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The power of Indigenous humour — sharing Indigenous experiences and voices through laughter

Guest speaker Stephanie Pangowish discussed how humour is an integral part of Indigenous communities

Stand-up comedian, Northern Style Women’s Traditional dancer, educator and backup singer, Stephanie Pangowish does it all.

Part of the Anishinaabekwe from Wiikwemkoong on Manitoulin Island, Pangowish is known for her community involvement.

In an online seminar organized by the Feminism and Comedy Working Group at Concordia on April 1, Pangowish spoke about the importance of Indigenous comedy and storytelling.

“Humour was always part of our family – growing up, I’d listen to elders joke about hard situations to minimize them, or I’d see my family tease each other out of love and appreciation,” said Pangowish.

Pangowish was even further drawn to comedy when she started watching comedy specials on television with her parents.

“When I saw someone on stage make this big auditorium full of people laugh, I knew there was good medicine attached to humour.”

As she grew older, Pangowish noticed that, despite humour being an integral part of her communal life, it was often overshadowed by stereotypes surrounding Indigenous communities.

The books written by authors who had not experienced Indigenous cultures, “failed to include our humour in their narrative,” she said.

Resilience through Indigenous humour

While visiting different Indigenous communities across North America, Pangowish realized she could connect with anyone through their humour despite speaking different languages or having different ceremonies.

“When I first started getting into comedy, I noticed that humour in our community was used to soften some of the experiences of everyday life,” said Pangowish.

“That is one of the things that helped our people become more resilient.”

Pangowish recalls that, even while attending the annual imagineNATIVE Film and Media Arts Festival in Toronto, she noticed humour being widely integrated into the films that were being presented.

“Though these films were about residential schools or being removed from your land, there was still laughter,” said Pangowish.

When she began her masters studies, Pangowish explains that she was promoting the fact that Indigenous humour was a topic worth exploring. After encouragement from a classmate, Pangowish put forth a topic to the TEDxTalk panel and was accepted.

As part of her research on Indigenous humour, Pangowish began reaching out to different community members until she came across the findings of Dr. Michael Yellow Bird of the University of Manitoba, who focuses on the effects of colonization, methods of decolonization, and genetic science in Indigenous people.

Dr. Yellow Bird talked about the 5HTTLPR gene — a serotonin transmitter that is shared among many Indigenous community members around the world and mediates happiness, among other emotions.

“Our dances, ceremonies, prayers, celebrations and singing, are all part of our communal life which bring us good energy, and laughter.”

Pangowish explains that Indigenous humour helps to cope with difficult situations by making fun of them.

“We’ve taken misfortune and turned them into funny stories with lessons attached to it,” said Pangowish, during her TEDxCentennialCollegeToronto talk.

Educating through Indigenous humour

When Indigenous stories are being told through books or movies, the storytellers are often non-Indigenous, mostly white authors who often have no connection to the culture itself, explained Pangowish.

“I’ve always wanted to share that we are not just what society and media portrays us — we are not just those stereotypical images …  I use humour to make fun of those images, and talk about how powerful our people are, and how amazing our culture is.”

Though the Indigenous communities across Turtle Island — the Indigenous name that some Indigenous peoples use for North America — are very diverse, Pangowish explained that there are many aspects of humour that are similar, including teasing, making fun of difficult situations, and punching up instead of punching down.

By this, Pangowish explains that Indigenous humour avoids jokes about people with disabilities or minorities, for instance. Instead, it aims at institutions of power, such as governments.

“Sometimes there are controversial topics, but if you approach them carefully and are thoughtful with your words and delivery, there are many that we can joke about. But what I won’t do is oppress another group of people,” said Pangowish.

Through her stand-up comedy, Pangowish also aims at sharing stories beyond Indigenous communities to bring awareness to non-Indigenous folks.

“I wanted to bring forth our experiences to Canadians by trying to bridge the gap and talk about policies and other important aspects that are part of our life, that they might not be aware of,” she said.

During her acts, Pangowish includes jokes about policies such as the Indian Act or the First Nation Trust Fund, all with the intention of bringing awareness to these topics in a comedic way.

“The Indian Act that’s over 150 years old, determines who is Indian and who isn’t,” said Pangowish.

“If I were to have a child with a non-status Indian or Canadian, and my child goes through the same thing, my grandchild will not be acknowledged as an Indian through the act.”

Joking about the effects of policies such as the Indian Act is a way to discuss them and educate people about the experiences of Indigenous people, explained Pangowish.

Beyond poking fun at stereotypes and building inter-communal resilience, Pangowish explained that, “Humour is truly a huge part of who we are.”

 

Graphic from event page on the Concordia University website

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Owning a music venue through the pandemic

An interview with Austin Wrinch of the Diving Bell Social Club

At 3956 Saint Laurent Blvd., behind a black door covered in graffiti, and three stories up a single flight of stairs is the Diving Bell Social Club. The venue opened in 2018 in a space previously occupied by the once-popular Champs sports bar.

Since their opening, the Diving Bell has acted as a multimedia performance venue, hosting concerts, stand-up comedy and drag shows.

However, the club has been closed since early March 2020, when the owners chose to close the venue in response to the then-burgeoning COVID-19 pandemic, not long before government regulations forced all venues to close. 

Diving Bell Social Club is under renovation.

Austin Wrinch is the co-owner and manager of the Diving Bell.

“We actually decided ourselves to kind of close before [the government] had fully mandated it. Basically, we’re an event space and a bar. So our activity, what we do at the space, is very much dictated by the community around us,” said Wrinch.

“At that point, we were saying, [we’d be closed] ‘til the end of the month of March 2020, which is kind of funny in retrospect.”

It’s disappointing that the Diving Bell has had to close for so long when 2020 was looking like it could be their best year yet.

“January and half of February was definitely a good time. It’s weird thinking back now … My memories of those shows don’t include any sort of COVID fear. It kind of set in like, two weeks later [that] it was just here to stay,” said Wrinch.

“If we were not hitting a stride, I would feel less confident about all this time passing and opening up again … If it wasn’t for COVID, 2020 was looking like it was going to be the best year ever for us. But it will again.”

The venue has stayed afloat thanks to rental subsidies and loans that have been made available to small businesses. Some emergency loans have been made available for small businesses, but they depend on a variety of criteria such as revenue. Some loans are interest-free while others have small amounts of interest. All of them are outlined under Canada’s COVID-19 response plan.

But, in the world of the pandemic, those loans don’t guarantee that you’ll be able to keep your business open.

“Yeah, you can get access to $20,000 or something for your business as a loan. [But] you know you have to start paying that back at a certain point, and then there’s interest after a certain point,” said Wrinch.

