Like last year, several of the Post-Graduate Students‘ Society (PGSS) executive candidates are running as a slate, namely Danielle Toccalino, Sahil Kumar, Bradley Por, Brighita Lungu, and Behrang Sharif. The slate‘s common platform elements mainly consist of increasing the availability of the executive to constituents — in particular by holding consistent, visible office hours — and maintaining a regular presence at Thomson House, Mac Campus, McGill-affiliated hospitals, and PGSS events.

Click on a position to see the candidates’ overviews.

Secretary General

Danielle Toccalino

As former Science Undergraduate Society (SUS) President, current SUS Chief Returning Officer, and current representative to PGSS for the Graduate Student Association of Neuroscience, Danielle Toccalino has a wealth of experience with McGill student politics. In addition to sitting on the SUS Constitutional Affairs Committee — where she helped update the Society‘s governing documents and reform electoral bylaws — Toccalino has participated in a number of working groups with both McGill Principal Suzanne Fortier and Deputy Provost (Student Life and Learning) Ollivier Dyens. She noted that her terms in office demonstrate the organizational skills needed for the role of PGSS Secretary-General, which involves sitting on all of the associationís committees and acting as a bridge between graduate students and the University.

The PGSS executive committee suffered from strong internal divisions this year, with former Secretary-General Juan Camilo Pinto eventually resigning in January, citing personal reasons. Toccalino aims to promotes unity within the executive officers by making sure every executive officer has an equal voice. She also indicated that she would prioritize consensus-building on issues that polarize executive officers, aiming to work through proposals as a unit instead of relying on majority voting to make decisions. Divisions are not unique to just the executive, however, and Toccalino stated that she intends to shorten the gap between heavily committed PGSS members and apathetic ones.

As Secretary-General, Toccalino said that she would visit each of the 57 departmental associations meetings at least once a semester in order to solicit broad opinion. She is also advocating improved communication with graduate students by conducting more surveys and organizing more face-to-face events. Mental health and equity are also prominent parts of Toccalino‘s platform, and she would mandate each executive officer and commissioner to undergo equity and mental health first aid training.

---

Saturnin Espoir Ntamba Ndandala

Saturnin Espoir Ntamba Ndandala completed his undergraduate degree at the University of Cape Town, where he was president of the undergraduate student society. He has also occupied leadership positions while studying at the University of Sorbonne and the University of Toronto, and has helped in the development of a smartphone application that aims to promote electoral knowledge among minorities. At McGill, Ndandala currently serves as a member of the Policy and Structural Advisory Committee of PGSS and ran for interim Secretary-General following the resignation of Juan Camilo Pinto in February. He lost to Yony Bresler, winning only 29 per cent of the votes. Ndandala argues that his exposure to different cultural values will give him a good standing if elected. Furthermore, he describes himself as a fighter, citing his cancer survival as evidence of his tenacity and strength.
Of the two electoral platforms in the PGSS Secretary-General campaign, Ndandala‘s is the more radical. He is proposing to reduce the fees that graduate students pay to their association by eliminating PGSS executive salaries. In support of this, he argued that executive officers are only required to work for 15 hours per week, and that the heads of graduate departmental associations are also unpaid.

Raising awareness of sexual assault is also a key part of Ndandala‘s platform. He hopes to make it mandatory for all graduate students to take a course on sexual assault, sexual harassment, and gender equality as part of their degree. True to his international academic experience, Ndandala also wants to ensure that international students have an easier transition into McGill by starting a program that would pair Canadian and foreign students. He envisions the program as a cultural exchange that would promote diversity among the student body.

Members Services

Jenny Ann Pura

Jenny Ann Pura is currently an Experimental Surgery Graduate Student Society (ESGSS) representative on PGSS Council. She told The Daily that her experience there sparked an interest in joining the executive committee. She also participated in initiatives to train student volunteers in active listening while an undergraduate at the University of Victoria. Aside from her work for ESGSS — of which she is co-president — Pura indicated her having attended Council meetings as experience that would count in her favour as Member Services Officer. The office is designed to offer guidance to graduate students on accessing McGill services — such as career planning, health services, and mental health services — as well as managing the various services run by PGSS.

Pura said that it is difficult to pinpoint what is most crucial to the role, stating that all aspects of the portfolio are equally important. She also had difficulty expressing a clear platform, but emphasized that team building exercises, transparency, and dealing with conflicts in a timely manner were all crucial. Additionally, she suggested that services for post-grads should be centralized in a single online platform, similar to Minerva. Pura stressed that every person‘s voice should be heard. However, she cautioned that she could not guarantee the feasibility of every electoral promise, expressing reluctance to declare what she hoped to achieve if elected.

Brighita Lungu

Brighita Lungu, having completed her first term, is running for re-election to the position of PGSS Member Services Officer (MSO).

Given the year she has spent as MSO and as a member of the Graduate Architecture Students‘ Association (GASA), Lungu has built up extensive experience catered to the position. Although she characterized the learning curve of being a PGSS MSO as steep, Lungu said that given her increased familiarity with the terrain, she will be able to accomplish more in the next year if re-elected.

Lungu said that she thought that one of the biggest issues facing student leadership is the turnover that the positions often see. Therefore, highlighting institutional memory as a crucial factor for success, Lungu asserted that being consistent and running for the same position will give her an edge over her opponent.

With the brunt of the MSO‘s responsibility surrounding the proper representation of her constituents, Lungu cited a good working relationship with existing administrative organizations as a significant advantage. She also addressed the importance of teamwork, and said that she intends to require all PGSS executives to go through equity training and active bystander training.

Lungu was also very vocal about providing support mechanisms for graduate students, particularly with regard to mental health and counselling. She also noted potential future collaboration with the McGill Office of Religious and Spiritual Life (MORSL) as a way to ensure that graduate students who might not be seeking these services because of perceived stigma are able to access them safely.

Lungu said she believed that one of the challenges facing MSO is that the departmental associations are not centralized in one place, like at the downtown campus — instead, they take the form of eighty small groups around Montreal. She expressed her hope to work on improving the disjointed relationship between these associations if re-elected.

Internal Affairs Officer

Sahil Kumar

Sahil Kumar gained a sense for the position‘s portfolio through his involvement with the Internal Affairs Committee this year as a PGSS representative for the Experimental Medicine Graduate Student Society (EMGSS). He sat on the PGSS Equity Committee this year, and has past experience in student government; he was the Science Undergraduate Society (SUS) VP Internal in 2013-14, a position in which he coordinated orientation week and introduced changes to make Frosh more accessible. He was also the SUS executive administrator in 2012-13, and worked for Campus Life & Engagement.

