Tag: montreal

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Sports

Inside Concordia’s Dojo

The dojo is open to all Concordia students (Photo by Lucas Marsh)

A brief look at the Samurai of Concordia.

On a crisp fall evening, Concordia students and alumni alike slowly filter into Le Gym on Concordia’s Loyola Campus. As they enter, they take off their shoes, bow in respect, lace up their Bōgu, then engage in a tradition that spans across the centuries and continents.

This September marked the beginning of the season for Concordia’s Shidokan Kendo and Iaido Club. The modern Japanese Martial Arts have been steadily growing in popularity in Canada since the late seventies. 

Sensei Santoso Hanitijo has been teaching martial arts at Concordia for nearly three decades. Originally graduating from Concordia with a degree in finance, sensei Hanitijo returned to his alma mater a decade later to co-found the Shidokan Kendo and Iaido Club.

Ceremonial sparring masks lined up at the end of practice, each mask is unique to the student’s personality.

“After I joined the kendo club, we [co-founders of the club] met,” he said. “He was a judo instructor who tried to promote Iado at Concordia. So that’s why we talked and were brought into the Kendo club.”

Practice times are divided between Kendo, which involves two opponents armed with bamboo sparring swords engaging in sparring matches, and Iaido, the act of practicing form and balance with a blunted katana. 

Both martial arts can trace their origins back to the Kenjutsu school, the fighting technique that was practiced by Samurai of the Edo period. However, the modern practice of Kendo and Iaido grew in popularity during the early 1950’s, when restrictions on traditional martial arts in Japan were lifted following the end of the American occupation. 

Shidokan culture then spread to Montreal in the 1970’s, with Japanese immigrants such as Sensei Funamoto bringing the sport with them.

“He was one of the Sensei’s that started Kendo in Quebec,” said Sensei Hanitijo. “I [was] the next generation. I’ve been his student and since then, we carry on and spread.”

Sensei Hanitijo said the club has been able to persist and grow over the years due to their dedicated group of practitioners.“Fortunately, I think my students over the years have been very devoted to making this happen,” he said. “Of course, most of them started coming to Concordia as a student.”

While the club remains open to people outside of the university, the majority of the club’s practitioners are Concordia alumni, such as Evleen Hanitiju. Like Senesi Hanitijo, Hanitiju started practising kendo in 2009 while she was an undergrad student at Concordia, seeing both the physical and emotional benefits that the sport has to offer.

Two students engaging in a sparring match called katas.

“It’s great for not only the physical aspect but also the spiritual aspect as well,” said Hanitiju. “And it’s just a wonderful community. It’s more like a family, rather than just a club.”

This community is based on principles of respect and persistence, Hanitiju said, which is the reason she keeps coming back after all these years. 

“From the moment you enter into the dojo, you start with respect, not only just for your peers but also for yourself,” Hanitiju said.“And then when you are fighting even if you come across a defeat, you just have to have a respectful mindset”.

Sensei Hanitijo overseeing the training of new kendo students.


The Shidokan Club meets every Thursday evening and Saturday morning at Le Gym on Concordia Loyola Campus. Concordia students can register for classes through the club page or can find further information on the club’s website.

ALL PHOTOS BY LUCAS MARSH

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News

Concordia’s Indian international students forgotten in India-Canada Crisis

Graphic by Carleen Loney @shloneys / The Concordian

As diplomatic tensions rise, the largest demographic of international students in Canada are caught in the crosshairs

The recent rift between India and Canada has brought uncertainty and chaos for both Indian international students at Concordia and the university’s Sikh community.

On Sept. 18, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau accused the Indian government of involvement in the assassination of Canadian citizen and Sikh activist Hardeep Singh Nijjar. Since then, diplomatic relations between the two countries have rapidly deteriorated, and India has halted visa applications for Canadian nationals in retaliation. 

Angad Singh Malhotra, president of Concordia’s Sikh Student Association (SSA), said that over the last two weeks, a number of students have reached out to the SSA for help and advice regarding the situation.

“Yesterday somebody was telling me about how their parents got their visa refused because of the issues that are going on,” said Malhotra. “And they fear that a lot of them who are engaged with the community, if they are vocal, will get the refusal to go back to India.”

These concerns come as Indian government officials and media outlets portray Canada as a breeding ground for the Khalistani movement, which strives to establish a sovereign state for the Sikh population in northern India. While militant factions within the Khalistani movement exist in South Asia, the overwhelming majority of Khalistani activists adhere to non-violent principles.

For Sikh Canadians, like Singh, a Concordia graduate who asked his firstname not to be disclosed, the effects of these allegations are having deep reaching impacts into their personal lives. Following Trudeau’s announcement, Singh said he’s getting calls from his family back in India concerned about his well-being, owing to the spread of misinformation by the Indian media.

“They tell me that [based on] what Indian news channels show us, you guys are in deep trouble,” he said. “The Canadian government is kicking out all Indians or the Canadian government is kicking out all Sikhs.” 

According to Julian Spencer-Churchill, associate professor in Concordia’s political science department, the proliferation of fake news stems from the consolidation of Indian media under Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi. These developments stem from a rise in the far right Hindu nationalism in the country over the last decade.

Indian students comprise over 40 per cent of international students studying in Canada, making the group the largest demographic of international students in the country. Nevertheless, the group suffers a lack of representation in both countries, according to Spencer-Churchill. 

“Indian international students in Canada are victims here,” said Spencer-Churchill. 

Concordia has made no formal announcement regarding the ongoing India-Canada crisis. As far as Malhotra knows, no one from the university’s administration has reached out to the SSA.

Spencer-Churchill recommended that the Indian and Sikh students lobby Concordia’s administration to allow for special accommodations, such as being able to attend classes remotely, until visa restrictions are lifted. However, he predicts that any visa complications that Indian international students are facing will be short-lived, due to the economic impact that these policies will have on educational institutions.

“The universities want money,” he said. “These people [Indian international students] are bringing their own money in many cases, […] and where they’re not like PhD students, industry is going to probably sponsor them. So there’s no advantage for Canada to keep the system stuck.”

