Wahl says that the campaign is off to a strong start and they would love to contact all 338 MPs to spread the message. “We have a tracking sheet of MPs that have been contacted by advocates in the community. The last time I looked at it we’re sitting around 70 MPs in the first week,” Wahl said. “It really just speaks to the importance of this to people living with endo to see action and leadership from our elected officials on the issue.”

More research and awareness is needed to spread the message so that more women can be efficiently and effectively treated, to avoid years of suffering and receive the proper treatment they so desperately need.

Visuals by Miao De Kat @miao_dekat

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“Stop evictions” — Quebecers demand better social housing solutions

In response to the housing crisis that has caused many Montrealers to face rent hikes and evictions, protestors take to Sainte Catherine street to demand social housing and better government assistance. CATHERINE REYNOLDS/The Concordian

“Stop paying the rich! Increase investments in social programs!” read a poster

On Feb. 12, hundreds of marchers gathered around Norman Bethune Square and walked through downtown Montreal demanding radical solutions against the current housing crisis in Quebec.

Le Front d’action populaire en réaménagement urbain (FRAPRU) and other groups joined to organize the first mobilization of a week of regional actions.

Housing problems are the new normal.

Every day the FRAPRU and other housing organizations see the dramatic effects of the housing crisis, noting the escalating number of tenants who struggle to afford excessive rent increases and face eviction.

“Today, we are going to call on Quebec Premier François Legault to make the housing crisis a real political priority,” said Véronique Laflamme, organizer and spokesperson of the FRAPRU. Excessive rent increases and evictions are a daily occurrence in the province.

“In the last three Coalition Avenir Québec (CAQ) budgets, there have been 500 new financial, social housing units for all of Quebec. In Montreal, only in the last year, there were 800 new families and households on a waiting list for low-income housing. Twenty-four thousand renter households in Montreal are just waiting for low-income housing,” Laflamme added.

Laflamme explains that the FRAPRU opposes the government’s current plan of privatizing housing assistance.

She says the government should fund the AccèsLogis Quebec program, an initiative created by the Société d’habitation du Québec, which supports non-profit and cooperative housing projects.

Andrée Laforest, minister of municipal affairs and housing and member of the CAQ for Chicoutimi, recently announced the Quebec affordable housing program last week that will expand public funding to the private sector.

The Programme d’habitation abordable Québec (PHAQ) aims to provide affordable housing by having a maximum rent set by the Société d’habitation du Québec corresponding to about the median rent. However, the new program is also open to private for-profit developers.

“As long as we are in capitalism, we will have to fight like this all the time to have access to housing. It is because society that is based on profit and not on the needs of the world,” said Marianne Amiô, member of the Socialist Fightback Students organization.

Maryan Kikhounga-Ngot, an organizer of the Projet d’organisation populaire, d’information et de regroupement (POPIR), is marching to emphasize what they believe is the only option to improve the housing crisis: investing in social housing to stop enriching the wealthy.

“[The CAQ government] wants to kill the AccèsLogis program and replace it with a program that is private funding. To mask it, he says it is an affordable housing program,” said Kikhounga-Ngot. “Someone on social assistance is not able to pay a 4 ½ for thousands and some that is what he calls affordable,” she added.

Protestors also demanded better assistance for the homeless communities in Quebec.

Catherine Marcoux, community organizer for the Réseau d’aide aux personnes seules et itinérantes de Montréal (RAPSIM) says 10,000 new social housing units per year is necessary.

“We believe that the Quebec affordable housing program will not meet the needs of homeless people. What we really need is social housing,” Marcoux said.

Another organization marching was La Table des groupes de femmes de Montréal (TGFM). Véronique Martineau, coordinator and organizer, pointed out how the housing crisis affects vulnerable women.

Last year, a study conducted by TGFM showed that women are having more difficulty finding affordable housing due to discrimination and prejudice.

“We doubt that private developers will develop real community housing that will truly meet the needs of women in their diversity,” Martineau said.

“Having funding for social housing adapted to women in all their diversities is a very important issue to overcome systemic barriers such as racism, sexism, homophobia,” she added.

Moving forward, the FRAPRU has scheduled more protests until Feb.18 all around Quebec.  The next protest will be on Feb. 14 in front of Laforest’s office in Saguenay.