Kumar highlighted the importance of activities, communications, and committee recruitment to the Internal Affairs portfolio. He noted that there was room for improvement with orientation options — as a first-year graduate student, Kumar found orientation activities insufficient, even though a services fair was available. He hopes to create more welcoming orientation activities such as an activities night for committee positions, and to get students involved in committees, clubs, and departmental associations early in the year. Kumar also noted that he wants to provide more family-friendly events for PGSS members with children, and to take proactive action toward a sexual assault and harassment policy for PGSS.

Kumar considers mediating internal struggles to be an aspect of the Internal Affairs portfolio, noting that issues this year had detrimental effects on PGSS‘s public image, as well as on the atmosphere at Council meetings and Annual General Meetings.

External Affairs Officer

Bradley Por

Bradley Por decided to run for External Affairs Officer during the extended nomination period. Por is currently in his third year at McGill, as he has completed a Masters in Law and is just starting his PhD; he was previously the Academic Affairs Officer at the Graduate Law Students‘ Association (GLSA).

Por made it clear that he is not afraid to take strong stances, and indicated that resistance to austerity was a priority for him at a time when budget cuts are resulting in reduced funds for education services. In the wake of the possible collapse of the Fédération Étudiante universitaire du Québec (FEUQ), Por indicated that it was essential to rebuild a new organization based on open collaboration and communication in order to resist austerity.

Another key element of Por‘s platform is increasing communication between the External Affairs Officer and PGSS constituents. An Annual General Meeting twice a year, he noted, is not enough of a conversation with students. Por emphasized the importance for students to see their students‘ society as a tool for advocating for their interests, with regard to both the administration and the government.

Academic Affairs Officer

Devin Mills

Devin Mills served on the Undergraduate Curriculum Committee at Edgewood College in Wisconsin for three years, was an assessment graduate research assistant, and is currently the Education Graduate Students‘ Society (EGSS) VP Finance. If elected, communication and transparency will be at the forefront of Mills‘ priorities, as he has said that communicating with constituents is something that he would like to see PGSS do more of in the future. He hopes to make the policies that impact student life more clear to students, and thinks that, overall, PGSS could benefit from more transparency in its initiatives. He cites the Society‘s recent disaffiliation from the Canadian Federation of Students (CFS) as an example — PGSS members were unaware of the disaffiliation vote‘s potential effects on their fees.

Mills indicated that he was highly concerned about budget cuts at McGill, and also named increased research funding as an issue that he would prioritize in his advocacy. He said that filling all the Senate committee seats allocated to PGSS was a priority for him, and that he would seek to improve communication with PGSS members to that end.

After the controversies of this past year that resulted in the removal of Secretary-General Juan Camilo Pinto from his position on the PGSS executive, Mills said he would like to help PGSS regain respect from its constituents and re-establish its credibility. Overall, he says he would like to eliminate doubts that people might have regarding the organization in order to promote engagement.

Financial Affairs Officer

Behrang Sharif

Behrang Sharif has been involved in various PGSS committees since he began his graduate studies at McGill around three years ago, and was previously treasurer and president at a national association for pharmaceutical students in Iran. He has also worked in a financial capacity at a startup, has taken part in local, national, and international student organizations and federations, and has spent two years as a PGSS representative for the Physiology Graduate Student Association (PGSA).

Transparency and accessibility of the PGSS budget and its overall finances is of great importance for Sharif, especially given that PGSS is struggling financially following its legal dispute with the Canadian Federation of Students (CFS). He suggested seeking increased revenue to avoid hiking fees by encouraging people to hold meetings at Thomson House throughout the day in order to increase sales, for example.

Sharif‘s other portfolio-related goals include improving the partnership between PGSS and other campus organizations, and continuing the Thomson House lease negotiations with the University in case they are not completed by the current executive. He noted that there is currently a lack of clarity about the negotiation process on the part of PGSS executives. He also aims to to promote PGSS involvement among constituents.

The post Who is running for PGSS? appeared first on The McGill Daily.

In a damning report released in February, FAÉCUM lists a number of issues – including education funding shortfalls, fee hikes, and unpaid internships – on which FEUQ has ineffectually represented student interests.

The report also points to FEUQ’s general inaction over austerity measures as a reason to disaffiliate. Representatives will vote on disaffiliation at FAÉCUM’s annual convention at the end of the month. A vote in favour will effectively spell the end of FEUQ: FAÉCUM, a founding member of FEUQ, comprises roughly 40,000 students, out of a total of around 100,000 in FEUQ.

“FEUQ has been around for 25 years now, and it had its glory days […] but I think that at this point it’s kind of run its course and it might be time for something else.”

“FEUQ has been around for 25 years now, and it had its glory days […] but I think that at this point it’s kind of run its course and it might be time for something else,” said Students’ Society of McGill University (SSMU) VP External Amina Moustaqim-Barrette.

SSMU, who disaffiliated from the now-defunct Table de concertation étudiante du Québec (TaCEQ) student roundtable last year, is not a member association of FEUQ, but Moustaqim-Barrette said she was mandated to act as an observer of the federation.

Created in response to a tuition fee increase in 1989, FEUQ has lobbied the provincial government on matters of student concern ever since. However, some associations began airing serious criticisms during the 2005 Quebec student strikes. At the time, FEUQ recommended that associations sign an agreement with the provincial government, effectively ending the strike.

Xavier Dandavino, chair of UQAM’s Association des étudiantes et étudiants de la faculté des sciences de l’éducation (ADEESE), commented in French in an email to The Daily that his association held a disaffiliation referendum in 2005, which did not reach quorum.

ADEESE successfully voted to disaffiliate this January, becoming the fourth association to disaffiliate from FEUQ since 2013. Member associations have increasingly complained of FEUQ’s undemocratic practices, as well as its lack of transparency.

Dandavino told The Daily that it was frequently difficult to access FEUQ documents, and that compared to other associations, ADEESE had little influence.

FEUQ voting is proportional to association membership, meaning that the largest associations – FAÉCUM and the Concordia Student Union (CSU) – can carry votes at the expense of smaller members.

Moustaqim-Barrette echoed this sentiment, and explained that the night before each FEUQ congress, “association members would get together and discuss the motions that would come to the floor” unofficially.

“So CSU would vote with FAÉCUM, and they would have 16 votes. And basically you can make anything go your way if you have one or both of those [associations] on your side. So it was a lot of back-door politics – like a lot,” she commented.

“House of Cards is the reference that we always make when [we] talk FEUQ,” continued Moustaqim-Barrette, before describing the institutional set-up as “problematic.”

She added, “You could see that the smaller associations were incredibly discontent, and rightfully so.”

New federation

Not every association is pleased with the potential collapse of the FEUQ, however.

