Tag: montreal

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Arts

Exhibit Review: Pink Floyd: Their Mortal Remains in Montreal

Pink Floyd Exhibit at the ACAM - Emma MEGALAS

Every brick in the wall of Pink Floyd’s successful legacy revealed

The Pink Floyd: Their Mortal Remains exhibition welcomes Montreal fans into the world of Pink Floyd from Nov. 4 to Dec. 31 at the Arsenal Contemporary Art Museum. This 60- to 90-minute-long experience transports visitors into the wonders of Pink Floyd, diving into the core of the rock band’s creativity and incredible legacy.

Whether you are someone who barely knows the surface of who the band is, or if you are a hardcore listener, any opportunity to visit the exhibition is worthwhile.

It is an interactive experience that gives new meaning to the artist-and-fan connection. Visitors are given headphones to watch exclusive interviews of the band members, studio recordings, original songs, and the creative minds who brought their famous album covers to life. The atmosphere is silent yet powerful as all eyes are drawn right to the band talking through little screens, revisiting moments from their career. Some of these moments have never been known before.

As soon as you walk into the museum, a black wall filled with images of the band’s past concerts in Montreal catches the eye, and Roger Waters in a Montreal Canadiens jersey right in the middle is impossible not to miss. Walking through the legacy of Pink Floyd starts with the band’s creation in 1965 by the late and great Syd Barrett, his fellows Roger Waters, Richard Wright and Nick Mason, and ends with their later projects in the 2000s.

Pink Floyd Exhibit at the ACAM – Emma MEGALAS

The sections are dimly lit, letting the artifacts take the centre stage. The guitars, basses, drum sets and keyboards on display are the originals used by the band members. The scratches on the guitars are faint yet surreal to spot upon closer inspection. It is worth taking the time to observe the details on the instruments, to point out the marks and have that they-really-played-these moment. It is even more surreal watching Roger Waters or David Gilmour strumming on that exact guitar on video, as if you’re right there with the band. 

I have always been intrigued by Pink Floyd — by their style, psychedelic experimentation, musical textures, and storytelling through their art and music. Their strange yet beautiful experimental combo manifests into every single album they released.

Pink Floyd Exhibit at the ACAM – Emma MEGALAS

Each section of the exhibit represents an album of the band, namely The Dark Side of the Moon, The Wall, Wish You Were Here, Animals, and The Division Bell. Oversized images of the album covers are hung on a white wall, allowing the colours to pop and make a statement. Right beside them are the framed original images of the covers. 

The Wall’s section was unlike anything I had ever seen before. Enormous inflatables from their previous albums floated above, watching everything unfold below. Cages with more guitars and archives of Roger Waters, who is simultaneously heard describing the struggles the band had with the inflatable pig for the Animals album, were eye-catching and humorous. With The Wall being one of Pink Floyd’s most successful albums, it is incredible to find out that the idea came to Roger Waters during a concert at the Olympic Stadium back in 1977 — a reason why Montreal is a special place for the band. 

Pink Floyd Exhibit at the ACAM – Emma MEGALAS

Pink Floyd: Their Mortal Remains is a breathtaking exhibit and a must-see for anyone who enjoys and appreciates their music. I was able to appreciate the band in a way that I have not in the past. The magic in the silence created by the exhibit is intoxicating — it’s just people looking, admiring, listening, and traveling through time with Pink Floyd that makes the experience so memorable. 

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Arts

Exhibition review: Outside the Palace of Me

Outside the Palace of Me Exhibit at MMFA - Photo/Jiawei HONG

Shary Boyle’s exploration of the connection between society and the individual

This is a special show — the Toronto-based artist Shary Boyle has designed her exhibition on a stage setup at the Montreal Museum of Fine arts.

The moment visitors walk into the exhibition, they are standing in the middle of a huge stage. This implies that each individual not only observes society, but also participates in it. Shary Boyle’s artwork exposes a variety of phenomena in this society that we choose to ignore, which poses complex and sometimes paradoxical questions to visitors about our understanding of human nature.

The first sculpture visitors see is “The Potter”. It depicts an image of an artist’s process of making porcelain. However, the interesting thing is that this artist does not have a head, and there are six different porcelain pieces stacked up in front of them. Upon closer inspection, each piece has a different style that represents a different country. From the bottom up, they are China, Ghana, France, Greece, Peru, and Egypt.

Outside the Palace of Me Exhibit at MMFA – Photo/Jiawei HONG
Outside the Palace of Me Exhibit at MMFA – Photo/Jiawei HONG

Boyle is also very strict in the selection of materials: terracotta, porcelain, underglaze, china paint, luster, and brass rods were all used in her installation.