Photos by Catherine Reynolds

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Panel on Bill 21 Highlights its Issues

The Socialist Fightback club organized the pro-Marxist event on how to fight back against the Bill

Over 80 participants attended an online panel on Feb. 7 geared towards Concordia students on how to challenge the controversial Bill 21. 

The event was hosted by Socialist Fightback, an activist organisation that aims to promote Marxist ideas among students and workers. The group organized different panels such as ‘How to Overthrow Capitalism’, ‘The LGBTQ Struggle’ and the ‘Fight for Socialism’.

“Bill 21 will not be enough for them, as soon as they need to scapegoat Muslims or another religious group, they will try and bring it [secularism] up again,” said Benoît Tanguay editor of La Riposte socialiste, who led the discussion at the panel. 

Bill 21 was passed in 2019, and bans the wearing of religious symbols by teachers and other government employees who are in positions of authority. 

The bill is the first of its kind in North America, with a grandfather clause that exempts employees already in said positions, though they lose these exemptions if they are promoted or transferred to another institution. 

In April 2021, the Quebec Superior Court upheld the majority of Bill 21, but stated the bill couldn’t be applied to teachers, principals, and vice-principals at public schools who teach in English as it would violate the protected minority-language education rights. 

Tanguay explained that Bill 21 has to be fought by the classes and not the “bourgeoisie party,” as in the rich and those in power. According to Tanguay, it doesn’t matter if the people in power are liberal or conservative, both use racism as a tool to push their agenda. “Racism is a useful tool to divide workers, to channel their anger away from those in power,” said Tanguay.

The National Council of Canadian Muslims (NCCM) said in a statement that “Bill 21 is a form of second-class citizenship in Quebec, which is disturbing and is punishing minorities by withholding identities.”

“It has come in the way of the careers of many Quebecers wearing a kippah, a turban, or a hijab. Simply put, forcing Quebecers to choose between their jobs and their identities is unjust,” explained the statement. 

In 2021, Fatemeh Anvari, an elementary school teacher in Chelsea, Quebec was told she could no longer teach in class because she was wearing a hijab, and was moved to a position outside the classroom. 

The NCCM said that in 2019 they filed a lawsuit within 24 hours of Bill 21 being passed along with the Canadian Civil Liberties Association, and while they have not yet been fully successful, they were able to strike down parts of the law earlier this year.

Now the NCCM is headed to the Court of Appeal of Quebec to strike down the rest of the law.

“This is not an easy road, not least because of the Quebec government’s use of the notwithstanding clause in the crafting of the law in an attempt to shield it from constitutional challenges,” said the NCCM. 

The United Nations has warned Canada about how Bill 21 violates fundamental human rights, and the NCCM have said they have been repeatedly disappointed as federal leaders sit on the sidelines, allowing the livelihoods of minority groups in Quebec to be taken away. 

The NCCM outlines steps people can take to help stop Bill 21, and they have begun a petition calling the Prime Minister to intervene. According to Change.org, if the petition acquires 75,000 signatures it will be the largest one on the website.  

“We have seen students and community organizers rise up and protest the bill on the streets. But the road ahead is long, and we need to see more Quebecers and Canadians stand up and take action against this law,” implored the NCCM.

 

Graphic by Maddy Schmidt

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Concordia has no immediate plans to address boil-water advisory in the annexes

Student Organizations feel Concordia’s struggle to permanently address water-advisories is indicative of other maintenance issues

Since water advisories were first posted on Concordia’s downtown campus, little has been done to implement a long-term solution and provide clean running water to Concordia’s annex buildings.

In a September 2021 communication by Concordia Environmental Health and Safety (EHS), it was announced that “​​preliminary findings appear to indicate the presence of lead in the water of certain annex buildings on the Sir George Williams campus.”

The response by Concordia was to provide water bottles to the annexes, until free standing water coolers were eventually installed. They also posted signage at sinks and faucets.

Further testing was completed to determine the severity of the lead content in the annexes. Following a second test, the water advisory in some buildings was removed. However, many buildings were still determined to have unsafe drinking water and were placed under water advisory. According to Internal Affairs Coordinator of the CSU, Harrison Kirshner, two of the annexes that were particularly affected were the P and K buildings, where many club offices are located.

“There is an investigation that needs to be done. It’s not a quick fix, unfortunately,” said Lina Filacchione, the manager of occupational health and hygiene for EHS. “We have to know where it’s coming from, what the actual problem is before you start to figure out what’s the solution to this.”

