Tag: concordia

Categories
News

Bomb threat at Concordia a false alarm

Montreal police were at Concordia’s Loyola campus to investigate a call concerning a bomb threat received by the university Wednesday morning.

The suspicious call came in at 10:25 a.m. and was later deemed to be a false alarm.

“There’s no danger to the community and it’s over,” said Concordia spokesperson Chris Mota. “Everyone is safe.”

The police operation ended at 12:25 p.m. and focused on securing the entire west-end campus, according to SVPM spokesperson Daniel Fortier.

“We used procedure as usual, so police officers verified the outside of all buildings, security guards checked inside the building for anything suspicious,” said Fortier. At least one police sniffer dog was seen on campus as well.

Mota said the police took the appropriate measures.

“The police and the university have an obligation to make sure everything is safe,” Mota added.

Categories
Sports

Most exciting Stinger moments of 2011-12

Men’s hockey came up short of the playoffs but did manage to upset rival McGill twice in the regular season. Photo by Navneet Pall

During the course of a long year, teams go through many ups and downs.

And seeing as no one wants to relive the low points because they’re depressing, let’s use this school year’s final edition of The Concordian to take a trip down memory lane and remember the best games from this season.

Men’s basketball

RSEQ semifinals — Feb. 29

Concordia 66 vs. Laval 65

This was by far the most exciting game of the school year. Playing in front of a packed and rowdy gym at home, Concordia was a heavy favourite against the Rouge et Or. Only Laval didn’t seem to care. Despite going 5-11 in the regular season (nine fewer wins than Concordia), Laval was up six points with just over two minutes remaining in the fourth quarter and seemed poised to pull off the upset of the year. Then the Stingers turned it on. Concordia forced four turnovers in the final two minutes, electrifying the small gym which was about as loud as a 20,000-seat arena that night. All-star guard Kyle Desmarais scored five points in the final 30 seconds to advance Concordia to the RSEQ finals where they would defeat UQAM and move to nationals.

Men’s hockey came up short of the playoffs but did manage to upset rival McGill twice in the regular season. Photo by Navneet Pall

 

Women’s basketball

RSEQ semifinals — Feb. 28

Concordia 65 vs. Bishop’s 53

Concordia struggled down the stretch in the regular season and played a horrendous first quarter against Bishop’s. Down 24-7 after the game’s opening 10 minutes, it looked as though the season was going to come to an abrupt and disappointing end. Things began to turn around in the second quarter though. Conference MVP Kaylah Barrett scored 10 points in the quarter and helped bring the Stingers within four points of the Gaiters. After a halftime pep talk from coach Keith Pruden, the Stingers came out going for the jugular. Sharpshooting and tough defensive play gave the Stingers an eight-point lead into the fourth and the team never looked back. It was the team’s biggest comeback of the season.

 

Men’s hockey

Regular season — Feb. 3

Concordia 4 vs. McGill 2

Battling for their playoff lives, the Stingers were in tough on the road in McGill’s McConnell Arena playing the future national champs. Not to be intimidated by the circumstances though, Concordia defeated its archrival for the second time in the season—two of McGill’s only six losses came against the Stingers this year. Tied at one in the third period, Michael Blundon and George Lovatsis scored power-play goals within 32 seconds of each other to give Concordia a 3-1 lead that they would not relinquish. The win put Concordia in the driver’s seat in the OUA east playoff race. However, the Stingers came up short of the post-season.

 

Women’s rugby

RSEQ semifinals — Oct. 21

Concordia 18 vs. McGill 8

After a successful regular season, Concordia faced its rival in the semis and, for the second time of the year, defeated McGill. The game was very close, but the Stingers were able to dig deep and advance to the RSEQ finals for the second year in a row. Unfortunately, Laval put up a roadblock again, denying Concordia a trip to nationals.

Categories
News

No more strike general assemblies planned

The Concordia Student Union does not plan to hold any further general assemblies to vote on a strike, opting instead to work very closely with some departmental associations who will continue to hold their own GAs.

“Our message is clear, we want to negotiate, but the government won’t even do that,” said CSU President Lex Gill. “We’re so proud to have a little over 15,000 supporters within the community.”

The CSU, however, is not planning to hold another general assembly to solidify Concordia undergraduates’ position on the strike. Unless, of course, the students demand one.

“If a petition is formed in question of another general assembly, we will definitely look into it,” said Gill.