“The FEUQ has its flaws but it has undeniably achieved far more concrete results for students than TaCEQ, ASSÉ [Association pour une solidarité syndicale étudiante], or CFS [Canadian Federation of Students],” said Post-Graduate Students’ Society (PGSS) External Affairs Officer Julien Ouellet in an email.

“FEUQ affiliates and non-member associations were shocked that FAÉCUM, an otherwise well-researched organization, would publish a report that is both unfair and of poor quality to trigger a disaffiliation procedure without going through a referendum,” said Ouellet, casting doubt on FAÉCUM’s own democratic practices.

“FEUQ affiliates and non-member associations were shocked that FAÉCUM, an otherwise well-researched organization, would publish a report that is both unfair and of poor quality to trigger a disaffiliation procedure without going through a referendum.”

The FAÉCUM report proposes the creation of a new Quebec student federation, and calls on associations from other universities to join it. Last weekend, representatives of several interested associations, including SSMU and PGSS, met to discuss the option.

Asked whether SSMU would consider joining ASSÉ – the smaller, but more militant Quebec student federation, instead of a FAÉCUM-organized federation – Moustaqim-Barrette explained that SSMU did not meet ASSÉ’s requirement for a “sovereign general assembly” due to its online ratification procedure. She explained that she admired ASSÉ for its ability to resist government policies and actions, however.

“I think FEUQ definitely could have used more of [an] ASSÉ touch in the way that it mobilizes its members and […] I think it lost the ability to do that,” she said.

She clarified, though, that she believed that representation at the provincial level was important, and that in theory, she supported joining a wider federation to better represent student interests.

“People just don’t care, that’s the impression I get all the time,” she continued, referring to the typical McGill student’s interest in provincial politics. “Having this institutionalized for SSMU to be represented on this provincial and national level is so important.”

Both FAÉCUM and FEUQ declined to comment.

The post FEUQ on the brink of collapse appeared first on The McGill Daily.

The post Ta-Nehisi Coates talks race and justice appeared first on The McGill Daily.

Protesters attempted to block the entrance to the Tour de la Bourse, but were forced away by the police within minutes.

Steve, a student at the Université du Québec à Montréal (UQAM), told The Daily in French that he had come out to draw attention to the fact that “austerity favours economic elites.”

“We want the equitable sharing of wealth,” he continued. “We’re here to protest austerity, but also to symbolically protest the economic elite. We need actions that are both symbolic and concrete, like coming to the Tour de la Bourse, like occupying offices.”

Other protesters pointed to the disparity between taxes on businesses and taxes on people.

“One of the principal sources of revenue the government could look to is to go and tax capital, the banks,” said Charles, one of the protesters, in French.

He said further that he considered provincial austerity an “aggressive measure that attacks the population,” and called on the government to “find money where there is money,” namely by taxing financial institutions more heavily.

“We need actions that are both symbolic and concrete, like coming to the Tour de la Bourse, like occupying offices.”

The Quebec Liberal government eliminated capital gains tax in 2011. According to ASSÉ documents, reinstating the capital gains tax at a rate of 1 per cent for banks and 0.5 per cent for other corporations would increase revenue by $600 million per year.

Katia, a self-described ‘federal employee’ who was canvassing pedestrians near the demonstration, spoke to The Daily.

“This profits a group who are qualified, in good health […] and who are often subsidized,” she said in French, referring to businesspeople. “Now they’re going to tell us that normal people have to tighten their belts? I’ve had enough.”

“We’re here […] against the financial elite that our government listens to. They don’t listen to the population, they listen to the financial elite,” she continued. “They’re destroying all our social benefits – it’s horrible.”

One activist spoke to the different burdens placed on the working population and corporations over a loudspeaker.

“While there are hydroelectric power outages, while one in ten people spend 80 per cent of their wages on rent, while condo developments are destroying working-class neighbourhoods, and while the Indigenous community does not have access to fundamental needs, like electricity or drinking water, these tie-wearing gangsters hide their millions in tax havens,” he said in French.

Following a series of speeches, the crowd marched around Victoria Square, obstructing traffic and shouting slogans. There were minor scuffles with police who tried to move protesters onto the sidewalk. After one tour of the square, organizers ended the protest, but with calls to keep the momentum over the following weeks.

“All week there are symbolic actions,” said Charles. “It’s only February at the moment, but it’s time to start mounting the pressure.”

The post Protesters block entrance to the Tour de la Bourse appeared first on The McGill Daily.

Ivanhoé Cambridge, a real estate subsidiary of provincial pension fund Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec, paused construction following a series of complaints to the municipal and provincial governments, as well as archaeologists, from freelance photographer Robert Galbraith.

The site, just south of the corner of Maisonneuve and Metcalfe, is a candidate for the disputed location of the St. Lawrence Iroquoian village of Hochelaga visited by Jacques Cartier in 1535. This visit is famed for being the first recorded instance of contact between Europeans and Indigenous people on the island of Montreal and one of the defining moments in the history of New France.

The site was designated a National Historic Site of Canada in 1920 because of its “potential archaeological resources, objects, and sites.” However, according to Galbraith, Ivanhoé Cambridge began digging foundations for the office building on February 11 without consulting an archaeologist.

“To assume that there is no archaeological evidence or human remains under the asphalt without an adequate investigation [shows] a total lack of concern [for], and [an] abandonment [of], this largely unknown period of Canadian history,” Galbraith told The Daily in an email.

When John William Dawson, a McGill geologist, first excavated part of the site in 1860, he found extensive human remains and pottery, and proposed it as the location of the Hochelaga village.

Anthropology professor and Dean of Students André Costopoulos spoke to The Daily about the site’s significance.

“Whether the Dawson site is Hochelaga is an open question, but clearly it’s a settlement very much like Hochelaga,” he said, adding that even if archaeologists proved that the Hochelaga village was located elsewhere, it was important to protect the site downtown.

“It’s a site that has cultural significance, not only [for] French Canadians, but for people from Kahnawàke, and people from other Indigenous communities near Montreal,” Costopoulos continued.

Accusations of neglect

Asked whether construction had begun because of a lack of interest in the historical and cultural significance of the site from the City of Montreal, Costopoulos argued that it was simply a case of the relevant authorities being ignorant of the situation.

However, in an email to The Daily, Galbraith said that neither the City of Montreal nor cultural organizations had objected to the construction project. He pointed out that other cities, including Rome, London, and Quebec City, have stringent building regulations in order to protect their heritage.

In reference to Montreal, he said that “various organizations are trying to rewrite history and disclaim people who have a great knowledge of history for their benefit.” He further complained that Montreal had a “wild west municipal government.”

