Tag: canada

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Music

After a five-year break, Shad is back with his most complete album yet

Shad coiled the mic cord in his hand as the show went on, looking like a stage tech by the end of his set. Photo by Simon New

After a five-year break, Ontario MC is back with his most complete album yet

“If I’m honest, it’s not exactly what I wanted to do, but at the end of the day I have to do the thing that feels like I’m giving people something real. That’s what this was,” said Shadrach Kabango, a rapper known as Shad. He just released A Short Story About A War, his first album since taking five years off of music to host CBC’s flagship arts interview show, Q, then Hip-Hop Evolution, a Netflix docuseries produced by Russell Peters about the growth of today’s most popular genre.

A Short Story About A War is a concept album that was birthed from a poem Shad wrote about societal inequality. It’s a war metaphor in which snipers represent merciless capitalists, stone-throwers are everyday people, and the central character, the fool, doesn’t believe in the power of bullets. The violence in war stands for social inequality. “What do our governments and corporations do, here and abroad? Violence, really,” Shad said. The album was inspired by his time in Vancouver, where he got a master’s degree in liberal studies from Simon Fraser University. The city has the highest percentage of low-income households in Canada, while the average rent for a two-bedroom apartment is the highest in the country, rising above $3,000, about $1,000 more than Toronto, the next highest city. “That’s where that story came from. My subconscious mind trying to grapple with what does it mean to live well in a place like this,” Shad said.

Shad interspersed heavier cuts from his new album with his classic, lighthearted tracks. Photo by Simon New

The album presents a bleak depiction of this war, concluding that fear is at the heart of the conflict. The main character defies this conflict. “There’s many different ways to participate in the violence and the tension that you’re feeling. And there’s an alternative, but it’s very difficult; this fool character,” Shad said. The fool comes to realize that violence stems from fear, and although the album is at times dark, this character leads the listener to look within themselves to find hope. It is a sprawling message packed tightly into a metaphor that is the perfect backbone to A Short Story About A War.

On Friday night, Shad put on a show that was exuberant as often as it was somber and reflective, mixing his new, heavy cuts with the material that got him to where he is. Thoughtful, slick and technically sharp rap that is all too often given the dreaded, trite label of “conscious.” “The bigger part of me loves entertaining people, loves giving people a certain style that they’ve come to know and enjoy with my music,” Shad said. That was certainly apparent when he brought freestyles, call-and-response and quick banter to Le Ministère.

Shad has won a number of awards including an Emmy and a Peabody Award for Hip-Hop Evolution, and snatched the 2011 Juno for Rap Recording of the Year from none other than Drake. As decorated as he is, Shad values consistency over any specific prize, particularly after his 2013 album, the last before his five-year break. “When I finished Flying Colours and that album was well received, for some reason that was significant to me. Because it felt like I wasn’t a fluke,” he said. With A Short Story About A War, he handles complex topics with succinct clarity, all while delivering top-shelf punchlines and metaphors inside of five-star flows. Shad is certainly not a fluke.

Categories
Music

Killitorous invades Piranha Bar

Killitorous crowded the Piranha Bar stage on Friday night. Photo by Gabe Chevalier

Headbanging sextet keeps metal lighthearted and collaborative

Killitorous—both a band and a tongue-in-cheek play on female anatomy—is currently touring in support of its forthcoming album, AfterParty. The technical death metal outfit has certainly been making rounds within the extreme music community, as a result of both their place of origin and unique thematic presence.

Unfortunately, Canadian metal bands are few and far between, at least in comparison to the United States. Due to our country’s sparse major cities and extreme weather, bands trying to tour and make a name for themselves often struggle and end up remaining underground. Killitorous, however, have been seeing steady career success since their first EP, titled Pretend to Make Babies, dropped in 2010. Standing the test of time, the band is currently headlining a North American tour, with one of their last dates being at Piranha Bar in Montreal.

Photo by Gabe Chevalier

The band’s lighthearted aesthetic is representative of their mentality. Within the current politically-charged sphere, people will try to attach some sort of meaning to bands like Killitorous. However, Aaron Homma, the band’s only original member, stated that Killitorous is a freeing project, not one that puts them in a corner. “Metal has always been about brutality, but we’re just not brutal guys,” he said. “This band allows us to do all the things we want musically, we’re more free.”