The origin of the lead will determine if the water issue falls under the city of Montreal or Concordia’s jurisdiction.

But, the investigation to determine the origins of the lead is delayed and permanently fixing the issue is not Concordia’s first priority at the moment.

“The main issue is really making sure that they have drinking water. That’s the base priority,” said Filacchione.

Despite Concorida’s response, student organizations are feeling uninformed about the situation. Matthew Dodds is the office manager of Concordia’s Graduate Students’ Association, which is based out of the annex. He says the last communication regarding the water advisory came out last November.

“Some updates like ‘we are still testing the water, or here are some infrastructure solutions we’re working on’ would have been nice,” said Dodds. “These are old buildings, we do deserve to know what’s going on in them, we do work in them. We provide services out of them.”

While Dodds and other student organizations affected by the advisory want to be kept in the loop, there is not much more to tell them according to the EHS. “There’s been no new updates since then. We send updates when we are doing some testing,” said Filacchione.

“It’s still ongoing. It’s still on the agenda, but as for the ‘when’ and ‘how long it will take,’ I don’t have the answer for that unfortunately.”

The most likely next step according to Filacchione would be to get consultants to come and determine the source of the lead, but even that has not yet been put into motion.

The lack of communication from Concordia’s maintenance services echoes other issues that Dodds has experienced working out of the annexes.

“It took me two weeks to get a lightbulb changed,” said Dodds. “I wonder sometimes if the maintenance team at the university is smaller than it should be.”

Kirshner has been in communication with the university regarding the water advisory and other maintenance issues. Like Dodds, he says that this response from the university is nothing new. Many organizations have struggled in the past to receive prompt maintenance support.

“It’s important for them to take action, because students deserve to have an on-campus environment no matter what building they’re in, including the P and K annexes. I think those are the annexes that most of student life takes place in, and clubs deserve to have adequate resources in their office space,” said Kirshner.

“It’s typical of this institution. So, for example, the Muslim Students Association have a library at the ground floor of the E annex and the roof is about to collapse. So they can’t use the library. I’ve been trying to follow up [with Concordia] since September on this and they say ‘we’re working on it.’ Well, okay, but what are you doing about it?”

Despite the fact that the university has followed through on their promise to supply water coolers, Kirshner wants to see greater action on maintenance issues.

Kirshner says he has a scheduled meeting with EHS regarding clubs and the annexes in general where he wants to “get the ball rolling” on these issues. But for now, there are no long-term plans to provide clean running water to the annexes other than the installation of water coolers.

Filacchione said they know these spaces are occupied and used by many departments and faculty. “We need to be cognizant of that and make sure we’re meeting their needs.”

Photos by Kaitlynn Rodney

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The shawarma master plan

 Boustan expands into Ontario

Boustan is expanding to Toronto, but its new location in Scarborough is only part of what could be the master plan to conquer the GTA – one pita plate at a time.

“Toronto has a lot of shawarma restaurants. But Boustan, it’s a unique flavor,” said Mohammed Khalid Iqbal, the owner of the new franchise, located on Lawrence Ave., Scarborough, Ontario.

“Toronto is a big market, bigger than Montreal,” said Iqbal. “We will go even further actually. We are talking to people in Hamilton, in Niagara Falls. The plan is to have 50 new locations in the next five years.” Boustan’s plans are ambitious, considering their humble origins as a Montreal neighborhood Lebanese spot.  

Boustan’s first location was opened in 1986. Imad Smaidi, known to regulars as Mr. Boustan, ran the small location down a flight of stairs on Crescent St. until 2012. Smaidi made it a hotspot for late night, tasty Lebanese food where ex-Prime minister Pierre Trudeau would occasionally visit.

Smaidi sold the restaurant in 2012, and it has not stopped growing since. The chain went from five locations scattered around Montreal in 2016 to currently having over 40 restaurants open as far as Ottawa and Quebec City.

“I’m really looking forward to the shawarma war,” said Liam Earle, a Concordia student from Toronto and top 0.02 per cent Boustan customer at their St. Catherine St. location according to UberEatsats. “Ali Baba is finally going to have some competition,” he said, referring to another well-established Middle Eastern restaurant chain in the GTA. 

Boustan is also welcoming new franchisees. Their website states opening a Boustan franchise is “an affordable investment starting from $125,000.” Along with the name, franchisees are supervised and receive the input of an operations team.

When asked about the goal of the new location, Iqbal said that the spot is “for people from Toronto but [also for] people who know us from Montreal.”

