Students march on, 14 weeks into the Quebec student strike. photo Pierre Chauvin

After 14 long weeks, the Quebec student strike continues to rattle the province. This week in particular brought a myriad of shake-ups.

New Education Minister

Line Beauchamp announced on May 14th that she had made a personal choice to step down as Education Minister of Quebec.

“I’m not resigning before violence and intimidation,” said Beauchamp. “I’m resigning because I feel I’m no longer part of the solution.”

She also resigned from her seat at the Quebec National Assembly.

Beauchamp cited the impossibility to reach a compromise with the student leaders as the main reason for her resignation.

“I’m making the ultimate compromise,” she said. “I give up my seat.”

Quebec Premier Jean Charest thanked Beauchamp for her work, adding that his government’s determination “is very strong.”

Michelle Courchesne, former education minister from 2007 to 2010, was sworn into duty on the same afternoon. She announced she would meet students groups on May 15th in Quebec City and then report back to the government on the situation.

No Independent Inquiry Into Victoriaville: SQ

The Sécurité du Québec announced it will not have an independent inquiry into the event of the Victoriaville riots, despite numerous calls from the public and even political figures, including Quebec Solidaire MNA Amir Khadir.

Amnesty International called for an inquiry on May 14 citing the “number of people injured, the repeated use of irritant gas,” and the “high number of arrests and their circumstances.” The human rights organization cites the March 25th demonstration and the SQ intervention on May 4th

Power Corps Annual Shareholder Meeting Disturbed

Approximately 200 protesters gathered around 10 a.m. at the Intercontinental Hotel in Montreal on May 15th to disrupt Power Corporation of Canada’s annual shareholder meeting.

The first clashes happened after 30 minutes when protesters approached police officers blocking access to the hotel. Police used pepper-spray on the crowd before deploying riot police, mounted police, and police on bicycles to form three separate lines of defence against the advancing group.

The protesters soon left, marching to Jacques Cartier bridge. They momentarily blocked access to the Ville-Marie expressway before returning to the Intercontinental hotel.

Citing physical altercations between students and bystanders, the SPVM declared the demonstration illegal around 2pm.

Police in riot gear then dispersed the students.

At press time the SPVM confirmed 2 arrests had been made.

#Manifencours

Following the March 22nd demonstration where between 100,000 and 200,000 students marched through downtown Montreal, a new march is scheduled for May 22nd.

At press time more than 7,000 people indicated their attendance to the event.

As nightly student demonstration is now becoming a tradition, the 22nd consecutive march is scheduled to kick off at 8:30pm, Parc Emile Gamelin on May 15.

Taste of the Caribbean brings high island flavour to Montreal.

Have you ever felt the sway of a palm tree tickle the roof of your mouth?

Well, neither have I.

But this week’s preview of Taste of the Caribbean, hosted by Chef Theo Gumbs and the talented students at St. Pius X Culinary Institute, led me to believe that such scenes might actually be evoked by a single bite of food.

It’s not like anyone’s ever needed to twist my arm to consider the benefits of a Caribbean séjour, but Gumbs and crew went two steps further: they sparked me to book a trip sooner than I thought, and proved that true tastes of the tropics are alive and well right in our own backyard.

Offering a sampling of May 27th’s Taste of the Caribbean event at Marché Bonsecours, Gumbs and students served up a carefully curated menu fusing techniques, traditions and flavours of several Caribbean regions. Opening with a dense puck of yellow tail snapper topped with a passionfruit vinaigrette, Gumbs showed that fishcakes go far beyond the classic minced haddock variety I grew up eating in Nova Scotia. There was nary a miss on this tight set of courses, receding nicely into a post-modern palate cleanser replete with instructions (“suck on the sugar cane, then slowly taste the liquid”), before, in Gumbs’ words “kicking it up a notch” with a rich and complex chicken breast beurre blanc stuffed with crab and sweet potato gratin.

But the star of this show was the upside-down banana cake. Topped with the woody, unsweetened shavings of a coconut that had been split only hours before, the first few mouthfuls felt like a grandmother’s warm embrace, laced with a suggestive punch of rum.

I was bowled over by the addictive contrasts in this petite dish, considering I had almost abstained—being not usually a fan of desserts right after a meal.

Montrealers will have the opportunity to try hundreds of these flavours under one roof all while helping the city’s underprivileged gain a culinary education. Oh, and (for a few extra bucks) douse their palate with limitless island booze.

Gumbs, who has tussled with Iron Chefs from Cat Cora to Robert Trevino, will be making a repeat appearance in Montreal on May 27 but he won’t be alone. The joyous hall at Marché Bonsecours will also welcome five other guest chefs, as well as a host of local producers and restauranteurs steeped in Caribbean cuisine.

But before I lose you, running off as you now might to this swanky Old Port party, I must also mention the unpretentious St. Pius X Culinary Institute. Housed inconspicuously in the basement of St. Pius X High School on Papineau just north of Sauvé, the Culinary Institute offers full-time and professional-standard culinary training programs … at very accessible rates. This ain’t the French Culinary Institute, where would-be chefs graduate with $33,000 in debt. Instead, the school welcomes people of all economic backgrounds, while competing at high-calibre culinary standards and providing connections to local employment. And most importantly to you eaters out there, they make restaurant-style food at cafeteria prices! For example, a three-course table d’hôte near the end of April was priced at $10.

As for those swaying palm trees, I’m not here to dissuade you from jumping on a plane to the Virgin Islands. But if it’s gastronomical island heat that you seek, your vacation may be only a short metro ride away.

Taste of the Caribbean begins at 2 p.m., Sunday May 27 at Marché Bonsecours (350 St. Paul Rd. E.). All-you-can eat for $50, or and VIP tickets (including early previews and booze) are $125. A portion of proceeds will go towards scholarships for students at St. Pius X Culinary Institute.

To dine at the pocketbook-friendly St. Pius X Culinary Institute, it might be safest to reserve (514-381-5440 or stpiusadult@emsb.qc.ca ) Lunch: Thursdays and Friday, 11:30 a.m. – 1 p.m.; Supper: Friday 6:30-8p.m._

So thanks to all the lovers (and haters) that made this volume the non-stop rollercoaster that it was, and for all the writers, photographers, designers and editors that made it possible. We’re going to push ourselves to make the next volume even stronger. We’ll (hopefully) see you at the top this time next year.

— The Link

And a big shout-out to The McGill Daily for coming in at #9!

Around 50 students gathered to discuss the Charest government’s latest tuition hike offer May 9. Photo Corey Pool

The Concordia Student Union voted unanimously at a special council meeting on May 8 to reject the Charest government’s recent tuition offer.

Around 50 students showed up to the meeting. While those not on council lack voting rights, the discussion portion of the meeting was open to all.

Well, almost all. CSU President Lex Gill asked that “all external media” leave the meeting, clarifying that only The Link, CUTV, CJLO and The Concordian were welcome.

“This is a way for us to poll student associations on their feelings, and have that reflect our position on the FEUQ,” explained VP External Chad Walcott.

The CSU holds a total of six votes at the federation, the highest number any group can hold. Gill clarified early on that any decision rendered by council would be the decision brought to the FEUQ table.

The meeting was momentarily thrown off the rails by a brief visit from Board of Governors chair Peter Kruyt.

“I’m here because I was interested” said Kruyt after several students in the audience heckled him. “But I can leave if you don’t want me here.”

The remainder of the meeting moved on relatively uneventfully. The vote was called and passed only two hours after the meeting’s start.

“Like many student councils in Quebec, the CSU, in communication with its members, has rejected the government’s offer,” said Gill following the meeting.

The FEUQ will hold vote its own vote this Friday.

Update: Council Chair Nick Cuillierer confirmed the exact wording of the motion passed during the special council meeting in an email sent to student media on May 9. The wording of the motion is as follows:

Whereas there are thousands of students on strike at Concordia, many since February.
Whereas, these students are on strike as a response to $1625 increase in tuition.
Whereas Concordia students voted with clear majorities both in a referendum and in general assemblies against the tuition fee increase.
Whereas the current offer does not fundamentally address the increase in tuition fees.
Whereas the current offer remains vague and relies on ill-defined terms, and we do not have confidence in the government to implement the recommendations of the Provisional Council._

Be It Resolved That the Concordia Student Union take a position against the government offer.
Be It Resolved That we will take a position against any offer that does not include discussion regarding the tuition fees.
Be It Resolved That any further offer should denounce police brutality and should include an independent inquiry regarding police tactics during protests
Be It Resolved That any further proposal ensure that the text is feminized.

Photo Erin Sparks

Last Saturday night, like many students in Quebec, we sat huddled around our computers, anxiously staring at our Twitter feeds for news of this new deal that could have brought a close to this endless strike.

At first glance, the deal looked pretty good. Students would get a semi-freeze while we searched for savings and tried to trim the fat from the upper reaches of university administration. The government would keep its beloved $1625 hike (or is it $1778?) and maybe score a couple political points in the process. The phrase ‘win-win’ kept getting batted around.

But then we read the document. The devil is in the details, and the details of this deal are just awful. Fiendish, even.

The folks over at 600 Fullum St., which is supposedly the Ministry of Education but for all we know is a sort of Mr. Magorium’s Wonder Emporium have concocted a ridiculous deal where they not only get to keep our money, but also grab a big chunk of the university’s change, too.

The CBC points out that, under the proposed agreement, the $254-a-year fee increase that we’ve been fighting so hard against will remain as-is. This means that the math mix-up that took the proposed increase from $1625 over five years to $1778 over seven years is being honored.

But aren’t we getting some kind of reduction in fees to offset the increase? Beauchamp would love it if you believed that.

“The fee increase is maintained,” Minister Beauchamp told The Globe and Mail. “If savings can be identified by the council, the savings will be reduced from the mandatory university surcharges.”

That’s a lot of if’s.

The government says they’ll strike a 19-member committee to find savings. Of those members, four will be students and four will be union reps. The others will be university directors, and business and government representatives.

That’s five parties trying to find solutions where two parties couldn’t. And at least three of those five are extensions of the corrupt and useless system we’ve spent over two years hounding for their incompetence and complete disregard for students. Many will be the same university directors who support the hike while collecting gold-plated pay-cheques and absconding with public money.

And what are “business representatives” doing on the council? Why do we care what the CEO of Pizza Pizza thinks of tuition? He’s only going to want it to go up so he isn’t threatened with higher taxes to pick up the slack.

So, on this body that’s supposed to help reduce fees for increasingly-indebted students, more than half of the voting members will be non-students.

This whole increase was to fund our poor, underfunded universities. This new deal would take money from those universities and give it directly to the government.

There’s nothing win-win about this trojan horse of a deal. We lose and universities lose more.

This strike has set the students back an extra $153 per year. They’re laughing at us.

By press time today, 25 student associations have voted against this trap of a deal. We would be wise to do the same. If not a freeze, we should at least ask for one more student rep and one more union rep on the committee. That would give us the majority we need to enact meaningful change.

Festival season starts soon, and the last thing the province wants in its largest city is clouds of tear gas engulfing the F1 and Jazz Fest crowds. The government doesn’t have the stamina nor the stomach to keep this up, but we do. If we keep protesting, peacefully and safely, we can get a better deal. After months of work, we’re this close to victory. Let’s not give up now.

The Dalai Lama spoke to 7,000 people at Lansdowne Park in Ottawa on April 27 with the message of peace. Photo Paul K. Dolce

The Dalai Lama arrived to speak to 7,000 people at Lansdowne Park in Ottawa on April 27 with the message that the 21st century could be one of peace.

“It’s possible in the next century to have a demilitarized world. If we spend on poverty, education and the environment, then the world will improve. Let’s spend in these fields rather than the killing fields,” said the exiled spiritual leader.

When asked why it seemed the developing countries seemed to have happier populations, the Dalai Lama suggested that the developed world comes with many anxieties.

“In developed countries, people watch too much television or listen to music so much that they don’t spend the time to think about their inner values,” said the Dalai Lama. “Anger, emotions and irritations come from us. When we develop anger, 90 per cent of the time, it’s from one’s own mental disposition.”

Viewed by the Chinese communist government as a “splitist,” the 76-year-old monk retired from politics last year. This is the only Canadian stop in his current world tour, the main purpose of which is to raise funds for the Tibetan Resettlement program from impoverished areas in Northern India in constant threat of cross-border attacks from the Chinese.

The President of Canada Tibet Committee Nima Dorje said over 1,000 Tibetans will be accepted into Canada over the next five years. He emphasized the need for temporary shelter and job placements.

Prime Minister Stephen Harper, wary of criticism from Beijing, met with the Dalai Lama only late Friday for a private courtesy call.

MPs Urge China to Resume Talks with Dalai Lama and Exiled Government

Over the past weekend, delegates from 55 countries gathered for the sixth Parliamentarians’ Convention on Tibet.