The CSU has been working very closely with some associations on organizing departmental GAs and funding striking activities. Gill said she is proud of the communication between these associations and the CSU.

“Most of our time consists of working with departments and keeping everything organized, funding them, and helping them all the way through,” said Gill. “They’ve done an excellent job in giving students the opportunity to express their opinions.”

Categories
Opinions

A look at some of the year’s most interesting stories

1) George Menexis
Assistant opinions editor

It was an extremely tough year for Greece. Bankruptcy has been looming on Greek society for quite some time now. As the rest of Europe struggles with Greece’s enormous debt, they’re also considering excluding the country from the eurozone, something that would be detrimental to Greek society. The population has greatly suffered from the austerity measures that are being put in place to keep the Greek economy at bay. Riots have shown the population’s discontent with their government and violence in the streets has made Athens a dangerous place. The lack of jobs and high taxes are making more and more people poor. Recently the country hit its highest unemployment rate yet: 21 per cent. It’s a mess.
“The kids didn’t even have new books at school this year because the school couldn’t afford them,” said Chris Politis, 42-year-old Greek citizen and friend who lives in Athens with his three children.
I am of Greek origin and most of my relatives currently live in Greece. Every day they wake up to a weakened economy, engulfed by the fear of possibly losing their jobs. They struggle with important decisions such as possibly leaving the only home and country they’ve ever known.
To see my second home fall apart like this, and to see my cousins, uncles, aunts and fellow Greeks riot and suffer, was saddening and frustrating.

2) Jacques Gallant
Editor-in-chief

It seems only fitting that one of my last contributions to The Concordian as its editor-in-chief would focus on the tuition debate, but more specifically the mismanagement of public funds in many Quebec universities. The news items that affected me the most this year were Concordia’s announcement that it was hiring external auditors to review the severance packages it handed out between 2009 and 2010, and Education Minister Line Beauchamp’s decision to fine Concordia $2 million for its mismanagement of public dollars, which include tuition fees. Maybe I’m just bitter because my plan to become the principal companion of a wealthy hedge fund manager will never actually happen, and I’ll have to find some other way to pay off my tens of thousands of dollars of student debt, but I became exceedingly outraged this year when it became clear how badly some Quebec universities handled money being given to them by students and the government. Former Concordia president Judith Woodsworth receiving a $703,500 severance package and current president Frederick Lowy scoring a $350,000 salary plus a $1.4 million interest-free loan for his condo are only some of the examples that I could throw out there. Someone please clear this up for me: What the hell do these people do that merits so much money? During my time at The Concordian it’s one of the rare Concordia-related mysteries that I never managed to solve. And don’t give me the usual drivel that their jobs are to “represent the university [at wealthy alumni parties] and be the face of the institution.” I want a little bit more than that. I might even accept Line Beauchamp’s argument that tuition increases are desperately needed to improve the quality of education and research, but I just can’t when I think of all the financial mishaps Concordia went through these past few years. Yes, they’re clearly trying to fix the problem (finally!), but I remain unconvinced. If I ever bank a few extra thousand dollars in my future career (as a journalist, so I suppose I should keep dreaming), I don’t see myself ever donating a penny (or a nickel I should say) to this university.

3) Audrey Folliot
Staff writer

On Feb. 20, 2009, cardiologist Guy Turcotte killed his two children. He stabbed both of them more than a dozen times in a blind rage, shortly after discovering that his ex-wife had been cheating on him with his best friend. This story was being discussed in Quebec even months after it had happened. During his trial last summer, Turcotte admitted that he had killed his children—Olivier, 5, and Anne-Sophie, 3—but said he had not intended to do so. After the trial, he was found not criminally responsible for the deaths of his children. I’m sorry, but what? A lot of people were in disbelief at the announcement of the verdict, and so was I. It totally shocked me. Turcotte was a reputable cardiologist, so I don’t buy the mental illness excuse. There are many signs indicating that he was aware of his actions and that they were premeditated. But what shocks me the most is that he might be released in society soon. He said he wants to start over, build a new family and start to practise cardiology again. How can someone go on after something like that? Unbelievable.