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Interview Music

Into the Mind of Bane

Apple Music

Concordia student Justin Tatone talks about his new album “BANE & BLESSING”.

On Sept. 29, Justin Tatone finally released his latest album BANE & BLESSING, a collaborative effort with his friend and frequent collaborator, rapper Benedict Tan. Released after a three-year wait, the project is an ambitious opus that fuses rage-rap with a myriad of other musical genres and styles.

Tatone credits American rapper Playboi Carti’s second album, Whole Lotta Red, as the primary influence for BANE & BLESSING. It paved the way for the rage-rap wave which was popularized by artists like Yeat and Trippie Redd in 2021. The genre’s characteristic sawtooth synths, 8-bit melodies, and heavy bass are all prominent on Tatone’s new album and originally constituted the entire soundtrack. 

BANE does not juxtapose rage rap with other styles and seamlessly fuses them together, resulting in unique, electrified versions of these subgenres. The foundation of Tatone’s creative collective Xion in 2022 granted him new collaborators and ideas that would break the project’s one-dimensionality, venturing into sounds like grunge and synth-wave on “BANE’S THEME,” and dance-pop on “BLEACH ON ME.” “I needed things like that [other styles] to offset the agedness of those harsh rage tones,” Tatone explained. 

Tatone fully embraces the album’s low-budget production and DIY approach, with most of the record having been recorded in his bedroom. He notably boasts on “BREAK THE FABRIC OF TIME” that he is out-rapping his competition, despite using BandLab (a free music production app for mobile devices). “When you’re stripped back in terms of budget and materials you have to wear that on your sleeve,” he said. 

The artist invokes XXXTENTACION and Ski Mask the Slump God as examples of this mentality, given their inclusion of heavy distortion and room tone into their music. Tatone also praises the Baltimore-based rapper JPEGMAFIA, whose overblown mixing helped Tatone embrace the imperfections of his own.

BANE & BLESSING is a persona piece where Tatone and Tan portray two titular characters. “Bane is vain, indulgent in the iconography and gluttony of hip-hop. Blessing is woke and open-minded, he is the voice of reason,” Tatone explained. His character represents the current, bravado-heavy side of hip-hop, whereas Tan embodies the genre’s woke, conscious side. 

Tatone’s lyricism is also filled with ridiculous one-liners like “You’re Boots, I’m Dora” (“MASK ON!”) and “Facebook moms love me like I’m Candy Crush” (“FANS / NEVER GOING BACK”), which fulfill his attempt at taking himself less seriously. “People are going to criticize you anyway, so might as well make it a fun time,” he said. These lyrics are guaranteed laughs from the audience but also help him loosen up. This idea relates to the masks in the album’s artwork, a motif that has been used to promote BANE & BLESSING since early 2022. “It helps to have a mask: I can pick at myself and make silly comments but still feel confident.”

Jaden Warren, a design student at Concordia, served as the creative director for the album, directing the art and designing a colour palette. The final album cover is AI-generated by Tatone and received praise from Warren as it lived up to his envisioned aesthetic. The rapper sees the AI cover as an extension of the album’s technological nature. “Bane only exists in the digital realm,” he claimed. Tatone sees no issue with artistic integrity as he believes he successfully divorced himself from his work on this album, allowing himself to embrace AI as an artistic medium. 

Tatone cites collaboration as key to both his and the album’s artistic evolutions: “As a creative person, you can get stuck in a silo of thinking and have tunnel vision because you’re in love with your work.” The album notably contains guest features from Xion member E.Sko, punk-rapper KPTN, and rage-rap artist KeBenjii, all of whom hail from Montreal. A guest feature from Atlanta-based rapper Zoot was also secured through a mutual friend.

Overall, BANE & BLESSING is a highly ambitious and creative experiment that pushes the raging sound to new extremes while bringing different artists, ideas, and creative approaches into the mix. “It’s heavily derivative but an original interpolation of the culture. That’s what I’m most proud of,” Tatone concluded.

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Concert Reviews Music

Giddy-up for country sensation Morgan Wallen’s electric Montreal performance

Jacqueline Lisbona / The Concordian

Morgan Wallen’s performance in Montreal on Saturday, Sept. 23 opened with Bailey Zimmerman and Ernest giving the fans a show to remember. 

Montreal’s Bell Centre came alive on Saturday night as Morgan Wallen took the stage to perform the 34th show of his 2023 One Night At A Time World Tour. Decked out in cowboy hats, boots, and flannel shirts, the electric crowd was in for a treat with opening acts Bailey Zimmerman and Ernest. Wallen, riding the high of his latest album, One Thing At A Time, made history with all 36 tracks simultaneously charting on Billboard’s Hot 100, surpassing Drake’s record. 

Bailey Zimmerman, the 23-year-old American singer and songwriter from Illinois was energetic and passionate as he bounced around the stage, high-fived fans on the floor, and flipped his hair back and forth. He sang his hit singles “Fall In Love” and “Rock and A Hard Place” and ended his performance referencing bible verse Mark 9:23: “If you can believe, all things are possible to him who believes.” 

“If you take anything away from my show tonight, it’s that there’s gonna be people telling you what you’re doing is crazy, but if I didn’t follow my dreams, I would not be here in Montreal opening for the Morgan Wallen One Night At A Time tour!” he exclaimed enthusiastically.  

Up next was Ernest, American country music singer and songwriter who beamed on stage with his personalized leather guitar strap and his “Gallagher #11” Montreal Canadians jersey. He launched an “olé, olé olé” chant and the crowd went wild. He sang some of his songwriting marvels  “Did It With You,” “Son of a Sinner,” and “Somebody’s Problem”, the latter being a song he wrote for Wallen’s Dangerous: The Double Album in 2021.  

As he strummed the opening chords of his hit song “Flower Shops,” he revealed that this song “validated what [he] thought was true. Country music is still alive and well,” Ernest added.

