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Concordia’s new initiative in fighting against systemic racism

President’s task force on anti-Black racism

Concordia takes action and launches a plan to address and to fight against systemic racism in the university. On Oct. 29, President and Vice-Chancellor Graham Carr announced the Task Force on Anti-Black Racism.

According to Concordia’s statement, “The task force will direct and coordinate the work needed to generate recommendations that will address anti-Black racism based on the experiences of faculty, staff and students.”

Following the deaths of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor and Ahmaud Arbery, among others, people around the world began to express their frustration with police brutality towards Black people, and took to the streets to march in support of the Black Lives Matter movement. In early June, members of the Concordia community came together and wrote a letter with a series of demands and recommendations for the university, insisting that Concordia take action against anti-Black racism. The letter was written after a short period of consultation. The task force is an opportunity for an ongoing discussion with students, faculty members and staff. Over the course of two years, the task force will address systemic racism and have an action plan put in place with different recommendations from its members.

Led by three co-chairs, Angélique Willkie, associate professor of Contemporary Dance, Stéphane Brutus, professor of Management at JMSB, and Annick Maugile Flavien, founding coordinator of the Black Perspectives Office, the initiative also includes a 15-person leadership team. The students involved are undergraduates, graduates, alumni and two members of the Black Caucus of Concordia (BBC). As for the faculty members and staff, they represent eight sub-committees: campus security, anti-racist education, Concordia’s history and relations with Black communities, curriculum and educational resources, student services, faculty development, employment initiatives and fundraising.

The leadership committee is essentially the brain of the task force. In the sense that the leads are the ones working on the recommendations and all,” commented Flavien.

The importance of the student body is highlighted in this initiative as the task force is very oriented towards the student experience. Brutus stated that “The meat of the task force” is found in the sub-committees’ topics. Brutus explained that looking at the eight sub-committees, four of them directly influence the student experience: campus security, anti-racist education, curriculum and educational resources, and student services.

“This task force will aim to do many things for staff, faculty and community members, but a big part of what we want to do is really focus on the student experience in relation to these matters and try to improve the status,” emphasized Brutus.

According to Wilkie, now is really the time to “peel all of the layers of the onion on a wider spectrum.” She highlights that the responsibility of the task force is to take time over the course of two years to evaluate the situation at Concordia and to “dig in” each of the divisions that will be managed by the separate sub-committees.

Flavien stated that over the next years, “There is going to be continuous action put in place depending on what is possible at what time.” She also explained that there are already a lot of changes happening right now; one being inclusion workshops with the Faculty of Fine Arts as well as psychological services that she is leading.

“The task force will look at the demands of the letter with much more in-depth understanding of what is actually happening at Concordia, what is possible to be put into place and what best fits the community as we move forward.”

The task force will finalize the membership of the sub-committees by Nov. 30, 2020.

Amaria Phillips, co-founder of the newly established Black Student Union (BSU), commented on the need of Black students’ representation at the university. Phillips pointed out the necessity for this club especially in a predominantly white university like Concordia.

Phillips also clarified that the BSU is not part of the task force but hopes to be working with the initiative in the near-feature.

“The task force is a really important step. Now Black students really know that there is something holding the university accountable in making sure that Black students’ voices are heard,” said Phillips.

 

Graphic by @the.beta.lab

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Concordia Student Union News

Abolition or reform? A new CSU position

CSU’s police brutality position is controversial in its wording

On Oct. 28, the CSU’s second meeting of the month discussed Arts and Science Representative Shivaane Subash’s police brutality position. In hopes of being added to the CSU’s Positions Book, the position highlights how the CSU does not support the SPVM in its treatment of Black and Indigenous students.

Two distinct positions were recognizable in the discussions: one for abolition, and one against. This doesn’t mean that any parties were against taking a position; rather, they had different approaches to the position.

Subash wrote in the position, “The CSU recognizes its racially diverse student population and how widely reported racial profiling experiences by the SPVM affects their educational experience. Thus, it is vital to advocate for their safety and security to ensure a safe, enriching university environment.”

This universal statement is one that most CSU representatives agree with. However, there are a handful of representatives that have issues with the last clause in the position.

The section originally read, “CSU stands in favour with defunding and abolishing the SVPM, so as to redirect those financial resources to areas such as healthcare, mental health, housing, education, jobs, and restorative-justice models that better suit the needs of our community.” After the discussion, the section of the quote in italics was removed.

Subash explained that she “looked at the Positions Book and realized there was just a small section on police brutality.”

As one of the only remaining women of colour in the CSU now that many have stepped down, she knew that someone needed to take a stand, and change the CSU’s position on these issues.

Subash is aware that abolishing and defunding the police is a controversial idea, and was expecting push back from fellow council members.

“This is natural, there was pushback and confusion from the general public and different leaders as well, so it was expected by everyone,” she said.

Despite this, she said it’s still exhausting to deal with this type of push back.

“It’s mostly tiring … especially when everyone is learning about concepts such as police brutality. They’re not new concepts, but they’re penetrating the public more nowadays.”