4) Shaimaa El-Ghazaly
Assistant life editor

I was most affected by the introduction in the U.S. House of Representatives of the Stop Online Piracy Act, better known as SOPA. I am an avid Internet user and this bill threatens many of the sites that I find useful. I’m all for protecting the entertainment industry from piracy, but the bill affects the Internet as a whole. The legislation would destroy innovation, threaten free speech and allow law enforcement to block access to entire domains just because of a single blog or post that contains copyright-infringing content. Popular sites such as YouTube, Wikipedia and Facebook would most likely be shut down or at least severely debilitated. I see freedom of speech as quite important in our lives and it is something that differentiates us from countries ruled by dictators. I find it frustrating that a bunch of old men and women implementing laws initially made to punish a small portion of Internet users will end up punishing everyone else in the process. While the main goal is to protect artists, shutting down user-generated sites will not make the artists any richer. The blackout of many sites including Wikipedia and Google in protest against SOPA worked, but the bill is not completely gone. Sure, it is an American law, but Canadian websites would also be affected. This legislation would move us backwards and threaten the progress we’ve made in terms of Internet accessibility.

5) Alyssa Tremblay
Staff writer

Many drivers’ worst fears were confirmed this fall when the Champlain Bridge, the busiest bridge in the country, was reported to be deteriorating and increasingly unsafe to drive on.
Used by thousands of motorists every day, the news about the bridge gave people something else to worry about other than infuriating rush hour traffic.
Now, the classic nightmare of being late for work got a terrifying new twist—sleeping through the alarm was replaced by the very real possibility that on your way into the office, the bridge will finally give out, sending you plummeting through a gaping hole in the middle lane and into the icy depths of the Saint Lawrence, trapped in the sinking metal coffin that is your Honda Accord.
In October, Ottawa announced that they would foot the $25 million bill to replace the bridge with a new structure – a nice gesture if you ignore the fact that they plan on taking 10 years to build it.
To add insult to (literal) injury, the federal government had to be cajoled last summer into releasing the 86-page safety report on the bridge to the general public. Transport Minister Denis Lebel’s comforting explanation: they didn’t want to scare people.
Meanwhile, living on the South Shore got a whole lot edgier and dangerous once we realized that our daily commute was like playing Russian roulette with a 50-year-old hot mess of concrete and metal.

6) A.J. Cordeiro
Staff writer

Joining over 20 other Canadian cities and some 900 jurisdictions worldwide, Occupy Montreal was one of most defining moments in news for our community.
Beginning on Oct. 15 with the Global Action Day, protesters took up residence in tents under the
watchful gaze of Queen Victoria’s statue and the SPVM. Just over a month later, on
Nov. 25, protesters were evicted from the square. Did the protesters actually accomplish anything?
Well, the protest was not about accomplishing a specific set of goals, but rather sending a message of frustration from the 99 per cent movement. As a result, they were heard and cited in every major media outlet across Canada. What began as an effort to make the institutions and authority-company relationships in governments fairer and more just for citizens was stalled by the lack of unity on a specific set of goals. Instead, the main element which characterized the movement was disorganization. Occupy Montreal had a myriad of spokespeople, yet had a complete lack of leadership. One person would spout off about the present government administration, while another condemned the education system and others criticized health and social services. How can you communicate a unified message when everyone is talking at once? In the end, the only images that remain are the ones of city workers restoring the Queen’s image and taking down tents, as police marked protester hands with UV paint.

7) Marilla Steuter-Martin
Co-news editor

Now more than ever, there is a strain on the relationship between university administrators and students. What better example of this could there be than the February 2012 “6party” occupation of McGill’s James administration building. Students felt their voices were not being heard and so in typical Montreal fashion, they made their discontent heard through protest. And how, you may ask, did the university respond? They tried everything to force students out. These young people, who spend thousands of dollars a year to attend this institution, were denied access to food, electricity and washroom facilities. In this day and age? I was appalled and frankly surprised that there wasn’t more of a public outcry. What many are apt to forget is that protesters are just as much human as those who abuse authority in their comfortable upper management offices, and they deserve to be treated with just as much respect. Furthermore, there is certainly no reason to set such a dangerous precedent as McGill security has this past year. The very thought of trained adult guards leaning out of windows trying to cut makeshift pulley systems set up by students in order to transport necessary supplies into their camp, is more pathetic than it is hilarious—if only by a fraction. I mean, is this truly the level we’re at? I say next time students decide to peacefully set up shop, McGill administrators would do well to remember that the world is watching them, and it certainly wouldn’t hurt the university’s image to send an olive branch, or a fruit basket, student protesters’ way.