The headless artist of “The Potter” is captured making a gesture of lifting the porcelain as if they are trying to put these civilizations on their own head. This is a reflection of us being in a culturally diverse society. It also represents the ideology of each culture within society.

“Oasis,” another piece on display, is a woman sculpture that has both male and female sexual attributes. Although her face is covered by her hair, she is sitting sideways and presenting her sexuality in a confident pose. 

The idea of gender nonconformity created by this sculpture explores the people who break the gender norms that are expected for them. Her sexual organs look slicker than other parts of her body, because Shary Boyle uses luster as a representation of the gender stereotype, which is a beautiful and fragile material. This work poses the question to the viewer — why should the gender stereotypes in our minds be so solid?

Moving to the right side of the stage, visitors see a huge white statue sitting on the right side of the room, named “White Elephant”. Its whole body is painted and dressed in white. It is staring forward with no emotional expression on its face.

Outside the Palace of Me Exhibit at MMFA – Photo/Jiawei HONG
Outside the Palace of Me Exhibit at MMFA – Photo/Jiawei HONG

In a flash, its head suddenly turns around. Many viewers were shocked by this art installation, while others did not even notice its movement. According to Boyle, the title is inspired by the proverb “elephant in the room,” which refers to the phenomenon of people ignoring a very obvious fact. 

Shary Boyle sarcastically illustrates the whiteness of society, in which many politicians are aware of history of genocide, and the white privilege but choose to ignore it. The white elephant stands out in this dimly-lit exhibition room. According to my personal understanding, white has the ability to embrace any colour, just as this society can embrace any distinct being.

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Briefs News

Concordia’s Multi-faith and Spirituality Centre seeks community feedback

Concordia University's Sir George Williams Campus. CATHERINE REYNOLDS/The Concordian

The organization is looking to reach out to the community and improve their services

The Multi-faith and Spirituality Centre (MFSC) gathered at the Hall building for a visioning event where students, faculty and staff were invited to come and voice their feedback regarding the centre’s operations. The MFSC is a student service offered by the University dedicated to providing a space for students to connect around a shared sense of faith and spirituality.  

“The MFSC is a space on campus for students to explore their spiritual life or beliefs and values, reflect and build connections with others,” explained Rev. Jennifer Bourque,  interim chaplain and coordinator for the centre.

Bourque explained that the service is open to all students as not merely a place for worship but as a space to connect, whether students follow a specific faith or not.

“We aim to serve all students, whether they consider themselves religious in any tradition, spiritual or secular, or they’re not sure,” she said.

The centre has two spaces, one on each campus: the Z Annex at 2090 Mackay Street downtown, and the Loyola Chapel. 

Recently, the centre has been looking to improve their services and wanted to hear about what students think spiritual and religious life should look like on campus and how the centre could best support them. On Nov. 16, students and staff members were invited to sit with facilitators to discuss topics such as accessibility, inclusivity and faith.

A recurring theme was that people who used the centre’s services found it inclusive, open, and welcoming. Robert Toto, who considers himself secular, has been using the centre’s services for a couple of years and says it has become a home away from home. 

“I have been welcomed at that space since I found out about it a couple of years ago […] and it became like a second family,” Toto said. 

During the visioning, students in the group expressed their desire to see more events hosted by the centre to meet people from various faiths and beliefs and have discussions around spirituality. They also wish to have more prayer and meditation spaces — other than the Z Annex and a room on the 7th floor of the Hall building — that would make religious practices more accessible on both campuses. 

You can read more about the MFSC here.

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News

Peter-McGill Community groups struggle to cope with rising rent costs

Surging cost of living drives many out of Concordia’s neighbourhood

Once considered to be the most affordable city in Canada, Montreal’s rent costs continue to rise at a rate that many of the city’s residents, businesses and community groups are struggling to meet. For many, especially those living in the neighbourhood around Concordia’s Sir George Williams campus, it’s a trend that is putting their future in the area into question.

Representatives from over 11 community groups in the Peter-McGill district, which encompasses both Concordia’s Sir George Williams campus and McGills’ downtown campus, convened a neighbourhood assembly at the School Trades Catering And Tourism De Montréal to address the challenges posed by rising costs of living throughout the district. 

“The focus of tonight’s meeting is to draw attention to the issue of space in the downtown neighbourhood,” said Margot Digard, communications officer for the Peter-McGill Community Council. “We’ve seen a lot of organisations leave the neighbourhood because of issues around rent and not being able to afford services.”

According to data collected by the Peter-McGill Community Council, the average cost of a one-bedroom apartment in the neighbourhood came in at around $1,400 a month, with the cost of a two-bedroom going as high as $2,000 per month in some instances. These rates are some of the highest reported rent prices in the city. 