Héritage Montréal, a non-profit that works to protect the “architectural, historic, natural, and cultural heritage of Greater Montreal” did not oppose the building project either. Galbraith accused the organization of deliberate neglect in its duties. Ivanhoé Cambridge, the developer, is a major financial sponsor of Héritage Montréal.

Speaking to The Daily, Héritage Montréal spokesperson Dinu Bumbaru rejected the allegation that an affiliation to Ivanhoé Cambridge had influenced the organization’s decision. “There is a perception that this is a site of Hochelaga – but this is a perception,” he said.

Bumbaru added that Héritage Montréal had come to a decision regarding the site following a McCord Museum conference in 2010, which concluded that the Hochelaga village was not on the site.

“If you were in their shoes, what would you say?” responded Galbraith after learning of Bumbaru’s comments.

“There’s more to life than [to] dig and destroy,” he continued. “But here, because of a political climate and greasy politics and stuff like that, and the almighty dollar, we’re about to sell our souls.”

Representatives of the City of Montreal could not be reached for comment by press time.

The post Construction halts on alleged site of historical Indigenous village appeared first on The McGill Daily.

The comic opera is essentially a parody of the class system, with a vague moral overtone advocating for equality. A sailor on board a British naval ship, Ralph Rackstraw (Sam Strickland), falls in love with the captain’s daughter Josephine (Anna Bond/Allegra Johnston) – scandalous given their different social positions. Meanwhile, Josephine is engaged to a superior, Sir Joseph Porter, First Lord of the Admiralty (Stephen Reimer). The whole affair is further complicated by the ship’s captain (Jonah Spungin), who is in love with a dockside vendor. The plot follows a predictable – but fun – series of entanglements and gags, rounded off with a cheesy happy ending.

H.M.S Pinafore is meant to be fun, and in some respects, then, the Savoy Society’s production should be praised. You laugh at the right the moments, and half-wish you were rollicking on deck with the sailors when the chorus starts to sing. In other respects though, the production is lacklustre. The ship’s deck setting is appropriate, as are the naval costumes; however, this is standard Gilbert and Sullivan kitsch, a predictable visual experience that could have used some livening-up.

Still, most of the actors pull off convincing English accents more or less appropriate to their social standing, which is impressive. In an amusing, yet biting song (sung in an upper-class drawl), Sir Joseph describes how he became an admiral through a determined lack of talent. “I thought so little, they rewarded me by making me the ruler of the queen’s navee,” he trills. This is Gilbert and Sullivan at their best: funny, while getting at a deeper social truth.

In this song, Reimer negotiates the line between silliness and satire well. He foolishly bobs up and down in time with the music while enunciating his lines clearly enough for the audience to understand the verbal humour. Indeed, this a distinction the Savoy Society navigates comfortably. Actors slow down for significant lines, but rush around in confusion during absurd plot twists – and this sense of confusion is exactly the point of H.M.S Pinafore. Gilbert and Sullivan present the class system exactly as it is: love, and who is in charge of a naval ship, are both decided by birth. By following this situation to its logical conclusion – absurdity – they make mockery of social hierarchy. That the production can feel a little punch-drunk is a credit to the opera’s writers.

However, whereas most actors manage to summon the acting, vocal, and comic skills needed in a Gilbert and Sullivan opera, others fall far short of the mark. The net result is an uncomfortable performance. Strickland can sing, but his vocals are undermined by exaggerated body movements and an infatuated puppy-dog shtick that comes off as awkward instead of cute. Accordingly, the chemistry between Rackstraw and Josephine is more disconcerting than charming. In one scene, Rackstraw slithers up behind his sweetheart to wrap his arms around her; the uneasiness is palpable.

While principal characters are usually played by the most capable actors, this is not the case in the Savoy Society’s H.M.S Pinafore – it’s a production of contrasts. Some actors are flawless, others draw attention to their flaws. Among the chorus, there are some notably strong singers, but there is also a noticeable lack of cohesion. While this production has its shining moments, as a whole, it doesn’t quite come together; the timing is sometimes sloppy, the entries sometimes slow.

H.M.S Pinafore is mostly meant to make you laugh, and in this sense, the production does its job. But it’s also an opera about class divisions. The divide between actors in this production, though, isn’t social – it’s performance-quality. And instead of leaving the theatre questioning class inequality, you leave wondering whether equality amongst the performers would have made for a more enjoyable show.

The post Navigating the stormy waters of <em>H.M.S. Pinafore</em> appeared first on The McGill Daily.

On opening, thirty minutes before McGill opera students walked on stage to perform, conductor Gordon Gerrard spoke to audience members seated in a small lecture hall. A black-clad, soft-spoken Manitoban, Gerrard explained that Mozart was a master of the “ear worm” – a clumsy way of saying he composed unforgettable and timeless music.

The rest of his talk was phrased more gracefully. He reminded the audience of how incredible it is that a work put to music in 1786 can still resonate with us today, and how we recognize our own feelings in the romantic struggles of the characters. Above all, The Marriage of Figaro is a love story: Figaro and his fiancé Susanna are both servants to the same Count, who tries everything to stop their marriage because of his desire for Susanna. A kaleidoscopic and confusing web of romantic liaisons, subtext, and drama ensues.

For The Marriage of Figaro revolves around real love: its fun, absurdity, and agony. It is at its strongest when it expresses emotions that can’t be put into words; everything else is just filler.

A comic opera, The Marriage of Figaro, is meant to make you laugh as much as tug at your heartstrings. The cast, in addition to their vocal talent, played their parts with natural ease. There were times, however, when the emphasis on slapstick was overdone. In one of the most beautiful of the opera’s arias, a young servant-boy is forced by ladies of the court to sing a song he has written for the Countess. Voi Che Sapete, his song, is a pure but bittersweet rendition of the pain of adolescent longing. The emotions expressed chime with many, but it was a disappointment to see the actor (Stephanie Kallay) strut and beat her chest melodramatically, effectively playing the scene for laughs.

There are other eyebrow-raising moments of slapstick in Opera McGill’s performance, too, such as when Figaro and Susanna are reunited, and proceed to dramatically dry hump centre-stage. That moment did draw a genuine roar of laughter though, and for the most part the clownish humour serves well as a short relief from more serious content – better-known arias such as Canzonetta Sull’aria were so powerful you could feel audience members holding their breath.

Perhaps most remarkable though, was the deliberate way in which the production engaged its audience. In one scene, Figaro (Rolfe Dauz) sang at length about his hatred of women, in what was originally a rant against the ruling classes that Mozart was forced to change after a complaint from his patron. Figaro addressed men directly during the aria, and for this Opera McGill chose to light up the audience, with everyone literally in the spotlight as they were called upon to agree with the misogynistic sentiment. The audience also understood exactly what Figaro was singing: French and English translations flashed on a screen in time with the singers. While the deliberate sense of discomfort may have been intended to make the audience reflect more deeply on the opera’s themes, in many ways, the opera would have been better off if this part were removed entirely.