The audience illuminated the Bell Centre with a sea of cellphone flashlights, swaying in harmony with the music. As the song drew to a close, Montreal Canadiens’ Nick Suzuki and Cole Caufield made a surprise appearance, joining Ernest on stage to toss red roses into the crowd.  

As Ernest concluded his performance at 8:25 p.m., the anticipation in the air heightened. Wallen emerged from his dressing room strutting to his duet with Lil Durk “Broadway Girls” at 9:20 p.m. He sported a white long-sleeved shirt, beige jeans, and a green duck hat that matched his duck necklace. Wallen took centre stage atop a riser to kickstart the night with his crowd-pleaser, “Up Down”. Smoke bombs and fireworks sparked as he shouted, “What’s going on Montreal, how we doing tonight?!”  

He thanked the fans for their dedication and introduced his crew on stage with him—Mark “Taco” Annino on drums, Luke Cowboy Rice on bass and guitar, Tyler Tomlinson on guitar, Chris Gladden on keys, Tony Aichele on guitar and Dominic Frost on guitar and lead vocals.

Following “I Wrote The Book,” “One Thing At A Time,” and “Everything I Love” was “’98 Braves” with a story about his love for baseball. He shared that baseball taught him a lot about life and is the reason why he has persevered in the music industry and has created the Morgan Wallen Foundation. The Foundation’s goal is to support programs for youth in sports and music because Wallen believes that “all children deserve a chance to thrive, play, and create.” For every concert ticket sold, $3 goes to support the foundation’s work.  

His next songs were “You Proof,” “Ain’t That Some,” “Sunrise,” and “Cover Me Up”—one of the first songs he wrote. “This song gave me a lot of faith, hope, and encouragement that maybe I wasn’t crazy about moving away from home and being a country singer. Maybe I was doing exactly what I was supposed to be doing. Thank you for letting me sing about stuff that means a lot to me,” Wallen said during his emotional speech.  

He then segued into “Chasing You” and “Thought You Should Know”, a touching tribute to his mother, accompanied by his guitarist Dominic. Wallen invited Zimmerman back on stage to perform a spirited rendition of “I Deserve A Drink”. The latter wore an Expos baseball jersey and bright red jeans. 

Ernest later re-joined Wallen to perform “Cowgirls” together. After returning from a brief break, Wallen emerged sporting a “#7 Wallen HABS” jersey, eliciting roars of excitement from the crowd. The highlight of the night was “Last Night,” which had become the year’s biggest country song across North America in all genres, marking a significant milestone for Wallen.  

His last song of the night was “Whiskey Glasses” and the concert concluded with fireworks, leaving fans thrilled with the experience. “That was officially one of the best concerts I’ve ever been to,” proclaimed Sam Tanner, a fourth-year JMSB student at Concordia. “I went with my mom, and it was definitely worth the money.” 

After the concert, fans flocked to merchandise stands and sang Wallen’s hit songs all the way to the Lucien-L’Allier metro station, concluding a memorable evening of country music in Montreal. 

Categories
Arts and Culture

PARADE: Embodying authenticity

Chi Long performing at PARADE. Photo by Maya Ruel / The Concordian

Inspired by Dior’s intimate fashion shows of the 1950’s, Centre PHI hosts a celebration of inhibition.

A runway, but no models. A public that doesn’t know what to expect. A funny yet moving performance. Dancers in wedding gowns, rubber rings and underwear. A drag queen singing a cappella. Wigs, hats, high heels and bare chests. These were some of the ingredients to the recipe of PARADE.

Configuration of the space, Centre PHI, PARADE. Photo by Maya Ruel / The Concordian

PARADE, advertised as a playful and experimental performance by its creators, was hosted at Centre PHI on the night of Sept. 21. The public had been promised something unusual—a mash-up of dancing, singing, drag, fashion and much more. Yet nothing could have prepared the audience for the level of artistic freedom displayed on the runway.

“It’s a celebration,” explained Frederick Lalonde, producer of PARADE. “It’s about identity: without any shame or inhibition—who is your true self? We tried to answer that question through the artists’ performance.”

The idea of PARADE first came to creative initiator Carole Prieur during the pandemic. The project had been in the works for at least three years on the night of the performance. The inspiration for it came in part from Dior’s fashion shows in Paris in the 1950s, which often took place in apartments, and from the urge the pandemic created to reinvent oneself. It started out as a small project, likely to be presented in the privacy of an apartment, among friends only, but as it grew and brought more and more artists together, Prieur and Lalonde decided to take a different approach and made the show open to the public.

The public was driven to feel a whole range of emotions during the show: guest artist Klo Pelgag’s rendition of Voyage, Voyage had some people pulling out their handkerchiefs, while other segments made the public laugh out loud by their sheer provocation and absurdity. At times, the sexual tension on stage was so palpable that everyone seemed to be holding their breath. All masks fell—there was only authenticity in the showroom, on the part of performers and audience alike. For an hour, in this Old Montreal venue, anything was possible.

Chi Long performing at PARADE. Photo by Maya Ruel / The Concordian

The artists’ performances were vulnerable, open and fluid. The performers offered themselves wholeheartedly to the audience, inviting viewers  to abandon themselves in return. Since the show took place on a runway, the performers moved through the crowd, transforming the experience into something very personal through eye contact and physical proximity. Sometimes, a gown or a wig would even brush against a spectator’s leg.

The idea of a “celebration” evoked by the producer took on its full meaning when, at the end of the show, the dancers invited everyone in the room to come and dance with them on the runway. People of all ages, sexes, genders and ethnicities stood and crowded onto the dancefloor, swaying to the beat of the music, glued together, smiling, their heads full of art and freedom. It may well have been the most authentic and touching performance of the evening.

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Soccer Sports

Two games, the Same Unlucky Result for Concordia’s Soccer Teams Against ULaval

Right back and captain Dayne Lebans aims to make a pass Photo: Kyran Thicke / Concordia athletics

Difficult matchday for the Stingers’ soccer teams against ULaval.