With demand far exceeding the existing supply, affordable rental options for community organisations based in and around the Peter-McGill area continues to diminish and pre-existing centres are put in jeopardy as property costs continue to rise. Christa Smith, coordinator of the youth group Innovation Jeunes, says her organisation was forced out from their original building after she alleged that the property owner instigated a rent increase in an attempt to get the organisation to forfeit their lease. 

“We spent close to ten years on Pierce Street,” said Smith. “Then in 2018, the owner wanted to increase our rent by almost 40 per cent, which we soon realised [meant] that he basically wanted us out.”

While Innovation Jeunes was able to relocate to a nearby Pentecostal church, this outcome remains the exception to the norm. Maryse Chapdelaine, Project Manager of the Peter-McGill community council, explained that many requests by community groups for additional support from established institutions like the Montréal General Hospital and Concordia University are met with indifference.

“Yes, we tried, but Concordia refuses to open any space to the community,” said 

Chapdelaine when asked if the Peter-McGill Community Council had considered leasing out space from the University. In one instance, Chapdelaine recalled how the University refused to open the Grey Nuns courtyard to the public during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic.

“We asked them, ‘can you open them now that there are no students,’ and they said no. And then we asked the city, ‘could you ask Concordia to open the garden’ and Concordia said to the city of Montreal, no,” said Chapdelaine. 

While Concordia does permit outside organisations to rent out space on University property, according to Chapdelaine the hourly rate that is charged by the administration tends to fall far beyond the financial means of most community organisations.

Chapdelaine stresses that there is no ‘magic bullet’ solution for the ongoing affordability crisis in Peter-McGill. Any long-lasting solution must include Concordia, if the University wishes to preserve the neighbourhood it calls home.

Categories
Arts

DDO Holiday Market Returns

DDO Crafts Market - Casey KISS

 The Dollard-des-Ormeaux Holiday Market returns to bring holiday cheer after a two-year hiatus


Nov. 12-13 marked the return of DDO’s annual Fine Arts & Craft Holiday Market. After a two-year hiatus due to the pandemic, local businesses and artisans returned to the DDO Civic Centre’s new Community Centre Building to sell their goods and ring in some holiday spirit. 

DDO Crafts Market – Casey KISS
DDO Crafts Market – Casey KISS

The event had live music, countless vendor stalls and the “Craft Café” to take a break from shopping and enjoy some freshly baked goods. The place was packed with families looking to get a head start on holiday shopping and support their community. 

DDO Crafts Market – Casey KISS
DDO Crafts Market – Casey KISS

There was a wide range of vendors, selling anything from knitwear to handcrafted jewelry to pottery. There was surely something for everyone, including a Lego building station for kids. No matter your age, there was something to pique your interest and tempt your wallet.

DDO Crafts Market – Casey KISS
DDO Crafts Market – Casey KISS

Going from vendor to vendor, there was no lack of smiling faces, as everyone was thrilled to welcome back the annual community event. Here’s to many more years of the DDO Holiday Market!

Categories
Arts

An ethical lesson for audiences in Sexual Misconduct of the Middle Classes 

Sexual Misconduct of the Middle Classes - Andrée LANTHIER

From Nov. 3-27, the Centaur Theatre Company presents an award-winning comedy on teacher-student relations from alternate perspectives 

Hannah Moskovitch’s fantastic piece is about writing professor Jon Macklem (played by Marcel Jeannin), freshly separated from his wife. He develops a relationship with his 19-year-old student Annie (played by Inès Defossé), who also happens to be his neighbour from across the street. Aware and reluctant of his wrongful actions, the protagonist slowly succumbs to his temptations. 

The audience watches as the professor internally struggles with the morality of his actions all while narrating in the third person with an ironic dry tone. “ The audience is a bit more forgiving, and you get into his story at the beginning,” said Jeannin. “A little bit like Walter White, where you’re sort of on board with him, because he knows what he’s doing is wrong. He has the choices, but you always see him making the wrong move, but regretting it.”

It wasn’t hard, however, for the actor to portray a hateable yet torn anti-hero. “You never want to judge a character, as an actor,” said Jeannin. “The audience can do it. What’s this guy’s job? He’s there to tell the story, and the playwright made him conscious that what he was doing was wrong.”

Sexual Misconduct of the Middle Classes – Andrée LANTHIER

Jon Macklem, for Jeannin, was interesting yet challenging. His interest for the character was sparked immediately when the script was handed to him. “At one point I thought it was too one-sided against him,” said the actor.  “I was a little scared: I wasn’t sure. I was given the first draft. I read it and it was not perfect. I said there was something here, and I was curious to see the following one.” 