Members from all four major Canadian political parties were present.

The Parliamentarians urged Beijing to resume “sincere and constructive dialogue and negotiations between the Dalai Lama or his representatives and the democratically elected political leaders of the Central Tibetan Administration.”

The parliamentarians also issued a joint statement that they are “alarmed at continuing grave violations of human rights in Tibet and the repressive measures taken by People’s Republic of China authorities in reaction to these and other peaceful protests by Tibetans.”

They also emphasized that they are “deeply concerned at the attacks by the authorities of the People’s Republic of China on Tibetan Buddhism as well as their policies and practices that destroy, repress, or discourage” the preservation and development of the Tibetan identity, “including their culture, language, customs, way of life and traditions, and which
display elements of cultural genocide,” read the statement.

In addition to declarations aimed at China, MPs also discussed the degrading of Tibetan issues from environment to property rights.

Photo by Anthony Lecossois

Busloads of protesters traveled to Victoriaville, QC arriving in the city the afternoon of May 4. Provincial police force Sûreté du Québec had secured the perimeter of the hotel in which the general council took place.

Reports from the scene stated that protesters pushed through barriers and threw projectiles at police lines. Rubber bullets, CS gas and smoke grenades were deployed by the SQ. Ambulances were called to the scene, and at least five protesters were admitted to the hospital. Radio-Canada video footage also shows one police officer being hit by protesters.

Around 9 p.m., Concordia campus television station CUTV ended their live broadcast stating that the protestors were dispersing. Busloads of protesters began leaving the city; based on reports from Le Délit’s reporter on the ground, a bus carrying McGill and Concordia students was the last to leave. The bus was escorted back to Victoriaville by police, and passengers were placed under arrest. The passengers allegedly under arrest are unable to be contacted, but include a journalist from Le Délit and The Link.

An SQ officer who spoke with The Link confirmed that three buses had been arrested. The passengers were being taken off the buses in pairs, identified and questioned. The officer said that most would be eventually released, but it could be “some hours.” He said that he believed most would be charged, but could not specify what the charges would be. Those charged, he said, would be released and required to appear in court at a later date.

Students at the nightly demonstration in Montreal held a solidarity sit-in on Mont Royal Ave. and St. Denis Rd. for those who were arrested in Victoriaville.

Speaking to The Link, the SQ confirmed that three busloads of protesters have been arrested, and most may be charged criminally. The SQ stated protesters are being removed from each bus in small groups to be identified and questioned.

-With files from Riley Sparks

Photo Riley Sparks

An anti-capitalist demonstration marking International Workers’ Day ended in an all too familiar way on May 1—with tear gas and over a hundred arrests.

Gathering near Berri-UQAM Metro in the early evening, the crowd swelled to about 2000. About half wore red squares, the symbol of the Quebec student movement.

However, the protest was organized by the Anti-Capitalist Convergence of Montreal, not by student organizations.

Several hundred of the protesters wore masks and were dressed in black. They congregated in a large group at the back of the crowd, setting off firecrackers and occasionally throwing rocks and smoke bombs at police.

After following the demonstration for about an hour as the crowd wandered west on Rene-Levesque Blvd., into downtown Montreal, police declared the protest illegal and intervened after black bloc protesters smashed windows at the BMO on University St. and Ste-Catherine St. W.

A line of riot police split the crowd, apparently trying to arrest the group of rock-throwing protesters. The police were forced to retreat under a hail of rocks and bottles. More heavily-armoured police chased the crowd north on University St., firing tear gas and flashbangs.

The protest continued east, and eventually returned to Emilie-Gamelin Square. A tense standoff with police came to a head as officers ran into the crowd to arrest one man. Dragging the arrestee as they retreated through the crowd, the officers sprayed CS gas and fired what appeared to be several rubber bullets at protesters.

Officers kettled a group of about 15 protesters next to the Grande Bibliotheque on Berri St. and Maisonneuve Blvd. Moments before, the police had told protesters to disperse. The group appeared to be doing so, but police chased them across a field north of the library and arrested those who could not escape.
Police used bicycles to club a crowd of journalists who had gathered to photograph the arrests.

According to the CBC, 34 were arrested for criminal offences including mischief and assault, and another 75 for bylaw infractions after police ordered the protest to disperse.

The protest wound down just after 8 p.m., but more protesters were already gathering in the square for a student demonstration at 8:30 p.m., the eighth in as many days.

The Montreal Sign and Sound Festival runs from May 23-27.

Visual Art

May 14 – June 1: Recent Concordia grad Amanda Durepos is showing her collage-centric work in an exhibition called Cut&Paste which explores issues surrounding technology and personal identity. The show is fittingly in a European-style paper shop and art gallery. Note bene (3416 Parc Ave.) / Mon. to Fri. 11 a.m. – 7 p.m., Sat. 11 a.m. – 5 p.m. / Free

Music

May 4: The Tattoo Rebellion launch their eponymous rock album at Hemisphere Gauche. The band is a merging of Canada’s Sign of One and New York’s Tragic Orange. Hemisphere Gauche (221 Beaubien St. E.) / 9 p.m. / Tickets $8 adv, $10 door

May 5: Former Fiery Furnaces frontwoman Eleanor Friedberger takes her indie pop solo effort “Last Summer”: http://www.eleanorfriedberger.com from NYC to Park Ex. Il Motore (179 Jean-Talon St. W.) / 8 p.m. / Tickets $23.50

May 6: Quintron and Ms. Pussycat bring their inventive New Orleans electronic punk puppet show north of the border. Il Motore (179 Jean-Talon St. W.) / $13 adv, $15 door more info

May 17: Electronic performance art duo Dewanatron (NY) open for and play with local post-chamberpop group Caroline Glass Band. Casa del Popolo (4873 St. Laurent Blvd.) / 8:30 p.m. / $8

May 19: Montreal musicians known to have a certain Simon and Garfunkel quality, Lakes of Canada launch their latest album before heading out on tour. Il Motore (179 Jean-Talon St. W.) / 8:30 p.m. / Tickets $10

Performance & Theatre

May 3: Easy Action brings the laughs with a merging of action film aesthetic and long-form improv. Yell suggestions at the top of the start of the show and see an improvised story take shape. Montreal Improv Theatre (3713 St. Laurent Blvd. #202 / 8 p.m. / Tickets $8

May 4: May the Fourth Be With You is a night of stand-up comedy by known Montreal laugh-makers followed by an open mic and open dance floor. Freestanding Room (4324 St. Laurent Blvd., 3rd Floor) / 8 p.m. / Tickets $10

May 4-5: Bust a Move 9th Edition puts dancers from around the world against each other in six different categories, from popping to hip hop via locking, featuring live DJs. Tohu (2345, Jarry St. E.) / May 4 at 6 p.m., May 5 at 7 p.m. / Tickets $20-$30 (15% off with student I.D.), 2-day pass $35

May 7: Cafe Concret brings an evening of experimental puppetry and performing from underground puppet artists to Casa del Popolo (4873 St. Laurent Blvd.) / 8:30 p.m.

May 16-26: Poutine Masala is bollywood meets Montreal in a story about a Quebecois boy who falls for an Indian girl. The trilingual play (English, French, and a pinch of Hindi) takes the tone of comedy dance-theatre. Mainline Theatre (3997 St. Laurent Blvd.) / 8 p.m. with 2 p.m. Sunday matinees / Tickets $23

May 21-27: The 7th Montreal Sketch Comedy Festival will feature emerging talent from around the world alongside local favorites. Some shows can be hit-or-miss, but Toronto’s Ladystache and Montreal’s Uncalled For take the guesswork out. Theatre Saint Catherine (264 Ste. Catherine St. E.) / Mon. to Sun. 8 p.m. and 10:30 p.m. late shows Thurs. to Sat. / Tickets $12

Literary Arts

May 5: Free Comic Book Day is the first Saturday in May each year when comic book stores across North America give freebies to anyone who comes in. Drawn and Quarterly is slated to participate and posters around Mile End suggest there will be cookies and juice to go with the readables… Drawn and Quarterly (211 Bernard Rd. W.) / All Day / Free

May 7: Alice Petersen, a New Zealand-Canadian living in Montreal, will debut her short fiction All the Voices Cry at the Atwater Library. The collection features 16 short stories set in the author’s homelands of Quebec and New Zealand. Atwater Library (1200 Atwater Ave.) / 7:30 p.m. / Free

Varia

April 29 – May 7: The Montreal Isreal Film Festival runs the gamut of issues affecting Israel and its people ­– from racism, Israeli-Arab relations, to aging and queer issues. AMC Theatre (2313 St. Catherine St. W.) and Cinema Guzzo / Various Times / Tickets to be purchased in advance: Free for Students, $14 Regular, $70 7-film pass
May 17-19: The Montreal Underground Film Festival celebrates and promotes low-budget filmmakers who challenge conventional film aesthetics. All kinds of experimental shorts can be seen in two locations. Sala Rossa (4848 St. Laurent Blvd.) and Friperie Pote:tr (6029 Parc Ave.) / Various Times / Tickets $5-$7

May 23 – 27: This year’s Sight & Sound Festival is themed Systems of Symmetry. Sound and video artists come together for performances, installations and interactive art pieces. Eastern Bloc (7240 Clark St.) / Various times and prices

Photos Elysha Del Giusto-Enos

With police surveying at a distance, a group of about two dozen animal rights activists protested the return of the North American Fur & Fashion Expedition-Montreal, an annual fur show that took place April 30 at Place Bonaventure.

“We want to raise the status of animals from objects to sentient beings,” said Marion Zimtgeschmack, honorary president of the Concordia Animal Rights Association, which organized the event along with the People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals.

Zimtgeschmack said that every year CARA organizes a demonstration in response to the fur show, which in the business of pushing what she calls “pseudo-products, because no one wants them.”

For three hours in the chilly April afternoon protesters held signs denouncing the fur trade and fashion fair. Zimtgeschmack paced in front of the group with a megaphone, telling anyone within earshot about the shame of the fur industry.

The focus of the event was the death knell of the seal trade, an industry on the brink of complete insolvency after Russia joined the European Union’s ban on seal products. Although Canada has subsidised the seal hunt in recent years, since these bans the industry has bottomed out.

PETA have lead the successful campaign against what they call “the Canadian Seal Slaughter” based on assertions that every year hundreds of thousands of baby harp seals are brutally killed during the hunt.

“During the slaughter, baby seals are shot or repeatedly clubbed,” PETA’s website states. “Sealers bludgeon the animals with clubs and “hakapiks” (metal-hook–tipped clubs) and drag the seals—who are often still conscious—across the ice floes with boat hooks.”

This is in stark contrast with statements issued by the Canadian government. Killing whitecoats, or baby seals, has been illegal in Canada since 1987. But animal rights activists do not believe the government is being transparent about the hunt.

“We have been trying to do research to find accurate information on the seal slaughter,” Zimtgeschmack said. “It’s very hidden away.”

In an attempt to save the commercial hunt and Inuit hunt, the Canadian government and the Inuit have each challenged the bans on seal products.

“The Inuit’s way with the land, and their seal hunting, it’s so ancient and necessary,” said Morning Star, a Cree elder who speaks on Aboriginal issues for Concordia.

She added that Aboriginal traditions have always been seen as barbaric by a Eurocentric world, but that today’s disdain for native practises is done “in a more sugar-coated way.”

“I am not taking a position on indigenous seal hunting,” Zimtgeschmack said. “But I have the information that indigenous people do not get anything out of the trade.”

So far appeals to lift the bans have been rejected.

The seal trade is however much smaller than the factory fur farming industry which was also being protested. According to PETA, 85 per cent of the fur industry’s skins come from factory farms.

Zimtgeschmack said that a lot of Canadians wear fur without knowing it and that this is no accident. The larger issue of factory fur farms is not met with the same tone of inevitable victory that the seal trade evokes today.

“The Chinese fur trade is extremely aggressive and they know that we don’t want to wear cats and dogs. It’s a really ugly business between China and Canada–that they even let these things come in, in tiny little toys, in boots–it’s not labeled.

“Many [Canadians] think, ‘That can’t be real fur–it’s so cheap!’ But animal fur is worth nothing, it’s not labeled and people have no idea what they’re buying.”

Although the battle against factory farming may be only starting to gain momentum, with the Russian seal-product ban in place Zimtgeschmack asserted, “the seal trade will die very soon.”

Melting Away playing Wednesday May 2, and Monday May 7 at 8:30 p.m.

The eighth edition of the Israel Film Festival brings diverse and critically acclaimed films to Montreal for a week-long engagement. The nine films have received international accolades–from the Oscars, to Cannes and the TIFF–and all of the Montreal screenings will be free for students.