She stood by her ideas and statement, based on her own personal experience as a minority.

“A lot of people are against it because the police have always been there as an institution that we’ve had for ages,” she said.

So people are so used to that police presence, they don’t want to consider abolishing/ defunding the police.”

However, this isn’t the section that Tzvi Hersh Filler, a member of the CSU Council of Representatives, had issues with, but rather the word “abolish.”’

In Filler’s opinion, “In this case, seeing as [the police] is an essential service, scrapping it doesn’t make sense. Obviously, you have to fix the accountability issues.” He argues that the word “abolish” will create a sour relationship with the SPVM, which can lead to bigger issues.

Filler compares the situation to a similar one that occurred in New York City, where a group of Orthodox Jews were being harassed with bricks. According to Filler, the police failed to handle the situation properly.

He said, “The fact that the police were unable to properly handle [the situation], came down to the fact that the police felt like [the mayor] was out to abolish them, and that created this atmosphere where they couldn’t do their jobs.”

James Hanna, a Gina Cody councillor at the CSU is of the same opinion as Filler. Both agree that the SPVM is extremely problematic and needs to be fixed. However, these two don’t see how abolition is the key to this.

He said, “Without fixing society itself; without lowering the racism score, the level of [racism in] the police also won’t change because it’s the same pool of candidates, it’s still the subset of that same population, unless you radically change the population.”

As of now, the position’s 12.8 section stands as such: “CSU stands in favour with defunding and abolishing the SVPM.”

 

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News

What’s been happening in the Wet’suwet’en territory?

With COVID-19, the protests’ momentum diminished, but the communities in the territory are still fighting

The Wet’suwet’en solidarity protests made national and international news in the beginning of 2020, as people across Canada occupied land and erected blockades to show support for Wet’suwet’en, who were protesting a pipeline being built on their land — yet, because of COVID-19, that momentum has since dissipated.

In February, the federal government and the Wet’suwet’en hereditary chiefs agreed to a memorandum of understanding (MOU); a draft agreement that will have the provincial and federal government acknowledge the Rights and Title of the Wet’suwet’en under their system of governance.

Yet the MOU does not address the Coastal GasLink (CGL) pipeline — a main reason for the social movement — that cuts across the Wet’suwet’en territory.

“It was quite clear in those conversations that the coastal gas pipeline wasn’t open for discussion,” said Karla Tait, a Unist’ot’en House member and volunteer director of clinic services at the Unist’ot’en Healing Centre. “We have the issue of no consent from our nation for this project, which is threatening to damage a cornerstone of our culture.”

According to the Unist’ot’en website, Wet’suwet’en is a territory made out of 13 hereditary house groups. The Unist’ot’en are part of the Dark House. The website states that “The Unist’ot’en homestead is not a protest or demonstration. Our clan is occupying and using our traditional territory as it has for centuries.”

In regards to the MOU, Tait said that “In terms of actual resolution, it hasn’t resolved anything.”

Tait explained that the pipeline is proposed to pass under rivers that hold cultural importance and supply the communities with salmon, which is a keystone species to the region.

She also stated that the CGL construction workers’ camps were destroying trails that were culturally important; thus, there was a push for legal action against the CGL to ensure no further historical and cultural sites were damaged.

But because of COVID-19, the court date was postponed, and by the time it was rescheduled, CGL had already expanded into the territory without any archaeological dispute. Tait explained that CGL used the cover of COVID-19 to proceed with the construction of the pipeline.

In an open letter, the Union of British Columbia Indian Chiefs called for the shutdown of the pipeline, as it increased the risk of COVID-19 transmission by increasing the amount people travelling in and out of the community. But like in most provinces, construction was deemed an essential service.

“We didn’t pack everything up, we are still here,” said Tait, who explained that while the Unist’ot’en are not currently blocking the pipeline, the community is still there, facilitating activities to revitalize cultural practices and reconnect to the land.

She said that those activities are collaborations in the Indigenous communities, focusing on seasonal activities like hunting and traditional medicine. But because of COVID-19, the scope of the activities has been limited, turning into either resource-videos or small in-person groups in accordance with  COVID-19 distancing rules.

Tait wanted it to be made clear that revitalizing those cultural activities was in itself an act of resistance against the colonial government.

“It is very difficult to witness the coming and going of invaders,” said Tait, “[and] sit across from them as they describe some measures to minimize the damages to places that are sacred.

“I would employ the readers to do what’s in their power [to help], because we have done more than enough. This is everyone’s future and ability to survive in a world that is approaching climate catastrophe, so do your part,” she said.

Tait explained that people see the Wet’suwet’en movement as abstract and removed from their power. Yet she said that before COVID-19 there was huge social momentum and public pressure through demonstrations and marches. Those actions by people promoted the federal government to begin the process of the MOU.

“It is a tricky context thing to do with COVID-19, but I think people underestimate their power,” Tait said. “I felt like we were at a point [before COVID-19] where things were going to shift in big ways. I hope that people will not forget that momentum.”