“When your business has been closed and it’s still unclear how long it’s going to be before you can actually be generating money with that business, it’s actually kind of nerve-racking, using more loan money, because that’s not your money. It’s all going to be paid back eventually.”

The staff at the Diving Bell hasn’t remained completely out of work.

“We had a lot of time to do a lot of things that we’ve always wanted to do in the space,” Wrinch said.

The team has been doing some renovations during its closure, which is great but can be very tricky to do when you have no idea when your business may be open again.

“It’s been definitely very tough the last year, just with the uncertainty and everything, and it’s by no means over,” said Wrinch

“We didn’t do crazy renovations, we did them all ourselves … We had to be very, very cautious on not spending too much money.”

Wrinch says the space has also been used by artists to do live streams and hybrid performances, as a way of making sure it gets some use during the pandemic. 

As restrictions are gradually being lifted, theatres and larger venues were able to open on March 26, 2021. But because the Diving Bell is also a bar and a smaller standing room venue, it will be remaining closed.

Even when restrictions are lifted, the team at the Diving Bell won’t be desperate to open up if they don’t feel it’s safe. “We would definitely stay closed if we didn’t feel like it was a good idea,” said Wrinch.

But even if the space was to reopen, their business revolves around the artists who perform there. In the summer when restrictions were more relaxed, it was difficult to get people to come out and perform.

“The general response was ‘yeah, I’m definitely down. But I want to wait and see some other shows go first, to kind of gauge the vibe and make sure that it’s not pushing it.’ You don’t want it to feel irresponsible.”

Wrinch is confident the Diving Bell will be able to reopen but isn’t sure it will be happening anytime soon.

“It’s been definitely very tough the last year, just with the uncertainty and everything, and it’s by no means over,” said Wrinch

“People have been good with supporting local businesses, restaurants and stuff. But, I think that really when it comes down to reopening live performance halls in safe ways, it’s obvious [that] it’s going to come down to people showing the actual support, going and contributing to those communities, if they want them to survive,” Wrinch continued.

The Diving Bell Social Club will be back to hosting concerts of all kinds — as soon as it’s safe — at 3956 Saint Laurent Blvd., way up the stairs.

 

Photos by Kit Mergaert

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Quebecers gather and march in solidarity against domestic violence

Thousands of people gathered all around Quebec to raise awareness of the increase in domestic violence during the pandemic

Quebecers joined together to stand against domestic violence on April 2. Thousands of protestors reunited around La Fontaine Park and walked down Mont-Royal Avenue as they shouted “Enough is enough, not one more.”

“In the past two months, a horrifying count has been witnessed — eight women have been murdered in the context of domestic violence in just eight weeks,” explained Ingrid Falaise, comedian, actress and one of the organizers of the event, during her speech.

Falaise emphasized that not only 13 women have lost their lives from either partners or former partners, but there have been 20 kids left as orphans and five suicide attempts reported by the media in Quebec since the beginning of the pandemic.

“Behind these women who have died, there are millions who daily live in fear and 300 more suicides not announced — enough is enough,” she insisted.

Executive director for the the Fédération des maisons d’hébérgement pour femmes, Manon Monastesse, led the crowd in honouring all of the women who died since the pandemic began, by repeating their names one-by-one: Johanne Corriveau, Sylvie F., Francine Lussier, Mary Saviadjuk, Françoise Côté, Elisapee Angma, Marly Édouard, Nancy Roy, Myriam Dallaire, Sylvie Bisson, Nadège Jolicoeur, Kataluk Paningayak-Naluiyuk and Rebekah Harry.

Collectively, Falaise, the Alliance des maisons d’hébergement de 2e étape, the Fédération des maisons d’hébérgement pour femmes, L’R des centres de femmes du Québec, and the Regroupement des maisons pour femmes victimes de violence conjugale openly spoke to support all women and urge that all forms of violence, psychological, economic, sexual or physical, are unacceptable and that a change must be made.

Viviane Michel, president of La Fédération des femmes autochtones du Québec, said that there is a lack of solutions and resources and turned her questions over to the government. 

“How many times have you guys consulted us? How many memoirs have we submitted? How many solutions have we proposed to you against domestic violence, and we are still last on the list when it comes to budgeting?” Michel asked.

She points out that women need to feel safe and protected, which means more services and tools for women’s shelters.

Michel also suggests that it’s important to educate boys at a young age. She says that change starts by teaching boys what the word “respect” means and what it means to respect women and girls. 

The march ended with the final words of other spokespeople, with thousands of protestors watching on.

Chantal Arsenault, president of Regroupement des maisons pour femmes victimes de violence conjugale, says that this movement can’t be done without the help of the feminist organizations specializing in domestic violence. Arsenault says the government can’t ignore their experience and expertise, and they must take their advice and act now.

Alexandra Pierre, president of the Ligue des droits et libertés, concluded by saying, “These forms of violence prevent women of their rights to security, equality and the right to life itself.”

 

Photograph by Hannah Tiongson

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Took nine credits in a semester? It’s possible to adjust your Concordia tax receipts

Students who took nine credits are actually considered full-time on their Concordia tax receipts — this issue affects less than five students each year, who need to maintain their part-time status

Tax season is upon us, and Concordia students can now obtain their tax receipts for 2020.

While many students know that nine credits per semester constitutes part-time academic status at Concordia, students may not know that it is actually considered full-time taxation status, according to the university.

As tax receipts were released to Concordia students for the 2020 taxation year, some may have noticed that their nine-credit semester is listed as “full-time” taxation status.

Certain students may find that it is beneficial to maintain part-time status for taxation purposes on an individual basis.

Not to worry — the Student Accounts department is available to directly resolve any issues that may arise. Students may reach out directly to the department and ask for an adjustment of their tax receipt to reflect “part-time,” should they need.

Concordia spokesperson Vannina Maestracci released a statement to The Concordian that the difference in taxation and academic status for nine-credit students in a semester is “to the benefit” of “an overwhelming majority of students.”

Maestracci said there are “some rare instances” where the full-time taxation status does not benefit students, but they are minimal: “Only two such cases this year,” and “a maximum of three cases a year.”

“These rare cases — this year and in previous years — have been addressed directly with students: when they do not wish to be designated as a full-time student when taking nine credits on their federal tuition tax receipt, their designation on the tuition tax receipt is changed to part-time and the form re-submitted,” said Maestracci.

Additionally, Concordia emphasizes that “This only concerns the federal tuition tax receipt, not the provincial one and that designation or status for tax purposes differ from the academic status of a student in a university.”

When in doubt, contact Student Accounts should you have any questions about your taxation status.