Festival founder and director Eran Bester stated, “Israeli cinema continues to flourish with a wide variety of films on a vast array of topics. […] I have put my heart into the festival and, each year, seek out the best Israeli films and most interesting speakers to bring to Montreal.”

This year’s speaker is Guy Nattiv, the Tel Aviv-based director of The Flood. Nattiv will be presenting his film on Sunday, April 29, and Monday, April 30, and will host a Q & A discussion following the screening. The Flood’s coming-of-age story is told with original music provided by Montreal singer-songwriter Patrick Watson .

The film Melting Away was created in the wake of a deadly attack at a Tel Aviv LGBT Youth Center in 2009. A man entered the hangout called Cafe Noir and began shooting indiscriminately. Two youths died, and some of the parents of those injured refused to visit their children in the hospital.

The incident sparked the creation of Melting Away by director Doron Eran and his partner, screenwriter Bili Ben Moshe. The film follows a boy who is cast out of his family when he’s found to have women’s clothing in his room. Years later his mother hires a detective agency to find him because his father is dying. The boy who has now become a beautiful transgendered singer, visits his dying father under the guise of being a nurse sent by the insurance agency.

The lineup also includes My Lovely Sister, the story of two sisters divided when one marries an Arab man and the other casts her out of the family in self-righteous indignation. The outcast sister dies of a broken heart and her ghost comes to demand the attention she was denied in life.

My Australia, is a story set in the ‘60s and told through the eyes of a 10-year-old boy. The boy falls in with a group of neo-nazis in Poland only to then find out that his mother is a Holocaust survivor and they are leaving the country. He is then in for the ultimate culture-shock when the family ends up Israel.

The Montreal Israel Film Festival, April 29 – May 7 / AMC Forum (2313 Saint Catherine) and Guzzo Spheretech (3500 Côte Vertu) / Free for students (subject to availability prior to each screening), $14 regular

Tickets must be purchased in advance, online here or by calling 514-937-2332

Concordia Presidential candidate and current Ryerson Provost Alan Shepard. Photo Mohamed Omar (The Eyeopener)

At least there wasn’t a bullhorn.

As presidential candidate Dr. Alan Shepard addressed Concordia April 27 via conference call, there seemed to be one word that student politicos and reporters agreed most adequately summed up the conversation: boring.

Shepard began with a prepared statement where he spoke about improving his French, keeping dialogue open and generally supporting things that are good.

This followed with a question period from the senate, board of governors and pre-approved audience send-ins. Although the questions ranged from salaries to strikes, Shepard’s responses felt like he was reading the same Mad Lib over and over with slightly altered substitutes.

‘I can’t speak to Concordia’s handling of [contentious issue X], but I can say that I support [something students and faculty want to hear] while also valuing [whatever the administration thinks].’

Not super helpful.

I didn’t expect much else. After all, the man was in the most awkward job interview I’ve ever been privy to. As over 700 people tuned in, Shepard was trying to please two ideologically polar opposite employers simultaneously.

But Dr. Shepard could learn from CSU President Lex Gill, who said in a previous interview with The Link that a leader who attempts to make everyone happy makes no one happy.

Instead of taking a real stance on, well, anything, Shepard’s attempts to appease the masses fell flat. I found myself having Obama 2008 flashbacks. While I like the general gist, I worry that the man will waste too much of his time in power trying to please.

To be fair, his answers weren’t all terrible. Shepard did reference an ability to work well with unions at Ryerson, something Concordia desperately needs a hand with. He also referred to regular town halls he held back in Toronto. Let’s hope he would continue those here at ConU.

It was a nice moment when Shepard said that, like Concordia, Ryerson is an integral part of a downtown community, one that does not “hide behind ivy covered walls.” Suck it, McGill. It’s an easy shot to take but appreciated nonetheless.

Gill, for one, remains confident that the president will do better in person. “[Shepard] comes off very differently one-on-one or in a small group,” she said, adding that he “was in the hot seat and probably didn’t want to stick out too much in the front of the top level administration.”

It’s true, and he’s a breath of fresh of fresh air for Concordia. Shepard says he “doesn’t come from a family of privilege,” and is the first from his family to go to university. He’s openly gay and has two adopted kids with his partner. When he says it’s important to question societal norms, I believe he means it.

So here’s to a president that doesn’t look like he’ll run off with our money or use it to pay for a costly condo. Under Shepard, we might even fight off the PR nightmare that has left us the laughing stock of Canadian universities. And that’s something to celebrate, right?

After 11 weeks of strike action, the Charest government has offered a new deal to students. Photo Corey Pool

Quebec Premier Jean Charest and Education Minister Line Beauchamp announced a tweaked alternative to planned tuition fee increases at a press conference on April 27.

In an attempt to calm the waters of a province stricken by 11 weeks of non-stop student action, the Premier announced a set of alterations to its intended $1625 tuition increase over five years—instead stretching the increase to $1778 over seven years.

In addition to a slower tuition increase, the government is offering an extra $39 million to bursaries and loans, as well as making loan payments proportional to income.

The government also proposed the creation of a special council to oversee the management of Quebec universities, as well as a committee that could include students to study the impact of the hikes.

In reaction to increasing student actions and now nightly demonstrations that have seen over 100 people arrested this week, Charest expressed that the government “will never agree to act, or to concede, under the threat of violence and blackmail.”

Both Charest and Beauchamp encouraged students to put an end to the now 11-week strike.

“For 50 cents a day, it strikes me that it’s no longer time to compromise their diplomas,” said Beauchamp, referring to the per-day cost of the hikes to students.

However, some students are already calling this latest attempt by the government an insult, and expressing that this negotiation will not be accepted by any group.

The Coalition Large d’ASSE (CLASSE) said on Twitter that these alternatives still do not respond adequately to the demands of students on strike.

Student groups have expressed that they need time to discuss these new measures, however several Facebook groups indicate plans for another night of protest.

Photo Mike Vorassi

Sam Herring is in a good place right now. The shows are getting bigger both in North America and in Europe, and he’s in a healthy relationship. Since most of his lyrical work for Baltimore synth pop trio Future Islands is inspired from tortured feelings of love and loss, it’s a welcomed change for the North Carolina-born singer.

“I’m seeing someone now and that makes me really happy so I’m worried we won’t be able to write a good song for a while. My dad’s always telling my girlfriend, ‘Go ahead and break his heart so Future Islands can make a good album again,’” he laughs.

Last fall’s On the Water was a move to that peaceful place, a retrospective look at the feelings Herring wrestled with on the previous LP In Evening Air. And with a few years now between him and when those songs were written, comes the taxing experience of revisiting dark moments onstage.

“I’m really feeling that now, mainly because of the old albums,” said Herring. “ In Evening Air is about a relationship I was getting through, working through those feelings, and On the Water is more about coming to a moment of peace.

“To go onstage and sing a song like “Balance” next to “Tin Man,” it almost doesn’t make sense because “Balance” is about understanding things will work themselves out if you don’t drive yourself crazy, and “Tin Man” is about that crazed feeling.”

One of the most intense moments on In Evening Air, “Tin Man” remains a staple in their live show, where Herring is known to hold nothing back. He throws himself into the performance, physically and emotionally, every night.

“When we started playing “Tin Man” it really hit me on stage, feeling lost and abandoned, and to go into that place now is kind of scary,” said Herring. “It’s difficult because I don’t want to go back to that place, I’m not mad at that person anymore.”

“It hurts me, but when you’re trying to be honest about your life you can’t hold back.”

Future Islands were in a radically different situation when writing that song, when they had trouble paying bills and had recently moved to Baltimore. Now they’re in a more stable place, feeling grown-up for the first time.

So for their latest LP, the band made things a little more pensive, most of the record sitting at Beach House-pace and recorded in North Carolina’s historic Andrew S. Sanders House. The resulting force still encapsulates the band’s dynamic vocals and new wave-inspired instrumentation, but the immediacy of the largely uptempo In Evening Air has been substituted for something deeper.

In writing On the Water the band was in a stretch of slowing down, taking a few months to recover from over three years of touring. With Future Islands able to let the songs breathe, more ambient passages arose, building contrast to the record’s climactic synthesized moments.

“We were hoping we weren’t going to shoot ourselves in the foot, but for me these songs are some of the most honest songs that we had written, and that’s what was scary about it,” said Herring.

“You have to be careful, or they’ll be like, ‘what are you doing? I was dancing and now I’m crying,’” he said about playing the new songs live. “Not that we’re opposed to people crying at shows.”

But the response has been positive so far, and as the band embarks on the next leg of their tour supporting the latest record, they have much to be thankful for as they continue their musical journey of self-exploration.

“Looking back two or three years you don’t know what’s going to happen, and being able to get to a point where you’re able to see that return is really mind-blowing,” said Herring.

Future Islands / May 1 / Il Motore (179 Jean Talon Rd. W.) more info

A group of protesters cut short Concordia’s special joint meeting April 24. Photo Corey Pool

The introduction of the potential incoming Concordia president Dr. Alan Shepard was cut short with the wailing of a bullhorn and chanting students in the packed D.B. Clarke Theatre on April 24.

A group of roughly 20 students angered by the silence of the university administration on the issue of the student strike disrupted the meeting, causing it to be canceled. The group did not appear to have any specific affiliation, but were clearly not represented by the Concordia Student Union.

“I’m sick of the University giving us these token moments, like a one hour town hall meeting that is made for 40,000 students to air their concerns,” said Alex Matak, Geography student and the voice behind the bullhorn. “If they are not going to listen to us then their ‘business as usual’ is not going to continue.”

Matak read a document over the bullhorn, directing concerns to specific members of administration who were present for the meeting. Any attempts to speak by Board of Governors chair Peter Kruyt were drowned out by the siren of the bullhorn.

CSU President Lex Gill attempted to converse with Matak and the group over the microphone, asking for dialogue, but was mostly ignored.

“We had an opportunity here to meet and engage with the future president of our university, but now that decision is pretty much left in the hands of the board,” said Gill. “As a person who is part of an organization that values broad public consultation, I think that’s a shame.”

After nearly 30 minutes most of the administration and Shepard left the auditorium, followed by the majority of those in the audience.

“I think it’s clear that what’s happened here today is part of a broader picture, but the reality is that it would have been a great opportunity to get to grill the new president,” said Gill. “There are about 16 students who had the opportunity to speak to him, and before he is the president that is unfortunately all that will get the chance to.”

Concordia Spokesperson Chris Mota expressed that the incident was a missed opportunity, and that any potential comments that could have been delivered to the advisory committee which will make the final decision on whether or not Shepard will become president will be lost.

“He will not be addressing Concordia,” said Mota. “There is until May 1 for individuals to send in their comments to the secretary of the Board and Senate and after that a recommendation will be made to the Board of Governors.”

In an email sent from Concordia on April 26, students were informed the university would host a conference call at 12:00 p.m. April 27 at Shepard’s request, where he will give his presentation and answer questions from the Board of Governors and Senate.

Audio from the call will be streamed on Concordia’s website. Members of the Concordia community are invited to submit their written questions to Vice-Chancellor Danielle Tessier by 9:00 a.m. Friday.

With Files from Hilary Sinclair
Updated April 26

The panel discussion marked the opening night of Journalism Strategies, a three-day conference on the state of media in Canada, and the state of media democracy with the hopes of re-imagining the future of Canadian journalism.

The discussion was moderated by CBC Daybreak host Mike Finnerty, and featured Tony Burman of Al Jazeera English, former Radio-Canada journalist Dominique Payette, Kai Nagata of The Tyee and founding publisher of rabble.ca Judy Rebick.

Though the discussion was long and touched on many points, we’ve chosen just a couple minutes of discussion that hit close to home.

Herein both Rebick and Nagata discuss the current student strike in Quebec, and how Canadian Anglophone media has handled the issue.

Young Lungs playing “Blood on the Streets” at Nouveau Palais.

Punk-inspired indie trio Young Lungs played an acoustic version of their song “Blood on the Streets” for us at the Mile End diner Nouveau Palais.

Their adrenaline-pumped 7” captures their full electric sound, recorded at the CJLO studios and mastered by Jon Drew, who has worked with the likes of Fucked Up and Tokyo Police Club.

Catch them at Divan Orange April 25 with Kids & Explosions.

Concordia University Senate voted unanimously to request that Quebec Premier Jean Charest start an unconditional dialogue with student groups, and that Interim Concordia President Frederick Lowy pass along the message.

“I think that this is a very important and powerful step,” said Concordia Student Union President Lex Gill. “Concordia is the first university to call on the minister to negotiate without condition and with all stakeholders at the table to resolve the student conflict.”

The original motion proposed by Fine Arts faculty member David Douglas asked that a letter from Lowy be addressed to Education Minister Line Beauchamp. An amendment was added by Arts and Science Senator June Chaikelson to send it to Charest instead.