Guided by the brilliance of director Eda Holmes, the physicality and movement in the piece was accentuated by her vision, which was guided by her dance formation in ballet. The play itself was not especially designed for dance and movement, but there were many clown-esque moments between the characters, punchlines delivered through physicality, in which Jeannin did a fantastic job. At times, the movement took the form of a ballad between the two, bringing metaphor into their sensuality.

As a public entertainer and artist, Jeannin was careful to analyze the ethics of the new play, which premiered in 2020. He did so to make sure that participating in a play with such a heavy subject and controversial angle was not in fact distasteful, and upsetting to audiences. “When they gave it to me, I read it. I gave it to a thirty-year-old woman and said ‘what do you think?’ She said it was funny.”

“The play weighs it so that you sympathize with the guy to a point,” added the actor. “But in the end, what he does is wrong.” The play is fitting for all audiences who could be interested in watching a play on dark subject matter interpreted in a tasteful comedic manner, riveting and engaging from beginning to end. All in all, Sexual Misconduct of the Middle Classes is a great production, and a fresh point of view on such a hot topic amid the #metoo movement. 

It’s from his point of view but from her point of view. If the audience isn’t on board with him at the beginning, then there’s no place to go.

You never want to judge a character, as an actor. The audience can do it. What’s this guy’s job? He’s there to tell the story. The playwright made him conscious that what he was doing was wrong.

When they gave it to me, I read it, and I gave it to a thirty year old woman, and said what do you think, and she said it was funny.

The play weighs it so that you sympathise with the guy to a point. But in the end, what he does is wrong.

He falls in love with her, is it genuine love, or is it infatuation?

At one point I thought it was too one-sided against him. I was a little scared: I wasn’t sure. I was given an earlier draft, the first. I read it and it was not perfect. I said there was something here, and I was curious to see the following draft. and  then I got the following draft and I was a little taken aback because in the first draft, she was a little more experienced.

 In this draft they’d taken away all the experience. It was the right decision because from my perspective, i go, you’ve totally weighed it against him. Its not ambiguous. The director says yes but the play is from her point of view. The writer got rid of the stuff that made it ambiguous.

It’s  a  very good play, I love it the more I work on it.

Nothing special, the only thing i did that i don’t usually do is i got off book early. Usually I learn my lines in rehearsal. This time we only had four weeks. That’s the only thing I did differently to prepare. Otherwise, nothing. I made sure I understood every moment, and that every time there was contact that I was initiating it. 

It’s a big one to unpack, you tend to think what the character’s writing, or what he speaks about, is autofiction. The play is autofiction. He put everything in the third person, he did autofiction. and that at the end of the play you find out it’s not even his play, it’s her autofiction, her perspective of his perspective. He’s in somebody else’s autofiction. 

The toughest moment for me to play is the moment in the bar when he walks away from her because I’ve been in some positions where I can kind of understand. There’s a lot of him that I can understand. 

Me: I go: schmuck, listen to her. He’s at a level of selfishness that he makes about him, which is why he walks away from her. Again, me, my self preservation would go: listen to her. It’s a heavy lift for me.

A lot of clown in this. Quick shifts, barrelling, the specifically clown bits were the bandage scene: that’s pure clown.

Categories
Community Culture

Our Mountain: Memories of Mount Royal Review

Our Mountain: Memories of Mount Royal exhibit. Dalia Nardolillo/THE CONCORDIAN

Check out this new exhibit commemorating the historic mountain located at the heart of our city

Out of all the iconic landmarks, one could visit in Montreal, I could list out a whole bunch off the top of my head: Orange Julep, St. Viateur Bagels, Mount Royal, etc. 

In terms of history, Mount Royal is as rich as it is stunning. An exhibit recently launched at the Musée des Hospitalières de l’Hôtel-Dieu de Montréal called Our Mountain: Memories of Mount Royal recognizes the storied history of the mountain. 

This exhibit launched on Nov. 15 and runs up until Aug. 31, 2024. The location is 201 Pine Ave, W.

The exhibit mainly focuses on issues that contributed to the mountain’s initial development, and the current preservation efforts that are being undertaken.

Walking through this exhibit, you can learn about many different things, including some background on the park’s architect, Frederick Law Olmsted, the same architect behind the famous Central Park in New York City.

The exhibit focuses on the history of the park as a landmark in a growing city. According to The Canadian Encyclopedia, over the course of the 19th century, Montrealers bought large pieces of land at the base of Mount Royal. Those pieces of land were used as orchards or farms.

The turning point was when the city kept growing in population and the large pieces of land at the base became a cause of congestion. That’s when citizens started a petition to protect the mountain and turn it into a park for the public to enjoy. 