Killitorous’s demonic blend of technical death metal and grindcore offers a viable platform for the band’s humorous drive. From songs like “George Costanza’s Father’s Son,” to “It’s not Stanley, It’s Stan Lee,” the band’s unusual take on the genre make them nearly incomparable to any other metal act. “We actually come up with our song titles first, and then build the song around that,” Homma said. He further expanded upon this, describing how Killitorous’s music has and will always be a group effort. They come up with everything from track titles to complete songs as a group. “I love the collective mentality of the band.”

Photo by Gabe Chevalier

The group’s live show certainly lives up to their aesthetic. Comprised of six members, the band crowded the Piranha Bar stage, but this blended well with their chaotic music. The sextet was one of the liveliest bands I’ve seen live, with their stereotypical headbanging and frontman Mark Phillips’s deranged composure. The combination of smoke effects, seizure-inducing lights and lively attitudes were three of the strongest aspects of the show. Killitorous’s music also transitioned well in a live setting, with their interchanging song sections going from blazingly fast to crushingly slow. They were, by far, the highlight of a night with three other bands.

Killitorous has a handful of dates left on this tour. The band plans to finish recording their upcoming album, AfterParty, in the coming months, as it is set to release mid-2019.

Categories
Sports

Colour commentary: Right thing to vote ‘no’ on Calgary Olympics

Sports Editor Nicholas Di Giovanni gives his take on his latest in sports with his weekly Colour Commentary

Hosting an Olympic Games leaves too much debt

On Nov. 13, the citizens of Calgary voted 56 per cent in favour of not bidding for the 2026 Winter Olympics in a vote. On Nov. 19, the city council unanimously voted in favour of ending its push to host the Games.

Calgary hosted the Winter Olympics in 1988, and citizens simply didn’t want to go through the ordeal again. And good for them. It’s time people start to realize just how expensive it is to host the Olympics, all for some athletes, fans, and media to raid a city for two weeks and forget about it after.

According to Forbes, the 2018 Olympic Winter Games in Pyeongchang, South Korea, originally had an estimated cost of USD $12.9 billion. The 2014 Games in Sochi, Russia, had a total cost of USD $51 billion, according to The Guardian. It’s a good thing Calgarians don’t want that kind of debt.

What is really disappointing is how the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and the Canadian Olympic Committee (COC) reacted to the results. A spokesperson for the IOC said: “It is disappointing that the arguments about the sporting, social and long-term benefits of hosting the Olympics did not sway the vote.”

Tricia Smith, president of the COC also said this: “Sport in a positive sense really brings a country together.”

Did the IOC and COC seriously just play the “but the Olympics bring people together” card? What’s ridiculous is how they don’t even seem to realize how much they cripple an economy for a sporting event. According to the CBC, after Montreal hosted the Games in 1976, they had a debt of $1.5 billion, which they paid off in 2006—40 years after hosting. That doesn’t seem like the long-term benefit the IOC was talking about. If hosting the Olympics didn’t come with so much debt, sure it would have been great to see Calgary host, but—newsflash—it does.

My favourite headline from this comes from Sportsnet: “Calgary’s ‘No’ vote a squandered opportunity for a city in need.” I didn’t realize Calgary needed billions of dollars of debt.

People who were for hosting the games used the argument that it would have allowed facilities to be built. Many athletic complexes were built in 1988 and need renovating, so they think the only way to do so is by hosting the Olympics. You can upgrade athletic facilities without hosting the Olympics.

More people and cities around the world should realize that hosting the Olympics isn’t all fun and games.

Categories
News

Marijuana is now legal. What do Concordia students think?

The Concordian asked students around campus about their opinions concerning the legalization of cannabis.

Categories
Opinions

Editorial: The complexities behind the legalization of marijuana

graphic by @spooky_soda

Marijuana legalization is on the horizon. The people have spoken, and as of Oct. 17 they’ll be tokin’. Yet, the legalization process is more complex than simply lifting the ban on getting high; the way it is executed can mean the difference between freedom for citizens and more centralized state power.