For The Marriage of Figaro revolves around real love: its fun, absurdity, and agony. It is at its strongest when it expresses emotions that can’t be put into words; everything else is just filler. Gerrard too explained before curtain-up that while acting moves the story along, characters only express their true emotions during the arias. Aria lyrics are simplistic, sometimes just one repeated sentence. However, the depth of feeling expressed is what keeps audiences returning to this opera for hundreds of years.

Overall, the story of The Marriage of Figaro inevitably plays second fiddle to its composition, which amounts to over four hours of music. Both of the Opera McGill casts rehearsed every day since the beginning of January. And at least for the singers in the final leg of recitals, the performance was truly remarkable, especially during the arias.

Through its powerful expression of timeless sentiments, Opera McGill succeeded in providing the audience with an escape into ourselves. While the emotional release ended with the show itself, Opera McGill also succeeded in making an “ear worm” of Mozart: the music plays on loop inside your head long after you leave the theatre.

The post Mozart’s ear worm appeared first on The McGill Daily.

The Daily spoke to Daithí Mac Fhlaithimh, a visiting Irish language scholar at Concordia and the club’s founder. “I just wanted to share the experience,” he said, referring to a childhood steeped in hurling culture. “It’s an overall cultural thing I wanted to bring.”

Mac Fhlaithimh’s motivation seems to be paying off. The club already has a small but dedicated membership. Those involved range from the expected Irish Canadians and Irish Quebecers, to people who have no previous cultural connection with Ireland. All the members The Daily spoke to, however, stressed that it was not an exclusively Irish project, and that their motivation for joining was largely the allure of the sports themselves. As one of the members said, “We’re not playing just because it’s Irish, we’re playing because we want to play.”

“I like the fact that [Gaelic football is] fast-paced. You’re always on your feet, there’s no breather […] I’m used to playing curling, in which you have more than a breather,” explained U1 Canadian Irish Studies student Roxane Jarvis-Patenaude. “I find it really cool to see how similar it is to games that we actually know. And then see how this game is actually older than all of them.”

The link between Irish culture and the Gaelic games is there, however. Mac Fhlaithimh told The Daily of his admiration for the history of hurling and how “you’re linked to your past through hurling as an Irishman.” Gaelic sports crosses borders, he added, and for many Highland Scots, shinty (a sport related to hurling) is also a sign of identity. An interesting fact of Concordia’s club, and perhaps an indication of the new progressiveness of Gaelic games, is that players are free to identify with them however they like.

The name of the club too, Óglaigh Ollscoile, is culturally and politically significant. ‘Óglaigh’ is Irish word for ‘young warrior,’ and appears frequently in Irish myths. It was also a word used by revolutionaries to describe themselves in 1916 in the Easter Rising, an uprising against British rule. The club is named in honour of the uprising’s centenary celebrations next year.

When the political connotation was brought up, members were still at pains to stress that the intention was inclusive rather than divisive.
“The team is named after the Irish volunteers, [so] there is that aspect of nationalism. [But] it’s not political or positional – it’s respectful,” said Jarvis-Patenaude.

Mac Fhlaithimh also admitted that the name of the club has political connotations, but he argued that Ireland had moved on. An inspiration, he said, was a former president of Ireland’s Gaelic Athletic Association who went out his way to include people from the opposing political tradition in the sport.

“It’s a mad mix […] it’s all about people getting together and having fun. That’s the main reason [for getting involved],” he continued. Other members all agreed, saying that their experience so far had been overwhelmingly positive and welcoming.

The club already has plans to participate in the North American university championships (the U.S. has nine university Gaelic games clubs), and members were enthusiastic about the prospect of meeting people through the sport. Their hope is that they attract enough players to form the basis for lasting Gaelic football and hurling teams, and stated the club is open to anyone interested – not just Concordia students.

“That’s the name of the game,” said Mac Fhlaithimh, speaking about the inclusivity of the sport. “Friendship, fun, and coming home with a few black eyes every now and again.”

The post The Gaelic revival in Canada appeared first on The McGill Daily.

Across Montreal, universities are shifting the burden of provincial austerity measures onto students. While undergraduates at many institutions are facing higher tuition fees and larger class sizes, for teaching assistants (TAs), the cuts have meant a fall in real wages coupled with increased workloads.

“[Concordia’s] tried basically cutting every expense they could find […] they’re trying to cut everything,” said Robert Sonin, a Teaching and Research Assistants at Concordia (TRAC) union member.

He explained that the number of Concordia graduate students has climbed, while the TA budget has remained flat.

Quebec funds universities based on their number of weighted FTEs (full-time equivalent students), with graduate students garnering heftier subsidies than undergraduates. Increasing graduate admissions thus act to counterbalance funding shortfalls elsewhere. However, the result of an enlarged graduate student body is fewer TA contracts with fewer hours, and ultimately a lower rate of compensation.

“They take the money from the easy places where they know there’s less resistance, and there’s less resistance among students because [students] take what [they] can get,” Sonin continued.

He also told The Daily that TRAC is working to combat an unspoken norm under which TAs are expected to work more than their contracted hours. However, graduate students are not in a strong bargaining position; many are glad just to have a job, and are afraid to jeopardize what is often their only source of income. As Sonin explained, “If that’s how you pay your rent – you’re stuck.”

TAs at McGill are feeling similar repercussions of austerity. Justin Irwin, president of McGill’s TA union, AGSEM, agreed that TAs working well over their contracted hours is an “endemic issue.”

“They take the money from the easy places where they know there’s less resistance, and there’s less resistance among students because [students] take what [they] can get.”

In an email to The Daily, AGSEM Grievance Officer (and former Daily Publications Society Chair) Benjamin Elgie explained that because of unionization, “McGill has not been able to impose a wage decrease or freeze” on TAs in response to provincial austerity. However, he pointed to a “successive and sometimes drastic decrease in TA hours” despite rising undergraduate enrolment, as having a similarly negative impact.

At McGill, departments have offset cuts to teaching hours by employing more course graders, who do the same work as TAs but are not unionized. According to Elgie, graders “have minimal labour protections, as well as significantly lower pay with longer hours.” AGSEM is currently seeking to extend its membership to all teaching support workers, including course graders.

The Daily also spoke to Shanie Morasse, an executive member of Université du Québec à Montréal’s (UQAM) TA union, SÉTUE. So far, UQAM has mostly confined its cuts to professors, lecturers, and staff, who have suffered a 2 per cent wage drop.

SÉTUE is currently in negotiations with UQAM, which will announce its next budget in April.