It was in 1874 that the city hired the famous Olmsted to design the layout of the park. Afterward, the park was officially opened to the public in 1876. 

The exhibit also makes a point of describing the mountain as a geographical territory. Mount Royal is composed of three summits, with its highest summit measuring 233 metres high. 

Walking through the exhibit, I noticed a space that was titled Mount Royal in 50 years. Visitors could write their predictions of what Mount Royal might look like in half a century. Now with the history of Mount Royal in mind, I leave the question with you — what do you think Mount Royal will look like 50 years from now?

Photographs by Dalia Nardolillo/The Concordian

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Sports

Co-captains to coaches: Chloe Ricciardi’s and Madeleine McKenzie’s soccer journeys

Chloe Ricciardi (left) and Madeleine McKenzie (right) at the Concordia Stadium, 2022. MARIA BOUABDO/ The Concordian

The former Concordia Stingers’ women’s soccer co-captains are now assistant coaches on the team

Chloe Ricciardi and Madeleine McKenzie have had pretty different paths leading them to the Concordia Stingers’ soccer program, but they ended up being co-captains in 2020 and 2021 and were both named assistant coaches in the summer of 2022.

While Ricciardi was starting her bachelor’s degree at the University of Detroit Mercy in the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) in the United States, McKenzie was in her last year of high school in Calgary playing for the Calgary South West United Soccer Club.

A year later, McKenzie moved to Montreal to start her bachelor’s degree in cell and molecular biology at Concordia, graduating in May 2021.

“My mom’s family is actually from Montreal, so I would visit every summer and I just knew I liked it a lot here,” McKenzie said about her decision to come to Concordia to study. “And my parents encouraged me to go away for school just to become more independent.”

On the other hand, Montreal native Ricciardi had always wanted to play in the U.S. growing up, but that dream seemed less and less possible when she felt a little lost in her studies in social sciences at John Abbott College.

However, shortly after that, things started turning around for Ricciardi.

“I did a showcase tournament in Las Vegas with a few of my friends, and then that’s where the school that I went to saw me play,” she explained. “I got home, they called me immediately and offered me a scholarship, and I was like, ‘okay, I guess we’re going to the States.’”

Ricciardi remembers it happening really fast, which is mostly because she got signed later than most people.

“I was a late sign because normally in the States, they sign people in their second-to-last year of high school,” she added.

Ricciardi got her bachelor’s degree in social work at Detroit Mercy, and came back to Montreal afterwards, which is when she joined Concordia’s soccer team. She originally started a master’s degree in child studies, but switched to a graduate diploma in business after a year. She finished her diploma in the fall of 2021.

McKenzie, who still had a year of eligibility left after earning her bachelor’s degree in May 2021, decided to start another undergraduate degree the following fall semester, majoring in exercise science. She’s now in the second and last year of her major while coaching.

McKenzie and Ricciardi didn’t join Concordia’s soccer program at the same point in their careers, with McKenzie coming in straight out of high school as opposed to Ricciardi having an undergraduate degree already. However, Stingers’ head coach Greg Sutton said it was clear from the moment they joined the team that they were both natural leaders.

“[McKenzie] was able to communicate with everyone in different ways. […] She was very level-headed and understood how to have the right conversations and the right wording no matter what the situation was with the group, whether we were struggling or having success,” Sutton said. 

“As a coach, I felt comfortable that she was going to be able to help lead the group in that way from her perspective as a student-athlete, a well-rounded student-athlete of course, as well as an academically smart person.”

McKenzie and Ricciardi were co-captains from the winter of 2020 until the fall of 2021, when Ricciardi graduated. McKenzie remained captain until her graduation in May 2022.

“[For] Chloe it was a little different because she came in after spending a few years in the States,” Sutton said. “She basically came in as a graduate student. So she had a little bit more maturity under her belt.”

“She received respect right away from the girls just because of the quality of player she was,” Sutton added, also mentioning her ability to say the right things and help the team during tough times.

Ricciardi found that being captain helped her settle into her role as a coach.

“You still have to be somewhat of a leader, I guess,” Ricciardi said. “I think the biggest part was just figuring out what I think I could have done better, and then doing it better now.”

McKenzie, however, saw more differences than similarities. She said that as captains, they were leading a lot of the conversations, and encouraging the team, but as coaches, they have to let the girls in the leadership roles do it.

“You still need to guide. […] But I think it needs to come from them because they’re the ones on the field, they’re the ones doing the work,” McKenzie explained.

The Calgary native still plays in her hometown during summers for the Alberta Major Soccer League. She started in 2017 and plans to keep playing there.