 

Archive graphic by Wednesday Laplante

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News

Despite a recovering unemployment rate, students struggle to find jobs in Quebec

Concordia student forced to leave Canada after losing hours at his workplace

Quebec’s economy is gradually recovering from the damage brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic. According to the most recent Labour Force Survey from Statistics Canada, the province had 77,000 more people employed in September than in August.

Canada’s unemployment rate was 9.0 per cent in September, dropping by 1.2 percentage points since August. A similar situation is happening in Quebec, where the unemployment rate fell from 8.7 to 7.4 per cent over the same time period.

Despite a gradual improvement, young people still feel the impact of mass layoffs during the pandemic, more so than any other age group. Quebec youth aged 15 to 24 had a 13.1 per cent unemployment rate in September, compared to just 6.8 per cent in February before the spread of COVID-19.

José Morales, an Industrial Engineering student at Concordia University, has personally felt the effect of unemployment caused by the pandemic. In the summer of 2020, he was working full-time at the Foamextra factory, which manufactures polyurethane foam products. In September, however, his employment situation took a turn for the worse.

“The factory didn’t need me as a full-time worker anymore, so they cut my hours to a bare minimum. They’re concerned about health risks as we enter the second wave — and that’s understandable — but I really needed those hours,” said Morales.

The engineering student could not find a job in the restaurant industry either, as all dining rooms remain closed in Montreal amid the current red zone restrictions. His only other option was to book a flight home to El Salvador.

Morales explained, “I had to leave the country since I couldn’t support myself anymore. Barely working part-time at the factory wouldn’t cover for my living costs, let alone my tuition fees. It’s unfortunate how much uncertainty the pandemic has added to the Canadian job market.”

In fact, young people are particularly vulnerable to pandemic-related restrictions because of their role in the job market. According to the Youth Employment in Canada government report in 2016, 33.7 per cent of workers aged 15 to 29 were working in retail, hospitality, and food service sectors, compared to just to 13.4 per cent of workers aged 30 and over.

Therefore, it has been particularly difficult for younger employees to find employment during the past few months, as Quebec’s shops, restaurants, and bars started to close or operate at limited capacity.

Meanwhile, the province’s educational services industry witnessed encouraging results in September. That month, it had 23,900 more workers employed compared to August, representing the highest increase out of all the industries in Quebec.

This growth was partly driven by the return of students to school classrooms at the start of the new academic year. Unlike universities and CEGEPs, elementary and secondary schools are largely staying open in Quebec. As a result, higher staffing levels are required to support in-person instruction.

Overall, the province’s unemployment rate is gradually returning to its pre-pandemic levels, showing signs of recovery following a record-high rate of 17 per cent in March. However, the impact of COVID-19 on Canada’s unemployment is still far from over, especially for university students.

 

Graphic by @the.beta.lab

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News

Online School, a pandemic and no break

The lack of a fall reading week is adding to an already difficult fall semester

With the pandemic still in full force, Montreal is remaining under red zone status until at least Nov. 23. The reality of virtual school has set in, and students are struggling to find success in the online classroom. It’s no secret this fall semester has been challenging.

Online midterms add significant stress to the usual midterm season, and without a fall reading week, students have no chance to breathe.

Last year, students voted favourably on the addition of a fall reading week. Sixteen per cent of the student body took part in the vote with 86 per cent voting in favour of the break.

“A fall reading break would be a great method to reduce midterm stress and should be given increased consideration due to the pandemic,” said Omar Hamdy Salem, a third-year Economics and Political Science student. “I would like [time] to brush up on my midterms, perhaps spend some time [on] Zoom sessions with friends to try and study together.”

Despite the vote, a break has not yet been implemented.

“Concordia makes their academic calendar a year in advance … This fall had already been too late; the earliest convening time would have been fall 2021,” said Isaiah Joyner, the CSU’s general coordinator.

But just because it didn’t happen this year does not mean that the project is dead.

“The project is still ongoing, so we could see it as early as fall 2021,” said Joyner.

In a statement made to The Concordian, a concordia representative said “We will shortly be issuing a community consultation document to solicit feedback on two possible options: one, beginning the term before Labour Day, and two, shortening the term from 13 to 12 weeks.”

This means students will soon be able to give feedback on how they want the fall reading week implemented.

Without a break in the fall, the semester has been intense, and students have lost any relief that came from attending school. Going to the library to study, getting coffee at the Hive or even meeting their professors in person… simple aspects of the university experience have been stripped away.

“The blended lines with online learning and remote learning and now having to work so much harder because of the adaptations and the classes feeling even more overwhelming, they cut directly into your home life,” said Joyner.

“You could really go and make a separation — work-life balance, school-life balance — but now they are all blended into one … Taking a step back seems almost impossible.”

A fall break is not only an opportunity for students to study, but also to get some rest from the fast pace of the school year.

“People [could] detach themselves and realign, take it easy and be like, ‘I’ll make it to the break,’ but in the fall it’s just go, go, go and it can be very challenging,” said Joyner.