 

Photo collage by Kit Mergaert

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Algerian protests in Place du Canada mark the re-ignition of Algeria’s opposition movement

Algerian organization plans to continue the protests on a weekly basis

On March 28, an Algerian organization based in Montreal known as “Tous unis pour notre Algerie” held a protest in Place du Canada in opposition to Algeria’s current government, which has been under the administration of President Abdelmadjid Tebboune since December of 2019.

The protests are a continuation of Algeria’s previous unrest in November 2019; the Algerian community postponed demonstrations until recently due to the surge of COVID-19 cases and restrictions.

Sara Sebbah, an Algerian national and frequent attendee of the organization’s events, was among one of the many protestors. She expressed her excitement at the reignition of the demonstrations, saying, “We stopped in 2019 to protect our country from COVID-19, but now they won’t suppress our protests and we’re not going to stop until we achieve freedom for our nation.”

According to an article published by Africanews last month, the anti-opposition sentiment has been fuelled by the fact that Tebboune is seen as a continuation of the nation’s previous president, Abdelaziz Bouteflika, who throughout his 20-year rule was accused of corruption, suppressing freedom of speech and interfering in democratic elections to preserve his presidency. 

The article estimated that during the Feb. 3 protests, over 2,000 Algerians defied lockdown measures in the city of Algiers to demand the removal of Tebboune, but were met with violence.

“Our protests are always peaceful and public,” explained Sebbah. “But they provoke us, they make the police use force against us.”

Sebbah left Algeria over a year ago and has been living in Montreal ever since. Her situation is not uncommon among the community; a majority of the protestors were first generation immigrants.

Rajaa Elahmar, one of the volunteers handing out warm drinks to fellow protestors, had a similar story to tell, having immigrated to Canada 15 years ago.

“My hope is a free, democratic and civil Algeria. Not a military state,” said Elahmar.

A mother of three, Elahmar explained the severity of the situation by saying she would not consider Algeria a good place for her own children.

“The way things are now, no,” she explained, shaking her head. “Our children are here, but this protest is for all the Algerian children currently living in Algeria,” she said.

The organization announced that it has plans to continue their activism here in Montreal. Their next large demonstration will take place on April 20, and will be a march from Place du Canada to the Algerian Consulate on St-Urbain St. 

 

Photographs by Gabriela Villarroel

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Anti-Asian hate crimes spike in Canada

Following a mass shooting in Atlanta that targeted Asian businesses, Canada reckons with its own anti-Asian racism problem

Spikes in anti-Asian hate crimes have been reported all around the world, including here in Canada. Anti-Asian racism has been present throughout the nation’s history, and this year, the Asian community reports racial violence is becoming increasingly aggressive, especially since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic.

A recent study outlined that over 1,150 incidents of anti-Asian racism were reported in Canada between March 2020 and February 2021. According to a report published by The Chinese Canadian National Council’s Toronto chapter (CCNCTO) and Fight COVID Racism, Vancouver has experienced up to a 700 per cent increase in anti-Asian hate crimes. 

In Montreal, there were 30 hate crimes reported between March and December of 2020, up from just six reported in 2019. Last May, a man of Korean descent was stabbed in Notre-Dame-de-Grâce.

In September, two victims of Asian descent were killed in a double hit-and-run in Brossard. A 30-year-old man has since been arrested and charged with second degree murder.

Police insisted the hit-and-runs were not hate crimes, but failed to explain why. Both victims were of East Asian descent; Huiping Ding, 45, was Chinese, and Gérard Chong Soon Yuen, 50, was Korean.

This year on March 11, a man of Korean descent was walking in the Plateau when he was attacked with pepper spray in broad daylight. Initially, police were not investigating the incident as a hate crime, although the victim considered the incident to be one. However, following media coverage, the hate crimes squad was brought in to investigate. The victim, a man identified as Nicolas, detailed that while he was carrying “the latest iPhone, the latest Apple Watch, the latest iPad and MacBook Pro,” but his attackers made no effort to rob him.

Days later on March 16, breaking news of a mass shooting in Georgia reported eight dead, six of whom were Asian women. A 21-year-old white gunman targeted three separate Asian-owned spas in Acworth and Atlanta. The shootings sparked outrage among Asian communities across the U.S., with protests held in Atlanta and New York the same weekend.

In the wake of that tragedy, Montreal community leaders organized a march against anti-Asian racism on March 21. Organizers led thousands of supporters on a three kilometre march from Cabot Square to Chinatown, stopping at Quebec Premier François Legault’s office on Sherbrooke Street. Activists demanded acknowledgement of the sharp rise in anti-Asian sentiment within Quebec. Premier Legault continues to deny the existence of systemic racism in the province.

Speeches made by leaders of Montreal’s Asian community outlined Canada and Quebec’s own colonial and historically racist treatment of Asians. Cathy Wong, councillor of the Peter-McGill district, spoke passionately of the racist history that the Asian community has endured.

“We march in remembrance of our history, as racism against Asians did not begin yesterday. It was not born from the pandemic. We march in remembrance of our history because our history is coloured by racist laws that excluded the Chinese — targeting our great grandparents, despite building railroads in exchange for dreams of a new life,” Wong said to the crowd in French.

Among the speakers was part-time Concordia professor Jinyoung Kim, who identifies as Korean-Canadian. Four of the six Asian women who were killed in Atlanta were of Korean descent.

“[It became] an immediate reality for me and for my friends, my parents, and everyone I know with Asian bodies in North America,” she said, before describing the threat of violence against Asians in the last year. “It’s been a year of fighting for justice, and it feels like nothing has gotten better.”

“I feel deeply the traumas that my BIPOC students go through,” Kim said, speaking of her Studio Arts students at Concordia. “I have heard stories from my students.”

The Atlanta shootings have sparked conversations about the fetishization of Asian women, with many activists citing the gendered violence and racism that Asian women face. In a press conference held shortly after the shootings, law enforcement officials said that the gunman confessed to the shootings, but denied racial motivations behind the attacks. Instead, the shooter saw Asian women as “temptations that he had to eliminate,” that he had a “sex addiction,” and that it was a “bad day.”

Following the Atlanta shootings, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau released a statement saying, “While we have made progress toward a more just and equal society, more still needs to be done, and the Government of Canada remains committed to this work.”

On March 22, New Democratic Party Leader Jagmeet Singh introduced the Anti-Asian Hate motion, which passed in the House of Commons. The motion called for the federal government to “properly fund” hate crime units across Canada, and make efforts to “identify best practices in countering this trend.”

But Singh echoed the sentiments of many, tweeting in response, “Justin Trudeau needs to do more than offer words, he needs to act,” in order to combat anti-Asian violence.  