Both the women’s and men’s Stingers soccer teams lost 2-1 against Laval on Sept. 22, as the 1973 Loyola Warriors men’s soccer team was celebrated for their national championship win.

Women’s soccer: Proving they belonged

Going into the game, Laval had won all five of their previous games, outscoring their opponents 14-1. With that in mind, Stingers head coach Greg Sutton’s game plan was to be compact defensively with forward Sara Carrière staying up front and poking away at Laval’s defence on counterattacks.

In the first half, the ULaval Rouge et Or had more possession, but were unable to create multiple dangerous chances to score. When they did, however, goalkeeper Rosalie Girouard made some crucial saves. Sutton said she “did well, she kept us in the game […]. She’s just starting to play for us now, and hasn’t played many games at all for us up to this year.” He added that he was pleased with Girouard’s performance and believes that she will improve going forward. Despite the great defence, Concordia also had their fair share of chances in the first half, just missing the goal on a couple of occasions.

The second half started as the first ended: Laval was unable to create dangerous chances. It was finally at the 57th minute that the Rouge et Or opened the scoring after a good cross coming from the left-hand side found an open player at the second post. 

A couple of seconds later, Sara Carrière scored a beautiful goal, dribbling past two defenders and placing her shot perfectly in the bottom-left corner to equalize. Unfortunately, Laval was able to retake the lead ten minutes later. Their one-goal advantage would last until the end of the game, despite pressure from the Stingers to equalize.

Despite the loss, there are positives to take away from this game for the Stingers and their ability to stand up to the best team in the league. “We were just organized defensively, we made it difficult for them to break us down,” Sutton explained. “[Girouard] made a couple saves, but it wasn’t like they outshot us three or four-fold […] we’re gonna build off of it, learn from it and get ready for Sunday.”

Men’s soccer: A frustrating loss with the playoff race heating up

Midfielder Quentin Bourgeais (maroon) setting up a cross.
Photo: Kyran Thicke / Concordia athletics

Before the match, Concordia was two points behind Laval, who held the last playoff qualifying spot. As of October 1, they are tied on points with the Rouge et Or for the fourth and final playoff spot.

The game started at very high intensity, with both teams trying to send long through balls in behind to earn a one-on-one against the other team’s goalkeeper. This worked for the Stingers in the 27th minute when they won a penalty. Unfortunately, the team’s top goal scorer Jared Leheta missed the penalty wide and to the right. Things would not improve for Leheta, who also missed an almost wide-open net 10 minutes later.

Despite that, Leheta won a penalty after getting pushed in the back in the 18-yard box seven minutes into the second half. The penalty was converted by Razvan Colici. However, the tide started turning in Laval’s favour after the goal. Less than twenty minutes later, the Rouge et Or had scored twice to take the lead.

Five minutes after Laval’s second goal, Concordia was reduced to 10 men, after Zackiel Brault received two yellow cards in quick succession, adding up to a red card. Concordia could not equalize down a man, with the game ending 2-1 for Laval.

After the game, backup goalkeeper Tony Awad said: “We have to stick together as a team and we have to keep our heads up.” About the playoff race, Awad said: “We just have to win, there’s no other way to say it or put it […] this is our goal now.” And they did win in their next game, against McGill, where Awad got the start and made nine saves in a shutout win.

The 1973 Loyola Warriors men’s soccer team honoured

Despite the two losses, there was still something to celebrate on Friday. Several members of the 1973 Loyola Warriors men’s soccer team came to the games and were celebrated at halftime of the men’s game for the 50th anniversary of their national championship win. The team was inducted into the Concordia Sports Hall of Fame in 2000, and is one of only four soccer teams, men or women, to receive this honour.

Gary Harvey is a member of the team who was present at the ceremony. He recalls: “We defeated the team that beat us the year before, so it was like we got revenge.” They beat the University of Alberta Golden Bears. The game was decided on penalties, as the teams were unable to separate themselves after the end of both regulation and overtime, where Loyola won 4-3.

Harvey has been involved with soccer his entire life and coached for 45 years. He has observed “a huge difference” in the evolution of soccer in Canada over the last 50 years. Namely, infrastructures like turf fields and indoor winter soccer have allowed a lot more kids to play soccer, which has raised the level of the Canadian game. 

He also explains how during winter, teams could not train when he played. “When we did train, it was in gymnasiums, and the bounce in the gym floor is not the same as when you get to train indoors and on synthetic turf,” Harvey explains. “The calibre of soccer is much better now, it’s really quick and fast compared to when I played […] and soccer is of higher quality now.”

Categories
Football Sports

Linebacker Loïk Gagné is Living Proof that Hard Work and Passion Pay Off

Gagné recieves the Grant Peterson Memorial Trophy for outstanding defensive player. From left to right: Kristian Matte, Loïk Gagné, Aya Amouri (9 years old) Photo: Evan Buhler / Concordia Athletics

The Stinger starter proves that anything is possible if you want it.

Stingers football linebacker Loïk Gagné put up ridiculously good stats during the Shrine Bowl home game against the McGill Redbirds on Sept. 16, earning him the title of RSEQ player of the week. Although the season has been good to him, as he’s picked up close to 30 tackles, the Stingers defensive leader has come a long way grinding to where he is today.

Gagné grew up playing hockey and soccer in the shadow of his older brother, as every youngest child does. Neither hooked him and he was convinced that sports weren’t for him. He gave organised athletics another chance in the sixth grade, as the technical craft of flag football caught his eye. After two seasons of grabbing at fabric, he was obsessed with the rules of the game. He was serious, more than his father expected. 

Going into his second year of secondary school, Gagné asked his father if he could play the real thing. As any protective parent would do, he rejected his son’s request. But this wasn’t just a want—it was a need. Every evening at dinner, the boy insisted his father let him play the game he loved. Eventually, he couldn’t say no. Gagné was on the field the following year playing for the St-Leonard Cougars. 