“I would spend it just studying … [and be] able to breathe and not do assignments after hours and hours of video lectures,” said Noah Choen-Wanis, a second-year Engineering student.

But the absence of a fall reading week isn’t the only thing contributing to students’ stress.

With online school comes a lack of personal attention from professors; a major change for many students.

“Not having in-person classes where it’s much easier to learn for me and get ready for midterms makes studying and midterm prep much harder,” said Cohen-Wanis.

Hosting midterms online comes with a lot of technical chaos as well.

“With how disorganized and random the assignment time and location is, [it] makes it a lot harder to study and do the work needed for the midterms,” Cohen-Wanis continued.

“I’ve felt more stressed than last year mostly because of all the self-managing and self-teaching I’ve had to do this semester … [it’s] mostly self-motivation issues,” said Emily Allen, a second-year Sociology student.

Online classes meant many international students remained in their home countries this year, which comes with unique challenges.

“This year, studying from my home country El Salvador has proved exceedingly difficult due to the constant power and internet outages [and] a lack of an appropriate study space,” said Jose Morales, an Industrial Engineering student.

A reading week could have been the perfect opportunity for students to recuperate from the stress of online school and the pandemic.

“I think a reading break would allow you to manage assessments … you could study all your courses at once without missing a class,” said Allen. “I think it would have been good last year, but this year even more so.”

 

Photo by Christine Beaudoin

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Checking in on Montreal as restrictions extend

The extension of red-zone measures bring additional uncertainty to Montrealers

As the city enters a month-long extension of its red-zone restriction measures, Montrealers are feeling discouraged by the seemingly endless lockdown.

With gym and restaurant owners standing up against a continued shutdown, it’s clear that Montreal isn’t reacting well to the news.

In the past two weeks, Montreal has seen around 3,400 new cases and 20 deaths. Though Côte-des-Neiges—Notre-Dame-de-Grâce is where the most number of cases were reported for the last two weeks, Côte-Saint-Luc has been the borough most highly affected in proportion to its population size.

The people most affected in the past two weeks tended to be between ages 10 and 29, yet those over 80 have been disproportionately affected compared to other age groups throughout the pandemic overall.

This is presumably because of the nursing home crisis seen in April, with 18 care homes reporting at least one case of the virus. In the past 14 days, there have been over twice as many deaths reported in those over 80 compared to the rest of the population.

Interestingly, while Premier François Legault has stood firm on his decision to keep gyms closed, a majority of workplace outbreaks have been in shops: on Oct. 27, 20 out of the 58 workplace-related cases could be traced back to retail sector businesses.

As of Oct. 29, a total of 2,377 active cases had been reported within the Quebec school system, with about 85 per cent affecting public school students.

In the following weeks, more business closures are also expected, with local enterprises more vulnerable after a difficult first wave; 39 per cent of business owners have had to assume more debt because of restrictions. Quebec’s restaurant industry alone reported total losses of 30 per cent, or around $4 billion.

The announcement that Oct. 28 wouldn’t be the last day of Montreal’s partial lockdown has left many feeling frustrated and concerned.

“I’ve seen a lot of Instagram friends traveling to France or just anywhere in Europe in the past few weeks just to party and such,” said Naomie Tat, a photographer and designer who studies at Université de Montréal. “It’s really strange to me that they were able to do that; [it] feels irresponsible to me.”

Others are wondering what is coming at the end of November: with fears of overwhelming the city’s hospitals, it’s unclear whether the crisis will get any better come December.

“That’s what concerns me, we definitely can’t be having huge holiday gatherings,” says Concordia Political Science student Juliana Delmar, “but I have a really hard time thinking that people will respect [the restrictions] if the government comes out and says that there should be no gatherings for Christmas at all.”

“[I think] if they allow gatherings for Christmas, there might be a spike in January,” she says.

With these new measures in place, Premier Legault hopes the situation improves enough to safely allow for a deconfined holiday season — if not, the consequences could be devastating for our already fragile economy and for public health.

Photos by Christine Beaudoin

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News

Uniqlo enters Quebec’s retail market

Canada’s 14th and largest Uniqlo opens in Montreal

 

Downtown Montreal — nearly empty since the beginning of the pandemic — is finally experiencing some excitement. The Japanese retailer Uniqlo opened its largest Canadian store in Montreal’s Eaton Centre on Friday.

Its entrance in Quebec’s apparel market did not go unnoticed. Between construction and security officers, hundreds started lining up before the opening at the corner of Ste-Catherine St. and Robert-Bourassa Blvd. The waiting time was between 40 minutes to an hour long.

Customers line up on the street outside the Uniqlo entrance.

Police officers weren’t too far away, overseeing the scene and enforcing social distancing.

The opening was eagerly awaited since the CEO of Uniqlo Canada, Yuichiro Kaneko, announced the brand’s arrival a year ago. The 32,000-square-foot store offers a wide range of clothes for men, women, and children, as well as a small selection of home products. Additionally, the Japanese retailer has  a reading corner for children and will feature a flower shop display with the creations of Montreal floral design studio Bell Jar Botanicals until Nov. 15.