 

Photographs by Christine Beaudoin

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What is the future of sustainability science?

Concordia’s fourth annual sustainability conference evaluated the climate crisis on campus and beyond

Hosted by the Loyola College for Diversity and Sustainability and the Loyola Sustainability Research Centre, in collaboration with 4TH SPACE, Concordia’s fourth annual sustainability conference took place from March 15 to 19.

The five-day series, Sustainability and the Climate Crisis, which was hosted via Zoom, featured a variety of lectures, workshops and discussions centred around the progressing climate emergency. Topics included global warming, loss of biodiversity, renewable energy, and examined Concordia’s position in addressing the aforementioned issues.

Guest speakers included professors, undergraduate and graduate students from various disciplines, including the departments of Biology, Communication Studies, and Geography, Planning and Environment.

The week kicked off with a series of presentations centred around Current topics in sustainability science. Graduate students in the Advanced Seminar in Environmental Science course presented their research and the potential ways in which certain solutions can tackle sustainability issues. 

Among the presentations was Brian Armstrong’s research on the importance of small-scale subsistence fisheries. Armstrong’s research is done in partnership with the Cree Nation Government and the Hunters and Trappers Association and explores food security, funding for hunter-trappers, and Indigenous knowledge of food sustainability.

“I believe cataloguing and understanding these initiatives and relationships can put fisheries and food security back into the greater context of cultural wellbeing, environmental stewardship and belonging for long term, intergenerational sustainability,” said Armstrong, adding that, on a greater level, this would entail fostering partnerships, respecting Indigenous communities, and reevaluating the way settlers conceive their role in the world.

In the next discussion, Insects: Indicators and agents of global change?, panellists examined climate change from an entomological perspective. More specifically, Concordia Professor Emma Despland discussed how climate change has been disrupting insect ecosystems and causing mass outbreaks.

Despland explained how warming temperatures lead to an influx of insects to a specific region, in turn, causing damage to forests as a result of the insects’ eggs — or larvae — feeding on growing and underdeveloped bark. Thus, this disrupts not only the insect’s ecosystem, but forestry as well.

From a more economical perspective, Concordia Professor Damon Matthews’ lecture Implications of the remaining carbon budget for climate policies and emissions targets offered an overview and analysis of carbon budgets and how this data and information is applied in creating corporate policies and targets. The carbon budget is essentially the amount of carbon dioxide emissions permitted to prevent the Earth from warming above its threshold.

Whereas in Emission targets and a challenge to capitalism?, postdoctoral fellow Anders Bjørn and PhD candidate Daniel Horen Greenford discussed how applying science-based emission targets and considering alternatives to capitalism can potentially help the climate crisis. Science-based emission targets are goals developed by businesses and corporations in order to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

For a more biological approach to the climate crisis, Climate Change and Natural Systems, and The future of biodiversity in a changing planet explored the ramifications of human impact on forestry, marine life, and its threat to ecosystems in general.

In one of the presentations, Clara Freeman-Cole delved into protected areas, such as national parks. Freeman-Cole described the concept of landscape fragmentation, a process by which habitats are broken up into smaller areas as a result of infrastructure, agriculture, and natural resource extraction, among others.

Sahar Alinezhad’s discussion on the importance of community gardens as a tool to promote social wellbeing, and Jacques Simon-Mayer’s research on remote mapping and monitoring of chlorophyll levels in the water were among the other panels that presented findings on the future of sustainability in Canada.

In PhD candidate Alexandre Pace’s lecture, he presented his research about recording the events of climate change via the observation of tree rings, whereas Clare O’Neill Sanger delved into her research about pollen records. The two presentations offered a glimpse at the ways in which the observational analysis of living systems can provide us with information about the climate crisis and state of the environment for the past, present, and future.

Later in the week, Concordia Professor Pedro Peres-Neto, whose research centres around community ecology and biodiversity from a statistical and theoretical approach, discussed the Earth’s declining biodiversity. He further discussed the difficulties and concerns where policies and models are concerned, and the ways in which these models aid in understanding these occurrences and phenomena.

Building on Peres-Neto’s discussion, Lilian Sales, a post-doctoral researcher in the Department of Biology, delved into her research, which uses statistical and mathematical models as a means of further understanding the distribution of various species on different scales. Species distribution models (SDM), mentioned throughout both Peres-Neto and Sales’ discussions, are models which use locational data of species in order to better understand and predict their locational distribution.

Of course, while considering the climate crisis on a global and national level is of great importance, it is equally as important to recognize the ways in which we can take action on a local level. Various discussions introduced viewers to initiatives for climate action on campus and in academia. 

Climate action at Concordia: A panel discussion aimed to educate students about Concordia’s Sustainability Action Plan, which was launched in 2020. The plan presented the university’s vision and plans to divest from greenhouse gases and reduce waste. The presentation centred primarily around a Q&A session wherein students could ask questions about the five-year plan and its implications.

For those interested in careers focusing on the environment and sustainability, Careers in Sustainability offered students a glimpse at the various paths that can be taken upon graduation. The talk featured Faisal Shennib, Concordia’s environmental specialist at the Office of Facilities Management, Katerina Fragos, manager of sustainability and climate change at multinational accounting firm PwC, and Anthony Garoufalis-Auger, climate emergency organizer at Rapid Decarbonization Group, a non-profit organization. The panel demonstrated the ways in which students can become actively involved in the climate crisis, even without a formal education in science.

To end the week off on a more interactive note, attendees were invited to join the Climate Emergency Committee for an engaging game of Climate Geopardy. The committee consists of students and professors from the department of Geography, Planning, and Environment who are aiming to raise awareness about the climate crisis throughout the province via a series of workshops, lectures, and events. 

The game, which takes a similar form to the popular American game-show, Jeopardy!, was meant to educate the public on the current climate emergency and its underlying science. By introducing scientific concepts and research in an engaging manner, players were able to educate themselves and test their knowledge, all while putting an entertaining spin on an important issue.

The series left viewers with a variety of topics to think about, both where personal and institutional changes and policies are concerned. The speakers and presenters offered a well-encompassed glance at a simultaneously distressing and hopeful possibility for our future. Regardless of one’s area of expertise, one thing is certain, the future of the climate emergency is in our hands: as citizens, students, scientists, consumers, and beyond.

The recorded lectures from Sustainability and the Climate Crisis are available for viewing on 4TH SPACE’s YouTube channel. To learn more about 4TH SPACE and for more information about upcoming events, follow them on Instagram and Facebook.

 

 

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#refund2020: a student-led battle against Concordia’s tuition fees

 Over 100 students have signed the #refund2020 petition, aiming for economic and academic justice at the university

A new student campaign called #refund2020 was launched on March 21, demanding a full refund of summer and fall 2020 tuition fees to all Concordia students.