“We’re anticipating a cut in the number of contracts, a cut in the number of hours contained within contracts,” Morasse told The Daily in French.

An actual decrease in TA wages at UQAM is unlikely given their already low pay rate, Morasse explained. UQAM graduate TAs earn $13.31 per hour, far below the $26.81 per hour offered at McGill. However, she noted that some courses have been cut, which has reduced the number of TAs required. “We’re looking [at] a fall in real wages,” she continued.

Potential for strike action

Asked what measures teaching unions were taking to protect their members, Morasse said that SÉTUE is “constantly in contact with the Printemps 2015 committee to keep an eye on what’s going on.” She candidly told The Daily that a strike at UQAM is almost a certainty at this point, and that SÉTUE will join “to put the pressure on” and “fight austerity.”

Sonin was more reticent about the prospects of a strike at Concordia. However, he echoed Morasse’s sentiment, saying, “It would be nice to see a strike in the spring.”

“This is the richest humanity has been – ever. The decision is where are you going to spend the money […] How are you going to divvy it up? That’s the point of a strike.”

Elgie confirmed in an email that AGSEM in currently in a legal strike position, but does not yet have a strike mandate. He added that a motion to strike could be proposed by any member, and that the union understands that “a number of other unions have members who are planning to bring strike votes for May 1 as part of a coordinated effort against the provincial cuts.”

In an interview with The Daily, Irwin explained that AGSEM was in contact with unions at other universities, but was unwilling to state which ones.

In 2008, a dispute with the University over standardized workload forms led McGill TAs to call a strike – which was a success. Indeed, with TAs across the city under strain from their universities’ reactions to austerity, several union representatives confirmed to The Daily that they saw value in retaliatory strike action.

Sonin argued that austerity is not, in fact, necessary. “This is the richest humanity has been – ever. The decision is where are you going to spend the money […] How are you going to divvy it up? That’s the point of a strike.”

A previous version of this article stated “Elgie confirmed in an email that AGSEM will not have a legal strike mandate until May, when it will finish collective agreement negotiations.” In fact, the end date of AGSEM’s negotiations is unknown. Additionally, the article should read that AGSEM is currently in a legal position to strike; however, it will not have a strike mandate unless a member-led motion to strike gains majority support.

The post TAs grapple with effects of austerity appeared first on The McGill Daily.

The musical turns around Roxie Hart (Vanessa Drunsnitzer), a chorus girl who murders her lover and convinces her husband to take the rap, only to be found out and sent to prison. Facing a trial that might result in a death sentence, Hart is desperate – but not remorseful. Her associates on the cell block are a colourful array of criminals, all of whom are jailed for similar reasons. Mama (Nour Malek) controls the jail, but Roxie’s real nemesis is Velma Kelly (Natalie Aspinall). A vaudeville-washout turned murderer, Velma hopes to capitalize on the press obsession with her case to revive her career. This is Roxie’s plan, too: though she initially contacts celebrity lawyer Billy Flynn (Kenny Wong) to help clear her name, she quickly begins to pine for glamour and recognition.

“[I] decided to simplify everything and rely solely on the movement and the acting to tell the story.”

AUTS’ production began cautiously on opening night, with actors taking time to ease into their roles, and their voices. A few gags fell short, but Roxie’s arrival in prison marked the turning point. The cast came into their own with inmates dancing and singing the “Cell Block Tango,” an act that puts a humorous twist on a catalogue of murders. Generally, the singing in AUTS’ Chicago is commendable. Especially strong performances came from Drunsnitzer as Roxie and Jessica Eckstadt as Mary Sunshine, a naïve but loveable columnist who delivers her songs in a comically grand falsetto.

The show overall was more impressive when it came to the less theatrical sequences, particularly those that satirized the corruption of the American justice system.

The success of character-driven shows like Chicago relies on strong individual performances. Part of the charm of the AUTS production is its pared-down aesthetics, which focus our attention on these compelling characters. The “Cell Block Tango” routine takes place on the minimalist, jazz-bar set, cleverly lit with showbiz spotlights or cabaret shades of red; the simplicity unclutters any distractions. In an interview with The Daily, Friedmann discussed this set choice, stating that she “decided to simplify everything and rely solely on the movement and the acting to tell the story.” Friedmann explained that, accordingly, rehearsals for the show were “focused on training the hell out of the performers,” noting that this production differs from more typical Broadway productions in its simplicity.

In relying on movement and acting to tell the story, the show was particularly successful. However, the show overall was more impressive when it came to the less theatrical sequences, particularly those that satirized the corruption of the American justice system. Presumed innocent by Mama, a Hungarian woman (Colby Koecher) asks, “Will Uncle Sam like me?” in an increasingly desperate tone before being hanged. Disturbingly too, the press corps is choreographed to bob around like marionettes, manipulated by lawyers who distract them from the truth. Finally, in the closing act, Velma winks at the audience and says, “America is a fair and just country.” There is open laughter from the audience.

After a year marked by judicial failures in the U.S., the satire is particularly poignant. The strength of AUTS’ Chicago is that it underlines the message of the original play, but does so while incorporating the best traditions from the Broadway version: it’s funny, it’s sexed-up, and the music is catchy. Chicago definitely entertains, but it also points to the disturbing link between trials and show business, provoking us to reflect on what lies behind the act.

The post “This trial is all show business” appeared first on The McGill Daily.

A leading grievance is that while McGill has increased student enrolment, it has reduced the number of TAs. AGSEM argues that TAs are often expected to work more than their allotted hours, and maintains that the University should provide more TA hours to guarantee educational standards, despite provincial cuts to education funding.

“I was speaking with a member just now [who said that] the course that he and his colleague are working for, as teaching assistants […] has something like 150 students, [but only] 3 TAs. A couple of years ago, that was 5 TAs,” said AGSEM President Justin Irwin.

“The amount of work that has to be done isn’t being decreased, it’s staying the same, or it’s increasing,” he added. “So the main thing we’re fighting for is […] to protect not only our members and their employment, but also the quality of education here.”

On top of an increase in TA hours and protection from unpaid work, AGSEM is bargaining over a salary boost. TA salaries have effectively been sliding for years: according to AGSEM promotional literature, McGill awarded TAs a 1.2 per cent pay increase last year, which is below the 2 per cent rate of inflation.

Eden Glasman, a Masters student in English, agreed that TAs are in an unenviable position. “You can’t help feeling that […] graduate students are used to the convenience of the institution in a way that’s not ideal.”

In addition to beginning negotiations with the University over pay conditions in the upcoming months, AGSEM will also argue that the standard of education at McGill will suffer unless cuts to teaching support are reversed. Angela Kalyta, a member of the AGSEM bargaining committee and a PhD candidate in Sociology, addressed the assembled students over a megaphone.