The RSEQ star admits that his first year playing tackle football wasn’t ideal, but he knew that he had to work hard to be able to fly. He was learning how to tackle two years after everyone that he faced. “I’d never been so motivated to become better at anything else,” Gangé said. “The moment I started playing for real I said ‘Okay I need to go to the gym. I’m too skinny for this.’ I was never the fastest or the strongest, but I wanted it the most.” 

Before he knew it, he was being offered to play division one football in CEGEP by Collège André-Grasset after only two years, and was recruited to play for Quebec’s all-star team. 

As a first year in a division one team, Gagné put in the same amount of work as he did throughout high school, as he wasn’t satisfied with his performance or play time. Despite the cancellation of his second season due to the pandemic, the all-star linebacker was able to display a CEGEP career that would attract attention from all over Quebec. Having witnessed the Concordia Stingers’ 2021 winning underdog season from afar, paired with his strong interest in athletic therapy, Gagné saw what this university had to offer and found his new home. 

Coming into the 2022 season, the rookie was confident that he would get playtime as long as he showed off his division one abilities. However, the pace of play jumps significantly from CEGEP to university, regardless of where you play. As a freshman, it takes time to get used to the way the vets play. As a result of being disregarded for the majority of the season, Loïk Gagné did what he does best, and put in more work. 

“Nothing improves you more than not having the season you want. I came out of D1 a little cocky,” Gagné said. “I get to Concordia thinking I’m going to play, and I get sick at the beginning of camp. I missed two important weeks, and after that I didn’t perform the way I wanted. So I brought that frustration to the gym. The day after losing the quarter finals to Laval, I was in the gym.”

The Stingers football organisation made a coaching change during this offseason to take a more next-gen approach. Instead of two or three coaches devoting their time to the Stingers defensive core, six or seven are coaching in a way where they’re familiar with the players at a deeper psychological level in order to convey their tactics smoothly. It has certainly helped Gagné, as he’s made 26 tackles in only four games this season, compared to last season’s total of three and a half.

The Stingers’ next game is on Oct. 8 away against Laval. This might be the hardest game of the season for the team, but the starting linebacker is confident that their grit will shine in opposing territory. 

“Even though we have things to work on, we showed against Laval, against Sherbrooke, that this team has character,” Gagné said. “We’re showing that when a team has character, nothing’s going to stop them. Whether it’s at the CEPSUM, or at Percival Molson Stadium. As much as we like playing in front of our fans, our guys are audacious. We’re going to beat them in their own house. We’re not traveling for nothing.”

Categories
News

Montreal turns orange on the third National Day for Truth and Reconciliation

Sarah Carrier and Sarah Qumak hug after a throat singing performance. Photo by Marieke Glorieux-Stryckman / The Concordian

Activists say there is still a lot to be done to decolonize our institutions.

Last Saturday, on Sept. 30, wave after wave of orange swept across the streets of Montreal, as a crowd gathered to celebrate the third National Day for Truth and Reconciliation. 

This day is one of commemoration for the Indigenous children who were taken away from their families to be sent to residential schools, many of which never came home. At the march on Saturday, Indigenous activists and allies honoured these children and called on governments and institutions to do more to decolonize their work. 

Kai and Mia Fischlin, two sisters of Inuvialuit and Dene descent, were present at the march. Mia was the first in her family to get involved in the activist movement and had invited Kai to join her at the march.

Kai is a Concordia student in biology, and Mia is an alumni who graduated in human relations. According to the former, it’s important for these marches to continue, year after year, especially with the continued discovery of unmarked graves throughout Canada. “And there’s still a lot to fix within the communities, the Indigenous communities all over Canada. I don’t think [the marches] are ever gonna stop until we see real change,” she said.

“Colonization didn’t happen long ago, and it’s still happening,” added Mia. “Me and my sister, we’re the first generation in our family to not go to the residential schools since it started. There’s just so much change that needs to happen, and it needs to come from everyone. It’s a lot on Indigenous people’s backs to be the only ones pushing forward, so we need everyone’s help.”

National Truth and Reconciliation Day was implemented by the federal government in 2021 as one of the calls to action of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission.

In response to these calls to action, Concordia University published its Indigenous Directions Action Plan in 2019. Manon Tremblay, senior director of Concordia’s Office of Indigenous Directions, is happy with the progress Concordia has made in the last four years, but believes there is still much to be done. “We can’t sit on our laurels,” she said. “We have to continue that momentum, and we have to be able to deliver on these recommendations and these promises.”

Concordia currently has 12 Indigenous faculty members and seven Indigenous staff members—including Tremblay, who is a member of the Muskeg Lake Cree Nation in Saskatchewan. Tremblay believes continuous action is necessary to decolonize Concordia and make it more than “inclusive.”

“Personally, I don’t like the word ‘inclusion,’” explained Tremblay. “I find that ‘inclusion’ is a word that basically says that it’s still their house. And we’re still guests in that house, and we still have to adhere to their rules. What we’re looking to do really is foster a sense of belonging.”

Brina Rosenberg and Meika Blayone, two friends who attended the march, believe that the educational sector plays a major role when it comes to leading the movement of decolonization. 

“Knowing that the research that you can do includes oral storytelling as a resource that counts is super important, and I feel like that’s missing in a lot of university courses,” said Rosenberg. “Especially in history, knowing that oral history is just as important as written history is extremely important.” 

Blayone, who is Metis from Saskatchewan, believes Indigenous realities are erased from educational institutions. According to her, language laws in Quebec make this even worse. “French is super important, but where’s the Indigenous languages? Why are we not learning those? Why are they not an official government language?” she asked. 

Kai and Mia Fischlin encouraged Concordia students to support Indigenous communities whenever and wherever they can, even if it just means sharing a post on social media. 

“And if you see some racism going on, don’t be afraid to call them out, cause it’s a lot for Indigenous people to always fight for themselves as well, and feel alone,” said Mia.