“That’s even better. It goes to the premier, that’s her boss,” said Gill. “I think its a breaking point for universities to realize that they also have a responsibility to tell the minister and the premier that they need to show some serious leadership right now,” she added.

It is currently unknown how the letter will be written, but Gill believes it might be the original wording of the final motion, and that the letter will first have to be presented to the university community.

The Trans Identity Project also made progress with an announcement by VP Services Roger Cote that students will now be able to list their preferred name on student records and gender will be removed from forms. Legal last names will remain on all documents.

Despite lengthy discussions at the Senate and Board of Governors meetings this week, there is still a lot of confusion surrounding the finances and governance of eConcordia and KnowledgeOne.

More to come

Concordia Presidential candidate and current Ryerson Provost Alan Shepard. Photo Mohamed Omar (The Eyeopener)

Concordia announced on April 19 its recommendation for Dr. Alan Shepard as university President, along with its decision on the next Board of Governors Chair Norman Hébert and Dean of the John Molson School of Business Steve Harvey.

Following the announcement of Shepard as candidate, there will be a joint meeting of the BoG and the Senate. The meeting will be April 24 in the D.B. Clarke Theatre and will be open to the Concordia community.

Shepard, the current Provost at Ryerson University, is slated to replace Interim President Frederick Lowy, who has held the position since Jan. 2011 following the resignation of former President Judith Woodsworth.

As for the new BoG Chair, Hébert has been appointed “on the recommendation of its Governance and Ethics Committee,” said University Spokesperson Chris Mota. He begins his three-year term on July 1, 2012.

“[Hébert] is well known in Quebec as a successful business leader as well as a highly engaged philanthropist,” said current Board Chair Peter Kruyt.

Concordia Provost David Graham has appointed Steve Harvey as Dean of the JMSB for a five-year term also beginning in July.

Mozart’s Sister mixes new wave into her solo synth sounds.

“Oh she’s good! She’s gonna be huge,” said Victor Bongiovanni of Booty Bakery to me once over some pretty mediocre coffee. He was excitedly talking about Caila Thompson-Hannant, the person behind Mozart’s Sister.

Her stuff is lively, dancey and although extremely fresh is sometimes reminiscent of the new romantics two decades ago. Thompson-Hannant is from Victoria, BC and has lived in Montreal for about five years.

“It’s two completely different things” she answered. “I mean, Victoria has some good stuff but it’s always the same people at the same shows, it’s kind of small.” When it came to Montreal she had one thing to say. “I love it! I fucking love it!”

We laughed for a bit about how that’s what all musicians who live in the city talk about it. She’s no stranger to the ins and outs of Montreal music. Throughout her years she’s been involved in Shapes and Sizes, Miracle Fortress and Think About Life.

After having returned from her first show as a solo act in SXSW and playing alongside Grimes and Born Gold at Cabaret du Mile End a couple of weeks ago, Caila is ready for another show—this time on April 20 alongside UN, Country and $ad Hava at Cabaret Playhouse.

So what does Mozart’s Sister do now that she’s done touring?

“I’m focusing on recording” she said. All of her stuff is self-produced and recorded at home. That being said, Caila is in the process of moving and will therefore have to figure something out in that awkward time between one apartment and the other. “I fucking love the Mile-End,” she said with a laugh.

Mozart’s Sister is currently unsigned but that has not prevented her from getting attention from press around the world. Lucy Jones of London’s The Telegraph had this to say about her after her performance in Austin, “[Mozart’s Sister] had a mesmerising stage presence, high quality song-writing and an ethereal, other-wordly sound and she reminds me of a sci-fi Kate Bush.”

The best way to know what she’s up to is to go see her “mesmerising” qualities for yourself. This show is a perfect start to what will surely be a great summer for music in Montreal.

Mozart’s Sister (with UN, Country and $ad Hava) / April 20 / Cabaret Playhouse (5656 Parc Ave.) more info

Ruckus members MC Max Miller & Efa Etoroma, Jr.

Ruckus blends sax, bass, drums and guitar as foundation for live, smooth Montreal hip hop.

In this edition of Link Live Sessions, the quartet reworks A Tribe Called Quest’s “Check the Rhime.” Catch Ruckus at a club near you, and find out more at Ruckusgroup.com.

The Concordia University Part-Time Faculty Association is thankful to members of the University community for assisting faculty and students to conclude an arduous semester. Our faculty members met the demand to teach all our students regardless of their political position about the student protest.

The value of the last few months is ultimately the hard lessons we can draw from our diverse experiences. Briefly, the intensity of various situations involving the student protest was anything but “business as usual.” Win, lose, or draw the community has an elevated consciousness about how conflict should be managed, the significance of communications, and the importance in the process, of not losing sight of the prize.

At the beginning of the student protest we lauded the efforts of the university administration that sought not to be divisive. No one can understand why the adoption of these efforts took a turn for the worse following the March 23 directive. From that date, the adoption of a dualistic paradigm pitting “us” versus “them” became evident. This was most unfortunate since it created more divisions rather than diffusing the situation.

One statement after another in the student Town Hall meeting held last week fostered an environment of mistrust and an unfair assessment of those students who were involved in a justified protest. Little was done to guide and nurture those students during the protest. Little was done to guide and nurture faculty and Department Chairs who were in the trenches at ground level. Students and faculty became the collateral damage of law and order policies by an administration that was oblivious to the needs of its faculty and students dealing with the protest. The working and learning environment continues to be unhealthy.

Of particular note, the Association spent a considerable amount of time assisting students who were distressed, students on picket lines who were harassed and fearful of their decision to engage, many for the first time in a political action. Students who attended classes who were also distressed to study in such an environment, crying and unable to cope. There was also far more classes that were not declared cancelled or that were academically unsound to be considered as actually being “held.” We learned more about each other in the face of some pretty hard realities.

The Association requests that the President write the Minister of Education to seek a meeting with provincial student associations. Regardless of your support for hikes in tuition, your intervention with the Minister and the leadership of any of your colleagues in CREPUQ, ought to encourage dialogue. While the current protest appears to have abated at Concordia, we feel it would be a serious error to believe that inaction will somehow bring about a return to the status quo. We must direct our ideas and energy toward the necessary initiatives which hold the promise to truly bring about a solution for all parties. Otherwise the student protest will not go away and its residual effects will continue to divide.

The Association also requests an examination of the user fees Concordia students are obliged to pay. The escalation of these user fees is tantamount to a de-facto hike in tuition in a fragmented form. These should be reassessed and examined.

To the students involved in the protest, let me congratulate the courage you demonstrate to become integrated for the very first time as members from an anglophone university into the fabric of student life in Quebec. This in and of itself is a remarkable achievement. The struggle you are engaged in to transform educational policies will continue to serve you well. For there is nothing more perilous or difficult in life than a commitment to the public good and public service. Lessons learned through your efforts about how power works, how decisions get made, the importance of quorum and Robert’s Rules, the use of methodologies, and the value of communications is knowledge you have acquired which is as valuable as any textbook.

We regret that students continue to be largely criminalized by a media who provides a less than balanced perspective of the issues surrounding the privatization of universities and what the protest is all about. So much of the subtext remains unspoken.

To our faculty members and many Department Chairs and staff, we thank you for your understanding in dealing with the diversity of issues that surfaced day to day during the student protest; a rather thankless task and one that continues to often be as undervalued as the pedagogy we seek to impart. We too have learned a few lessons about conflict and how best to facilitate discourse rather than tear down bridges of understanding. The student protest is ultimately a true test of how much we respect diversity.

The Association invites all faculty involved with the student protest to a Faculty Town Hall meeting for a compte rendu of our mutual experience. We have very few forums in the University where collective discussions can actually take place or any needed venues for consensus to be fostered. If you are interested in attending a Faculty Town Hall as faculty who dealt with the student protests, please reserve the afternoon of Friday, April 27, 2012 from 2:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. and confirm your attendance by emailing cupfa@alcor.concordia.ca for details and location.

As we face the summer semester, let me extend the very best for a well-deserved solace from the fray. May students go forward to seek summer employment, become involved with the Occupy Movement or continue with their studies. Whatever you elect to do, know you belong to a fine University that is made up of concerned faculty and staff who have your interests at heart.

–Maria E. Peluso,
President, CUPFA

David Tremblay (red) was a co-winner with football player Max Caron for top male athlete. Photo Monique Smith

Concordia finest athletes convened at the Holiday Inn Midtown in downtown Montreal for the annual Concordia Stingers Gala April 15.

Rugby player Hughanna Gaw was awarded the Sally Kemp award, given to the female athlete of the year. Football player Max Caron and wrestler David Tremblay were co-winners of the Dr. Robert J. Brodrick Award, given to the school’s top male athlete for that year.

Gaw, who is in her third year, was a key contributor on the women’s rugby team’s success this season. She helped the Stingers win the Kelly-Anne Drummond Cup and reach the Quebec championship game. A native of Elgin, Quebec, she was the team’s leading tackler–adding eight tries during the regular season. Gaw was also named a Réseau du sport étudiant du Québec all-star and a Canadian Interuniversity Sport All-Canadian this season.

Tremblay, a first-team All-Canadian from Stoney Point, Ontario, had a stellar season with the wrestling team, winning his fourth consecutive gold medal at this year’s CIS wrestling championship finals. Tremblay won all six of his tournaments this year, posting a perfect 19-0 record. He is slated to participate in the upcoming Summer Olympics in London after qualifying last month.

“It’s an honor to receive the award,” said Tremblay, “Everything seems to be falling into place for me this year. It’s cool to see that the school recognizes my efforts and is supporting what the wrestling team has done this year. It’s nice to know I have a lot of support.”

Caron, the anchor of the Stingers defense at middle linebacker, hauled in yet another major award to cap off his outstanding season. He won the Presidents Trophy as the outstanding defensive player in CIS last November, having led the country in solo tackles, average tackles per game and interceptions returned for touchdowns.

Other major award winners included Eric Begin, captain of the men’s hockey team and Maggie MacNeil of the women’s hockey team, who took home the Ron Lapointe Award and the Denise Beaudet Award respectively. Both recognize the athletes for academics, athletics, and community service.

“It’s quite an honor, I’ve been involved in a lot of causes throughout my career, especially the last two years,” said Begin, “I think I’m fortunate to be able to study and play my favourite sport at the same time, so I always think of people that weren’t as fortunate as I was, I want to give back to those people to help them out. It feels good to be honoured with the award.”

The complete list of award winners:

Ron Lapointe Award for academics, athletics and community service – Eric Begin, men’s hockey

Denise Beaudet Award for academics, athletics and community service – Maggie MacNeil, women’s hockey

Male Rookie of the Year – Greg Rossy, wrestling

Laurie Brodrick Award/Female Rookie of the Year – Linda Morais, wrestling

Fittest Female Athlete – Latoya Blackwood, rugby

Fittest Male Athlete – Kris Robertson, football

Marvin Cooper Award – presented to a student-athlete who has successfully overcome adversity – Bryan Charleau, football

President’s Award (combination of athletics and academics)- Marc-André Lewis, football; Jaymee Shell women’s hockey

Michael Di Grappa Awards of Distinction for career contribution to Stingers – Michael Noonan, wrestling; Claire Hortop, women’s rugby

Director’s Shields – presented to those who have made exceptional contributions to the Stingers programs – Alexandre Lachaîne, Kyle Sutton, Stewart Wilson

Men’s MVPs:

• Baseball: Marco Masciotra

• Basketball: Evens Laroche

• Cross-country: Ryan Noel-Hodge

• Football: Max Caron

• Golf: Jacob Peterson

• Hockey: Eric Begin

• Rugby: Gavin Drohan

• Skiing: Alexandre Lachaîne

• Soccer: Karim Haroun

• Wrestling: David Tremblay

Women’s MVPs:

• Basketball: Kaylah Barrett

• Cross-country: Dominique Roy

• Hockey: Alynn Doiron

• Rugby: Hughanna Gaw

• Soccer: Shannon Travers

• Skiing: Amélie Lemelin

• Wrestling: Veronica Keefe

Male Rookies of the Year:

• Baseball: Brandon Berkovits

• Basketball: Jerome Blake

• Cross-Country: Mahbubuzzaman Kazi

• Football: Jamal Henry

• Golf: Jacob Peterson

• Hockey: Nick Champion

• Rugby: Kevins Marks-Beaubrun

• Soccer: Ramin Mohsenin

• Wrestling: Greg Rossy

Female Rookies of the Year:

• Basketball: Natasha Raposo

• Cross-Country: Jackie Peters

• Hockey: Audrey Gariepy

• Rugby: Sammy Ewing

• Skiing: Stephaine Hawkins

• Soccer: Kayla Myer

• Wrestling: Linda Morais

Gabrielle Bouchard, a student parent and Women’s Studies student, spoke about the importance of understanding why such a gathering was necessary. Photo Erin Sparks

A group of about 40 students and other community members gathered outside the Hall Building on April 13 to discuss the current climate of the ongoing strike in light of yesterday’s demonstration.