“I’ve been waiting for this opening for a long time now! Whenever I go to Toronto, I need to stop at an Uniqlo store. I’m used to ordering online but it’s always better when you can see the products before buying them,” said shopper Caroline Chicoine as she waited at the check-out line.

While opening during a pandemic demands more preparation, Uniqlo made sure to implement strict health and safety measures to create a safe shopping environment: plexiglass protective screens at the checkout counter, hand sanitizer available at the entrance and at cash registers, entrance and exit located on two different levels, customers having their temperature taken before entering. Masks were also mandatory in the lineup and only a limited number of people were allowed inside the store at a time.

As many as 115 employees work at the two-story Montreal location. They started preparing the opening the last week of August, receiving and organizing the merchandise as it arrived. Staff member Jessie Khov said she was eager to welcome the customers on opening day.

“Everyone is really proud of the hard work. We [started] preparing a month before the opening. Seeing the beginning of nothing to something like this today, it’s pretty special,” she said.

Moreover, the city hopes the excitement over the new retailer will also benefit local businesses, bringing Montrealers out of their homes to make a shopping trip with a few other stops along the way.

“We should come and shop. If we can’t [go in person], we can buy online. But how about we go direct[ly] to those stores. I think it’s a good way to support our small businesses,” said Mayor Valérie Plante, present at Uniqlo’s opening for the ribbon-cutting ceremony.

Up until now, the interest for the new store has been clear. It’s likely Downtown Montreal hasn’t been this alive since the pandemic forced people to work and study from home, reducing more than 90 per cent of the regular downtown traffic. People were seen daily lining up outside during the retailer’s first opening weekend.

 

Photos by Axelle Viramontes de la Torre

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News

Secondary schools struggle to cope with COVID-19’s second wave due to underlying issues

Students outside of College Saint-Henri.

A look at  how schools are struggling within  the red zone

Secondary schools in Montreal have been the subject of controversial conversations over the past few weeks.

Despite Montreal being in a red zone, Premiere Legault has insisted on keeping schools open thus far.

Back in September, he acknowledged the risk of sending children back to school, and argued that this was a calculated risk — one many in the education field would agree on, but for different reasons.

Now with over 2,700 cases in the 10-19 age group, cases have spiked considerably from just a month ago. As of Oct. 22, 2,207 cases are from schools in the province — an increase of 1,356 cases from the previous month.

These numbers show that the age group’s case numbers are increasing at an exponential rate. According to Sarah-Ève Grenier-Tourigny and Florence Normandeau, two Education students at UQAM who work in schools on a weekly basis, there is a reason why this is occurring.

The two students are in their third year of studying Social and Academic Accommodation in Education, which applies to students with learning or mental disabilities, and focuses on allowing them to receive more one-on-one teaching.

Their biggest concern lies with the miscommunication between the government and schools. Ève Grenier-Tourigny said, “I find there is a huge lack of accountability from Minister [of Education, Jean-François] Roberge; he’s painting a pretty picture in the media but there is not lots of concrete action in reality.”

Normandeau agreed with her colleague, and said, “I think everyone will do what they want, each school environment will dictate their own rules. But I feel like it shouldn’t be like that; rather, government and public health agencies should dictate how [COVID] is handled in schools, and everyone should follow those rules.”

Certain measures are obligatory in every school in the red zone. This includes highschool students wearing masks at all times, and those in their fourth and fifth year of secondary school only attend school on alternate days. Students continue to have school five days a week, and can receive sanctions when they do not complete work in time. Any other measures have been left up to individual schools to outline.

Frustrated by the rhetoric perpetuated by the provincial government present in mainstream media, Normandeau  explained that the ‘bubble’ system was implemented due to bigger, underlying problems with Quebec’s education system.

The bubble system refers to how classes are placed in ‘bubbles,’ in an effort to minimize the spread of COVID through the school. This means that students aren’t technically allowed to interact with students outside of their own class.

“We don’t have any classrooms, we don’t have any money to protect people, to do our lessons properly. We have no space in schools,” she said, referring to the limited physical space in schools and classrooms that makes it impossible to respect social distancing.

“These underlying issues have been a burden on our education system for decades, and are all culminating now,” Ève Grenier-Tourigny said. “There are huge classes, and now with the pandemic it’s just getting worse and worse. We’re heading for a rupture, if we aren’t already there.”

Another big problem when it comes to secondary schools is what happens when students leave their institutions at the end of the day.

Normandeau said, “I saw students when they finished school … They talk, they aren’t necessarily in the same classes and they talk among themselves and go take the subway, or take the bus.”

Despite these challenges, Grenier-Tourigny believes  it is crucial that we keep schools open for students’ mental health and academic prowess.

“[Keeping schools open] is also important for dropout rates and loss of motivation. Because we cannot see the end of this pandemic, we can’t just decide to take over three years of a teenager’s life … You want to have 16-year-old students with only their second year of highschool?” said Grenier-Tourigny.