The question now is, will Boustan go even further west? “I don’t know of any shawarma place in Vancouver as famous as Boustan,” said Isaac Tetreault, a Concordia student from B.C. 

Tetreault says it would be great if Boustan expanded out west. While Iqbal said that plans to open in Vancouver aren’t yet on the table, the franchise opening in Toronto seems to be the first step of what could be a rapid expansion across Canada.

Graphics by Maddy Schmidt

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TRAC and CSU band together to give students free N95 masks

Members of the TRAC Union distribute N-95 masks and flyers to students to advocate for increased safety measures amid the return to in-person classes. CATHERINE REYNOLDS/The Concordian

As Concordia refuses to give out N95 masks due to public health guidelines, student organizations scramble to get students these masks

As students returned to class on Feb. 3, the Teaching and Research Assistants at Concordia (TRAC) teamed up with the Concordia Student Union (CSU) to hand out N95 masks on the second floor of the Hall building. They also asked students to sign their petition asking the university for a safe return to class. 

The petition asks for the university to supply all students and staff with free N95 masks, as recommended by the CDC for best dealing with the variant Omicron. The TRAC petition also asks for a two week delay to in-person class, contact tracing for students and staff, and reinstating social distancing. 

“We’re not just giving the masks out to our membership, we’re giving out to the community because we want everyone to be safe,” said Bree Stuart, TRAC president. She explained that the university told her students are allowed to wear N95 or KN95 masks instead of the blue medical masks provided by the university. 

Stuart said that in a meeting with the university last week, the administration said they did not want to supply students with N95 masks as it created a false sense of security, and the university would continue to follow public health guidelines.

Concordia’s spokesperson Vannina Maestracci told CBC that “The very large majority of activities that take place on campuses do not require N95 respirators according to Public Health and in educational sectors, procedural masks are being used to help mitigate transmission risks along with other preventative measures in place.” 

Sofia Marina, a Concordia engineering student, said that as long as she is able to maintain her personal space, in-person class does not affect her. 

“But it’s not fair that the university isn’t supplying us with N95s,” said Marina. “A lot of people seem to be asking for it, and it doesn’t seem to be that big of a demand.”

The CSU has released two open letters, the most recent letter condemning the university for its lack of leadership during the pandemic. The letter also asks the university for things like a hybrid semester, moving all exams online, eliminating all participation grades, and to bring back the pass/fail option.

“Now that contact tracing is no longer mandated through Public Health, and the scarcity of PCR tests, we can only imagine the immense implications this will have for campus safety,” reads the letter.

Other institutions are protesting the return to in-person class, as multiple McGill faculties have had walk-outs and strikes throughout January, according to Emma McKay, an organizer on the McGill strike committee. 

When asked if they had advice for students that wanted direct action, McKay said “Talk to everybody, that’s the best thing a person can do,there are a lot of students who are scared and feel like they don’t have anybody to talk to about this, or who feel like action is not possible.”

Photo by Catherine Reynolds

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ChatCordia Episode 2: Back to campus

Students shared their thoughts on returning to campus last Thursday, February 3rd. Video by Anthony-James Armstrong and Marie Stowe

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CSU calls on university for greater transparency in new open letter

Concordia's EV building on the downtown campus. CAROLINE FABRE

The letter claims previous demands posed by the CSU were rejected

The Concordia Student Union’s (CSU) updated open letter condemns the university for dismissing demands previously put forward regarding the return to campus.

On Jan. 13, the CSU sent an open letter to the university demanding an organized plan for a return to in-person learning. As of Feb. 1, the letter has acquired over 3000 signatures, according to the CSU, who said they received mixed reactions in response to the university’s decision.

“As such, and given that our mission at the CSU is to represent the student body, we are in this response shifting focus on how to safely return to campus on a hybrid model basis, provide more and better accessibility and ensure proper mental health support systems,” wrote the CSU.

The letter explains that the Concordia Board of Governors — the highest decision-making body of the university — discussed the previously written open letter on Jan. 27. However, wrote the CSU, “this discussion took place in closed session as some governors expressed not wanting any discussion in open session to damage the university’s reputation.”

The CSU quoted Helen Antoniou, chair of the Board of Governors, in the open letter “Because there is an open letter, we will comment on that in the closed session because […] I don’t think it’s the habit of the university to speak.”