But the future remains uncertain for her in coaching and academia, as she hopes to get into medical school next year.

“It kind of depends on what happens with that,” McKenzie said. “Because obviously, if I get in I’m not going to reject an admission letter. But if I don’t get in, I still have to figure out what I would do. But if I’m here and available, I would definitely like to keep coaching.”

Ricciardi also plays during summers in the Première ligue de soccer du Québec (PLSQ), a semi-professional league. She played for Pierrefonds FC in the summer of 2021, and for FC Laval this past summer. Ricciardi wants to keep coaching at Concordia, as well as playing semi-pro for a few more years “up until [her] body can’t handle it anymore.”

Just like McKenzie, Ricciardi isn’t sure what the future holds for her. Getting licensed to coach at a higher level could be an option, but so is almost anything else.

“I’m not sure if I want to follow that path, we’ll see when the time comes,” Ricciardi said. “But for sure at Concordia, I’d like to be here for a while.”

Categories
Arts

Montreal: a city as racially divisive as any other

Graphic: James Fay/The Concordian

Cinema Politica screened Dear Jackie, a telling film about Montreal’s Black history

Dear Jackie is organized as a letter to Jackie Robinson, the first African American professional baseball player. This letter serves as a narration of the context of the film, over images of the city. 

Though Robinson’s story is that of success, his storyline is only a pretext to talk about the broader context of discrimination against Black folks in Canada, and specifically Montreal. 

Director Henri Pardo noted during the Q&A session:

“My intent was not to talk about certain things that I am personally tired of talking about. I didn’t want to talk about racism, I wanted to find out about the people in the neighbourhood”. 

Black people were resigned to only settling in a single neighborhood of Montreal in the 1940s, that of Little Burgundy. It was coined the “Harlem of the North.” 

This film depicts the injustices faced by Black people in Montreal and the changing architectural landscape of Little Burgundy, and how it has changed up to today. 

In the 1960s, when the government built a highway cutting off parts of the neighbourhood, they razed over 400 Black homes, leaving hundreds of people in the streets. 

Today, Little Burgundy is one of the most gentrified neighbourhoods in Montreal. 

Pardo wanted to raise awareness of the little-known history of Black struggles in Quebec, as a call to action.

The film was in black-and-white, which served as a ground for the universalization of experience, where colour could not be understood as a means for separation. 

From a journalist’s perspective, there were clear visual obstacles. The story in of itself, though historically valuable, had an odd angle. 

There was very little archival footage of Little Burgundy and the medium of narration through epistolary form felt forced and almost out of place, as few images of Robinson concretely appeared on screen. 

It would have been interesting to centre interviews of people who lived in Little Burgundy, rather than minimal archival footage that has very little connection to the area. 

The community centre NCC kept on coming up, but there was next to no archival footage of it. People’s spoken words dit not fit the images that were displayed on screen, which made the film at times hard to watch. 

Cinema Politica seeks to not only screen important political films but to also relate community organizations in Montreal that advocate for the causes demonstrated in their films. Representative of organizations such as Brick by Brick and one of their sub-groups Plan Accueil discussed their work in trying to make housing more accessible. 

Categories
Opinions

What Nikita Dragun’s placement in a male jail unit can teach us about Canada’s trans inmates’ safety

Graphic by JAMES FAY @jamesfaydraws // The Concordian

Our institutions need to do better

Influencer Nikita Dragun was arrested at the beginning of the month at the Goodtime Hotel in Miami, Florida for felony battery on a police officer, and disorderly conduct.

According to hotel security guards, Dragun had allegedly been “causing a disturbance” and “walking around the pool area unclothed.” Afterwards, “Dragun flung an open water bottle toward the officers and the hotel staff, wetting one of the officers.”

When she appeared in a bond court video the following day, it was revealed that she had been kept in a men’s unit. In the video, Dragun asks judge Mindy Glazer, “Do I have to stay here in the men’s unit, still?”

It has obviously sparked a number of negative reactions on social media. However, what follows is even more shocking.

In the court video the judge seems to be writing something down, hearing but not really listening to Dragun’s request — or at least showing very little interest. Glazer then proceeds to say, “Yeah, I don’t make the rules up there but, they should make a proper accommodation for you.”

What does that mean? There shouldn’t be any accommodations, just put her in a women’s unit. The way it’s phrased also makes me furious. Is Dragun’s right to be in a jail that houses inmates of the same gender as her really an “accommodation?” Because we all know it would not be an accommodation if the inmate was cisgender. It would simply be their right.

According to Florida law, transgender inmates’ housing situations are evaluated on a case-by-case basis. A “transgender committee” made of medical and mental health professionals meet with the inmate to evaluate and make recommendations to the state as to where the person should be housed. These are however only recommendations, and it shows that transgender people’s rights are not fully protected in those cases.