Camille Dussault, a student in her final year of high school at Collège Durocher Saint-Lambert, sees herself as one of the more responsible teenagers in her age group, and opened up about the situation in her highschool.

At Collège Durocher Saint-Lambert, students attend school in-person every other day, with online school in between. Since the online schedule is strict, she manages to stay afloat, but still looks forward to the days she gets to go to school.

Prior to the mandatory mask rule, Dussault said she was one of “two students who would wear [a mask] all the time, and the rest of the class was just like ‘oh, I hate wearing my mask, so I’m not gonna wear it.’”

With a classroom filled with 36 students, this was shocking and uncomfortable for Dussault. Now, with mandatory masks, she feels safer.

“Some people were unhappy about it, but I’m kinda glad because I feel so much safer.” 

The most problematic time of day for Dussault is lunch time. She mentioned how many students took advantage of the nice weather to sit outside and eat lunch with friends that aren’t a part of their ‘bubble.’ She has high hopes that with winter approaching, this will subside.

“People …  have lunch there with their friends that are not in their classes, and they don’t respect the distance that is required most of the time. But we do have monitors that make sure that people do [keep their distance],” said Dussault.

This is difficult for her, and she feels like she is one of the only students taking these measures seriously. Dussault describes how she sits apart from her group when eating, and wears a mask even to see her best friend.

“They are all gonna be stuck together, and I am just sitting really far away but listening to the conversations …  I don’t get why they can’t distance themselves. It’s so simple! I could be less excluded if everyone was respecting the distance.”

Despite the stress of going to school in-person, Dussault refuses to accept that she may  have to do online school full-time again. After a very hard time during the first lockdown, she doesn’t feel that asynchronous online classes would be beneficial to students.

Addressing the first lockdown, she said, “I just remember back when it started … a lot of people — myself kind of included — felt very, very alone. And it was kind of detrimental to our social abilities.”

She stresses how difficult integrating back into society after months of isolation was for the growing mind.

“I felt like interacting in real life was almost more difficult! Like I had lost a bit of my [social] capacities since I hadn’t really talked to anyone!”

According to Dussault, many students did not take online school seriously, and it could cause a major problem down the road.

“A lot of people I know apparently didn’t [submit any work], and some things I would [s]lack a bit … but whenever we had to submit something, I would always make sure it was done on time. And apparently a ton of people didn’t even submit anything, like they didn’t even open their computers, which I found crazy. But it’s more common than you think.”

“It’s … worth it to sanitize everything, wear masks, but still get to have that little piece of interaction we used to have before. Even if it’s not nearly as good as before, sadly.”

 

Photo by Kit Mergaert

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Opinions

“I’m moving to Canada”: being a Canadian during an American election year

Why Americans insist on “moving to Canada” before every election

I know there is an important election going on in the States when my American friends start saying “I’m going to move to Canada.” And with election season upon them, it’s almost guaranteed that every American I talk to from now until Nov. 3 will bring this sentiment up in some way, shape or form. Each person expresses it differently, from my American friends jokingly proposing Green Card marriages, to my great-aunt in Texas posting memes on my Facebook wall about “Trump Air” airdropping all the “butt-hurt liberal snowflakes” somewhere over Saskatchewan.

As a Canadian who has never been south of the 49th parallel, I find myself approaching American politics much in the same way I would a soccer match that I put money on. I will watch the Americans play their game and accept whatever happens, win or lose, as being out of my control.

I’ll admit that this year I had intended to skip the presidential debates altogether. The 2016 election was still fresh in my mind and I seriously doubted that the moderator would ask any questions about the tariffs levied on Canadian goods or the renegotiation of NAFTA. But I acquiesced to skimming through a recording of it on YouTube after my Twitter feed was spammed by friends live-Tweeting the event.

As I watched Trump and Biden debate policies for a foreign land, I couldn’t help but think back to the only other president I remember in my lifetime. President Obama’s first inauguration is one of the few experiences from my elementary school days that I can still picture vividly. I remember watching President Obama’s speech from the back of my French class as a substitute teacher yelled in broken French to “ferme la bouche, nous vivons à travers l’histoire.” I ruminated on those words, not being able to fully grasp their significance at the time and, if I am being completely honest, a part of me still doesn’t.

But when I hear an American say “I’m moving to Canada” I get the feeling that I should at least try to understand what those words mean. From the outside looking in, it seems to be the great paradox of American culture. A country with a national identity based upon its unwavering dedication to the democratic process has a population in which half of whom are willing to call it quits at the drop of a hat.

But I can see that there is something quintessentially American to it. All the qualities that American people hold dear are encapsulated in that phrase. The modern American has finally found a way to express the desire for an equal society, the need to leave one’s ancestral home to chase a better life and the escape of a perceived tyranny, (whether it be Republican or Democratic) in under five words. It is as if “I’m moving to Canada” has become the 21st century equivalent to manifest destiny.