8) Myles Dolphin
Opinions editor

According to a Verizon study, hacktivists are to blame for 58 per cent of all stolen data in 2011. They’re organized, extremely smart and angry. From the takedown of the FBI website (in protest of SOPA) to the 78 Syrian government email accounts that were hacked into, hacktivists have made serious headlines in the past year. Hacktivism is a movement with zero discrimination: anyone who possesses above-average IT skills and who wants to use digital tools in the pursuit of political goals against a particular government or corporation can participate. Hacktivists have leveled the playing field; governments are suddenly extremely vulnerable to attacks. When it comes to groups like Anonymous and LulzSec, no challenge is out of their reach. They know they have considerable support for their actions, and they’ll keep justifying their mischievousness. Last December, using stolen credit cards, Anonymous hacked servers belonging to security think tank Stratfor and planned on donating around $1 million to various charities. Theft, in most cases, is condemnable, but there’s something romantic and somewhat empowering to know that there are anonymous groups out there, the modern-day Robin Hoods, bringing about chaos and destruction in the name of causes that many of us support. They advocate freedom of speech, truth, transparency and the right to protest: Who can argue with that?

Categories
Student Life

Concordia’s new neighbour is a greasy goldmine

Photo by Alyssa Tremblay
Smoke’s Poutinerie’s first Montreal location is owned by two Concordia graduates. Photo by Alyssa Tremblay

Smoke’s Poutinerie has opened its first Montreal restaurant, setting up shop on Bishop Street just a jaywalk away from the Hall building.

Owners and Concordia grads Kathy Davey and Robert Sciascia say they couldn’t be happier with their location.

“We want to be involved with you guys—a student-friendly place,” says Davey.

Both Sciascia and Davey attended the university around the same time, but never met while they were there. Sciascia, an engineering graduate, calls this a “unique opportunity” for his family.

“This is the first time I’ve ever owned a restaurant,” he said.

The tiny shop offers 23 different types of poutine to-go packed into cardboard take-out boxes. The menu ranges from the tried-and-true classic cheese curds and gravy to adventurous flavour combos like curry chicken or nacho veggie.

Smoke’s founder Ryan Smolkin started peddling the Québécois comfort food to Torontonians in 2008 and has since opened over 20 poutineries across Canada. He emphasized that his franchise was about “giving back to those who support the business,” and said he is hopeful that Smoke’s will become an instant campus favourite.

Smoke’s Poutinerie, which opened Monday, April 2, is located at 2019 Bishop St. Hours of operation are 11 a.m. to 11 p.m.