Policing marijuana and other substances has been a method of controlling populations—particularly by criminalizing certain groups—for a long time. Enforcing substance laws is often used as a tool by powerful groups to further their goals. This often invokes keeping poor people, racial and gender minorities, and other disenfranchised groups at the lowest of our class structure.

The way the war on drugs campaign started proves this. As admitted by Richard Nixon’s former assistant to the president for domestic affairs John Ehrlichman: “We knew we couldn’t make it illegal to be either against the war or black, but by getting the public to associate the hippies with marijuana and blacks with heroin. And then criminalizing both heavily, we could disrupt those communities.” This is pretty clear evidence that the prohibition of marijuana is not about any moral issues with consumption of the drug. So legalizing marijuana is clearly a good thing, because it’s a step toward ending arbitrary means of state control.

This is the stance that was taken by the Bloc Pot political party in the recent Quebec election. Their main platform highlighted the prohibition of marijuana as a tool for the state to control and disempower its citizens. While they are in support of legalizing marijuana, they point out the problems with governments controlling that legalization process. The party also advocates for marijuana to be left out of the Criminal Code and the Canadian government’s control completely.

Quebec premier François Legault of the Coalition Avenir Québec (CAQ) will soon have to confront the task of implementing marijuana legalization in Quebec. One of the stipulations in his legalization plan is bumping the legal age from 18 (as was previously intended) up to 21. How he implements and regulates the rest of the law will affect more than just the minute details around buying weed; it could be the difference between maintaining oppressive social structures or granting people autonomy.

Legault, who ran on the promise of reducing immigration in Quebec by one fifth and imposing a “Quebec values” test on immigrants, doesn’t have the greatest track record with minorities. The CAQ’s immigration policies are outside the realm of marijuana legalization, but the reality is that generating and maintaining laws about personal issues like consuming marijuana only lends more power to the state to intervene in people’s lives. As essayist Jackie Wang argued in her book, Carceral Capitalism, right-wingers and neoliberals only want reduced state control until it involves policing the lives of minorities—a contradiction no doubt. It is likely that even as marijuana is legalized, it will still be heavily policed/regulated, which will disproportionately affect minority communities. Therefore, we will need to pay attention to the details surrounding legalization and make our voices heard if they are unjust.

The legalization of marijuana will not dissolve problematic structures in society any more than it will cure cancer, but leaving the police out of as many parts of our lives as possible is something that is in the best interest of the vulnerable members of our society, and thus something we should all strive for.

Graphic by @spooky_soda

 

Categories
Opinions

When you keep your voice quiet, don’t shout about results

Graphic by Ana Bilokin

We shouldn’t be required by law to vote, but we should practice our duty as citizens

Whether or not voting should be made mandatory has often been debated. While some believe that those who don’t vote should be fined, I disagree. A key tenet of western democracy is the right to vote. A right is something that is granted to those who live in any given society. According to the CIA World Factbook, 22 countries currently have it as law that you must vote. In Australia, one of the 22, the government implements a $20 fine for those who don’t vote in federal elections. However, just because you are afforded a right, does not mean you have to use it.

In my opinion, the government forcing you to participate in a vote goes against what freedom means. Voting isn’t a job—we vote because it is a right that was fought for, and to voice our opinion on how society works. In the last Canadian federal election in October 2015, about 68 per cent of eligible Canadians participated in the vote, a notable increase from 2011, where just over 61 per cent participated, according to Global News. In comparison, voter turnout in the Australian 2016 election was at 91 per cent, the lowest since mandatory voting was introduced in 1925, according to sources from the Australian government’s website. Obviously, the forced voting produces a bigger turnout, and that is, in theory, better for a democratic society.

The problem with mandatory voting is that it becomes less of a right and more of a demand. Do I want every single eligible Canadian to vote? Absolutely—voting is, in my opinion, the most important aspect to maintaining a free society. However, when voting is no longer in our control, it defeats the purpose entirely.

I consider voting a democratic duty rather than a decision a government makes for you. In order to be a functioning member of society, you must participate in voting. If you are eligible to vote, and you choose not to, I believe you have no right to complain about who’s in charge of our government.