The CSU criticized the response of board members, arguing that “the fact that their focus remained on maintaining appearances is not only a dismissal of the health and safety of students, faculty, and staff but also shows disregard for any attempt at transparent communication.”

Concordia confirmed the return to in-person classes on Feb. 3 in an email to students at the end of January.

The university’s announcement noted health and safety measures put into place, highlighting the mandatory use of masks in shared indoor spaces and academic accommodations.

In their letter, the CSU argued that gaps remained in the university’s information regarding safety measures, drawing particular attention to challenges in accessing COVID-19 self-isolation forms for students who contract the virus.

“As a result of the university’s lack of care and transparency for its community, all of our demands made in the Open Letter sent on Jan. 13 were rejected,” wrote the CSU.

“As many students are currently in precarious situations; financially, mentally, physically; the lack of action taken by the university in supporting its students is deplorable”.

The CSU, in partnership with other faculty and student associations within Concordia, shared they have taken matters into their own hands “until the administration is willing to step up to the plate and take the wellness of its community as well as accessibility issues seriously.”

Among their initiatives, the CSU said they are creating a peer-support network, aimed at providing note taking services and potential recordings and live streams of classes. The union added that they plan to initiate ways for students to take part in contact tracing in classes.

Additionally, they aim to provide a limited number of K95/KN95 masks, reserved for higher risk community members.

In a previous email to The Concordian, Concordia University Spokesperson Vannina Maestracci shared that the university “already face[s] obstacles in providing N95s for the groups who do require them.”

The CSU’s updated letter contains a list of 20 demands, pleading for the university to acknowledge actions deemed necessary to ensure a safe return to campus.

Among the list is a request for “retroactive tuition reduction” or the waving of late fees, penalties and interest on tuition payments.

Additionally, the letter demands better communication with students and heightened transparency on behalf of the university regarding any future decisions made surrounding the return campus.

The CSU’s letter presses Concordia to introduce a fully hybrid winter semester, “not forcing anyone onto campus who cannot safely do so while simultaneously ensuring that students do not have to choose between dropping out of all their courses and risking their lives.”

The plea for hybrid learning is followed by a request to make all in-person course material available to students attending class online. The CSU also asks that exams and assignments are offered online for students unable to make it in person.

Escalating their concerns to protests and strikes if Concordia fails to respond to these demands is not off the table, warned the CSU in their letter.

“Should Concordia wish to reinstate any faith or respect from its community, the Concordia administration must simply do more.”

 

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Concordia’s return to campus announcement sparks calls for greater flexibility

As Concordia relaxes health measures, students have mixed feelings about it. CATHERINE REYNOLDS/The Concordian

The university officially confirmed the return to campus on Feb. 3 in an internal email to Concordia students, one week before the scheduled date

With the official return to campus around the corner, some Concordia community members say the university’s lack of flexibility surrounding in-person courses is disappointing.

The announcement confirming the Feb. 3 date comes close to two weeks after the university initially notified students of the expected return-to-campus schedule.

The Quebec government gave educational institutions — including CEGEPS and universities — the green light return to in-person instruction as of Jan. 17.

“Not everybody has the luxury to come back in person,” said Sethe Nakib, a fourth-year marketing major. “We have other obligations, so being in person might be complicated for some individuals.”

Nakib currently lives in Toronto with her father, for whom she is a primary caretaker. She said she is struggling to arrange for someone to look after her father in her absence, delaying her move to Montreal.

“We’re going to have to make sacrifices that could be easily avoided if we just kept it remote until the end of the semester,” said Nakib.

The Quebec government’s current health and safety measures for educational institutions does not include distancing. However, this has not diluted students’ concerns about returning to classrooms.

Maria Calcara, a first-year child studies student, recalled feeling uncomfortable attending her in-person classes during the fall semester of 2021.

“Everyone was squished with one another, there was no protocol, no distance,” she said.

The thought of returning to physical classrooms on Feb. 3 is nerve wracking for Calcara.

“I’m kind of afraid and [returning to campus] has been causing me a lot of anxiety,” said Calcara. “Everyone should have a choice of whether they go back [in person] or remain online.”

 

A mixture of reactions 

Amid the pushback, the university’s return-to-campus announcement has also ignited sighs of relief from students.

“I’m really happy to get back,” said Nina Severa, a first-year film production student. “I really enjoy being in person and having the social part of school, so I’m really excited about it.”