The movement is based on students who are feeling dissatisfied with paying full tuition fees for an allegedly inferior quality of remote education, as well as limited access to on-campus activities and services.  

Ace Baldwin is the founder of Economic Justice Concordia, a student group seeking to “break down financial and economic barriers to wellness for Concordia students.” Besides tuition-related demands, which also include a detailed report of Concordia’s expenditures in 2020, Baldwin’s campaign advocates for prioritizing student health on campus.

Nathalie Heller, co-organizer of #refund2020, says that it can take up to several months to schedule a mental health appointment at the university, even if a student only wishes to have a brief conversation with a specialist.

As an international student currently living in Colombia, Heller also believes that non-Canadian citizens are at a disadvantage when it comes to health coverage at Concordia.

“My health care plan would be over $1,000 this semester, yet Quebec’s Blue Cross insurance can’t [always] be extended to other countries. I can’t even negotiate my coverage abroad, so it feels unfair since I had already paid for this service in the past,” she explained.

The campaign also wants to provide the Pass/Fail and DISC options to every student, this time for an unlimited number of courses taken in the summer and fall of 2020. As of now, Concordia students are allowed to apply the Pass notation to just one course in the fall 2020 and winter 2021 semesters.

The platform also aims to eliminate all proctored exams at the university and to bring back course evaluations, which would allow students to provide honest feedback for their professors.

While #refund2020 has collected over 130 signatures on its official website, the campaign is determined to take further action.

On April 10, Economic Justice Concordia will host an on-campus rally in collaboration with students from McGill University, according to Baldwin. Further details should be announced closer to the date of the protest.

“We are serious about this. It’s a joint effort to show our administration and the Quebec government that this is a pressing issue,” said Baldwin.

#refund2020 also organized a tuition action night, which is set to take place on March 30 at 7 p.m. over Zoom. The event will be hosted by Nora Loreto, a writer and activist specializing in social movement organization, especially for labour unions, women, and students.

“We will discuss how collective action works — and also how it looks — because there’s often a disconnect between the two concepts … Despite living through a difficult period right now, the pandemic is actually a very fertile moment for political action,” Loreto explained.

The activist wants to inform Concordia students on how to organize general assemblies and have a detailed action plan, since movements such as the 2012 Quebec student protests have proven to be effective.

As of now, #refund2020 has not received an official response from Concordia’s administration.

However, Baldwin remains hopeful that their campaign will soon reach an agreement with the university, with both parties approaching this situation as allies rather than opponents.

 

Logo courtesy of #refund2020

 

Economic Justice Concordia changed the date of their on campus rally to April 10. A previous version of the article said the rally was on April 3.

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Concordia student groups cancel event with Turkish ambassador

Armenian students saw having only the Turkish ambassador speak at event as harmful and offensive

A panel on the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict was cancelled due to pressure from the Concordia Armenian Students’ Union (CASU) and other Armenian groups. The groups spoke out because Kerim Uras, the Turkish ambassador to Canada, was a speaker, and no other perspectives of the conflict were planned to be presented at the panel.

The panel was supposed to be held on March 19, and was organized by the International Relations Society, and the Strategic and Diplomatic Society at Concordia, which are funded by the Political Science Student Association (PSSA). The PSSA is under the Arts and Science Federation of Associations (ASFA), which is independent of the Concordia administration.

The Nagorno-Karabakh region is a disputed territory between the country Azerbaijan and its ethnic Armenian majority. Turkey and Azerbaijan have economic and military ties, while Turkey and Armenia have a history of hostility.

In September 2020, war broke out between the two groups, with Turkey siding with the Azerbaijan government, supporting the government with military resources. A ceasefire agreement was signed in November 2020.

According to an Aljazeera article, Armenia calls the killing of up to 1.5 million Armenians in the late Ottoman period a genocide, while Turkey disagrees.

“As an Armenian, we’ve been persecuted with the intent of erasure, so to resist that, social cohesion among us is very important,” said Arad Banis-Khatchadourian, a graduate-level student in Chartered Professional Accountancy (CPA) at Concordia, and active member in the Montreal Armenian community.

Banis-Khatchadourian explained that he has always kept a connection with the CASU, and that when the organization found out about the Nagorno-Karabakh panel, they reached out to Armenian Concordia students, and Banis-Khatchadourian wanted to help.

“I wanted to voice how completely messed up this event was, and how the PSSA shouldn’t allow it to happen, at least in its present one-sided format that showcases the victor’s propaganda and enables the rewriting of history,” said Banis-Khatchadourian.

He reached out to a PSSA executive, who expressed sympathy but stated they would rather have the CASU and the organizers of the panel come to a solution. Banis-Khatchadourian stated he saw this as a lazy response to the issue.

According to Banis-Khatchadourian, the CASU wanted to make a joint event with both the Armenian and Turkish ambassadors, but the organizers of the panel insisted the Armenian ambassador speak on a different day, and have the Turkish ambassador continue with the original date.

“You will still get a bunch of students, smart as they may be, attending the Turkish event and internalizing some of their propaganda,” said Banis-Khatchadourian, who explained that while the CASU disagreed, they went ahead and confirmed the Armenian ambassador for a separate panel.

“Despite not getting the fair debate we wanted, Armenians were willing to get at least this much, the bare minimum,” he said.

Banis-Khatchadourian stated that the Turkish ambassador refused to speak at any event that involved the Armenian ambassador, forcing the panel organizers to choose between the two ambassadors.

According to Banis-Khatchadourian, this is when Concordia University started getting involved, and while he is unsure of the direct reason, soon afterwards, the event was cancelled.

The CASU and other Armenian organizations made a press release stating, “By choosing to provide a free platform to a representative of a State with an official policy of #ArmenianGenocide denial, and inviting them to speak about the Artsakh conflict, the IRS and SDS [organizers of the panel] failed to evaluate the harmful and offensive consequences of the “perspective” of the Turkish official.”

The Turkish ambassador, Kerim Uras, tweeted that it was an “Unfortunate decision for academic integrity and basic freedoms at Concordia University. A sad day for freedom of speech and Charter rights in Canada.”

In the tweet thread, Uras referred to the Armenian student groups as “radical Armenian groups.”

 

Logos courtesy of the Concordia Armenian Students’ Union (CASU)

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News

Thousands of Montrealers gather to protest violence against the Asian community

One of the protest’s organizers tells us how we can show continued support

Calls to “Stop Asian hate!” echoed through the streets of Montreal on Sunday, when thousands marched to protest anti-Asian hate crimes and to show their support for the Asian community in Quebec and abroad. The protesters marched from Cabot Square to Chinatown, shouting call and response chants.