Since our confederation in 1867, according to several sources including Veteran Affairs, over 115,000 Canadians have died to not only defend our freedom to vote, but to ensure that millions around the globe can as well.

If your preferred candidate doesn’t win, at the end of the day, that is still democracy. If you fulfilled your duty as a citizen, your opinion matters just as much as those who voted for the winning candidate. Become politically active and peacefully protest if you don’t like the actions of a politician. As soon as you stop participating, you give the politician more power over you. I urge everyone to vote, even if their political views differ from mine. I would much rather have my political ideas challenged in a democratic society than have those ideas go unopposed.

I say this because that is what democracy is all about; groups of people with different opinions coming together, to make a country better. Is our system perfect? Of course not––politics is a messy business, but when you don’t participate, it encourages corruption.

When people don’t vote, I believe they shouldn’t be upset that their opinion isn’t taken seriously. When you choose to not vote, you are just as responsible for passing that law, as the hand that signs the bill.

Graphic by Ana Bilokin

 

Categories
Opinions

See you on the other side

Graphic by @spooky_soda

Floor-crossing MP Leona Alleslev is symbolic of the political threshold Canada faces

When the House of Commons reconvened after summer recess on Sept. 17, Leona Alleslev, the Liberal member of Parliament for Aurora—Oak Ridges—Richmond Hill, stood and announced that she was joining the opposition Conservative Party.

Such a move is rare but not unprecedented. Citing the oath she swore to serve Canadians upon joining the military, Alleslev painted a gloomy picture by saying, “Canada faces a perfect storm of serious challenges at home and abroad.” The world has changed, Alleslev said, and Canada needs strong federal leadership in order to change with it.

Floor-crossing raises questions about an MP’s duty to their constituents, and whether the MP should be forced to run in a by-election. Crossing the aisle is generally seen as opportunistic at best. Yet, trying to ban it would arguably contravene the Charter’s freedom of speech provision.

I don’t wish to dispute the ethics of floor-crossing, but rather point out the deep cynicism behind Alleslev’s decision. One of her specific criticisms of the government was that capital investment is leaving the country, and that “tax structures” and “politics” prevent businesses from expanding. Yet, investigative journalists have shown time and again that corporations in Canada pay much less taxes than what is advertised. How much more cushy of a business environment do corporations need?

Alleslev’s other complaint was that Canada’s “foreign policy is disconnected from our trade relationships” and “our ability to deliver on our defense commitments is undermined by politics,” which comes off a bit vague. I would argue that if Canada’s foreign policy and trading partnerships are fraught right now, it has little to do with what Canada is doing. Moreover, when has the Trudeau government ever shown a unwillingness to follow through on defense commitments?

Given all this, it’s easy to view Alleslev’s move as a cynical attempt to ride the wave of right-wing populism sweeping through Canada to a higher-profile government position. Alleslev faced the same choice we all face right now––a choice between empathy, humanitarianism and solidarity with those in need, or the narcissistic politics of contemporary conservatives like Doug Ford. In my opinion, she chose a route seemingly driven by self-interest, spite and cold-bloodedness.

As Conservative Party leaders in Canada rush to imitate the oafish political performance art taking place in the United States, they’re pedaling a viciously cynical brand of politics that glorifies mercenary selfishness and contempt for others. Sadly, it is registering with a lot of people, including some MPs.

Rather than stand up for the principles that led her to liberalism, Alleslev has joined the cynics who advise us to back militarism over lifting people out of poverty; who suggest we take a  common sense approach to economic plight; who claim we can’t afford progressive policies for the environment, taxation or immigration.

The truth, though, is that we can afford it. The problem is we prioritize economic policy that favours the yacht- and Lamborghini-owning class (to borrow a phrase from New Democratic Party MPP Joel Harden) over ensuring all Canadians live above the poverty line.

Yet, the global economic policies and military interventionism of conservative ideology is driving the contemporary global instability Alleslev is so worried about. So, how is adopting increasingly conservative politics going to solve that problem?