As a result of COVID-19 health and safety measures, not having access to campus grounds prevented Severa and her classmates from acquiring necessary equipment for various class projects.

Now returning to campus, Severa said she is looking forward to getting her hands on the materials she needs and getting back to working with her peers.

“Just knowing that we are able to go back and we have access to the equipment, […] that’s great for us because we are able to make the movies like we planned to do,” said Severa.

Although Severa feels enthusiastic about returning to campus, she recognizes the need for more flexibility regarding class options beyond those in person.

“If a teacher can offer a hybrid course, I think it should be done so that everyone is accommodated and feels comfortable with the situation.”

 

Calls for greater flexibility 

On Jan. 13, the Concordia Student Union sent an open letter to the university calling on the university to “offer a fully online or at the very least fully hybrid semester […] ensuring that students do not have to choose between dropping out of all their courses and risking their lives.”

The Concordia University Faculty Association (CUFA) echoed the CSU’s concerns in an open letter of their own on Jan. 24.

Addressed to President Graham Carr, CUFA acknowledged that “faculty are divided on the issue of returning to campus.”

The CUFA’s letter pleaded for the postponement of the Feb. 3 return to campus, proposing a gradual return “by bringing smaller classes back first and then gradually adding larger classes as the situation improves.”

In the letter, CUFA  requested “Concordia consider allowing faculty to exercise their judgement and academic freedom to decide what they think is best for them and their students, whether this is to continue teaching remotely to return to in person teaching, or to use a hybrid model.”

“An across-the-board decision of a single return date for all is contrary to the flexibility required to adapt to this ever-changing situation,” wrote the CUFA.

 

Safety concerns 

Concordia’s announcement on Jan. 27 noted that “many measures have [been] put in place during the pandemic to protect the health and safety of the Concordia community.” Among these, the university highlighted the mandatory use of masks indoors and maintenance of ventilation and heating systems.

In a statement to The Concordian, Concordia Spokesperson Vannina Maestracci explained that “all preventative measures implemented by Concordia since the beginning of the pandemic have been in line with the directives and guidelines we receive from the government, including public health authorities, and this is still the case for Winter 2022.”

Contact tracing on Concordia’s campuses continues to take place despite challenges of restricted access to PCR tests in the province, according to Maestracci.

Regardless of the measures Concordia has put into place, several students feel that these are not enough.

Tyler Sedborn, a fourth-year accounting student, feels that returning to campus on Feb. 3 is a “quick move” on Concordia’s behalf.

“Why add risk if you don’t need to? You’re putting a lot of people who may or may not have had it already into one building or two,” said Sedborn. “I think that’s kind of a timebomb.”

In their letter, the CSU condemned the university for their “lack of leadership and clarity regarding the health and safety of students, faculty, and staff”, noting that the previous fall semester “saw a flagrant disregard for social distancing and mask mandates.”

Concordia currently requires a vaccine passport to take part in on-campus events and activities “not linked directly to the university’s academic, research and institutional work.”

“All my classes have 130 plus kids, and I don’t feel safe being in a room with anyone not knowing who’s vaccinated or not,” shared Seb Buche, a fourth-year leisure science student. “As if we didn’t have enough on our plates as students already during a pandemic.”

 

Photograph by Catherine Reynolds

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Concordia Student Union News

CSU Confirms Plans for Second Affordable Student Housing Unit

After the completion of the Woodnote in 2020, the Concordia Student Union is going ahead with plans for a second building

The Concordia Student Union (CSU) is moving forward with plans for a second affordable student housing unit, confirmed Laurent Levesque, CEO of UTILE, the housing non-profit that built the Woodnote. This new building will likely be finished by the end of 2025.

UTILE has said that this new unit could house roughly 144 students, or the same amount as the Woodnote. “We’re in the phase of the project where we collect objectives. The CSU is telling us the project parameters they want us to meet, and that will eventually be turned into a contract. This then becomes UTILE’s mandate for the building,” he said.

The Woodnote’s total cost was $18 million. Of that total, the CSU funded $1.8 million while $1.6 million came from the city of Montreal, and $3 million from the federal government, according to Levesque. For this second building, Levesque’s hope is to stay around the same budget. “We’re always trying to house as many students as possible without getting to a size that makes a feeling of community impossible to achieve. The realistic target is about the size of the Woodnote, and that goes for the budget too.” Levesque wishes that more funding from municipal, provincial, and federal governments would be allocated to fund this expansion.