And yet, I sense a slight indifference within that saying. I have never heard it phrased as a question of “Can I?’” but always as a statement of “I can.” For a nation that’s in the grip of widespread xenophobia, I find it ironic how lightly its citizens throw around the concept of millions emigrating en masse to a foreign nation with little regard for how those who live there might feel about the idea. There are times when I feel tempted to ask in reply “Why not Japan? Or Australia? Or Sweden even? The weather there is certainly nicer.” But I don’t think that any American would understand what I’m trying to say. For that, you need to be a Canadian, the same way you need to be an American to understand the phrase “I’m moving to America.”

 

 Graphic by @the.beta.lab

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West Islanders are ready to ride the rails

The Réseau express métropolitain (REM) light rail will service the West Island in 2023

Montreal’s $6.5 billion public transit project, the Réseau express métropolitain (REM), is set to change the way Montrealers commute to work. But even as the light rail’s construction makes significant progress, West Island residents are concerned about accessibility.

This project broke ground in April 2018 and is expected to begin operation in 2021, extending to Brossard on the South Shore. This driverless light-rail system will consist of 26 stations in the Greater Montreal area, spanning 67 kilometres and directly connecting to the city’s metro system.

In 2023, the REM will start operating on the West Island, whose residents are unsatisfied with the current state of public transportation.

Mayor of Pointe-Claire John Belvedere told The Concordian that “Current service is unreliable, since there’s not enough buses on weekends and at nighttime. The STM is overlooking an entire transportation system here in Pointe-Claire.”

With trains running 20 hours a day, Pointe-Claire residents will be able to reach downtown Montreal in just over 20 minutes. This means commute times for the West Island will be cut at least by half.

However, the entire journey may not be particularly convenient. Belvedere says his municipality is concerned about the accessibility of its future stations: Fairview-Pointe-Claire and Des Sources.

“The roads leading to our REM stations — Saint Jean Boulevard and Sources Boulevard — [are] not pedestrian-friendly, and it’s inconvenient for cyclists to use them,” said the Mayor.

On top of that, residents are worried about the lack of parking spaces at the stations. Nearly 6,000 parking spots have been removed from the initial REM plans, affecting the West Island in particular.

Driving to Kirkland and Pointe-Claire stations could be especially problematic, as the two stations currently have zero planned parking spaces dedicated specifically to future REM commuters. In 2016, however, the two stations were promised to have a 2,000-car capacity combined.

Belvedere said his residents had many more complaints regarding parking than the construction process itself. This weekend, the installation of overground tracks will lead to the closure of Highway 40 westbound near Pointe-Claire. This inconvenience does not seem to significantly disturb the locals, however.

Instead, some have raised concerns over the cost of the entire light-rail project. In fact, Parti Québécois spokesperson Alain Therrien called the REM “a waste of taxpayer money.”

Taxpayers will not be covering the entirety of the project’s $6.5 billion cost. The Caisse de dépôt placement du Québec, Canada’s second-largest pension fund, is contributing $3.2 billion for the light rail’s construction.

The federal and Quebec governments will also be investing $1.283 billion each, thus evenly dividing the funding responsibility.

According to Belvedere, the REM’s potential benefits are worth such a significant financial commitment. He explained that the light rail project would increase the home values in the West Island area and attract more business.

“If you’re a business in Pointe-Claire, you can even have employees living downtown and easily commuting to the West Island. It won’t be a one-way commute anymore, where our residents mostly commute downtown for work.”

The REM is indeed expected to create more jobs for Montrealers, having promised 34,000 employees involved in the construction process as well as 1,000 permanent positions in maintaining the light rail.

West Islanders will have to wait until 2023 for the project to become a reality. The good news is that despite COVID-19, elevated tracks are being actively built along Highway 40, and the project as a whole is progressing according to schedule.

“The REM will be a fabulous system, and it’s something that our people have wanted for years. Now it seems like we’re finally getting it,” said Belvedere.

Photo by Christine Beaudoin

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Primary schools in Quebec — how’s it going?

In the midst of the second wave, schools and parents struggle with how to protect the children from the second wave of COVID-19

Montreal has been experiencing a full-fledged second wave of COVID-19, and has gone into lockdown since Oct. 1. With the number of cases rising, the provincial government has put new measures in place.

Dining rooms, libraries, museums and theatres have closed, and home gatherings are now banned. Additionally, social distancing is being reinforced, and masks are now mandatory during any demonstration or protest.

However, primary and secondary schools have remained open. When Premier François Legault addressed the province in a press conference at the end of September, he made his goal clear: “Our objective is first of all to protect the schools.”

Santé Montreal shows that there are currently 616 cases in the 5-9 age group, compared to Sept. 12 when there were only 376 cases, representing a 63.8 per cent increase. For older children, aged 10-19, there are currently 2,459 cases, compared to 1,321 cases from a month ago.

There has been plenty of controversy over the decision to keep schools open, and if the government should give parents a choice when it comes to their children’s education.

Charlotte Fritsch, an after-school caretaker at École Saint-Joseph in the Plateau, explained that it’s important to give kids the normalcy of going to school.