Categories
Arts

The process of purgatory

You would never guess that the same people running cheerfully after a Dora the Explorer ball in the rehearsal studio on the 7th floor of the MB building were the same people skillfully putting on such a meditative yet comical play as The Last Days of Judas Iscariot.
Originally penned in 2005 by American playwright Stephen Adly Guirgis, the show takes place in a courtroom in purgatory where Judas stands trial against “God and the Kingdom of Heaven.” A number of witnesses are called to the stand including Sigmund Freud, Satan, Mother Teresa, and even Jesus himself.
Director Sarah Garton Stanley and two assistant directors, Cameron Sedgwick and Courtney Larkin, oversee a large cast and crew of Concordia theatre students.
“It’s one of the plays that I could have read as a book, and while reading it, just be laughing out loud to myself, it’s hilarious,” says Sedgwick. “Once you find yourself emotionally opened by the humour, you’re hit with these questions about the soul and the afterlife.”
The show dives deep into the conflict between divine forgiveness and a human’s free will by putting the very concept of personal responsibility on trial. Judas himself is in a near catatonic state after being numbed for so many years by the guilt for betraying Jesus.
“The language itself is really impressive,” explains Sedgwick. “It takes a very experienced playwright to make characters sound as different as these characters do. They’re so drastically different.”
“It speaks really strongly to the fact that [Adly Guirgis] wrote it for a specific [theatre] company,” continues Lucia Corak, the stage manager. “He knew he could see each actor as a character.”
There are different dialects and historical implications that have to be taken into consideration when portraying such famous characters, and it is evident the actors have done so.
The directors continuously ask the actors questions that help them to make small choices about their characters and better define who they are. With each run, the pacing becomes quicker, and the relationships become better defined, as small things such as eye contact or reaction time start to fit together, allowing the show to come together like a puzzle.
“The show is really a wonderful coming together of a strong directorial team, fun actors who really push themselves and take creative risks, and a wonderful script,” says Lindsey Huebner, who plays Judas’ defence lawyer Fabiana Aziza Cunningham.
Coloured markers on the floor of the rehearsal studio outline where the set pieces of grungy junk piles will go. They are meant to bring out the feeling of purgatory.
The actors playing members of the jury make use of puppets, which are comprised of old inanimate objects. The idea is that these objects were once people who have been there so long that they have become part of the trash.
“There already existed this idea of there being a junk heap, kind of a junk heap for souls and a junk heap for refuse from earth, so why not make the puppets out of those things?” explains Sedgwick.
The actors faced the difficult task of breathing life into these objects. The question is: How do you give a rusty old teapot a personality?
Ensemble breathing exercises and emotions such as “surprised” or “terrified” were given to the cast by the directors. Within a few days, the actors had the puppets breathing, “swaggering” and reacting in unison, creating the uncanny feeling that these outwardly random objects could see and hear everything that was going on.
The number of different characters in the show means organizing a fairly large cast.
“There’s a lot of doubling of actors playing multiple characters, so from my point there’s a lot of props and lots of set pieces that get reused and get shuffled around,” says Corak. “It’s logistically keeping track of where everybody has to be at which point. They all play jury members so I have to know who is in which part of the stage when, what do they have, and keep track of what physically is happening and where the physical actors and furniture pieces are.”
The show will be performed in the Loyola Chapel in keeping with the religious connotations the play presents. However, the space does present some challenges.
“It’s acoustically different than a theatre. You have the echo, so clarity of text is really essential,” explains Huebner. “The back of the chapel is the front of our stage, so we have a lot of different levels to be working with, things that we can’t really mimic in the rehearsal hall.”
Sedgwick also explains that the lack of a lighting grid in the chapel poses a problem. Instead of having the lighting set up, as a normal theatre would, lights have to be hung.
“It’s been a wonderful process so far and I’m really excited to see it come to fruition,” says Huebner. “I’m really proud of the work that my peers have done. I’ve seen people do things that I didn’t even know they were capable of.”
With the pressure of exams upon most students, this exceptional display of theatre may relieve the stress for a couple hours. It might even make you realize exams really are not that bad compared to sitting in purgatory for 50 years.

The Last Days of Judas Iscariot runs April 11 and 13 at 8 p.m., April 14 at 2 p.m. and         8 p.m. and April 15 at 1 p.m. at the Loyola Chapel. Admission is $5 for students.

Categories
News

Executive and JMSB positions acclaimed in GSA election

Incoming Graduate Student Association President Daria Saryan.
Incoming Graduate Student Association President Daria Saryan.

The Graduate Students’ Association general elections set to take place from April 3 to 5 have attracted a record number of candidates this year.
While the three executive positions and the John Molson School of Business directors’ positions have already been acclaimed, eight candidates are running for a total of six seats in arts and science, and nine are running for the six in engineering and computer science. Also, for the first time in recent history, there will be a competition for the single fine arts seat on the council of directors with two candidates running.
According to GSA chief returning officer Roddy Doucet, there will be no ballots for the executive positions in the upcoming election with a “Yes” or “No” option because the association’s constitution stipulates that as long as one candidate is running for the position, they will automatically be acclaimed.
Many of the candidates running for council are affiliated with the elections’ sole slate, Your Voice, which took the majority of seats in last year’s election. Doucet noted that the ongoing tuition hikes debate has been a recurring theme during the campaign period.
“The primary concern is about tuition and where it’s going,” Doucet said. “A great number of our members that have come forth have put this as a centrepiece of their election campaigns.”
As for the team of executives, Daria Saryan, who helped put together the Your Voice slate, ran unopposed for president of the GSA and was automatically given the position, as was the case with the new VP internal Roya Azarm and VP external, Nadia Hausfather.
“I think we’re going to work really well together especially given that we’re all three women executives,” said Saryan. “I don’t know that this has ever happened before.”
One of Saryan’s main goals is to improve and expand on the services that the GSA offers, such as French language courses.
“The current GSA has laid the groundwork for some really great things and my goal is to keep up with what they’ve started,” she said.
Dominic Leppla, a first-year PhD student in film and moving images studies, got involved with Your Voice because of the strike and is running for fine arts director. He recently became impressed with the GSA’s ability to represent the graduate student body’s interests.
“Fine arts students are particularly affected by [tuition increases] because what fine arts students are giving society is not something you can quantify,” said Leppla. “We feel that the fight against the tuition hike is also part of larger movement, for a larger goal to protect knowledge as a public good and fight against this kind of instrumentalization and corporate mentality.”
Giulietta Di Mambro is in her first year of graduate-level translation studies and is running to be an arts and science representative on council. Having completed her first degree at Université du Québec à Montréal, Di Mambro observed a contrast in the levels of student participation in campus politics which motivated her to run for council.
“My goals are to strengthen ties between associations, facilitate better participation and better communication between associations and all graduate students,” she said.
In addition to voting on student representation, graduate students will be asked to vote on two fee levy questions. Both Le Frigo Vert and the 2110 Centre for Gender Advocacy are appealing to the graduate student body for support by asking for fee levies of $1.50 and $0.50, respectively, per semester.
The new GSA team will assume office June 1.