“All of us are familiar with this kind of thing: grading papers without giving a lot of comments, doing it really quick, stuff like that. Undergrads don’t like that, undergrads want better quality education, they want conferences with less than seventy people in them – but we can’t do that unless we have more hours,” said Kalyta.

Irwin also spoke to the crowd, expressing his frustration that McGill has chosen not to publicly condemn the current provincial budget cuts, even though it opposed the Parti Québécois cuts to higher education in 2013. He stated that “responsible belt-tightening” was McGill’s new “party line,” and urged union members to dispute it.

“I think our university should stand up to the province and say that they’re not okay with the cuts that are being proposed, like they did before when the PQ were in power,” Sunci Avlijas, a graduate student in Biology, told The Daily. “But now all of a sudden because the Liberals are in power they’re okay with it. […] How does that make any sense?”

“I hope that the administration will agree with us that [the proposed TA collective agreement] is a priority for our university and our community,” Avlijas continued. “But I hope that our fellow teaching assistants will agree that we have to protect the quality [of education] whatever it takes – even if that is a strike.”

The post Grad students decry increased workload, decreased hours for TAs appeared first on The McGill Daily.

The post Negotiations continue on Thomson House lease appeared first on The McGill Daily.

At the McGill Post-Graduate Students’ Society (PGSS) Council meeting on October 8, councillors and departmental representatives passed a motion to endorse a union drive by the Association for Graduate Students Employed at McGill (AGSEM), McGill’s labour union for teaching assistants and invigilators, and another motion on universal public transit passes for students. Council also discussed a joint statement on student aid by PGSS and other student associations.

Support for AGSEM union drive

During the announcements period, AGSEM president Justin Irwin told Council that the union was seeking to expand membership to teaching support workers doing similar work to post-graduate teaching assistants (TAs). Isabel Harvey, History and Classics Graduate Student Association representative, put forward a motion for PGSS to endorse the union drive.

Irwin explained that teaching support workers, such as graders, markers, tutors, notetakers, and course assistants, are not currently unionized, meaning that these employees must represent themselves if labour disputes arise.

AGSEM also hopes to introduce equitable pay conditions for teaching support workers. “Essentially, people in these positions […] do very similar work to graduate TAs,” said Irwin. “While they’re doing very similar work, and oftentimes identical work, especially in the case of undergrads working these jobs, they’re being paid very different sums of money.”

Irwin added, “We’ve spoken to plenty of people working as graders or as undergraduate TAs who are basically paid minimum wage for something I can be paid $15 more an hour to do.”

A departmental representative asked Harvey to explain whether higher salaries for undergraduate teaching support workers would have repercussions on the wages of post-graduate TAs.

“We don’t have a way of knowing exactly what the effects will be. But it is quite clear that these types of students are necessary to the functioning of McGill,” responded Harvey. “[TAs are] not just hired for fun, the[se] are necessary positions, and as such it is likely that the[se] would be carried forward.”

The motion to endorse AGSEM’s union drive passed with a large majority, but with several abstentions.

Universal public transit pass for students

The PGSS executive moved to create a student card which would serve as both a McGill identity card and a reduced-rate public OPUS card, in partnership with Je Vois Montréal, a movement that aims to stimulate development in the city.

“It will be like a new universal pass: it will be a student ID pass, on top of that it will serve as a public transit pass, [and] as a rebate coupon,” said PGSS External Affairs Officer Julien Ouellet. “It’s basically like Montreal’s student master card.”

The proposed transit pass generated particular interest among PGSS Council members and departmental delegates because it would be made available to all McGill students, regardless of age. As it stands, students over 25 years old are not eligible for reduced fare in public transportation in Montreal.

“What we want to push is [for] graduate students who are over the age of 25, [to] have the same rebate on the fee,” Ouellet explained.

All delegates who spoke to the issue expressed their support for the motion, and the only questions raised related to points of clarification. The motion passed with an overwhelming majority.

Memoir on student aid

In cooperation with a number of other Quebec student associations, PGSS co-signed a memoir on student aid in September, which was presented to the Commission d’examen sur la fiscalité québécoise, an agency that reviews tax expenditures within Quebec.

The memoir recommends that tax credits to student savings accounts be cut and that the savings be funnelled into direct student aid instead. Co-signing student associations argue that the current tax credit system only benefits middle-class students and does not promote access to higher education.

However, former PGSS president Jonathan Mooney raised the concern that, if the student aid memoir is adopted, international students – who can seldom access provincial aid – will feel the pinch.

“This is a very, very complicated issue that we’ve been working on. Unfortunately, [though] it is true that 90 per cent of this memoir is good for our students, 10 per cent could be affected,” said Ouellet.

Referring to the recommendation that affects international students, Ouellet admitted that it was “a bit controversial.”

“[The recommendation] allocates about $48 million, take[n] away from the tax that you get from tuition and student fees, and puts it into bursaries and scholarships. According to the equation that Jonathan [Mooney] and I made, about $15 million of that money could potentially go to international students if they know about this program, and meet certain criteria, and if they choose to stay in Quebec.”

“I want to make it clear to international students that we’re not abandoning them,” he continued.

During his statement, Ouellet emphasized that the PGSS External Affairs Committee was also working on getting access to provincial health care plans for international students. However, he admitted that if the memoir on student aid is adopted, he was unaware of how many international students it would impact.

“[We] still don’t have the information to know how many of our international students will be affected.”

The post Post-grads endorse teaching support union drive appeared first on The McGill Daily.

Though a professor of political economy at McGill, his real fame came from his fiction, and in particular, his humour. At his height, he was one of the most admired humourists in the English-speaking world, and perhaps the best known Canadian writer in any genre. Leacock’s novel Sunshine Sketches of a Little Town is still widely read today, over 100 years after it was first published.

McGill is shy about exposing the darker side of Leacock. A glance through some of his writings reveals an imperialist, racist, and deeply misogynistic man.

By this measure, we might celebrate Leacock and his relationship to McGill. However, coupled with his humour were forays into social criticism – and any appreciation of his work must take these into account. For a start, Leacock was an unashamed misogynist. He regularly referred to women’s suffrage and women’s access to education as “the woman problem.” In his essay The Woman Question, he portrays the feminist militating for equal rights at the time as “the Awful Woman with spectacles,” arguing that the relatively new phenomenon was part of a historical trend of troublesome women. He was no stranger to violent imagery, either, pointing out that in “the Middle Ages, [they] called [a troublesome woman] a witch and burned her.”

That being said, he did admit that the momentum of the feminist movement was bound to achieve results, and further argued that legally speaking, it was wrong to bar women from any profession. To assuage his fellow conservatives, though, he writes that dismantling legal boundaries would amount to nothing anyway: “Women have just as good a right to fail at being lawyers as they have at anything else.” Occupations, to Leacock, were strictly gendered, and any attempt by women to gain entry into the world of men would flop.