Protesters gather through the streets of Montreal for Truth and Reconciliation Day.
Photos by Marieke Glorieux-Stryckman / The Concordian
Categories
News

Seeking news in times of crisis: People in Canada can’t see this content

Graphic by Keven Vaillancourt / The Concordian

As an earthquake shook Morocco, Moroccan students were faced by the difficulty of finding news and support.

Yasmina May Hafiz, a Concordia third-year international student from Morocco, vividly recalls the moment she received the delayed news from her home country nearly four hours after the earthquake hit on the night of Sept. 8.

“I received a call, so I’m thinking my friend just wants to chat, and they immediately say: ‘Hey, have you called your family? Have you contacted anyone that’s in Morocco right now? There was just an earthquake,’” Hafiz said.

Taken aback, she quickly hung up the phone, entering an immediate state of panic. “I didn’t know the magnitude. I didn’t know what city it hit. I didn’t know any details,” she said.

On Sept. 8, a 6.8 magnitude earthquake struck Morocco’s Atlas Mountains before midnight, killing nearly 3,000 people and injuring thousands more. 

Canada’s recent implementation of Bill C-18, which has resulted in news content being blocked on social media, has made times of crisis even harder after Morocco’s earthquake. 

It took almost 40 minutes for Hafiz to reach her family in Casablanca, as her mother’s phone died and local cell towers were down. Her father happened to pick up while out of town in Algeria, reassuring her that her family was safe.

“I just had to calm myself down and be like, ‘Okay, I’ve talked to everyone. They’re okay. Like repeating to myself I’ve heard their voices,’” Hafiz said.

Hafiz spent the majority of her life in Casablanca, alongside her parents and younger brother. 

In 2021, at 18 years old, she moved to Montreal to study communications and cultural studies at Concordia. While this opened a new chapter in her life, it took her some time to navigate her lifestyle in the city. Part of this change required her to find a way to stay up to date with local news from her hometown.

She found herself relying on local Moroccan news outlets’ social media pages. To her, this was a perfect way to passively consume information with limited effort.

This routine didn’t last too long.

In June, Canada introduced Bill C-18, which requires big tech companies, such as Google and Meta, to compensate Canadian media organizations for using their social platforms. On Aug. 1, Meta responded to the bill by blocking most news content on Facebook and Instagram across Canada. 

For those like Hafiz, who depended on social media as her primary source of local news outside of the country, Bill C-18 created barriers that became most noticeable in times of crisis.  

Matthew Johnson is the Director of Education at MediaSmarts, a digital media literacy non-profit organization based in Ottawa. MediaSmarts defines digital media literacy as “the ability to critically, effectively and responsibly access, use, understand and engage with media of all kinds.” 

He referred to the obstacles faced by wildfire evacuees in Yellowknife this summer, who had limited access to emergency news updates on Meta’s platforms.

“That made it very difficult for many people to share what was happening to them. And in parts of Canada, where there’s limited access, in some cases to TV or radio news, it does seem as though it did have a significant impact,” Johnson said. 

These limitations may also impact those who rely on news from outside of Canada, with limited access to broadcast or print from other countries. “The real question is, what’s going to happen when and if Google starts doing the same thing?” Johnson asked. 

Johnson emphasized the importance of not putting all of one’s informational eggs in the same basket. He advised readers to curate their news sources from outside of social media platforms, ensuring to list those that they can rely on, especially in times of crisis. 

Despite Concordia students facing limited access to news on social media, they still found ways to spread information on Instagram. 

Selma Idrissi Kaitouni was raised in Casablanca and moved to Montreal last year to pursue her studies at Concordia’s John Molson School of Business. The student was in Montreal with her mother when the earthquake hit, but her father was in Marrakesh. Her family hasn’t been affected.

A few days after the earthquake, Idrissi Kaitouni and her friends came together to form a social club called the Moroccan Student Union (MSU), to advocate for those affected by the crisis. 

The club aims to become an official student group by completing the university’s registration process. “We really want to start embracing Moroccan culture at Concordia, whether it’s during Ramadan or it’s just having a safe place to be when you’re very far from home,” Idrissi Kaitouni said. 

Idrissi Kaitouni also mentioned Bill C-18’s influence on spreading awareness. When attempting to post a Canadian news article covering resources available to help those affected by the earthquake, her post was blocked by Instagram. The MSU reverted to posting donation links instead, which has been successful.

Emphasizing the importance of donating to international initiatives such as Banque Alimentaire, Idrissi Kaitouni added their link to MSU’s Instagram bio.

“I know as time will pass, less people will be talking about [the earthquake]…But Morocco will need lots of time to heal from it,” she said. 

Hafiz searched for a Morocco student club prior to the earthquake. She is grateful to see the MSU forming in support of her community.

“It’s incredible because everybody is rallying behind [us]. We saw it with the World Cup and now we saw it when it really mattered, when people needed it. I feel very, very proud to be from a country that can do that any day,” said Hafiz.

Categories
Hockey Sports

Introducing the new professional women’s hockey league

Illustration by Maggie Zeng

The PWHL strives to bring more attention to women’s hockey and the talent its players offer.

On Aug. 29, 2023, it was announced that there would be a brand new ice hockey league in the works for a start date in 2024. The newly-launched league would be known as The Professional Women’s Hockey League (PWHL), which will include three teams in Canada and another three in the United States.

Why is this league a big deal? It all goes back to 2019 when the Canadian Women’s Hockey League (CWHL) had to cease operations due to economic hardship. Following this situation, the Professional Women’s Hockey Players Association (PWHPA) was created. The union consisted of dozens of female ice hockey players who worked to ensure adequate funding, health insurance, and resources to the women players of different hockey leagues.

Though the CWHL shut down in 2019, the National Women’s Hockey League (NWHL) was still active and had offered to add the players affected by the shutdown. However, the former CWHL players declined the offer, refusing to play in a North American league again until sufficient resources and funding was presented to the players.

This year, the NWHL—now named the Premier Hockey Federation—made an announcement that they would be selling the league to a new owner. This new owner would be the founder of the new PWHL. The members of the PWHPA have finally established a league that would have the resources and financial structure to support the athletes who had been fighting for change for several years.