Categories
Sports

Concordia wrestler Olympic-bound

David Tremblay won an Olympic qualifying tournament in Orlando and will now head to the 2012 Olympics. Photo by Rita Davidson

After qualifying for the Olympics last week at a tournament in Orlando, 24-year-old David Tremblay from the Concordia Stingers wrestling team is getting ready to head to London and represent his country. The first-time Olympian has lofty expectations for himself this summer. He sat down with The Concordian for an interview.

David Tremblay won an Olympic qualifying tournament in Orlando and will now head to the 2012 Olympics. Photo by Rita Davidson

What are you most excited about heading to the Olympics?
I’m not sure. I think it’s just going to be an overall great experience. I’m looking forward to the opening and closing ceremonies. I talked to some past Olympians and they said the ceremonies were a great part of going to the games. And just the fact I’m going to a tournament that only comes once every four years where you have to qualify against the best of the best is great.

When in your life did you really believe and think one day you could be in the Olympics?
When I was really young, around 15, I wanted to go without knowing how to really get there. You win your first national title at a young age, people are asking you if you want to go to the Olympics and you say “yeah, of course I do,” without knowing how hard it is to make it there. Then when you get older you realize it’s not as easy as you think. You hope you can make it, but it’s still a long way away. I moved to Montreal after high school thinking I could make it to the 2008 Olympics before even realizing how far I was from that. I had to re-analyze my goals and focus on 2012.

How do you expect to do in London?
Obviously everyone wants to go for the gold, that’s the best outcome. I just want to go out there and perform my best. Last summer I beat some of the top guys in the world so, if I can perform well, I know I can [compete for a medal]. A medal [in London] would be great and I’m a real competitor so I’m not planning on going to the games and losing.

Are you nervous about the games?
I’m not nervous. I’m just excited. I want to get back to training and preparing and just get ready for London.

Who has been the most help in your career?
I’d have to say definitely my dad. My dad’s the one who brought me into the sport and he was pretty strict on me in high school in order to achieve my goals, but he did a really good job of being a coach and also a father. He wasn’t too much of one or the other.

How did you get started in the sport?
It was my dad — he was a high school wrestling coach in Ontario. I was into all the sports in grade school and he asked me if I wanted to try wrestling and I said “I don’t know, I don’t really know anything about wrestling.” So he took me into the living room and showed me a couple techniques. Then he put me in a high school tournament which I won and I just started liking it from there.

Will your family be coming to London to watch?
I think some of them are going to come, but the games aren’t cheap. I think it’s $500 just to watch me wrestle one day. We’re going to do some fundraising to hopefully help with the cost, but my immediate family will probably be coming.

Categories
News

Thousands take part in Tuesday protest

Students who were supposed to occupy the Guy-Metro building today on Concordia’s downtown campus changed their plans and ended up merging with a protest in support of a student who was allegedly hit by a Concordia security guard yesterday.
The protest was called yesterday evening on Facebook, after a video showing a security guard seemingly hitting a student in the face attracted quite the attention on the Internet. The video, that had less than 400 viewers yesterday evening, now shows that almost 7,000 people have watched it. The Facebook event was calling for the support of all Montreal schools to join Concordia students against the “repressive” methods used by the university against students who choose to block access to classrooms.
Amber Gross, the philosophy student at McGill who was allegedly hit by the security guard, was walking by the protest today, surprised to see people recognized her in the street.
Gross explained that she and a group of students were met with violence by Concordia security when they were not actually picketing.