The event was advertised as a rally and open forum to restore Concordia’s community.

“It was just a group of students that came together after the events of yesterday morning,” said Geography student Alex Matak. “I think the sentiment was just that it became very clear that everything was incredibly messed up and headed in a very volatile direction and something needed to change.”

The discussion, which was catered by Peoples Potato, featured many speakers and a diversity of opinions.

Screen grab of email sent to students on April 13.

Students applying for Incomplete status, which allows extended deadlines for submitting work for their final grade, need not pay the usual $20 per course fee this semester. In an email sent to students this morning, Concordia University has waived the fee due to “the exceptional circumstances that have occurred this term.”

Though the release states the “vast majority of Concordia students and departments has been unaffected by recent protests,” filing for INC status will allow affected students extra time to complete their course work. The release does state, however, that “all academic requirements must be completed by May 30, 2012.”

While the fee has been waived, all students must apply for INC status by May 15, the originally scheduled deadline.

Concordia spokesperson Chris Mota confirmed the authenticity of the release. Last month, a false press release was circulated, purporting the university’s support of student strike action.

Photo Corey Pool

After over two hours of deliberation, the Concordia Student Union special council meeting voted on April 12 to uphold the Judicial Board’s March 16 decision to reinstate CSU president-elect Schubert Laforest and VP Academic and Advocacy Lucia Gallardo.

The decision made by council is binding and cannot be appealed.

The special meeting was called following an email from CSU councilors April Underwood, Ali Moenck and Renee Tousignant to CSU Chairperson Nick Cuillerier requesting the meeting in an attempt to overturn the JB’s decision to reinstate Laforest and Gallardo after they had been disqualified.

The motion presented by the three councilors outlined their position to overturn the JB decision “on the basis that the decision was manifestly unreasonable based on procedure.”

Though none of the JB members were in attendance, due apparently to prior engagements with part-time jobs and exams, a written statement was delivered by the Chair.

“The Judicial Board complied with the Judicial Board code of procedures, the standing regulations and the bylaws in rendering their decision and the claim that the decision is ‘manifestly unreasonable based on procedure’ is unfounded,” read the statement.

The final vote on the motion gained a majority of eight votes in favor and seven votes against. However, the motion failed as a four-fifths majority vote is needed to make the motion binding per CSU bylaws.

There was much debate concerning the controversial use of a CSU members list during the meeting, and issues were raised at the possibility of losing quorum for next year’s council if the decision was overturned, however this was settled.

Several comments were made as to the eligibility of the students in question, the competency of the JB and their procedure, as well as the conduct of the CSU Chief Electoral Officer Ismail Holoubi.

Photos Brian Lapuz

Anti-tuition hike protesters blocked the entrance to Concordia’s Hall Building on the morning of April 12, delaying the first day of scheduled exams and increasing tension between striking and non-striking students.

After about 45 minutes the picket was broken, followed by riot police dispersing the the group of approximately 75 protesters using CS gas and baton tactics.

There were arguments between protesters and students attempting to enter the building, and some students reportedly threw fruit and coffee at the protesters in attempt to break through the line.

“I don’t mind them doing this during the semester, but not when I have an exam in an hour and I have to study,” said Actuarial Mathematics student Tom Riskas. “We’ve already paid for the semester, by losing the semester what money are we saving?”

“Using force to block people is not peaceful.”

Protesters were a mix of Concordia students and Syndicat des étudiant-e-s employé-e-s de l’UQAM. The group moved from their 7:00 a.m. meeting point at Lucien-L’Allier Metro to the Hall Building, police following and advising them to move with the flow of traffic.

Police direction was ignored. Once the protesters reached the corner of de Maisonneuve Blvd. and Bishop St., they ran to the Hall Building. They linked arms and wrapped chains around several doors to prevent anyone from moving in or out from about 8:00 a.m. to 8:45 a.m.

After 30 minutes, students inside the building attempted to force their way out. A window was smashed and protesters swarmed an open door, shoving coming from both sides.

Soon after, riot police arrived and the picket was broken. Protesters quickly gathered at the corner of de Maisonneuve Blvd. and McKay St., but the riot police formed a line and pushed them back using CS gas and batons.

“There are a number of reasons for the action, but an important one is the way the administration has been inflexible regarding the strike, especially with the examination schedule,” said one student demonstrator who spoke with The Link on condition of anonymity.

“We telling them, ‘you’re not the ones with all the power here.’”

Exams scheduled at 9:00 a.m. were moved to 9:30 a.m. without losing the three hour allotted time.

— With files from Brian Lapuz

The Link originally reported police broke the picket line. The picket was in fact broken before police use of direct force. The Link regrets the error.

One of several student marches part of April 11 Manifestation Générale Illimitée. Photo Colin Harris

Hundreds of students marched through downtown Montreal in waves throughout April 11 in protest of tuition increases slated to begin in September. Staging several marches without predetermined routes throughout the day, the Manifestation Générale Illimitée has Montreal police out directing traffic while students march, chant and drum to voice their dissatisfaction with a government unwilling to negotiate with a tuition freeze on the table.

Around 8:45 a.m. CS gas was used on a group of protesters occupying the National Bank of Canada, but the protest has been without police intervention since. The march continued late into the night, with plans to continue the next morning.

Wednesday’s march is but one of virtually daily demonstrations aiming to paralyze the Quebec economy until the Charest government discusses the issue of tuition hikes with students. The proposed hikes will see a 75 per cent increase in tuition for Quebec students after five years.

Several hundred thousand university and CEGEP students have been on strike for almost eight weeks.

The first is that several issues ago, The Link published a letter from Bruno Joyal, fishing for a date (“Looking for Love,” Vol. 32, Iss. 22). Stunningly, he apparently got six or seven responses. Seeing as how I’m chronically and tragically single, I will now attempt the same.
Look, I’m awesome.

If you’ve read The Link all year, you’ve probably had a chance to see how awesome. So there’s that. I want someone equally awesome. That’s my only qualification. I can best be reached over the Facebooks.

On a completely different note, I just want to say what an honour it was to be the Current Affairs Editor of The Link this year. I am incredibly proud of all the people I had the pleasure of working with, and won’t single out any, except for our former Editor- in-Chief, Laura Beeston, who
busted her ass for every single issue.

I spent many sleepless nights with the good people at this newspaper, ate many fast-food meals because we can’t afford better, and who has the time anyway? I also got to drink many beers, have many arguments, resolve those arguments, and generally have the time of my life.

Thanks all of you, and to the new masthead, good luck. Be bold, be tough, and don’t take any shit from anyone.

—Adam Kovac,
Former Current Affairs Editor

SPHR Concordia is made up of hardworking students who dedicate long hours to ensure the advancement of its mandate. It is
therefore extremely unfortunate that defamatory statements are undermining our efforts. Upon discovering this article, we reached out to the co-president of CSI in the hopes of gaining some clarity on the situation.

Remer stated that her words were taken out of context and assured SPHR that she would contact the Jewish Tribune to correct the
misinformation that had been published. We have since not seen any changes to the article. In the meantime, we hope that this is an isolated incident and we await the pending retraction.

In addition, we regret the author’s failure to contact SPHR Concordia and give us an opportunity to respond to the false allegations.

—Asma Alaribi, BSc Biology
Sara Shaltony, BA Journalism
Solidarity for Palestinian Human
Rights

Lunice and Hudson Mohawke (TNGHT) Photo by Joe Cornfield

By Wednesday I had settled into a routine of constant drinking during my waking hours. Meals had fallen by the wayside, replaced by a diet of cigarettes and free beer. I spent my time hopping between shows, prioritizing my schedule based on a delicate balance between venues with bands I really wanted to see and venues with an open bar.

That night I ended up at Barcelona, a tiny basement room with a sound system that rivals some of the biggest clubs I’ve ever been to. It’s the kind of system that’s so high quality that despite delivering gut-wrenchingly huge bass, it’s still possible to hold a conversation at a normal volume.

While I was waiting for some buddies from New York City to get to the show, a dubstep event headlined by Machinedrum, I was taken in by a group of locals who noticed me hanging out alone by the bar. I had been consistently surprised by the friendliness and generosity of Austinites during my short stay, and my new friends were no different. The NYC crew arrived late, finding me raging in front of the DJ booth with my face painted like a tiger.

Thursday

I woke up the next morning with facepaint smeared all over my pillow and very little memory of the night before. It was Thursday, and the cumulative effects of three days of non-stop partying finally hit me like a brick wall. I needed some time to recover, so I skipped the downtown scene and spent the day sleeping off my hangover.

Having subjected myself to a relentless assault of bass music every night of the festival so far, I decided that a change of pace was in order, so that night I went to a local church to see Leif Vollebekk, an Ottawa singer/songwriter who’s been steadily gaining recognition on the international scene. The show was completely different from any other I had attended at SXSW; a captive audience of mostly older folk fans filled the pews, listening in complete silence as Vollebekk navigated a beautiful acoustic set.

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By the time he put down his guitar and moved to the grand piano for his final song, I was overwhelmed by the authenticity and intimacy of his music. That night stands out in stark contrast to my overall impression of South as an environment that is drenched with hype and marketing.

Friday

This break turned out to be a very brief one, and on Friday I once again set out in pursuit of a hyped-up electronic music showcase. That night, Red Bull Music Academy was teaming up with Boiler Room to put on a secret show in a rented house somewhere in East Austin. After scrambling to find the address all day, I finally got a text from a well-connected friend with details on how to find the party.

My main reason for coming to the show was to see Hudson Mohawke and Montreal native Lunice’s new collaborative project, TNGHT. They were slated to play alongside a stacked lineup of DJ’s, including another Montreal representative, Jacques Greene. Unfortunately TNGHT never made an appearance, but Hudmo and Lunice both played killer solo sets, driving the packed house into a fervour that ended up causing the eviction of its tenants.

Saturday

On Saturday, I joined a mob of green-attired hooligans that descended on the downtown core for St. Patrick’s Day festivities. Despite my honest efforts to get fucked up with the rest of them, I was still slightly nauseated by the sight of beer, so I spent what would be my best day at SXSW in relative sobriety.

I started off at a warehouse show where the ASAP crew was attempting to control a room jammed with drunk and high teenagers. I watched from a safe distance as 2012’s golden boy of hip-hop, ASAP Rocky, dodged water bottles and beer cans flung at him through a thick cloud of weed smoke. He managed to finish his set without incident, ending with his breakout hits “Wassup” and “Purple Swag”—the very next night a brawl would ensue between the ASAP crew and rowdy, bottle-throwing fans at the now-infamous Vice Kills Texas party.

I headed across the street for my next stop, this time to the Fader Fort for a bill of Southern hip-hop headlined by Rick Ross. While I’m not the biggest fan of commercial rap, especially the Maybach Music label, I was nonetheless swept up by Ross’ relentless positivity as he delivered his played-out but somehow inspiring message of rags-to-riches achievement.

The Fader Fort emptied out and I followed the crowd back to 6th St., where I found myself back at Spill, a venue dedicated to showcasing Quebec talent at SXSW. Producer/DJ Doldrums, a progressive electronic act who has gained recent fame after an official Portishead remix, was backed up by two live drummers for a percussion-heavy, eclectic set. Montreal MC Cadence Weapon jumped on stage for a cameo during the finale, which culminated with Doldrums, the latest incarnation of Toronto indie veteran Airick Woodhead, smashing a Macbook and tossing it into the crowd.

After Spill I took a short walk to Canada House to check out the Sheepdogs, an impossibly tight rock band from Saskatoon whose members look like they could have stepped right out of the 70’s. The show was a who’s who of the Canadian music scene, with Sarah Harmer and various members of Stars and Arcade Fire in the front rows partying harder than everyone else.

I ducked out of Canada House before Sheepdogs finished their set so I could make it to the Bandpage HQ in time to catch TNGHT, the Lunice/Hudson Mowhawke side project I had hoped to see at Boiler Room. Both DJs have made significant contributions to the progressive hip-hop genre in recent months, with production credits for huge names like Kanye West and 2 Chainz, and I was really excited to see what kind of stuff they were coming up with together. I squeezed my way to the front row just in time to see the two DJs chugging Four Lokos before starting their set.

As I listened to 45 minutes of mostly brand-new, unreleased material from two of my favourite artists, I couldn’t help but feel kind of special. I had spent so much of the week rushing around in a frenzied attempt not to miss anything, with this persistent feeling of paranoia that I was at the wrong party or the wrong show.