We’re living in a time where Canadians have an important choice to make, and it feels like a point-of-no-return moment. Two paths, two very different destinations. We, as citizens, still have a choice to reject the politics of fear and greed, to resist being browbeaten into indifference and jadedness. See you on the other side.

Graphic by @spooky_soda

Categories
Opinions

Education, denied

Graphic by Wednesday Laplante

Ah, Twitter. The wonderful app that connects the universe with short bursts of 280-character tweets. Those tweets, which provide us with a way of expressing ourselves, are often funny, insightful, and inspiring. While Twitter is a great app that has been known to start careers and highlight important issues, it has also been known to end careers and relationships. And we’re not talking about relationships between people per say—unfortunately, we mean relationships between countries.

At the beginning of August, Canada’s foreign ministry tweeted: “Canada is gravely concerned about additional arrests of civil society and women’s rights activists in #SaudiArabia, including Samar Badawi. We urge the Saudi authorities to immediately release them and all other peaceful #humanrights activists.” This spurred angry tweets by the Saudi foreign ministry.

In a series of tweets, the Saudi foreign ministry said they were expelling the Canadian ambassador from the country and suspended trade and investment transactions between the two nations. Most notably, the Saudi government decided to suspend scholarships for its foreign students studying at Canadian universities and colleges, according to Global News.

All students relying on Saudi-funded scholarships have either already been forced to leave, or are preparing to leave Canada in the coming weeks. Sept. 22 was announced as the final deadline for Saudi trainee doctors to leave the country, according to CBC News. The same source confirmed that 8,310 Saudi students were enrolled in Canadian post-secondary schools from Jan. to May 2018. Of that number, 435 were in Quebec, with 327 at McGill University, and more than 60 at Concordia.

We at The Concordian are frustrated to see innocent students affected by this diplomatic dispute. While we understand that each country has its own customs and political systems, we believe that no student’s education should be affected by international policy disputes—especially ones rooted in a request to respect human rights. In an ideal world, these students would be allowed to stay and strive for a bright future here in Canada.

We cannot imagine what these students are going through. But we know that Canada—our society, our educational system and our workforce—will be deeply affected by the departure of these students. Saudi Arabia was the sixth largest source of international students in Canada in 2015, according to a Global Affairs report. International students add approximately $15.5 billion annually to Canada’s economy, with Saudi students representing five per cent of that group.

Specifically, Saudi students’ impact on the Canadian economy is approximately $400 million per year, according to the same source. Although monetary value should be the last thing we look at when determining someone’s worth, it’s important to stress and recognize how detrimental this loss is for Canada.

In an ideal world, a tweet about human rights would not trigger such a hasty retaliation. In an ideal world, that tweet wouldn’t have been necessary to begin with. The common saying that students are our future is true; students are the force that shapes society’s future. The things we learn and what we choose to do with that knowledge is useful in developing our opinions and overall worldview. It’s a shame that a diplomatic dispute is interrupting something as important as education.

We consider those who finally felt Canada was becoming their home. For those of you who have to say goodbye to a place you only recently said hello to; for those who were almost finished with their degree and were beginning to step toward a bright career here in Canada. We’re disappointed that a nation that celebrates its diversity and inclusivity is losing cherished and valuable members of our society. The Concordian wishes you luck in all your future endeavours, and we hope something as trivial as a tweet is never again the reason for your goodbyes.

Graphic by Wednesday Laplante

Categories
Opinions

OPINION: The scary use of the “R” word

Photo by Katelyn Thomas.

Today, we can’t be just not racist––we must be anti-racist

If you feel like you have to explain why something isn’t racist, a) it probably is and b) you’re on the wrong side of history. At an event organized by the Federal Liberal Association in St. Jean on Aug. 16, a woman interrupted Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s speech by incessantly yelling his name until he had no choice but to acknowledge her.

“I want to know when you will give us back the $146 million that we paid for your illegal immigrants.” Those are the words that Diane Blain shouted at the top of her lungs (and into my ear) in a corn field off Highway 133 in Sabrevois, Que. Surrounded by flabbergasted Liberals who were just there to have a good time, Blain threatened to throw a punch at any person who asked her to calm down.