“We were supposed to [block access to the classroom] but no one actually showed up to class,” she said. “ We were kicked out by security for just sitting on a bench. I’m on my way to file a complaint right now.”
At several occasions, the protesters stopped their march to sit in the middle of the street, once completely blocking the intersection between Guy Street and De Maisonneuve Boulevard. The police had to intervene to regulate traffic and redirect the visibly angry motorists.
The 100 protesters were quickly joined by thousands of other students around 2 p.m., kicking off another march against tuition hikes.
They left Concordia through the main streets of downtown Montreal, heading towards Quebec Premier Jean Charest’s office on McGill College Avenue. At least 2,000 protesters ended the march in front of Loto-Quebec’s offices on Sherbrooke Street around 4.30 p.m., chanting and establishing a relaxed atmosphere by chatting with police officers.
This protest came one day after the Concordia Student Union was forced to adjourn their general strike for failing to meet quorum for a second general assembly.
-Photos by Joel Ashak
Categories
News

Campus security clashes with students

Extra security presence on campus causes tension with students. Photo by Navneet Pall.
Extra security presence on campus causes tension with students. Photo by Navneet Pall.

The first major altercations between university security and students happened on Monday, March 26, following the reaffirmation of Concordia’s strong stance against hard picketing tactics.

While some students were participating in a sit-in on the 7th floor, another group of students were facing half a dozen security guards on the 4th floor.

The conflict began when a group of geography students used hard-picketing tactics by blocking the entrance to their classroom. Protesters were met by security who showed up to make sure “there would be no incident.” Several students felt intimidated by the guards, who were also filming the picketers.

“I think 30 years ago we would have never seen this kind of pressure from the administration to force a union [security] to cross another union’s picket line,” said geography student Jess Glavina.

“What happened at the classrooms so far was very calm and very peaceful. The presence of security guards is creating a really uncomfortable environment on campus. It’s really unnecessary and it feels like students are being prosecuted.”

Last week the university sent an email warning about consequences for students who choose to continue blocking access to classes, which could include formal charges.

Eventually, the geography professor who was supposed to teach the class cancelled it, telling security there were not enough students in attendance.

“I just think that I’m in a really difficult position because I respect what the students have democratically chosen to do,” said the professor, Julie Podmore. “But the picket wouldn’t permit me to pass through anyway and there weren’t enough students that were in the classroom to hold the class.”

Earlier that day, a similar altercation resulted in an incident that drew attention on the Internet after it was posted by CUTV. A student who was filming an argument between security and students in the Faubourg was struck in the face by one of the security guards, throwing the camera out of her hands and onto the ground.

“Get that guy’s name because he just hit me in the face,” the student was quoted as saying in the video.

The security agent eventually left the premises without identifying himself. Following this initial incident, the student persisted that she wanted to file a formal complaint against the guard.

In the university’s March 23 email to all students, it stated that it was “no longer possible to tolerate further disruption of university activities by a minority of protesters who refuse to respect the rights of others.” The email went on to say that the university will from now on lay charges against those who choose to block access to classrooms.

The university said it also encourages students to report any incidents that prevent them from getting to their classes. Students who are found hard-picketing will be asked by the university security to provide IDs and will be reported to a panel to face the appropriate charges. Those who refuse to identify themselves will have their pictures taken in order to be identified.

“The charges will depend on the severity of the case but it could go from a written reprimand to expulsion,” said Concordia spokesperson Chris Mota. “The university will only target students who are physically blocking access to classrooms and offices. We received complaints and we need to make sure our community has the liberty of movement. Blocking the Guy Metro building [last Wednesday] for example was unacceptable.”

The CSU and the Graduate Students’ Association responded to the university’s email by issuing a statement titled: “Students will not be intimidated.”

Both associations called the university’s email “dangerous” and “irresponsible,” saying the university painted picketing students as aggressive when “in reality [their actions] have been consistently characterized by a lighthearted, peaceful, and creative nature, with very few incidents.”

“The last communication the administration sent out was perceived by the CSU as extremely aggressive,” said CSU VP external Chad Walcott. “Their message is calling for a profiling of students and a general discrimination against protesters and picketers. We think that it is highly unacceptable.”

Walcott believes that the university’s decision to come out with a heavy-handed stance proves that the student movement’s tactics are working.

“We actually sat with the university administration to tell them that this email would only create conflictual relations between students and the university,” said Walcott. “We were basically told that the university did not care if things went out of hands.”