But at that moment, pressed up against the stage and banging my head with a crowd of strangers—the first people in the world to hear those songs—I got the feeling that I could finally go home happy.

Photo by Paul Swanson

Concordia student ZSean Qureshi will be representing Canada at the Red Bull Paper Wings World Championship, taking place in Salzburg, Austria May 4-5.

The 24-year-old civil engineering major won in the distance category at the MX Aerospace Center in Toronto on Monday with a stellar result of 37.4 m (122.7 feet). The competition consisted of students from 10 universities throughout the country. Joining Qureshi in Austria will be airtime winner William Murphy of Bishop’s University and aerobics winner Addison Asuchak of Mount Royal University.

Qureshi originally qualified for the competition back in February when Red Bull held a qualifying round in Concordia’s EV building.

“The Red Bull people were set up in the EV building, I was just passing by and I thought I would give it a shot,” said Qureshi, “I made my plane, threw it, and I won for distance.”

Qureshi cited a childhood pastime as a key in his successful creation of planes that were able to fly such long distances.

“When I was kid I used to make all kinds of things, and I liked doing origami,” said Qureshi, “I just remembered one of the models I used to make as a kid that would go far, I just threw it and I won.”

Despite his success, Qureshi admits that it’s something he never really envisioned happening, but he remains excited about the upcoming trip to the world championships in Austria.

“I would have never thought of it,” said Qureshi, “It was pretty long ago that I had last tried to do anything with paper planes.”

“I’m very excited,” he continued. “The only thing is that we have finals coming up, and we fly to Austria a couple of days after my last exam. I’ll still have four or five days between [my two exams] though, so I’ll definitely practise leading up to it.”

A scathing critique on the traditionally rosy picture of Canada’s involvement in foreign lands, Paved with Good Intentions aims to expose the imperialistic imperatives behind Canada’s most idealistic organizations.

Ostensibly, the Non-Governmental Organization is an institution at arm’s length from the government that can devote itself to benevolent aims, like helping rebuild a ravaged Haiti or bringing healthcare to communities in Africa.

Declared as being “as Canadian as hockey” by a Parliamentary report in 1988, the traditional view is that these groups are non-partisan creations driven purely by altruism.

Not so, says writers Barry-Shaw and Oja Jay, who claim that for decades NGOs have been driven to conform with governmental policy in order to secure funding and prestige. Even worse, they lay out plenty of research that suggests NGOs are purposely capitalizing on the disasters and poverty of third world countries.

Meticulously researched, Paved deserves to be a controversial book, widely read and even more widely discussed. It’s worth slogging through the dry tone: buried beneath the barrage of footnotes and acronyms are plenty of human tragedies, many of which have not been mitigated by Canada’s NGOs.

It’s a sobering book that is passionate in its denouncement of the way the Canadian government has manipulated NGOs to serve as a form of cultural imperialism. Barry-Shaw and Oja Jay’s research reveals several shadowy appearances by NGOs in such disparate events as the Haitian coup of 2004, Israeli-Palestinian peace talks and the Afghanistan War.

Published by Fernwood Publishing, Paved with Good Intention will be launched in Montreal at Café Artère on April 10, followed by a discussion with the authors. Located in Parc-Ex, Café Artère is a non-profit collective that provides both a café and a conscience, offering an organic menu, performance space and lending library for artists, students and the self-employed.

Paved with Good Intentions: NGOs from Idealism to Imperialism by Nikolas Barry Shaw and Dru Oja Jay launches at Café Artère (7000 du Parc Ave., Parc Metro) on Tuesday, April 10 at 6:00 p.m. For more information visit www.artere.coop.

The Concordia Student Union 2012 general elections have been marred by disqualifications, allegations, and overall confusion–and it’s not over yet.

According to an email from CSU Chief Electoral Officer Ismail Holoubi, six councilors and the only senate seat have been disqualified after failing to submit their campaigning expense forms.

Those disqualified include Charles Branchley, Johnny Alexandar, and Veryan Goodship from the 13 Arts and Science council seats. Rami Khoriaty, and Ali Tahouni, from Engineering’s three seats, Yassine Chaabi from the John Molson School of Business’ four seats, and Bella Giancotta, the only Fine Arts senate seat.

“We were disqualified for not filing expense reports, but we had no expenses,” said Ramy Khoriaty, former CSU VP Finance & Clubs and one of the two disqualified engineering councilors.

According to Khoriaty none of the seven disqualified candidates accumulated any campaign expenses. He also claims that the CEO is to blame for lack of organization and a failure to communicate the proper instructions.

“They were disqualified according to the directive that was in the expense form,” said Holoubi. “The link for the expense form was emailed to them, and it was stated in the email. It is their job to fill out their forms.”

In an email to The Link, Holoubi cited article 222 of the CSU bylaws, which states that every candidate must file a return of election expenses with the CEO within four days of the closing of polls.

In the same email, Holoubi also cites the directive on the expense form, which states that “[…] even those candidates/committees that incur no expenses must submit this form.”

Still, Khoriaty and the other candidates feel they have been misguided.

“It’s the CEO’s fault because it wasn’t clearly stated in an email,” said Khoriaty. “That information was very hidden.”

The disqualifications pose many problems for the CSU, most notably in that quorum can no longer be met at council meetings, and therefore no decisions made are binding.

The group plans to appeal the decision to the Judicial Board. At the time of publication six out of seven candidates had confirmed that they will be filing the same appeal, however as they have not yet met as a full group, further details could not be provided.

“We’ll be contesting the decision for sure,” said Khoriaty. “It hasn’t been decided whether or not we’ll take it further and file complaints against the CEO. We’re going against his decision for now.”

More to come.

Photo Julia Jones

Motel Raphäel sang folky, country harmonies over soft guitar and glockenspiel for us at Burritoville’s library on a rainy Sunday night.

Watch our performance video of the all-girl indie trio’s acoustic version of “Walk Back to Me” off their new EP.

Montreal Meets Two kicks off this Saturday, bringing in acclaimed digital artists from around the world for the second annual design conference.

The event, which aims to “connect with the creative world,” is hosted by François Hoang owner of Aoiro Studio and editor of the blog Abduzeedo.

Hoang, who organised a similar event at Concordia last year, wanted to build on the success of the previous Montreal Meets, which featured speakers Fabio Sasso and James White.

This year will see Shelby White, Rik Oostenbroek and Radim Malinic added to that list.

The logistics of planning a two-day conference, however, proved almost too much for Hoang.

“Three weeks ago, I wanted to cancel.” Hoang said, noting financial struggles and a mounting workload. But after a strengthening of resolve and a “change in strategy,” Hoang managed to get the word out through social media, a reworked press kit and just talking to students and other designers.

The event is almost sold out, but tickets will still be sold at the door (cash-only). Hoang is also offering a discount for students at $48 for both days.

Montreal Meets Two / April 7-8 / 1 p.m. / The Conservatoire (4750 Henri-Julien, Montreal, Quebec H2T 2C8) / $48

Photo by Brad Silverberg

As a species we’ve been eating ever since, well…we first emerged as cellular life forms. To be sure, ancient cultures dating back before Byzantine have created robust systems of growing, safeguarding, preparing, and categorizing their food sources—in other words studying food in some fashion or another.

But it’s only recently that food has officially made it onto our higher education map here in North America.

From one point of view, it’s an odd turn of events.

Sure, food has suffered several long centuries of neglect in universities, but this only came after its onetime preeminence in the academe. Try studying at an Athenian university during the Axial Age (around 300 BC) without encountering the gustatory exegeses of Epicurius.

Think I’m only referring to a small pocket of privileged Greeks? Well, I probably am. But let’s keep in mind that the big “E” was conscious of gender issues—successfully out-debating some of his bigwig philosopher predecessors to provide education to both genders at his famous school.

If antique academic brains pontificated at length on the pleasures of taste and table, the recent resurge of researchers, known as “food studies” scholars, go much further. Collectively, they analyze the hidden complexity behind everything edible: growing, ethics of circulation, economics, preparation and disposal included. If studying edibles is about the ways in which we eat, it’s equally about ‘foodways’ – the ways in which the food got to the plate in the first place.

So if all sorts of 21st century Epicureans and neo-Geoponicis (the Greek and Roman agricultural philosophers) are now at work around your plate, how do you benefit? You can start by attending a Greek-inflected event happening right at home: Concordia’s first-ever Food Studies Symposium.

The creation of Concordia’s Food Studies Working Group and Centre for Interdisciplinary Studies in Society and Culture (CISSC), this two-day free event brings together university faculty, an invited keynote speaker, and emerging research from food-focused graduate students.

If you’re want more than a classroom-only approach to something as visceral as food, worry not: David Szanto, a PhD student in the SIP program, will be staging “Main Dish”, otherwise known as “Boulevard St-Laurent as meal,” a tasty performance to cap off the Symposium.

Concordia University Food Studies Symposium / April 12 and 13 / EV 6.720
Registration is required – Click Here

Photo by Erin Sparks

Concordia Student Union VP Advocacy & Outreach Morgan Pudwell has resigned from her position on the executive roughly six weeks before her term was set to expire.

In a letter to the CSU, Pudwell states “health-related issues” as the reason for early departure.

“Though I believe some of our biggest challenges and best days are still ahead of us, I will be leaving my position as VP Advocacy & Outreach of the Concordia Student Union early in my term,” said Pudwell in the letter.

News of Pudwell’s resignation surfaced late in the afternoon on April 4, though she had officially resigned the day prior.

“At roughly midnight last night I got an email from [Pudwell] stating her resignation due to medical reasons,” said CSU Chair Nick Cuillerier. “All I can say is that it’s a really unfortunate situation, however we respect her personal choice in regards to her health conditions.”

In her letter, Pudwell made mention of the confidence she has in her fellow executives, and expressed her hopes for incoming members in the year to come.

“I hope that the incoming executive welcomes [the current executive’s] guidance—and aims to learn from our experiences with openness and the dedication to this community that it deserves,” she said.

CSU President Lex Gill said that she and the rest of the CSU executive had met with Pudwell prior to her resignation and that they offered only support and understanding.

This is the second executive that Pudwell has resigned from, following her tumultuous departure in March of last year after a falling out with her fellow executives at the time.

Though it is unclear whether Pudwell will be present at next week’s council meeting, Cuillerier assured that the issue would be addressed.

CUTV Program director Laith Marouf was arrested this morning during a student protest. Screen grab from cyberpresse.ca

Approximately 50 people were arrested following a demonstration that began early in the morning at Victoria Square and weaved its way through downtown Montreal on April 4.

Among those arrested was Concordia University Television Program Director Laith Marouf, who, along with two other reporters, was live-streaming the action.

“The demonstration was basically finished,” said Sabine Freisinger, CUTV reporter and former Concordia Student Union president. “Riot police then circled the demonstrators, and we were there trying to film.”

According to Freisinger, police became aggressive, hitting demonstrators with batons and using pepper spray on the crowd.

“We were filming all of this and saying that we were live—that’s when they grabbed our cameraman, Laith,” said Freisinger. “We were doing our jobs as journalists.”

“They didn’t want people to see live what the police are doing in the streets of Montreal against students.”

There have been several reports of excessive violence used by police during this demonstration. One McGill student is currently hospitalized at L’Hôpital Notre-Dame after reportedly being struck by riot police.

After leaving Victoria Square, the demonstration entered both the Queen Elizabeth Hotel and the Eaton Centre. The Service de police de la Ville de Montréal has reported that pyrotechnic devices were used at both locations.

The demonstration then took to McGill Metro and resurfaced at St. Laurent Metro, where police and riot police using the kettle tactic began breaking up the group and making arrests.

As of 1:30 p.m., some of those arrested had started to be released.

CUTV released a video of the incident

Photo by Erin Sparks

As the Conservative budget came down last week, the media was aflutter with the numeric details as they emerged. Curiously, there was one story in particular that gained traction in the Canadian consciousness, and that was the announcement that the copper coin, our penny, is going out of circulation starting this fall.

It’s amazing the amount of ink devoted to the death of the penny when you think about it, especially considering the government laid out $5.2 billion in spending cuts, axed 19,200 public-service jobs, lifted regulations on natural resources and spent $8 million targeting and regulating the dissent of oil opponents and activists.

But for whatever reason none of these things—at least from a cursory look at the front pages and Twitter feeds of the Canadian mass media—got as much play as the penny. Why was that? Are we really that distracted by shiny objects?

In the grand scheme of all things monetary, this news was perhaps worthy of a simple news brief, when you consider where our money is actually being penny-pinched.

It isn’t only in the realm of national politics lately that little-picture numbers like these dominate the collective conversation about our news.

Take a look at the provincial situation, for example; this entire tuition debate has inexplicably hinged almost exclusively on the $1,625 figure, but anyone who has been following the story knows, in financial terms, that it’s about way more than that.