Transgender inmates are over-represented as victims of many forms of abuse in prison. According to the National Center for Transgender Equality, they are ten times more likely to be sexually assaulted in prison.

If this is what happens to a popular figure in the US, imagine what can happen to any other trans person in our own country.

In January 2017, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau promised trans inmates that they would be housed based on their gender identity, stating that “trans rights are human rights.”

Up until then, Correctional Service Canada (CSC), which governs the federal penitentiary system, had a clear policy regarding the placement of inmates according to their gender assigned at birth.

According to a report on trans prisoners’ safety, “the CSC policy dictated that trans prisoners be assigned to either men’s or women’s penitentiaries based on their pre-operative sex. Consequently, trans women who had not undergone gender affirmation surgery were forced to live in men’s prisons instead of with the gender they identify with. This CSC policy has led to extreme difficulties for these women, who are often subjected to sexual harassment and assault.”

The day following Trudeau’s speech, the CSC stated that they would “consider” inmate placement based around gender identity and expression rather than gender assigned at birth.

Adopted in June of that same year, Bill C-16, An Act to amend the Canadian Human Rights Act and the Criminal Code, protects transgender individuals against gender discrimination. The Bill amended section 3(1) of the Canadian Human Rights Act and added “gender identity” and “gender expression” to the prohibited grounds of discrimination.

The Bill also amended the Criminal Code “to extend the protection against hate propaganda set out in that Act to any section of the public that is distinguished by gender identity or expression.” The amendment prevents the federal government from discriminating on the basis of gender, including in its prisons.

Then, in December 2017, the CSC adopted an interim policy to “accommodate based on gender identity or expression, regardless of the person’s anatomy (i.e. sex) or the gender marker on identification documents.” Included in the policy is the right of the inmate to be addressed by staff with the correct pronouns and, if a strip search were to be performed on them, the right to choose whether it be conducted by a male or female staff member.

This sounds really good and progressive in theory. But I have a hard time imagining an institution like the prison — that is founded on militarism, punishment, humiliation, racism and discrimination — to completely change its course of operating because they truly believe that trans lives matter.

My research proved me right on that point. In the 2019 case of Boulachanis v. Canada (Attorney General), the applicant had requested to be transferred from a male institution to a female institution after identifying as a woman. The CSC refused her request on the basis that the inmate would “pose too great a risk, in particular a risk of escape, to be placed in a women’s institution.” Although Justice Grammond of the Federal Court granted her the transfer and recognized that “keeping her in a men’s institution is discriminatory,” violating the interim policy, it is important to highlight how he got to that conclusion.

After clearly stating that Boulachanis is legally a woman, Justice Grammond then questioned whether she should be treated as one: “Stripped to its essentials, the issue is to determine whether Ms. Boulachanis should be treated as a man or as a woman.”

Blatant heteronormativity aside — if Boulachanis is a woman, why are we questioning her right to not only be seen as one, but also be treated as one by the law?

Probably for the same reason that Nikita Dragun was put in a male unit in Florida. It doesn’t matter what Bills, promises or policies they establish on paper, our institutions, governments and society still fail to protect transgender people.

Categories
Sports

I’m not watching the World Cup this year

JAMES FAY/ The Concordian @jamesfaydraws

Qatar’s record of basic human rights violations makes the World Cup a farce

The first games of the 2022 Qatar World Cup are underway and even though I usually follow the World Cup diligently, I can’t bring myself to watch a single match this year, and I know I’m not the only one.

FIFA has rightfully received tons of backlash since it announced Qatar as the host country due to the country’s constant disregard of basic human rights, including workers’ and LGBTQ+ rights. All of those violations were also documented and known even in 2010 when FIFA officials voted to choose Qatar as the host country in 2022.

In fact, in 2012, the non-profit organization Human Rights Watch published a report detailing its concerns that “hundreds of thousands of mostly South Asian migrant construction workers in Qatar risk serious exploitation and abuse, sometimes amounting to forced labor.” The report especially targeted the construction of infrastructures linked to the World Cup.

As for LGBTQ+ rights, simply put, they are non-existent. Homosexuality is strictly forbidden under Islamic Sharia law and punishable by either fines, imprisonment, or lapidation (stoning). Although there are no documented cases of the death penalty being enforced in that context, there is no shortage of testimonies from LGBTQ+ Qataris being severely beaten due to their gender expression or sexual orientation.

Due to Qatar hosting the World Cup amid all these human rights violations, some are accusing the country of sportswashing, which is defined as the practice of restoring one’s reputation by hosting huge sporting competitions, buying sports teams, and/or participating in competitions, all of which Qatar is doing through the World Cup despite not even having a big soccer culture in the first place. 