The PWHL owners established a collective bargaining agreement that will be effective through 2031 by working closely with the PWHL and partnering with the Billie Jean King group. This is great news for the future of women’s hockey. Not only does the collective bargaining agreement include a minimum salary that the members of the PWHPA are satisfied with, but it also ensures that the league will be around for several years—allowing it to grow instead of fearing another league shutdown.

The National Hockey League (NHL) also released a statement following the announcement of the PWHL that they look forward to helping grow the sport and supporting the new league. Past collaborations of the NHL with women’s hockey leagues, like their All-Star Game, have already brought positive attention to women’s hockey. 

The future is bright not only for the players of the PWHL, but for the fans as well. As we know so far, there will be six franchise locations: in Boston, New York, Minneapolis, Ottawa, Toronto, and Montreal. 

Montreal hockey fans already have a reason to be excited. Star players Laura Stacey, Ann-Renée Desbiens, and even Marie-Philip Poulin—known to many as the best women’s hockey player of all time—have agreed to contracts with Montreal’s new team.

Fans tuned in to watch the inaugural PWHL draft which took place on Sept.18. Franchises until this point have been able to sign up to three free agent players to contracts. During the draft, the six teams were able to fill out the remaining spots on their rosters. The draft player-pool includes some impeccable talent, including dozens of Olympic medalists as well as rookie players. With 268 athletes from around the world eligible to be drafted, it surely is a sight to see for hockey fans.

With this being the first time that the best women’s hockey players will be playing against each other in a league, the start of the PWHL is certainly one to be excited for. Once the teams are set following the draft, training camp will open shortly after. Fans should keep an eye open for information on purchasing tickets, as the league is yet to announce dates, times, and venues for its games. Before we know it, the calendar will flip to 2024, and the first PWHL season will be ready to launch. Whether you are a player or fan, it is undoubtedly an exciting time for women’s hockey. 

Categories
Arts and Culture Festival

MOMENTA returns to Montreal with a new face

Curator Ji-Yoon Han speaks at the first MOMENTA Vernissage: the opening of Mother, Memory, Cellophane by Séamus Gallagher, McCord Stewart Museum. Photo by Emma Bell / The Concordian

MOMENTA’s 18th edition maintains the great axiom: the only constant is change.   

Since 1989, Montréal’s MOMENTA Biennale de l’image has brought artists from around the world to collaborate with the local creative community in celebration of contemporary art that speaks to global concerns. Expanding on its origins as an exposition of cutting edge photography, MOMENTA’s 18th edition puts forth a program of artists who employ a breadth of methodologies in their work including video, sculpture, lenticular printing, projection, performance, miniature painting, and more. 

The opening event was held at Fonderie Darling—a converted 19th century industrial building that had been abandoned in 1991 until it was revived as a visual arts centre in 2002. The repurposed foundry served as the perfect venue for the vernissage, for its history aptly suits MOMENTA’s theme for this year: Masquerades: Drawn to Metamorphosis.

Curator Ji-Yoon Han Speaks at MOMENTA’s Opening Event, Fonderie Darling. Photo By Emma Bell / The Concordian.

In a world of fixed identities that tether us to limited ways of being, the masquerade invites us to embrace transformation, fluctuation, novelty and possibility. It is an intervention that offers a space for reimagining identity as a continuous process of becoming. 

“This biennial is about desire—it is about becoming; becoming other, becoming image, becoming oneself through the tangles of the gaze. Becoming is appearing and disappearing—showing and concealing. It is a transformation in time and space—bringing to the surface the energies of the archaic, the forgotten, the subterranean. This is about experimenting with one’s place and one’s boundaries—never affixed in this world; embracing transitional states,” said curator Ji-Yoon Han to the crowd outside the foundry. 

View of Artist Jeannette Ehlers’ Video Installation Moko Is Future (2022) in their Exhibition Play Mas, Fonderie Darling. Photo By Emma Bell / The Concordian.

MOMENTA provided 23 artists with the opportunity to exhibit a solo-show at one of the 16 participating venues around Montréal from the Mile End to the Old Port. The first exhibition to open was Séamus Gallagher’s “Mother, Memory, Cellophane” at the McCord Stewart Museum near McGill University. Han remarked that Gallagher was one of the first artists she had in mind as she was developing the theme for the biennale, for their interdisciplinary work is rooted in transformation, liminality, and motion. 

“Mother, Memory, Cellophane” is Gallagher’s first museum scale exhibition. Upon entering the gallery on the third floor of the McCord, the viewer encounters an illuminated pink platform occupied by an invisible figure wearing an extravagant plastic pink-and-blue dress with a sash that reads “Miss Chemistry.” This dramatic, phantasmic display introduces the viewer to the protagonist of the show, the ghost of Miss Chemistry.  

Gallery view of Mother, Memory, Cellophane, McCord Stewart Museum. Photo by Emma Bell / The Concordian

The 1939 New York World’s Fair, titled “World of Tomorrow,” showcased the anticipation for rapid scientific advancement as a new dawn for society. It was here where the DuPont company launched their new nylon stockings, donned by a model named Miss Chemistry, who personified chemistry as human progress, calling her the “the plastic woman of the future.” Her stereotypical feminine beauty, enhanced by the synthetic material of the stockings, stood as a symbol of mid-20th century values and visions of the future. Today, we look back on these sensibilities with eyes that have witnessed the true legacy of the 20th century—so-called progress at the cost of violence, pollution and uninhibited consumerism. 

“It is the first time that Séamus is dealing with an historical moment,” said Han. “This is one of the reasons why we thought it would be a good match with the McCord museum.” 

McCord Stewart Museum Façade. Photo by Emma Bell / The Concordian

The title of the show is drawn from a 1940 survey that claimed the words “Mother,” “Memory,” and “Cellophane” as the most beautiful words in the English language—a testament to the entanglements between femininity, nostalgia and synthetic material culture. These notions intertwine and constitute the character of the phantom of Miss Chemistry that Gallagher appropriates through drag performance.