In the midst of the madness, Trudeau attempted to appease the woman by outlining a few ways the government is giving back to Quebecers. Once Trudeau felt he had given her an appropriate amount of attention, he resumed the speech he had come to give. But she wasn’t satisfied. “You didn’t answer my question,” Blain said. As she repeated it, a man found his way to her side to chime in with, “We are not on Mohawk territory.” (We were, in fact, on Mohawk territory).

So, Trudeau put aside diplomacy and called it like he saw it. “This intolerance regarding immigrants does not have a place in Canada,” he said. “Canada was built by waves of immigration that were welcomed by First Nations, who showed us how to build a strong society, and the people who come here, generation after generation, to build stronger communities, this is what makes us stronger as a country. Madam, your intolerance does not have a place here.”

The crowd erupted in cheers, and Trudeau exited stage left. But later, the internet exploded. I was shocked to find that even some Liberals felt Trudeau’s reaction was a little uncalled for. I later realized this reaction was largely due to the footage that circulated online shortly after the event. The video conveniently begins later than the kerfuffle did, meaning you don’t hear Trudeau’s initial level-headed response.

Some say Blain’s question was valid and that Trudeau called her racist to avoid having to answer it. I call bullshit. Trudeau called her racist because he, like any compassionate person, doesn’t believe the borders of our country are where we should draw the line between which humans we care about and which ones we don’t. Article 14 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the right to asylum, reads: “If you are persecuted at home, you have the right to seek protection in another country.” It saddens me that this concept continues to be questioned today.

Racism isn’t always blatant; it manifests itself in many different forms. Trudeau recognizing and denouncing an instance of subtle discrimination means he has an awareness that we should expect from all our leaders as well as ourselves. Being non-racist simply isn’t enough. We have to be anti-racist. We have to actively denounce everyday racism in our thoughts, speech and behaviour. The first step in doing so is calling it by its name.

Racism has always been racism. People aren’t taking things more personally than before. We’re just reaching a point in time where people feel empowered to demand better. And they should.

If there’s one thing I was left with after the bizarre evening I spent in a corn field, it was immense faith in the leader of our country and a sense of hope that change is on the horizon.

Photo by Katelyn Thomas

Categories
News

Concordia PhD student is not welcome in the US

After being denied a US conference visa, Arabpour Roghabadi sent an email to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to thank him for Canada’s diversity. Photo by Mackenzie Lad.

After a year of research comparing construction modules in Canada and the US, Concordia PhD student, Mohammadgavad Arabpour Roghabadi won’t be able to present his findings at a conference in California this June. Why? Because of where he was born.

Arabpour Roghabadi applied for a United States conference visa, after his building engineering paper was accepted for presentation during the American Association of Cost Engineers’ international conference happening from June 24 to 27. Cost engineers oversee the management and costs of building projects he explained.

After completing his bachelor’s and master’s degrees in construction engineering in Iran, Arabpour Roghabadi began his PhD at Concordia in January 2017, under the supervision of professor Osama Moselhi. “I wanted to work with Moselhi because he is well known in the world of engineering and has had a lot of contributions to the field,” said Arabpour Roghabadi .

After he applied for a visa as an Iranian citizen with a Canadian student visa, Arabpour Roghabadi received a letter from the United States consulate explaining he was not eligible for a visa under the Presidential Proclamation 9645, also known as the “travel ban.”

Arabpour Roghabadi felt frustrated and sad he couldn’t take part in a scientific conference simply due to his place of birth.

Per this executive order, citizens from Iran, Libya, Syria, Sudan, Iraq, Yemen, and Somalia, can no longer obtain a visa to the United States, with some exceptions. According to the proclamation, Iranian citizens may obtain a student visa or an exchange visitor visa on a case by case evaluation. The letter also informed Arabpour Roghabadi that his case was to be further reviewed by the consular office.

The letter explained he would only be granted a waiver if “denying [his] entry would cause undue hardship, that [his] entry would not pose a threat to the national security or public safety of the United States and that [his] entry be in the national interest of the United States.”

“I was asked to give the consular office all of the usernames I have on social media, all of the phone numbers I have ever had, all of the addresses I’ve had, even my family’s information,” said Arabpour Roghabadi in an interview with The Concordian. He was even asked to provide the consulate a list of all his travels in the last 15 years, as well as a certified police check. The PhD student also provided a CV and information regarding his financial standing.