“Let [the children] go to school, see their teachers, see their friends in their class … these are formative years in their development when they are so young.”

The primary schools typically operate in smaller groups. Every classroom is a bubble, meaning children can play and interact normally with others in their bubble. Only the adults are required to wear protective gear such as masks and safety goggles or a visor. Fritsch explained that even though safety measures are in place, some gaps still remain.

“But as employees, educators, teachers, we really do our best to remind them of the rules, [such as] to take different paths and avoid colliding with another person,” said Fritsch.

Katrina Chionidis, a mother to an 11-year-old, is struggling with the second wave. After losing her job in the service industry due to COVID shutdowns, she now has nothing but time to homeschool her kids.

She said, “Second lockdown I found has hit me, my staff, and my family a lot harder than the first one. And the first one was a lot longer.”

However, a common misconception is that parents in Quebec are allowed to remove their kids from school for remote learning, similar to Ontario. Quebec does not allow for kids to be taken out of school unless justified by a medical cause.

Chionidis said, “We don’t have a choice … If I had the option, [the school] wouldn’t call the Directeur de la Protection de la Jeunesse on me, which is what they threatened to do when I asked if I could keep him out of school.”

Chionidis explained that in her case, she should have that choice, since online learning was successful for her family in the past.

“Every class in my son’s school has smart boards. So what would it cost [to install] a webcam so he would be able to do the home schooling like we did during the first lockdown,” asked Chionidis.

Although there is a lot of concern over the loss of normality in childrens’ lives, Chionidis believes that this isn’t an issue.

“This isn’t normal [either]. Let’s say you have a five [or] six year old year old, kindergarten or grade one. You are now asking this child to sit at a desk for seven hours a day. That’s not normal.”

However, there are many parents who don’t have the ability to stay home and care for their children full time in addition to providing for their family.

According to these parents, it is important for schools to remain open, and respect the safety guidelines that come from the Quebec national institute of public health.

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University students have mixed emotions about the COVID alert app

While some students are happy to use the new app, others have privacy concerns

Earlier this month, the COVID Alert app went live in Quebec. Many Quebecers were eager to have a new tool to slow the spread of the virus. However, some still aren’t willing to download the app.

The COVID alert app works with Bluetooth and random codes. Essentially, the Bluetooth signal detects phones that are near yours. Then the phones send each other random codes. If you contract COVID-19, you will have to enter a code into the app, which will notify all the people you came into close contact with that they may have been exposed to the virus.

“We have to use the application massively for it to work,” said Edith Joly, a family doctor in Montreal. “If not many people use it, it destroys its purpose.”

Despite her concerns about the app not having enough users to function correctly, over four million Canadians have already downloaded it, including university students like Marc-Olivier Gagné, an Engineering student at the Royal Military College of Canada who normally resides in Montreal.

“I think it’s a great tool to help combat COVID.”

Ashlee, a recent University of Ottawa graduate who lives in Gatineau, also believes this app could be beneficial to public health and safety.

“I think this app could help lower the cases if we all use it.”

However, many students aren’t as eager as Ashlee and Gagné to download the app due to privacy concerns such as the government tracking their location, or collecting personal information.

“I don’t know if they’re tracking my phone,” said Isabella Hernandez, a second-year HEC student. “I don’t know if the government is trying to issue tickets with this new app or collect my personal information.”

Contrary to Hernandez’s concerns, a Health Canada product manager asserted the app is “not tracking any of our data … There is no breach of privacy because the app is using Bluetooth and codes.”

The Government of Canada also stated, “The COVID Alert app creates a random code, so that no one will know your name, or your location.”

Some students who have already downloaded the app believe that those who aren’t willing to download it should consider what they are already doing on the internet.

“I don’t know how much of your liberty you’re conceding when you use this app considering your bitmoji appears on the Snapchat map,” said Gagné.

Gagné is referencing the feature on Snapchat that tracks users GPS location and displays it on a map featuring a cartoon version of the user.

Those who use Facebook and not the COVID Alert app are also criticized.

“I find it hypocritical to argue that you don’t want to use the COVID Alert app when you’re on Facebook and other social media,” said Ashlee. “I would rather the government have my information than private companies.”

Facebook has been criticized in the past for sharing user data with third-party companies for advertising purposes.

However, privacy concerns are not the only thing preventing people from wanting to download the app.

Some students believe the app wouldn’t work because people wouldn’t put in the effort to get tested or quarantine upon getting the app’s notification that they were exposed to the virus.

After hearing all the reasons people don’t want to download the app, retired health practitioner Dr. Judy Flecknell doesn’t understand why people won’t download the app if there’s a possibility it may help keep people safe.

“I think people have a responsibility towards others within our population,” stated Dr. Flecknell. “Downloading the app is not an invasion of your privacy, and keeping your loved ones safe is what’s important.”

The ongoing reluctance of so many to want to download the app could indicate that the government needs to find a better way to demonstrate that they aren’t collecting any user information.

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