Store owners along Saint-Catherine Street stood outside their businesses taking photos and cheering on the protestors as they made their way towards Chinatown. The protest ended with a vigil for the six Asian women murdered in Atlanta last week.

Violence towards the Asian community has increased rapidly since the beginning of the pandemic. British Columbia Premier John Horgan recently announced that the Vancouver Police Department has reported a 717 per cent increase in hate crimes against Asian-Canadians since the outbreak of the pandemic.

Protestors walking downtown.

One of the protest’s organizers, a member of Progressive Chinese of Quebec (PCQ) and Groupe d’entraide contre le racisme envers les Asiatiques du Québec (GECREAQ) spoke to The Concordian about the backwards sentiment behind these attacks. The individual wishes to keep their identity private.

“We are being scapegoated for a virus that’s a consequence of climate change, which is a consequence of our capitalist world.” They said that on top of struggling to adjust to life during COVID-19, “We are also feeling anxious to go into work or walk down the street, because getting attacked in broad daylight is becoming more common.”

“Even while we are born here, raise our families here, pay taxes and work here, we are not considered Canadian. We are subjugated to being seen as a ‘forever foreigner.’ When Canadians tell us to go back to where we came from, as if that same sentiment doesn’t apply to them, it’s to remind us that we do not belong here,” said the representative.

Chao Hua, a third-year international student at Concordia, found out about the protest “last minute,” but knew he needed to show his support. Speaking from the heat of the downtown protest, he argued that “You cannot just put your hatred on Asians, on us. We are not your scapegoat.” He pointed to his sign, which read those same words.

“Killing Asians, beating up the Asians, it’s not going to stop the virus. Everybody must work together. If all races, all ethnicities, all countries work together, we can beat up this virus. That’s the only way out.”

Onnie, another protestor, said that she feels sickened, not only by the violence directed towards the Asian community, but also by major media’s willingness to ignore the pervasiveness of the issue.

On the recent hate crimes, she said “They’re willing to put in the effort and energy to go into the fucking profile of a murderer, but not the grand profile of how this reflects on everyone else and our complicitness with the situation.”

Protestors laid flowers to honour those killed in the Atlanta shooting.

As the PCQ and GECREAQ representative stated, “It’s no secret that anti-racist work requires a lifetime

commitment.” To show support in the short term, they said to “Contact your representatives about denouncing the racist laws in this province, for instance loi 21; to continue standing with [the BIPOC community] against their racist relative(s); to ensure that the spaces, especially work spaces, are safe for their BIPOC friends and coworkers, especially women and gender minorities.”

However, in order to see real, actualized change, the PCQ and GECREAQ representative says we must recognize the root of the issue: colonialism, imperialism and capitalism.

“In the long term above all, keep learning about how prevalent racism is in our everyday lives and how it operates as such a fundamental gear in this capitalist machine we are all in.”

To the Asian community in Montreal and abroad, they give an important message.

“While we mourn for those who’ve lost their lives and who’ve been physically assaulted, it’s a great time to remind ourselves that we can’t feel disenfranchised. We have every right to exist. We have every right to be here. We are allowed to take up space and stand together against the colonial enemy.”

Photos by Christine Beaudoin

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News

14 ASFA executive candidates compete for election

One ASFA candidate accused competitors of campaign ads that look like Turning Point USA content, in an otherwise smooth election campaign

This year’s Arts and Sciences Federation of Associations (ASFA) elections are underway. In an election year like no other, candidates have put the online campaigning environment to use.

Hope and Reliability is a slate that focuses on improving student mental health and improving transparency for students regarding financial endeavors. There are seven members running under these promises, and they are the only complete slate in this election.

Student Interested, not Self Interested is a slate focused on bringing attention back to students and organizations that are important to them. The three members on the slate are all currently a part of student government, and hope to bring new ideas to the table.

On March 17, Payton-Rose Mitchell, a mobilization coordinator candidate for the Student Interested, not Self Interested slate, tweeted that posters from a “slate I’m running against legit look like they could be ads for Turning Point USA (TPUSA),” a right-wing student group that is accused of propagating anti-immigration and homophobic views. Hope and Reliability and Student Interested, not Self Interested are the only slates running in the ASFA elections.

In an interview with The Concordian, Sean Smith, who is running for executive coordinator of the Hope and Reliability slate, said “We are not a right-wing group,” adding that members of his slate who are part of the LGBTQ community and who are children of immigrants were “sad and frustrated” by the comments.

Mitchell apologized for the comments in a public post. She also released a statement to The Concordian which said she “did not anticipate [the post] would cause any controversy,” because she had not identified ASFA, the Hope and Reliability Slate or Concordia in the tweet, and that her Twitter was a personal account, and not used for campaigning.

“TPUSA is infamous in meme-culture and because of this, I could not avoid recognizing the resemblance in their graphic … That being said, I should not have tweeted about it on my personal account … It was not my intention to link the opposing slate to the problematic views upheld by Turning Point USA,” reads the statement.

ASFA elections are open from March 23 to March 26 at 5:00 p.m.

HOPE AND RELIABILITY

Running for executive coordinator is Sean Smith, who decided to run this year after seeing several controversies and issues at the ASFA over the years, saying, “We need to restore the soul of ASFA.”

His platform includes increasing mental health services for students, including one-on-one sessions to help decrease the long waitlist, and helping marginalized students with special bursaries and scholarships.

To increase transparency, Smith plans on publishing ASFA’s budget, minutes, and motions. Also, he plans on better collaborating with member associations (MAs).

Nigel Jonathan Ochieng is running to be the next student life coordinator at ASFA, with the goal to establish a closer connection between the students and the association itself.

Ochieng, who is a Political Science major, plans to organize a variety of social events for Concordia students, including trivia and karaoke nights, as well as online game sessions. He believes this would be a great opportunity for students to socialize and develop their critical thinking skills.

“One thing I noticed amongst the student body is that no one actually knows what ASFA is,” said Ochieng.

As someone who has organized events for Model UN in high school, the candidate hopes to “bridge the gap between the students and their representatives,” with the help of his social activities.

Sadegh Sheikhnezhad is an Economics student, and is the current academic coordinator for ASFA. While he has achieved quite a bit in his last term, he hopes to continue in the role for another year.

Excited to be running with Hope and Reliability, Sheikhnezhad is passionate about the slate’s message. “Our promises as a slate: we want to improve the mental health services, reimagine the academic resources, and also enhance the transparency.”

He is adamant about his time not being over, and his work with ASFA not being over. He managed to help fill the positions for various ASFA committees that had been vacant for a while. “We never had the chance to actually have those individuals to sit on those committees, like the curriculum committee,” he said.