The project is in its initial phase, so there are lots of details to work out. “We don’t have a name for it yet,” said Levesque. “The Woodnote’s name was chosen by students in part because of its design and location near Parc Lafontaine. We’ll get there [with this second building] once the land is found and the design starts to take shape. We’ll only do that once the CSU confirms that this project is something they want to do. We expect to be able to deliver the project in three to four years, which is faster than the Woodnote.”

Eduardo Malorni, the Concordia Student Union’s general coordinator, gave an update on the project. “The CSU is currently in discussions with UTILE regarding the possible creation of a second housing cooperative project following the successful completion of the Woodnote. This would manifest itself as an investment into the PUSH (Popular University Student Housing) Fund. Currently we are in discussions regarding the scope of the project and if all goes well, we will be sending a referendum question to be voted on by the student body regarding their support for the project in the March 2022 CSU General Elections.”

In a report compiled in 2020, around 50 per cent of the Woodnote’s residents were Quebecers. The other half was split between Canadian and international tenants. Levesque said that there was a turnover rate of around 30 per cent within the building, which he saw as beneficial. “It shows that students are happy to live there and happy to move out when their studies are done.” UTILE hopes to replicate the conditions of their first building with this new Concordia project., as their goal is to ensure affordable housing for students.

“We are essentially the only non-profit group to be doing this work on student housing. Our research has shown that there are over 250,000 student tenants in Quebec alone. That’s a lot of people that are suffering in the housing crisis,” Levesque said. 

UTILE sees Montreal Mayor Valérie Plante’s reelection as a green light, as she has committed to creating 2000 units of affordable student housing in her second term. On municipal contributions, Levesque said that “It’s very reasonable for the CSU to expect for the city to pitch in again. We don’t want to place the burden on student unions to fund these initiatives, so it’s good that the city is here to help. There is a lot of political momentum for this project.”

As plans get drawn up and contracts get written, the student housing crisis continues to worsen. The CSU has told The Concordian that it intends on moving forward with the construction of this second building which will help dozens of students find affordable housing in Montreal.

 

Photo By Catherine Reynolds

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News

Concordia cafe reopens its free lunches at Loyola

The Loyola Hive Café is starting up a Meals on Wheels program

The Hive Café has started its Meals on Wheels program for the second time since the beginning of the pandemic, where their free lunch at the Loyola campus is to-go, and 25 meals are delivered to the downtown campus Hive Cafe.

The Hive Café is a student-run solidarity co-op that focuses on bringing healthy and affordable food to students. The location at the Loyola campus has a free lunch program to combat the food scarcity on campus.

“We decided to do our delivery meals because the campus was closed,” said Alanna Silver, the Free Lunch Administrative Coordinator at the Hive Café.

“We know there are some students who live close to campus or who may be on campus doing labs or research, so we wanted to provide free healthy meals to them.”

With the COVID-19 lockdown last year, the Free Lunch Program at Loyola had to adapt by doing to-go meals. This week, with school going back online, Meals on Wheels returns.

“This time around, we are delivering lunches only to our downtown cafe location for students studying at the SGW campus, and to Woodnote, the CSU’s housing community,” said Silver.

Silver said that students studying downtown can register on the Hive Free Lunch Facebook page, and that the program would deliver their meals to the SGW Hive Café everyday at 1 p.m.

“Since we just started our Meals on Wheels program, we’ve only had about 15 students register each week,” said Silver, who explained that they can serve 25 people at the downtown location.

The free lunch program has benefited many in the past, like Danny Faheem, a first-year psychology student, who’s been taking advantage of Hive Café on the Loyola campus,“I’m really happy the lunch program is back. Since there isn’t really any vegan food, or any food in general, on [the Loyola] campus, it really saved me last semester,” said Faheem, adding that he used to go almost everyday when open.

“We’ve had such a positive reaction from students, and the positive response on social media has been almost overwhelming,” said Silver. “We love what we do so we’re happy to be back.”

Silver explained that if campuses do not reopen for classes this semester, the program will be expanded to help more students.

“Not only are we doing the Meals on Wheels program, but we also did our winter food drive, we started a community art showcase for queer and BIPOC students, and we’re writing a recipe book with the most popular lunches we’ve served in the last year,” said Silver.

“We’re also in the process of making a cooking channel so people can watch how we make some of our favourite vegan recipes,” explained Silver. “We don’t just want to serve our lunches and then close the doors, we want to engage with the local and student community and fight food insecurity in every way we can.”