Earlier this year, the Beijing Winter Olympics was also a “great” example of sportswashing. The Chinese government’s genocide and general abuse of human rights against Uyghurs and other religious minorities, as well as their repression of protests in Hong Kong, hid conveniently behind a grandiose large-scale event and beautiful ceremonies.

The International Olympic Committee refused to acknowledge the situation. “It’s a complex world,” they twice told a journalist from The Guardian.

The World Cup is undoubtedly the biggest international sporting event in the world. Roughly two million tourists are expected to attend the World Cup in Qatar. However, this year, Canadian tourists attending the event are being told by their own government to “dress conservatively and behave discreetly” for their own safety and to steer clear of trouble with authorities. 

Now, it’s one thing to abide by a country’s laws and culture, but it’s hard to support a country that wouldn’t respect me as a woman, a queer person, and a journalist.

It’s worthwhile to mention that this column would have been impossible to write if I were in Qatar. According to Reporters Without Borders, the World Cup host ranked 119 out of 180 countries on the basis of press freedom due to the hardships reporters encounter when covering local political issues. Human Rights Watch even had to publish its Human Rights Guide for Reporters to inform and help out journalists in their endeavours in Qatar.

It’s disappointing to see FIFA making their decision to host the 2022 World Cup in Qatar solely based on profits. International sporting events such as the World Cup and the Olympics could be great opportunities to strengthen diplomatic ties between countries in a world that is constantly shaken by conflict.

I thought it would be common sense, but apparently it’s not.

Categories
Arts

Coextinction teaches viewers to “put the eco in economy”

Graphic: James Fay/The Concordian

The political-environmental documentary was presented on Nov. 7, for the first time at Concordia’s weekly Cinema Politica event

Coextinction, a 2021 film by environmental activists Gloria Pancrazi and Elena Jean is a beautifully shot film that primarily follows one of the few remaining pods of Southern Resident orcas on the coast of British Columbia and Washington. A group of scientists get down to the bottom as to why the orcas are sickly, famished and inevitably dying one by one. 

As the story goes on, the causes for the desperation of the orcas are unveiled. Pipelines, fish farms, cargo ships and dams alike are direct causes for the extinction of these whales. Along the way, the audience is introduced to many Indigenous activists who are equally affected by these government installations that are unjustly trespassing on their territories. 

Kwekwecnewtxw guardian Will George, a resistance leader and member of the Coast Salish Watch, was introduced in the documentary during his protest against the Trans Mountain Pipeline Project. The pipeline was installed on the coast of the Burrard Inlet, which was property of his nation. 

(K’wak’wabalas) ‘Namgis Chief Ernest Alfred played a large role in the film by protesting against fish farms on Swanson Island, Discovery Island, and the Broughton Archipelago. His village, whose lifestyle centred around eating the fish that they catch naturally, was affected by the fish farms plaguing their local wild salmon population.

After Chief Alfred’s protests on Swanson Island, the archipelago has shut down 35 fish farms and counting.

“I wouldn’t feed it to my worst enemy,”  said Alfred in the documentary. 

“I was taught as a child that the Department of Fisheries and Oceans Canada was the enemy. They stopped counting fish when I was about six years old. So there’s no problem,” said Chief Alfred. “Consistently, for the better part of the decade, we’ve seen 200-250 salmon in the territory. Since the removal of the Broughton Archipelago fish farms this year, the first generation of fish that have been able to migrate: 11,000.”

The ‘Namgis Chief explained that the world wants to hear what they have to say because their cause makes sense, and more importantly, that the economy does not drive this planet. “As soon as we put the eco back in the economy, we’re going to figure some things out,” concluded Alfred. “Go and sit with an Indigenous person and listen to them because we’re not trying to hoard and make money, we just think several generations ahead.” 

In a similar vein, resistance leader Will George was ignored by a large corporation known for their activism. George claims that Greenpeace put a heavy task on the backs of Indigenous militants like himself. According to George, Greenpeace took pictures of the blockades and banners he made and installed at his own risk, added a watermark and used it for their own benefits, and he hasn’t heard from them for years. 

“Far too often do our spiritual ones get arrested, and our holy ones get arrested,” added George. “They’ve criminalized me for witnessing the destruction of my land.” The Kwekwecnewtxw guardian had been sentenced to 28 days in prison for his acts of protest in defence of his nation’s land. 

“We have a simple philosophy here,” said Chief Alfred. “You can’t take without just saying thanks. Say thanks and have gratitude.”
For further information, you can visit Coextinction’s website.

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