It’s easy to typecast students as spoiled and whiney brats if you’re only looking at this situation with a frame of two thousand bucks. This might also be why the bigger numbers at play haven’t taken to as much scrutiny or public cognizance.

What about the estimated 7,000 students over the next five years who aren’t going to be able to afford a post-secondary education? And what’s the value on a 40-year history of Quebec’s unique accessible culture?

How many students’ tuitions could be paid with the roughly $70K the Liberals spent on Google Searches and websites? Also, where the heck is the heat on the rest of this provincial budget?

You’d think the public would demand the same critical attention be given to the nebulous $160 million slated for the government-administered “Fonds pour l’excellence” that will oversee university targets, or as much nitpicking over the $530 million slated for programs.

Where is this analysis? Do we actually think the government is capable of handling this money, considering they are the architects for a public debt that is out of control? Yet, time and time again, it’s the $1,625 brought up without context.

Nowhere in the headlines will you read that so-called underfunded universities account for only 0.76 per cent of all of Quebec’s $400+ million deficit, and certainly free education is never set up as a value against the nearly $5 billion in tax relief the government has given to corporate and individual incomes since 2000.

There is a serious lack of critical number-crunching in this province and in this country, and the penny is just another example of it. To a degree, perhaps it makes sense: numbers aren’t exactly media-sexy, and most people don’t like reading budgets. 

But understanding our financial dire straits is more important now than ever, especially as these budgets set our province and our country on a path of austerity that will have real social and cultural implications for our futures. 

It is time for us to make a concerted effort to follow the money.

This budget has proven how easy it is to throw around small figures and make a splash—especially shiny, copper figures—and this is dangerous. We must demand more of our government, our journalists and ourselves to get to the bottom of these numbers.

Photos courtesy Concordia Ski Club

The Concordia Ski Club consider themselves a family, what with the extensive hours spent training in the gym and the two nights spent on the slopes together.

While being an inexperienced bunch, the members of the Ski Club still relish in the competition of the sport.

“Some of the members had never seen the inside of a gym when we started. They weren’t professional or athlete-leveI fit,” said coach Daren Ingrey, “It would be unrealistic to expect to challenge skiers who’ve spent hours training and been professionally competitive if you’ve never even really trained before.”

Despite not being a varsity sport, captain Alexandre Lachaîne made it clear that the team feels like the Stingers whenever they wear the maroon and gold racing in the Réseau du sport étudiant du Québec Ski Alpin competitions.

“I have a lot of friends in the club and I see them as my family,” said Lachaîne. “To be a part of a team and to be a Stinger is just the best. You’ll always be able to rely on these members and the Stinger family.”

While they may have placed last in the men’s, women’s and overall banners, Lachaîne feels the season was one of growth and success. The team finally has enough members to fill the 25 competition roster spots from the original 10-12 members who joined the team at the start of the season, and they now have a coach with extensive professional past.

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Unlike other ski teams within the RSEQ conference, the Concordia Stingers don’t have members with broad competitive experience. The other teams within the conference, notably Université de Laval and Université de Montréal, have members who were previously a part of the Quebec and Canadian national teams, and others who have even competed on professional European circuits.

Regardless of the team’s performance, Lachaîne said that the true victory comes from watching the development of some of the younger, more inexperienced skiers in the club.

“Stephanie Hawkins, who I just voted for Rookie of the Year, had never raced before and could barely get down the hill [at the beginning],” said Lachaîne. “But she was there every single night giving her all. She gave her best in every competition.”

Lachaîne is optimistic about the next season because the members now have gotten into a rhythm of training and have some racing experience.

“Members will have stepped up their ski level and will be more prepared. I think next year we’ll be more ready because we will be more familiar with everything,” he said.

“We accomplished a goal of introducing the sport to some people and introducing a healthy lifestyle,” said Ingrey. “It’s a great environment but it’s a more relaxed environment. We have fantastic students on the team with 4.0 GPAs. Skiing isn’t their main focus like some of the other competitions.”

Dépflies - Moé Pis Toé

This week Le Nouveau Théâtre Sainte Catherine is bringing back its bilingual serialized comedy, Dépflies. Written by playwright Alain Mercieca, the Chekov-meets-Seinfeld show about a St-Henri dépanneur is now in its third instalment.

“These are characters fighting to find their place in the new Quebec,” said Mercieca. “With the dépanneur as a symbol of old tradition, new consumerism and a community centre for the protagonists […] The characters are centered around characters that have recurred in my plays for years: the misanthropic poet, the cantankerous Canadian woman, the maternal Québecoise, and the ambitious intelligent male.”

Mercieca said that even without seeing previous installments in the series the audience will not feel lost. All they need to know is that the show takes place in a dep and that it revolves around the struggle between pursuing happiness, freedom and staying stuck in tradition.

“I am very impulsive with my writing, and once I had the idea, the writing came in droves,” he said. “The universality of the dep is unprecedented in Québecois culture–literally everyone can relate to it.”

Le Nouveau produces its own shows, but also hosts events and performances such as The Montreal Sketch Comedy Festival and their weekly show, Sunday Night Improv.

Dépflies – Moé Pis Toé / April 5-7 / 8 p.m. / Le Nouveau Théâtre Sainte Catherine (264 Ste. Catherine St. E.) / $12

Photo Benjamin Allard

Concordia University security is falling under further scrutiny after the security officer involved in the assault of a student on March 23 has been revealed to not possess a valid security permit.

A document shared with The Link revealed that the security guard in question is not a licensed agent with his employer, Agence de sécurité Maximum Inc.

“Following verification with his employer, […] we have been advised that he does not hold a security permit at this moment,” said Concordia Security Acting Director Jacques Lachance in the written response to a formal complaint filed against the agent requesting his name and license number.

“The university told us on [March 30] that this person was under review,” said Concordia Student Union VP External Chad Walcott. “Then we found out that he wasn’t even licensed at all, which leads me to believe that the university lied to us, or they themselves were lied to.

“Every security agent that is on the university premises is supposed to be a licensed individual. These individuals are also all supposed to be providing students with licenses when requested, and to fail to do so is a violation of the Private Security Act.”

According to section four of Quebec’s Private Security Act, “Any person operating an enterprise that carries on a private security activity must hold an agency license of the appropriate class.”

Any agent in violation of section four is guilty of an offence and liable to a fine of $500 to $5,000. Additionally, if convicted, the agent in question is liable to be found in contempt of several other sections of the act.

Amber Gross, the McGill student who was the victim of the alleged assault, filed a complaint against the agent and asked Concordia security to investigate. Gross says she was encouraged by a Concordia security officer to pursue a formal complaint with the security department.

Gross was part of a group of Concordia and McGill students demonstrating outside of a class in the Faubourg Building, reportedly there reminding students that their associations were still on strike.

“It was sort of our way of responding to the fact that security was going to be ramped up on each one of our campuses,” said Gross. “We were reaching out to each other and providing mutual support between the two campuses.”

Though some have questioned Gross’s involvement in strike action on the Concordia campus in the first place, others have pointed out that this undermines a much greater issue.

“The fact of the matter is that before she was struck there was no verification of whether she was a Concordia student or not,” said Walcott. “Furthermore, the job of security is to ensure the general safety of students.”

“If one of our security agents that our university is employing is harassing students, that’s a serious problem, regardless of where the student was from.”

Concordia hires private security agents from several private firms, most notably Maximum and CCC.

“Providing Concordia with a non-licensed individual does not satisfy the University’s expectations nor Maximum’s contractual obligations to us,” said Lachance in the letter.

Concordia University spokesperson Chris Mota agreed, and said the university is following up with an investigation.

“We should expect to have fully trained and competent people,” said Mota. “We are pursuing that with the employer. Our expectations are that when we contract with a supplier that they will be supplying us with agents that are fully credited.”

According to the document, the individual’s application for a security permit is in progress with the Bureau de la sécurité privée. The individual in question has been reassigned and is no longer working at Concordia.

Due to privacy legislation and the investigation of this case, the agent’s name is not being released. For this same reason, Lachance was unavailable for comment.

Graphic Joshua Barkman

There was once a time where you had to do very specific things to be exposed to memes. Say, if you were pwned in game of Counter-Strike, or deep into some forum for a weird, way-too-specific hobby. But lately, you need not even so much as click on a mouse to experience these simple viral jokes—they’ve even made it onto our goddamn protest signs.

Now, I can take a joke as well as anyone, but the trouble with the extreme popularity of these one-pane-wonders is that I’m now forced to digest shitty memes wherever I go.

I’m forced to cry out, to my own dismay, “Y U NO leave it to the funny people!?”

When everyone and their uncle can put them together with a few keyboard strokes and an emoticon, there isn’t much stopping all your unfunny Internet friends from posting them about every meaningless menial moment in their lives.

Your lame joke won’t benefit from some text in Impact font and an overused picture. Either you’re funny or you’re not. If you’re not funny, a meme can’t save you.

You’re just ruining it.

My Facebook feed isn’t 4Chan. Please, for the love of God, let’s keep it that way.

Chair Peter Kruyt talking with Grad Student Rep Erik Chevrier Photo Pierre Chauvin

Once a month, Concordia’s Board of Governors and a handful of student representatives meet in a room in the EV Building to discuss the university’s internal issues.

From September 2011 to Jan. 31, 2012 a total of five BoG meetings took place. Through documents obtained from an Access to Information request, The Link can report that the university spent a total of just over $2,400 to facilitate them.

Over the five meetings, Concordia spent just over $1,400 on “refreshments” for the approximately 30 people in attendance, the largest expenditure on the bill, which averages out to just shy of $300 per meeting.

“To put things into perspective, we rarely spend more than $100 on food for CSU Council meetings, and those are also once a month,” said Concordia Student Union President Lex Gill. “That’s usually enough pizza or burritos or falafel for about 40 people.”

In contrast, the university only allotted about one quarter of the cost of refreshments to Instructional and Information Technology Services and audiovisual equipment, which would facilitate the over-flow room.

In total, $350 was spent on IITS, or an average of roughly $70 per meeting.

“One person will go up and set up a projector and one or two wireless microphones, but it won’t go much further than that,” said an IITS technician about the standard procedure.

Frederick Lowy spoke with occupying students, moderated by Andy Filipowich and Chris Mota. Photo Erin Sparks

Concordia’s Interim President Frederick Lowy opened up an impromptu dialogue with students for the first time Monday, discussing tuition hikes and the university’s hard stance on dissenting action.

Following an occupation of the corridor outside the president’s office on the 15th floor of the MB Building, Lowy replied to an email sent by fine arts student Casey Stainsby asking him to join in on the conversation.

The president, who had just returned from a trip to Hong Kong, didn’t deviate from the pro-tuition hike stance of university administration, saying, “The universities in Quebec have been pushing for those tuition hikes for a long time, and finally the government has acted,” he said.

“I personally would have no problem with zero tuition, with no tuition at all, provided that the university could get operating funds from other sources.”

The occupation began as a result of the Fine Arts Student Alliance’s Special General Meeting’s failure to meet quorum. After waiting over an hour to discuss a continuation of the alliance’s strike mandate, which has spanned almost five weeks, students decided to use their numbers to take real action.

“People were getting furiously demoralized, and the sentiment in the SGM room was pretty negative,” said studio arts student Evan Montpellier. “One student put it quite well, when she said, ‘I didn’t realize I was coming to a funeral today.’”

Banging on walls and buckets and chanting, “Whose school? Our school!,” students filled the t-shaped corridors that lead to the president’s office, until they got word that he would talk.

“I am presently on a telephone call, but, when my meeting is over, I will come out and will be pleased to speak with you,” Lowy responded in his email to Stainsby.

After hearing that Director of Concordia’s Media Relations Chris Mota would be arriving to moderate the discussion, students chose undergraduate Senate representative Andy Filipowich to moderate on behalf of protesters.

The students’ demands were relayed to the president by Montpellier, who in turn relayed to students the ‘business as usual’ attitude taken by administration.

He said that Lowy must “do whatever is necessary to publically and vocally support academic amnesty being given to all students who have participated in the strike.

“Secondly, […] push for the university to take a public stance in opposition to the $1,625 tuition hike budgeted by the Charest government.”

The president responded by saying that the hikes are necessary due to underfunding.

“This slogan that I think a lot of you object to, ‘Students should do their part,’ is in fact the case,” said Lowy. “If the student contribution were not to go up and there were no other funds to compensate, we would literally be falling more and more behind, year after year.”
Academic amnesty, he said, falls under the purview of each professor, emphasizing that it would be out of tradition to tell teachers how to run their classes.

“We don’t have an overall policy at this university that tells individual professors how to run their courses or how to mark the exams, or how to set the exams, or all the rest,” said Lowy.