Finally, he was not granted a waiver. “I was sad when I was refused [a visa] because of where I was born. In my perspective it’s a kind of racism, which should be condemned. I’m proud to be Iranian,” said Arabpour Roghabadi.

He added, “It doesn’t matter where I’m from or what my [religion is]. What’s important is how I can make contributions to the world.” With that in mind, he wrote a heartfelt letter to Justin Trudeau to thank him for being the leader of such an open and diverse country. “I wish to send a message to all students about how racism can affect the future of young people who want to make contributions, but also how Canada has the perfect platform for young people to make contributions. I’m thankful for that,” said Arabpour Roghabadi.

Moselhi will be attending conference to present his and Arabpour Roghabadi’s findings of the comparative study in building engineering, which would help give a more accurate estimation of the cost of construction.

The state of Hawaii is leading an effort to overturn the travel ban. The Supreme Court of the United States is looking into the constitutionality of the proclamation versus the question of national security, and will rule on the case by the end of the month.

Ultimately the travel ban bars over 150 million people from entering the United States. Arabpour Roghabadi ended his interview with The Concordian by reading a verse by Iranian poet, Saadi Shirazi: “Human beings are members of a whole in creation of one essence […]. If you have no sympathy for human pain then the name of human you cannot retain.”

Photo by Mackenzie Lad

Categories
Sports

The sport that’s sweeping the nation

Most Canadians only take an interest in curling once every four years during the Olympics. Photo by Alex Hutchins.

Mixed doubles curling is attracting a new generation of Canadians

Curling is an old sport with a long history in Canada. But a new form of the game is sweeping across the nation: mixed doubles.

Mixed doubles made its Olympic debut at the 2018 PyeongChang Games. Canadian pair Kaitlyn Lawes and John Morris captured Canada’s attention en route to a gold medal.

The skip, the leader of a curling team, tells the thrower where to aim the rock. Photo by Alex Hutchins.

Mixed doubles curling is a faster, new alternative to the traditional game. Curling normally has four players per team, and games last 10 ends (similar to innings in baseball) with each team throwing eight rocks (or stones) per end. Mixed doubles curling, as the name suggests, only has two players on a team, and each team throws five rocks per end, for eight ends.

Neil Gargul, the director of ice and property at the Pointe-Claire Curling Club, said mixed doubles is a great way for people to join curling without having to put together a four-person team.

“It’s a lot easier to make a team,” he said. “At the pro level, a [traditional] game would take two and a half hours, whereas the mixed doubles are done in an hour and a half. It’s a much faster game. There will be a lot of popularity in mixed doubles, and I know the pros are really eager to do mixed doubles, and dedicate themselves.”

The Canadian mixed doubles championship was held in Leduc, Alta., from March 28 to April 1, and saw some of the top curlers in the country form teams. Jennifer Jones, arguably the best Canadian curler of all time, paired up with her husband, Brent Laing, who competed in the 2018 Winter Games.

There are only two techniques to throw a rock: out-turn, which spins counterclockwise for a right-handed player, and an in-turn, which turns clockwise. Photo by Alex Hutchins.

Although mixed doubles curling could attract a new generation to curling, Gargul said a curler needs to be more “technically-gifted” to succeed in mixed doubles.

“You need to be a better curler to be good at mixed doubles than the team sport,” he said. “There are a lot more high-precision shots. The misses could turn into a lot of points, and that’s the exciting part; it’s high-scoring.”

A stereotype surrounding curling is that it’s a relaxed sport, and you don’t need to be in good physical shape to play. Mixed doubles curling challenges that notion, since a player throwing the rock also has to sweep, and they’re constantly moving around.

Even traditional team curling is starting to require more physical strength, Gargul said, whereas in the past, teams worried less about fitness.

“You need good flexibility, good balance and good strength,” Gargul said. “To be a good curler, you have to be in good shape.” He compared curling to golf, a sport in which athletes now focus more on their fitness.

The sweepers then do the hard work; they have to make sure the rock has enough speed to get down the rink. Photo by Alex Hutchins.