 

Graphic by James Fay

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News

Homeless Deaths In the Past Month Highlight a Flawed System that Needs Reform, According to Some Experts

Nights in Montreal have been freezing with some feeling like -40 degrees after the windchill. Kaitlynn Rodney/ The Concordian

Organizations supporting the homeless in Montreal say they lack funding and resources

Hugo, a homeless person for over seven years, roams the streets of Montreal. As the frost-covered snow treads under his boots on Ontario St. in Hochelaga, each step leads him to an undetermined destination. Though he’s currently refuged on a hidden street corner in a “non-declared shelter” to avoid the frigid temperature, he tends to avoid legitimate centres, fearing not only the loss of his autonomy but also not having access to the varying services he so desperately needs. “There are things that we need that are not allowed in shelters. When we need to take care of our morale, sometimes we hastily move to illegal aid even if we don’t have a choice.”

 Limited capacities and service closures at shelters stemming from Omicron have steered some homeless people back to the streets.

On top of this, January has not been forgiving towards people who have either chosen or who have been refused access to shelters, as two homeless people have died within the past month. Those nights frigid temperatures dropped to -25 degrees Celsius.

 Centres everywhere are feeling the constraints caused by Omicron. Welcome Hall Mission’s CEO Sam Watts can attest that organizations less fortunate than his own are feeling the effects, such as a lack of funding and resources. “There are a lot of organizations that have had to reel in their activities, in some cases shut down permanently or temporarily and who’ve struggled to supply adequate services for people in need.”  

  According to Mobilizing for Milton-Parc founder Sophie Hart, some shelters closed due to a lack of preparation for Omicron. “Shelters are congregated settings. Everyone eats together and sleeps in close proximity of each other.” 

This setting creates a higher risk of transmissibility, prompting shelters to limit admissions. “[The] services they use when they need support are having to limit what they can offer,” Hart said. She’s personally dealt with people who are scared to catch Omicron.

 Jocelyn is another person that has dealt with homelessness for roughly six months. Having many health problems, he hesitates to admit himself into a shelter solely due to his fear of catching COVID. “People in shelters don’t take care of their hygiene and end up with bacteria, microbes, and viruses,” he said. “I’d rather be out in the cold with a candle than die of COVID.”

 According to Watts, there are two main reasons why some prefer autonomous living. One reason is based on some people exhibiting independence as a character trait, and another relates to the notion of social connectedness. 

“One of the reasons people fall into homelessness is due to a loss of social connectivity, if you don’t have that network anymore you have lost that ability to connect into the system,” said Watts.

 The rules put in place in shelters across Montreal have people like Hugo think twice about administering themselves into centres for help. “You have to be in accordance with the social workers whose job it is to fill in their own responsibilities for your safety.”

 Though there are challenges regarding a “loss of freedom” that some people in shelters complain of, Watts considers these less like rules, and rather, expectations on how to behave within a shelter. “When you’re living in any kind of community setting, there are expectations people have,” Watts said. “A lot of people don’t like to live under certain norms and expectations and choose to live on the outside.”

 Though two deaths outside of shelters are already too many, Watts believes that these outcomes are a product of an already flawed system that must welcome reform. Both Hart and Watts believe that a more tailored system is needed in order to accommodate the many varying needs and problems homeless people face. “What we should move towards are services for a variety of people,” Hart said. “There has to be services created for everybody in mind,” 

 According to Watts, the way in which people are currently cared for are based on principles of charity that must modernize within the 21st century. “It’s a handout, it’s ‘here take this,’ and then come back tomorrow and we’ll give you the same thing again.”

 What Watts proposes is a system of “urban healthcare” that mirrors the steps one would experience when going to the hospital. “You’re registered, you’re triaged, you’re evaluated, a bunch of questions are asked of you, the healthcare professionals understand what the issue is, and chances are you get moved onto some other place in the hospital network where you can get the care that you need,” Watts said.

 Watts is optimistic that a well connected, properly funded network will improve not only transparency between shelters and the homeless population, but also help them improve upon their situation. “Not that homelessness will disappear, but somebody who is experiencing homelessness will not have to wander around for months or years in a network of disconnected, charitably-oriented organizations to get care. They’ll be part of a continuum of care that actually seeks to help a person to get from A to B to C.”

 

Photo by Kaitlynn Rodney

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