Some students believed that this was a crucial crack in the administration’s hard stance, but Montpellier was appalled by the seeming lack of knowledge the head of the university has on the subject.

“I was generally just shocked by the level of ignorance, of just absolute ignorance coming from Lowy,” he said. “It’s not just about internal affairs at Concordia. He had the wrong facts about issues with the budget. He didn’t know how much of the money that is garnered from the tuition fees is going to be reinvested in the education system.”

The president was eager to continue discussion with students, telling them he was free to meet the next morning. The Concordia Student Union will work with Lowy’s office to determine the details, but promised dialogue within the next few days.

Graphic Paku Daoust-Cloutier

This has not been a great year for Concordia.

Our school spent huge bags of money firing administrators—so much money that even the notoriously corrupt Quebec government accused Concordia of financial mismanagement and slapped the school with a $2 million fine.

And in at least one case, ConU forgot why the people they fired were let go in the first place and rehired them to teach French.

Top that off with some very unhappy unions and some just as unhappy striking students and you get a pretty good picture of the public relations nightmare we’ve been stuck in.

But when you hit rock bottom, you can only go up, right?

Next term marks a year of new beginnings for ConU. We’ll have a new president, new student union and our Board of Governors will finally remember that the Shapiro report, which outlined suggestions for improving the university’s governance, called for more than just slashing student representation.

As Board of Governors Chair Peter Kruyt and his many minions finally release their sinewy grip on our hearts and wallets, Concordia can work to undo some very bad press that has made us the laughingstock of Canadian universities.

But like any good spring cleaning, it’s only effective if after the purge we don’t fill the attic with more junk again.

So when replacing this crop of governors, let’s try to avoid a few mistakes of the past. No more governors who prioritize corporate interests over the interests of the university. No governors who treat students like petulant children. (It’s tougher to squander our money when you respect us.) And please, for the love of God, make sure each and every member understands the phrase “term limit.”

While our BoG members have a huge impact the image of our esteemed university, we need to watch the throne. The president sells Concordia abroad, extracts money from wealthy benefactors and generally sets the tone of the administration.

Our presidents of late have not exactly been the winners we deserve. Instead, we’ve got a position that has a faster turn-around rate than a Defense Against the Dark Arts job and a payout that leaves a bad taste in the mouth of any student being told to pay their “fair share.”

Aside from monetary gain, it would be great to have a president who cares about the school rather than personal benefits.

Still, if we’re going to assess the administration, we need to be fair. Things are not entirely rotten in
the state of Denmark.

The culture of contempt that rains down on the student body hasn’t spread to all administrators. Current Dean of Students Andrew Woodall’s commitment to students and genuine compassion is exactly what this university—or any university—needs.

While many higher-ups have treated students, specifically our union, with terrific disregard, Woodall consistently addresses students with respect: you won’t find many other admins referring to CSU President Lex Gill as “one of the most intelligent people [he has] ever met.”

With a president like Woodall, who clearly cares about each and every student at this school, Concordia might actually foster the respectful, open dialogue that has so far been so elusive.

As well, while we often disagree with Provost David Graham—particularly regarding his handling of the strike mandates—we appreciate that he always makes time to chat and places value on transparency, un-like the Board.

While we’ll most likely have to wait until August to hear who the university picks for the top job, we do already know who our next student union will be.

To President-Elect Schubert Laforest and the rest of A Better Concordia: you’ve got some big shoes to fill.

Though not perfect by any stretch, the current CSU exec and council accomplished a lot. They shot down a shady student centre deal, threw one of the cheapest and most sustainable orientations Concordia has seen and overhauled their bylaws in a major way. Plus, there’s the small matter of the historic strike.

Now Laforest’s team is looking at a year rife with contract negotiations and legal battles. Not as
sexy as a strike, but vital nonetheless.

As they fight to increase student representation and detangle our school from the Canadian Federation of Students, we ask that they sustain a powerful relationship with the faculty and support staff.

These unions stood with students when we filled the streets. For all of next year, they will be the ones fighting for a fair deal from an institution that’s being, well, as stubborn as an ass in its refusal to
budge.

Students must demand that our professors, teaching assistants, librarians, steelworkers and every other essential member of this university are compensated properly. Goodness knows our ad-
ministration is.

Now is the time when Concordia brass has a chance to put the people who will make a difference into power. It’s time for this university to rise from the ashes of crippling mismanagement and start anew.

Unhappy with the way their administration handled a fee levy referendum, 23 students occupied the sixth floor of the James Administration Building for five days in February before leaving peacefully. Thirty-five students, including first-floor sympathizers like these two, faced charges. Photo Sam Slotnick

It’s been almost two months since the James Building occupation at McGill University ended, but the party isn’t over just yet.

An Access to Information request submitted by The Link revealed that the #6party occupation came with a #6figure price tag, costing McGill University over $141,000.

Calling the occupation a “surprise resignation party” for Deputy Provost Student Life and Learning Morton Mendelson, 23 students demanded that administration overturn a decision to invalidate a referendum that granted funding for CKUT and the Quebec Public Interest Research Group.

Heightened security and overtime pay account for over $134,000 of the money spent during the five-day protest that began on Feb. 7.

Other costs are split between overtime agency personnel, catering, and cleaning. During the first three days of the occupation, the university spent a combined $60,867. By comparison, the following week, the costs dropped to about $11,570 per day.

“The university has a budget of nearly a billion dollars,” said McGill University spokesperson Doug Sweet. “We’ll just have to suck it up.

“If every time someone occupied a space and the university ceded to their demands, what would happen?”

Not all McGill students share Sweet’s view of the #6party expenses, saying this large bill might have been avoided if the university had engaged in a dialogue with protesters.

“Everything about how the administration handled the occupation showed that they had all the resources they needed to do everything but engage with their students about the reasons they were there,” said Danji Buck-Moore, one of the sixth floor occupiers.

Students’ Society of McGill University President Maggie Knight, wasn’t surprised by the costs related to the occupation.

“It’s up to the McGill community whether they consider that money well-spent or what they think should have happened instead,” said Knight.

During the occupation, the administration gradually cut the occupiers’ access to food, electricity and functioning plumbing. While it ended peacefully after five days with an eviction conducted by the Service de police de la Ville de Montréal, the consequences extended beyond the financial ones.

McGill made the headlines for several days as approximately 35 students were charged under the Code of Student Conduct and Disciplinary Procedures.

These include not only the 23 students who started the occupation, but also those who occupied the building’s ground floor in solidarity. Two editors from The McGill Daily who were reporting on the occupation were also charged by the administration.

Sweet refused to disclose any information about the state of the proceedings.

“I don’t know what is happening and I’m not supposed to know because it’s confidential,” he said.

Sweet added that, under the disciplinary process, there were provisions for fines.

The charges include disruption, unauthorized entry and/or presence; unauthorized or fraudulent use of university facilities, equipment or services; and physical abuses, harassment and dangerous activity.

“No final judgment has been passed yet, as far as I know,” said Buck-Moore.

He and another McGill student also lost their jobs as residence assistants in the Solin Hall residence building as a consequence of their involvement in the occupation.

“We just hope that due process is observed; that they are not targeted above and beyond what’s already provided for based on the political nature of their protest,” said Knight.

In an interview with The Daily, McGill Principal Heather Munroe-Blum commented on the new security measures and long-term consequences of the occupation.

“There are 300 people who come in and work really hard,” said Munroe-Blum. “[They] felt completely unsafe in the building, had their space intruded; some of them [felt] physically very threatened. So there’s an aftermath to that.”

Many students, however, are still waiting for signs that the university has their interests at heart with regards to the fallout from the occupation.

“A lot needs to come from the administration,” said Knight. “The more powerful party needs to take the first step as a sign of good faith.”

Graphic by Myriam Arseneault

At first glance, there isn’t much Concordia University and the Montreal Canadiens have in common, except perhaps their proximity to Lucien-L’Allier Metro.

Look closer, though, and a strangely near-perfect parallel emerges between the decline of the Habs and the undeniably shameful year that Concordia has endured.

Both are the laughing stock of their national counterparts. Both are grossly overpaying for unproductive personnel, and will continue to do so long after they are gone (see Gomez, Scott and Woodsworth, Judith). Both have been the subject of a lot of bad press over the past couple of months.

Now, however, both are covering their tracks, looking forward towards what they hope is a promising future that begins by cleaning house and starting fresh.

Montreal Canadiens owner Geoff Molson fired general manager Pierre Gauthier last week; over the summer, Concordia will see much of its Board of Governors turn over and likely a new president.

The Habs’ decline into mediocrity began long before Gauthier became GM in 2010. It began when Serge Savard and Jacques Demers were ousted four games into the 1995 season, replaced by two stiffs with no experience, Mario Tremblay and Réjean Houle.

They began the destruction of the once-mighty empire, going as far as trading one of the greatest goaltenders in the history of the NHL, Patrick Roy, for what may as well have been a six-pack of Molsons and a bag of pucks.

Concordia’s fall from grace also began long before this dismal scholastic session—once considered a major hive for student activism, the school has been on a downward spiral lately.

The Netanyahu riots in 2002 and huge payouts to departing administrators over the past few years tarnished the school’s image.

ConU’s kept up the mismanagement, slamming the door in the students’ faces with regards to the tuition hikes, unwilling to open any form of dialogue beyond telling striking students to step away from the classroom doors—or else.

Gauthier disconnected himself from the league’s most demanding but most passionate fanbase and often showed a lack of respect in handling players and public relations. The same applies to our Board of Governors, who consistently refused interview requests from the media to explain their actions.

But above all, both flat out sucked. It’s painful for the previous generation of Habs fans to watch their team fall from its perch as the class of the NHL, and it’s painful for the younger generations, who have never been granted the chance to shed tears of joy, to raise their arms in triumph, to watch their captain accept hockey’s holy grail and lift it high above his head.

It is also painful for Concordia students, past and present, to be shunned by those paid to create an environment committed to education and expression and watch the university value dollars and strict, controlling governance over open-minded dialogue.

This city has been in serious turmoil over the past year, and it seems to be culminating in an end-of-season and end-of-semester explosion. News of another head rolling in a seventh-floor Bell Centre office. Pepper spray being unleashed on unsuspecting teenagers.

It seems like there’s a different protest every other week—the only one we know we won’t see is another playoff riot.

Let’s hope we’ve reached the end of this drama. This is our school. This is our team. This is our city. It’s about time we make that something we can be proud of again.

Graphic Paku Daoust-Cloutier

In the perverse macrocosm of “father knows best” that is our culture, we keep listening to the black-suited bureaucrats. In theory, their credentials and experience guide policy-making, but realistically, private interests rule the roost.

The United States’ economic collapse came about because of a number of factors, not least of which is the unquestionable belief in power of logos and business models.

It would be counter-intuitive to think that a banker who deals in mortgages and loans for a living would issue ones that are destined to fail.

While religious-types may laud the virtues of blind faith, society at large seems to have embraced it in their dealings with corporations and governments.

Canada is not immune to modern symbols of authority; if a policy is spun the right way and delivered by the right group of people, it is easy to believe—comfortable, even.

But believing that those who lord over us can see the big picture and have our best interests at heart is on par with children believing in Santa Claus.

In Quebec, the easy logic that our tuition needs to go up is appealing because of the template set by governments around us. Ignorance is equated with bliss for a reason.

For those who can juggle the demands of a 21st century life and find themselves needing a challenge, looking behind the curtain more than tests their limits. But many prefer to let the people who stand behind podiums, in front of flashbulbs and beside corporate leaders tell them what’s happening.

We’re a society of baby birds waiting for momma to chew the worm first, because we’re tired, we’re busy and isn’t it their job, anyway?

So when someone whose job it is to know certain issues inside-out says we are headed towards financial ruin because students aren’t shelling out enough cash—someone like Minister of Education Line Beauchamp or Premier Jean Charest—the knee-jerk reaction is to listen.

But right now, the curtains seem to be fluttering uncontrollably.

When Charest’s government took over in 2003, it promised to cut down on Quebec’s bloated public service departments. But instead of there being a reduction in the 275 government entities he inherited from the Parti Quebecois, he nearly doubled them.

So Quebec Finance Minister Raymond Bachand is trying to solve government overspending by charging the population more.

The most recent increase came from Quebec’s sales tax going up one per cent to 9.5 per cent in January.

La Presse reported that Quebec universities spent $80 million in five years on advertising.

They don’t seem to be run according to business logic; however. Concordia shelled out $3.1 million in severance packages for six departing employees over the last few years.

It seems like the Board of Governors thinks the university’s coffers are full of Monopoly money.

From the eye of this mess it’s hard to tell what’s more disconcerting—that our school system seems to be run by a pauper who thinks he’s Richie Rich, or that Charest’s Liberals have made this federalist anglo Quebecer start considering voting Parti Quebecois in 2013.