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Student movement to become more radical

Quebec has been holding its breath since the three major student associations promised to push things further following the massive demonstration against tuition hikes last Thursday.
After the March 22 protest that saw 200,000 students marching the streets of Montreal, student leaders warned the Liberal government they were now taking the movement further.
Organizations like the Fédération étudiante universitaire du Québec, the Fédération étudiante collégiale du Québec and the Coalition large de l’Association pour une solidarité syndicale étudiante announced increasing actions of occupation and “economic disturbance” in order to hit the Charest government where it hurts—in its pockets. One of the leaders even showed signs of support to actions like blocking traffic on bridges.
“We are now going to speak the only language [the Charest government] understands, and that is the language of money,” said CLASSE spokesperson Gabriel Nadeau-Dubois. “We have tried with symbolic actions but now it’s time to take it to the next step.”
Reacting last Friday to the march, Education Minister Line Beauchamp refused to call it historic, as most of the province’s media did, and declared that her position had not changed.
In the plans announced by FEUQ, FECQ and CLASSE, the associations’ leaders promised they would increase the number of protests, hold regular sit-ins and occupation-type demonstrations in government offices and ministers’ press conferences. They also aim to launch awareness campaigns to influence future voters, particularly in the regions where Liberal candidates were elected by slim margins in the last provincial election.
“We’re now switching to a pre-electoral mode,” said FEUQ President Martine Desjardins. “We’re going to target the 10 Liberal MPs who won with the lowest majority in the last elections and we are going to campaign in their districts telling people that their MPs are against accessible education.”
When it comes to actions of economic disturbance, however, the different organizations don’t all agree on the methods to use. While CLASSE praised actions like blocking bridges and commended the participants in these actions for their “bravery,” the FEUQ and the FECQ questioned such methods and said they wished to avoid losing public support for their cause.
“Our belief is that we should target those who are responsible and in that case it’s the government,” explained Desjardins. “Public opinion is very fragile and it doesn’t take much to turn people against us. We need to make sure the general population supports us and we need to keep those families and professors who marched with us on March 22 supporting us.”
The Concordia Student Union sided with the FEUQ, and said they would not follow other students organizations in any actions that would put Concordia students at risk.
“The CSU’s position is that we endorse positions that are peaceful,” said VP external Chad Walcott. “We will only advertise actions that we feel our students can go to and come back from without being arrested or getting fined.”
However, CLASSE, FEUQ and FECQ admitted that if the Liberal government maintains its refusal to negotiate with students, these types of extreme actions would continue to happen. The associations are informally respecting an agreement of non-denunciation and non-negotiation, where associations cannot question the legitimacy of other student groups’ actions, nor can they initiate negotiations with the government without the presence of all the major associations.
“Blocking bridges is not the type of actions we support since we don’t think it targets the right people,” said FECQ President Léo Bureau-Blouin. “But we have showed good faith in organizing peaceful demonstrations so far and at some point, if the government still doesn’t listen, we have to take it to the next step.”
This is not the first time the FEUQ and the FECQ have disagreed with the CLASSE over strategies of mobilization. The three student organizations have been continuously quarreling since 2005 over campaigning methods.
During the speeches at the end of the March 22 demonstration, CLASSE leaders refused to also let FEUQ and FECQ representatives speak, claiming their congress mandate kept them from sharing the stage. The leaders of the two associations had to climb on the roof of their sound truck to speak to the thousands of protesters.
“We found it unfortunate considering our movement is supposed to be a unified movement but it’s not the time to show signs of division,” said Desjardins. “Our cause goes beyond the associations that we represent.”
It remains to be seen if the student organizations will agree on the strategies to adopt in pushing the student movement further, but all have assured they aspire for unity in their message and in potential negotiations with the government.
“It’s important for us to stay unified because the enemy is not among us, it’s the government. Having a unified movement with different and complementary strategies is the best way to go for now,” said Desjardins.
The next major protests are set to take place on March 27 in Montreal, and then on April 4 in Premier Jean Charest’s home riding of Sherbrooke. The CSU has announced it will be sending a bus full of students to the demonstration.

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March 22 photo gallery

Check out these photos from the March 22 march taken by The Concordian’s Sophia Loffreda.

And if you haven’t already, you can read this story on the march and have a look at how everything went down by looking at the live blog here.

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