Saruul Bazarsuren is majoring in Political Science at Concordia and grew up in Mongolia. When she moved to Montreal two years ago, Concordia became her new home.

A part of the Hope and Reliability slate, Bazarsuren is running to become the next mobilization coordinator at the ASFA, and hopes to concentrate on students’ mental health if elected.

She said, “I’m sure almost everyone has been dealing with mental health issues because of all the isolation and rules and online classes. So I really wanted to make the voices of students heard and also focus on the mental health of students.”

She vows to give students better access to mental health services, create a safe space for students to communicate and support each other, and work as an advocate for students that are a part of ASFA.

Sabrina Morena is running for communications coordinator. She is in her second year in Human Relations. Her team is promising to bring back the integrity of the ASFA and increase student involvement.

She aims to, “be open and honest with the students, [be as] transparent as we can be, increase academic and mental health resources for students,” said Morena, explaining the goals of Hope and Reliability.

Morena has experience with increasing student engagement, as she worked with the Applied Human Sciences Student Association. There she learned the value of social media marketing, and how it impacts students.

Morena hopes her experience will help her have a positive impact on students as communications coordinator, ensuring that students are aware of things that are available to them, such as loans, bursaries, and scholarships.

“We pay for education, and they [students] should take advantage of everything that we have, whether it’s initiatives or workshops or events,” she said.

Noor Coll is a third-year Economics student, and is excited to be supporting the Hope and Reliability slate this coming year. Similarly to her peers, she is eager to improve mental health services for students among other ambitious goals. She said, “The most important [goal] is improving mental health for students.”

Running for internal coordinator, she believes she is uniquely qualified for the position. She said, “As somebody who’s lived in so many countries, I think that I’m really good at putting myself in other people’s shoes. And with that being said, I wanted to do something about the situation that we’re all in.”

She moved to the U.S from Iran, and came to Canada after high school.  Coll says she is ready to face any challenge. “That’s why I feel confident about running for internal coordinator — because I moved here all on my own. I’m independent. I’m responsible. I’ve lived in so many places, and speak several languages. And I just feel like I’ve had so many experiences throughout my life that I feel like I’m up for any challenge, you know, and just helping out.”

Amine Ben Arous is running for the finance coordinator position at ASFA, aiming to develop a student grant program and to increase financial literacy among Concordia students.

“We’re going to do workshops on how to [fill out] your tax forms, how to create a budget for a trip, how to manage your personal finances,” said Ben Arous, an Actuarial Mathematics major.

Besides focusing on one’s personal budget, Ben Arous also plans to increase Concordia’s overall budget by seeking sponsors and partnerships with the appropriate companies and institutions.

Finally, Ben Arous is currently “looking into a structured student grant program to help marginalized students,” as he believes that more financial support should be provided to students experiencing economic hardship.

While mostly focusing on financial matters at ASFA, he also promises to fight for transparency within the association.

STUDENT INTERESTED, NOT SELF INTERESTED

A day before elections, Alexandre Boigontier joined the slate and is running for executive coordinator; this last minute change will not be reflected on the ballots. For his campaign, Boigontier said he wants students to have a say in the issues he will tackle throughout the year.

His first campaign promise is to begin weekly meetings with associations and students, where they would be able to tell ASFA what they feel it should do. One of issues brought up on a recent poll he made for students, was for ASFA to better provide support for racism and sexual violence on campus, which he plans on addressing with input from students.

He would like to support students with mental health issues and those who are struggling with isolation with more engaging online events. Overall, Boigontier plans to “Give the students a voice and to give them hope, and also to help them have a better student life.”

In several of his campaign posts, Boigontier targeted the Economic Student Society, which caused some confusion. However, he addressed this in a later Facebook post saying he does seek to represent “all students.”

Running for re-election as mobilization coordinator is Payton-Rose Mitchell, who is looking to better invest and provide training against anti-oppression at the ASFA.

According to Mitchell, ASFA has received two human rights complaints in the last five years, which resulted in the Centre for Research-Action on Race Relations (CRARR) being mandated to develop oppression training for ASFA and MA executives.

“Over the past few years, AFSA has really lost the faith of a lot of students,” said Mitchell. She says a recent fee levy will fund a $10,000 project to pay five BIPOC students to consult on “building an ASFA specific anti-oppression training.”

Additionally, Mitchell would also hire a part-time, neutral third party to deal with allegations of harassment, discrimination, and violence against ASFA executives. She says the position would replace the current committee, which according to Mitchell is chaired by ASFA councillors and executives, and has produced a “massive conflict of interest.”

Sarah Bubenheimer is running to be the next internal coordinator of the ASFA, hoping to strengthen its bond with other MAs.

While studying Philosophy, Law and Society, and Liberal Arts, Bubenheimer wants to make sure that Concordia students have strong leadership roles at ASFA.

“I’m running for students who are not self-interested. We’re a slate of former ASFA staff and executives, we’re committed to making structural changes to make sure ASFA is student-led,” she explained.

Bubenheimer’s priority is to establish leadership training, specifically for students holding lead positions at the MAs. She hopes it will bring out more confidence and organization skills from students, thus helping them to have a larger say in student affairs.

Alexandre Wolski is running for finance coordinator. He is in his third year studying Honours Philosophy. Last year Wolski was elected as chairman executive coordinator at the Students of Philosophy Association.

Wolski is running on three main points, the first of which is to make dedicated student funds for projects. He stated he wants students to immediately think of getting funding from ASFA when they have a project.

The second is to streamline the reimbursement process for all ASFA-related expenditures. Wolski aims to change the current way project reimbursement works, creating a shorter waiting period for students.

His third point is creating stricter policy to stop the chance of embezzlement.

“If students are looking for reliability, they should go for people who have mainly been involved with ASFA, because we’re not just hoping that we can be good at our positions, we know that we will be able to make these changes happen,” said Wolski.

INDEPENDENT

Andrew McLeod is running for finance coordinator and is a mature student who has been studying Statistics for a year and a half. McLeod is from Toronto and a former military member.

According to McLeod, his slate is titled Freedom to Finance, as he believes that Concordia students should not have to finance groups they may or may not agree with. McLeod’s goal as finance coordinator is to democratize finances, essentially letting students choose where their student fees go.

He clarified that students could not choose individual organizations, but choose packages to finance with their tuition fees.

The reason McLeod decided to run for finance coordinator was because he hated seeing his tuition fees going to groups and programs he didn’t agree with.

Jasmine Ramcharitar-Brown is running for academic coordinator. She is in the last year of her Bachelor of History, and she went to Vanier college for Special Care Counselling. Ramcharitar-Brown stated she had a rough childhood and wants to help students that are struggling.