“That’s the new generation of curling, where they realize the physical fitness portion of it,” Gargul added. “But that doesn’t mean you can’t go out to curl and just have fun.”

Curling is a social sport at any level. At Gargul’s Pointe-Claire Curling Club, players from opposing teams sit down after their games for a beer.

“We have a great community at the club,” Gargul said. “Win or lose, the teams sit together after the game and you get to know all the different people in the club.”

Curling is unlike other team sports, where you might dislike your opponent during a game. Gargul said there are some rivalries in curling, but opponents at any level still congratulate each other on good shots.

“Because it’s a precision sport, you have to be in control of your emotions, and be calm when you’re throwing your rock,” said Gargul, who used to play high-intensity team sports like hockey, football and soccer. “Having a level of intensity doesn’t necessarily help you in curling.”

For university students looking to try the sport, Gargul said people can rent the ice and equipment at the Pointe-Claire Curling Club by visiting the club’s website or calling.

“Most clubs offer rentals. You could rent the ice, and a group of eight of you could go out,” Gargul said. “You will have a blast.”

Video by Kenneth Gibson.

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A first step in the march for change

Graphic by Alexa Hawksworth.

Most people are familiar with the phrase: “Be the change you wish to see in the world.” On March 24, that change manifested itself in the March For Our Lives in Washington, D.C., and hundreds of other cities across the United States. Although the march was organized by American students to protest against weak American gun laws following a lengthy streak of shootings in American schools, thousands of Canadians marched in solidarity on Saturday. The ability of a group of Florida teenagers to spark a transnational demonstration is courageous, inspiring and a major step toward effecting real change.

We live in an age where mass shootings are normalized in the United States—or at least they were until about six weeks ago. So far this year, there has been an average of more than one school shooting every week in the United States, or a total of 17 shootings in 12 weeks, according to CNN. While Canadians should be proud to support our neighbours to the south in their fight to improve gun control, it’s important to remember we are not immune to the problem in our own country.

There were 13 shootings—two of which were fatal—in Ottawa alone in January 2018, reported CBC News. This equals to 40 per cent of the shootings recorded in the city in all of 2013. Of the 34 Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) member countries, Canada has the fourth highest rate of death by firearm, according to The Globe and Mail. The rate in Canada is more than twice that of Australia and 10 times the rate in Britain.

Effective gun control has been terminated at the federal level, and gun circulation in Canada has amplified. According to The Globe and Mail, the Harper government overruled the RCMP’s ban on military assault weapons, and eliminated the legal requirement that the sale of shotguns and rifles be tracked. Today, people with gun licenses in Canada can buy an unlimited number of unrestricted guns (i.e. shotguns and rifles, among others), and there is no record kept about any of these purchases. Gun owners in Canada can also avoid background checks because of automatic six-month license extensions that kick in if they fail to renew their license on time. Additionally, from 2012 to 2016, the importation of guns to Canada almost doubled compared to the previous four years—increasing from more than one million to just under two million, according to The Globe and Mail.

So while most of the news media turns its attention to the overwhelming number of massacres in the United States, it is undeniable that gun violence and a lack of gun control are problems in Canada as well.

As Canadians, we should be proud to stand against the people who deem corporate greed and political gain more valuable than the innocent lives of children. We should be proud to support anyone who tries to effect positive, peaceful change in a world that seems increasingly polarized and violent. Canadians should take inspiration from the brave voices and powerful words of young Americans, and make sure our own government understands that weak gun control will no longer be tolerated here either. We should all be determined to end gun violence and school shootings.

A school should be a safe space for everyone. It’s where we go to learn, to flourish and to create a future for ourselves. It is outrageous that shooting drills have become as commonplace in schools as fire drills. Parents should not drop their children off at school fearing they’ll never see them again.

Change comes slowly, but we at The Concordian believe it will come. Children are the future, and Saturday’s march was just a taste of the future these courageous young people will build for themselves. The people in charge can not be relied on to protect that future, nor should it be solely their responsibility. As the students of Parkland high school continue to show us, we must become the change we wish to see in our world.

Graphic Alexa Hawksworth

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