Moving through the gallery, lenticular prints line the periphery of the space. The holographic quality of the surface denies the audience a fixed image to gaze upon, and rather offers an oscillation between text and image that changes along with the viewer’s movement. The print “Desire’s Inherent Vice Belongs in its Accumulation” (2023) superimposes the titular text over a still image of the artist performing as Miss Chemistry. As they perform, their face is transformed through a projection mapped onto a mask, creating layers of identity. These layers are further complicated by the shimmering surface of the print that obscures just as much as it reveals. 

Gallagher has thus created a persona that cannot be grasped; “an image that can never be seized” as Han describes it. Their technique and materials speak to the ever-shifting and evolving nature of identity and expression. Hear more from the artist during their free virtual discussion of their work on Nov. 22, 2023 at noon, which will be livestreamed on the museum’s Facebook page.

Find MOMENTA’s upcoming calendar of discussions, conferences and workshops as well as their exhibition map at their website here. The biennale will be ongoing until Oct. 22, 2023.

Categories
Concert Reviews Festival Review Music

KAYTRAMINÉ extends the Summer with a heated Performance at OfF Piknic 

KAYTRAMINÉ performing at OFF Piknik in Montreal on September 7. Photo by Tabéa Benlakehal / The Concordian

The high-energy rapper-producer duo composed of Aminé and KAYTRANADA kicked off their joint tour in Montreal on September 7.

On Sept. 7, famed producer KAYTRANADA and Aminé—known together as KAYTRAMINÉ—kicked off their sold-out joint tour for their album of the same name in KAYTRANADA’s hometown of Montreal. The performance was held in open air at Parc Jean-Drapeau as part of OfF Piknic, a series of concerts that follows the summer-long Piknic Électronik festival. The duo played joint and then individual sets for a crowd of 8,000 people, cycling through the entirety of their collaborative album as well as songs from their respective solo catalogues.

The show included three openers. Montreal hip-hop trio Planet Giza kicked things off with a DJ set consisting mostly of vintage hip-hop, with Aminé’s tour DJ Madison LST following up with a mix of current hip-hop hits such as Ice Spice’s “Deli” and Sexyy Red’s “SkeeYee,” which lit up the crowd. Lou Phelps’ set was the perfect tone-setter for KAYTRAMINÉ: his style is a perfect blend of laid-back, chill hip-hop akin to Aminé and occasional smooth bouncy production courtesy of KAYTRANADA himself—who happens to be Lou Phelps’ blood brother. 

Just off their first track “Who He Iz?,” it became immediately clear that KAYTRAMINÉ is a captivating duo. Aminé’s rapping style is filled with confidence and conviction, and his occasional shouting of his punchlines makes boastful lines like “we make heat shit, y’all make weak shit” resonate even stronger with the crowd. KAYTRANADA matched the Portland rapper’s energy with ease, bouncing along behind the ones and twos and ad-libbing in between Aminé’s lines. 

The duo not only fed off each other, but also the crowd: Aminé’s frequent use of call-and-response had the audience namely chanting the hooks of “letstalkaboutit,” “UGH UGH” and “Master P”  back to him, as well as getting hands to bounce and people to jump throughout the crowd. Chiara Strollo, a second-year TESL student who was in attendance, commends the duo for their lively and inviting stage presence: “I love when an artist makes you feel like their friend and like you’re all there to have a good time together.”

After a brief break, Aminé would re-emerge and start performing other hits from his catalogue. He performed cuts from his 2022 and 2020 projects TWOPOINTFIVE and Limbo like “Charmander” and “Shimmy,” even going as far back as his 2017 debut album to perform “Spice Girl.” The chorus to his 2018 hit “REEL IT IN” spread through the crowd like wildfire after being suddenly dropped and the slow-burning live version of “Caroline”—his biggest solo hit—proved effective. Fans sang along before the drums finally kicked in, releasing the crowd’s bubbling hype into jumps.

KAYTRANADA followed suit with an infectious DJ set that no concertgoer could resist dancing along to. His medley of songs included his remixes of Sam Gellaitry’s “Assumptions” and Teedra Moses’ “Be Your Girl,” “LITE SPOTS,” and a yet-unreleased remix of Beyoncé’s “CUFF IT.” 

Aminé joined him once again to perform their 2015 collaboration “LA DANSE,” after giving a shout out to the Montreal producer for reaching out and gifting him with free beats during that period. The pair closed the show with some of the biggest hits on KAYTRAMINÉ such as “Rebuke” and “Sossaup,” with the Pharrell Williams-assisted lead single “4EVA” rounding out the entire performance.

Before the crowd could fully spill out amid chants of “olé olé olé,” the swarm of fans that had begun leaving ran back towards the stage as the lights dimmed down again and KAYTRANADA’s hit single “Intimidated” began playing. Fans were treated to an encore and a second serving of “4EVA,” which upped the energy and wrapped up the show on an even more lively note. 

With both artists toting the flag of their respective ethnic background (Ethiopia and Haiti), the show truly felt like a celebration commemorating their heritage, their joining of forces and the pride KAYTRANADA has brought to his home city.

Parc Jean-Drapeau proved to be an ideal venue as the outdoor area perfectly complemented the bright, bouncy and summery instrumentals on their album. Given the club-ready and danceable qualities of KAYTRANADA’s production, the space augmented the party concept to a larger extent. With volleyball courts, ping-pong tables and an entire area dedicated to food and drink trucks and merchandise, the site entertained, served, and accommodated the crowd with ease, while also leaving enough room to keep everything spread out. “It wasn’t too crowded and the overall vibe of the people was great,” Strollo explains.

KAYTRAMINÉ showed and received overwhelming love to and from the people of Montreal, successfully starting off their tour with a bang. Attendee and fourth-year human relations student Alfred Umasao describes the abundance of local artists as “Seeing Montreal artists do what they do best.” Umasao has no regrets from attending the show: “I got my money’s worth for sure.”

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