Ramcharitar said the main reason she is running is because she wanted to be in a helping position, and she would like to offer better mental health and financial support for students.

She stated that she understands the difficulty students with jobs face, as it’s hard to focus on academics while also juggling employment responsibilities. She aims to create events or workshops that can help students improve their academics or find coping methods.

As it is her last year, Ramcharitar wants to make an impact before graduating, and her end goal is to support students.

Candidate for student life coordinator, Chelsea Fares, did not respond to multiple requests for comment. Fares wrote in her candidacy, “I wish to continue exciting the lives of students through fun activities and entertaining events. Since we couldn’t do much last year, let’s double the excitement this time around!”

Logo courtesy of the Arts and Science Federation of Associations (ASFA)

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Concordia Student Union News

Results of the referendum questions in the 2021 CSU general election

Students can expect a new off-campus building and a few fee-levy increases

While the general election saw one of the worst voter turn-outs in recent pollings, students still supported the majority of the seven CSU referendum questions, with only one failing. Read more to find out what changes are in store from the CSU.

Positions Book Reform 

A majority 62.3 per cent of students voted to have positions in the CSU Positions Book no longer expire every four years, revoking the controversial expiry position that was passed in the last CSU general election of February 2020.

The campaign to add the expiry position aimed to “democratize” the Positions Book, by way of claiming that students would continuously have a say on the different political, social, and ideological stances taken by the CSU.

Once the expiry date was implemented, several positions disappeared, including those that supported anti-racism, climate justice, and high-quality education for students.

Several CSU executives and councillors criticized the expiry motion, saying they received complaints from students and organizations that re-voting to support stances such as Indigenous rights and anti-racism implied the CSU wasn’t serious about defending these issues permanently.

Additionally, the referendum question criticised that the expiry also “leads to lengthy ballots because previously voted-on positions must be re-voted on.” During the last CSU by-election in the fall, almost 10 questions were dedicated to the Positions Book, including supporting LGBTQIA2+ rights, student parents, and denouncing antisemitism and Holocaust denial.

Breakdown of the results:

YES:                    657 (62.3%)
NO:                      398 (37.7%)
ABSTAINED:        481 (31.3%)
TOTAL VOTES:   1,536

Student Building Referendum Question 

The CSU will independently build and operate a new student centre/building, which would give students a new “space for events, social gatherings, and new services.” A majority 84.9 per cent of students voted in support of the CSU negotiating with Concordia University to realize this project.

According to the referendum question, the CSU is currently negotiating with Concordia University to build the centre in the Sir George Williams (SGW) campus area; the land in question is confidential, and has not been purchased yet.

The additional 40,000 square feet of space would be funded by a fee-levy established in the 1990s purposely for this project. The centre would provide “new quality spaces for clubs and associations, an auditorium and additional state of the art study spaces.”

Breakdown of the results:

YES:                       936 (84.9%)
NO:                         167 (15.1%)
ABSTAINED:          433 (28.2%)
TOTAL VOTES:    1,536

Modification to CSU’s Bylaws 

Students voted 80.6 per cent in favour to add an amendment to CSU bylaws to make the Sexual Violence and Safer Spaces Policy and the Code of Conduct more enforceable.

This means if a councillor commits misconduct against the Code of Conduct or the above policy — for example harassment or violence — other CSU councillors can “impose sanctions and/or recommend removal from office of CSU Representative.”

In a closed session meeting before either the Judicial Board or another CSU committee, the councillors would present their recommendations and the accused councillor would present a counter argument. The outcome would be determined by two-thirds majority vote.

Breakdown of the results:

YES:                       658 (80.6%)
NO:                         158 (19.4%)
ABSTAINED:          720 (46.9%)
TOTAL VOTES:    1,536

Concordia Student Union Off-Campus Housing and Job Resource Centre  

A majority vote of 51.3 per cent approved a fee-levy increase of $0.06 per credit to the CSU’s off-campus Housing and Job Resource Centre (HOJO) to be implemented during the fall 2021 term, bringing the fee-levy total per credit to $0.26. This charge will also “be subsequently indexed annually to inflation in accordance with the Consumer Price Index.”

This increase directly resulted in an additional student fee charge of $0.18 per 3-credit course, up to $0.78, which students cannot currently opt-out of.

HOJO provides “reliable housing and employment information, resources and referrals” for Concordia students, with said students increasingly procuring their services during the pandemic, according to the CSU.

Breakdown of the results:

YES:                       600 (51.3%)
NO:                         569 (48.7%)
ABSTAINED:          367 (23.9%)
TOTAL VOTES:    1,536

Students voted 53.5 per cent for a fee-levy increase of $0.10 per credit, up to $0.27, for the CSU Legal Information Clinic. The charge would “be subsequently indexed annually to inflation in accordance with the Consumer Price Index.”

This includes an increase to the student fee charge of $0.30 per 3-credit course, up to $0.81, which cannot be opted out of.

The CSU Legal Information Clinic has not had a fee-levy increase in five years, and says they would use the additional funds to “increase personnel and hours of its staff to better respond to growing students’ demands and needs for increased legal information services and support.”

Breakdown of the results:

YES:                       638 (53.5%)
NO:                         554 (46.5%)
ABSTAINED:          344 (22.4%)
TOTAL VOTES:    1,536

CEED Referendum Question

Students voted to allow the CEED (Community Empowerment Education Development) organization to change the mission statement to be “expanding Concordia’s campus in Uganda, East Africa, allowing students from all four faculties to participate in volunteer activities at these new campuses be used in the future for the purposes of: expanding Concordia’s footprint in developing countries, allowing students from all four faculties to participate in experimental [sic] learning activities at these new campuses.”

Currently, the non-profit student-led organization collects a $0.35 per credit fee levy.

Breakdown of the results:

YES:                       634 (64.8%)
NO:                         344 (35.2%)
ABSTAINED:          558 (36.3%)
TOTAL VOTES:    1,536

Concordia Student Union Student Advocacy Centre 

Students did not approve a fee-levy increase for the CSU Student Advocacy Centre of $0.10 per credit, which would have brought it to $0.40 per credit, effective for the fall 2021 term, which would have included a non-opt-out student fee increase of $0.30 per 3 credit course, up to $1.20.

The CSU Advocacy Centre provides students with “independent student representation in Disciplinary Proceedings, Investigations and Tribunal Hearings.”

Breakdown of the results:

NO:                        616 (50.9%)
YES:                       595 (49.1%)
ABSTAINED:          325 (21.2%)
TOTAL VOTES:    1,536

 

Logo courtesy of the Concordia Student Union (CSU)

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