This is stock misogyny, but it’s worth noting that even in the early 20th century his ideas were considered antiquated. Describing his male and female undergraduate students at McGill in the 1930s, long after the co-education debate in Canada was over, Leacock writes that “there is no need to raise here the question of which is superior and which is inferior (though I think, the Lord help me, I know the answer to that too).” Most galling though, was his assertion that he wasn’t telling women what they ought to do, but explaining to them what they wanted for themselves. In another essay, Woman’s Level, he argues that university education for women is ineffectual because they are destined for the role of “home and mother.” For their own good, Leacock writes that “women need not more freedom but less.”

His imperialism was steeped in vicious racism. In line with his patronizing of women, he thought imperialism was a just way to keep “savages” (his words) from murdering each other.

It should come as no surprise then that someone as prejudiced as Leacock was a fierce advocate of the British Empire. What’s more, his imperialism was steeped in vicious racism. In line with his patronizing of women, he thought imperialism was a just way to keep “savages” (his words) from murdering each other. In An Apology for the British Empire (apology as in defence), Leacock writes that “the right people to keep the world safe and decent and fair, for all the people, decent or not, are the English-speaking peoples.” Furthermore, he goes on to say that in India and Nigeria, the Indigenous population was so divided that they required colonial subjugation for their own good. It rarely occurred to him to acknowledge the movements of national liberation that aimed to right the injustice of exploitation from abroad.

To add insult to injury, Leacock opposed the immigration of people he considered inferior, stating, “We would never dream of letting in Indians.” In another essay, despairing of immigrants from Central Europe, he declares that “in Canada, unless we maintain this British stock, we are lost.”

Still, many in the Canadian elite fall back on the trope of Leacock as a brilliant, kind-hearted, and good-humoured man; someone of whom Canadians can be proud. To writer Guy Vanderhaeghe, he is one of the “great interpreters of this country.” At best though, Leacock was an interpreter of anglo-, British-Canadian men during the decline of the Empire.

Why does McGill still boast about this man? Many alumni have gone on to do good in the world – Leacock is not one of them.

Why does McGill still boast about this man? Many alumni have gone on to do good in the world – Leacock is not one of them. The tired argument that he was merely a ‘man of his time’ does not hold water here either – socialists and feminists at the beginning of the 20th century were vocally and actively dismantling archaic beliefs. These very militants were the subjects of his ridicule.

That a building is still named after him and that he is still touted as someone to admire speaks to McGill’s own colonial, sexist, and racist history. Moving on from such a troubled history requires acknowledgement that it exists. At the very least, McGill should be honest in its portrayal of Leacock. In today’s world, we would not hesitate to call him what he was – a violent, racist, woman-hater.

Emmet Livingstone is the commentary editor at The Daily, but his opinions here are his own. To contact him, please email emmet.livingstone@mail.mcgill.ca.

The post Prejudice with a grin appeared first on The McGill Daily.

There are some countries, like England and the U.S., that have conceived so many popular sports that they are overstretched in their love for them, and any link to national identity is tenuous. In these countries a person’s sport of choice is more revealing of social class or local region rather than national identity. Ireland too is a bit like this, yet it has two national sports, of which few outside the island are aware, deeply woven into the country’s political history and cultural identity.

These sports make up a part of Gaelic games; Gaelic referring to the language and culture that once dominated all of Ireland and parts of Scotland. Technically, the Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA) administers four Gaelic sports, although only two have any important following: Gaelic football and hurling.

The former is the most popular sport in Ireland, something aficionados of rugby and soccer grumble costs Ireland sporting excellence in international sports. Gaelic football consists of 15 players a side playing on a field similar to rugby, aiming to kick the ball over the bar between two long posts for one point, and under the bar (in the goal) for three points. It’s a highly physical, skilful, fast, and violent game, with strong regional concentrations of excellence. Dublin and Kerry often square up in All-Ireland football finals, a rivalry roughly equivalent to the Yankees and Red Sox, except that the Dublin-Kerry rivalry represents the divide between rural Ireland and the city, old and new. In other words, Gaelic football has all the ingredients of a perfect spectator sport.

Hurling is far more ancient and is arguably the original Irish game. Played with sticks – called hurleys – carved from ash, and a small, rock-hard ball – called the sliotar – it is also much more violent. The earliest surviving written evidence for the sport comes from the 5th century, though it is likely much older than that, making it one of the oldest recorded field sports in the world. For example, Irish mythology is awash with references to the game. Cú Chulainn, a sort of Irish Achilles, is celebrated both as a warrior and a talented hurler. His hurling skills caught the eye of a local king, who brought him into his service as a guard after the boy slew his guard-dog with his hurley and and sliotar. Fionn mac Cumhail – known as Finn McCool in English – and his band of legendary warriors, the Fianna, would undertake military training in the morning and play hurling in the afternoon. The game today still retains a heroic quality, and though few outside of Ireland are aware, it is considered the fastest field sport in the world.

Under colonial rule, any expression of Irish identity could be construed as a political, anti-imperial act, and so many revolutionary organizations also adopted these mythological tropes, and promoted native games as a counter to colonial pressures. Indeed, the Fenian Brotherhood (a 19th century precursor to the Irish Republican Army (IRA)) took their name from the Finn and his Fianna, which means warrior in Gaelic. Similarly, Fenian is often used as a derogatory synonym for Irish nationalist, and the Fianna Fáil party – which, translated, means “warriors of destiny” – is one of Ireland’s largest political parties.

Formed in the late 19th century, the heyday of the Celtic political and cultural revival, the GAA administered Irish sport while encouraging native culture and language. It still remains an important fixture in Irish life. Furthermore, its reputation as an organization dedicated to championing native concerns was probably helped by one of the bloodiest atrocities committed during Ireland’s ‘revolutionary period (1910-1920). In response to a series of assassinations of British spies in Dublin, British troops opened fire on a crowd watching a Gaelic football match in Dublin on November 21, 1920, killing 14 civilians and forever immortalizing the day as Bloody Sunday. On top of that, along with the Catholic Church, it was one of the few organizations that spanned Ireland after independence, and was seen as a unifying force.

It is little surprise, then, that the GAA the has remained a deeply politicized organization with ties to the nationalist and Catholic Fianna Fáil party, and the history of Gaelic games is often pegged alongside struggles for self-determination.

This sounds innocuous enough, but as with most issues affecting ‘Irishness,’ it is explicitly political. Until the early 1970s, the GAA explicitly forbade members from taking part in “foreign” games – what is really meant by “foreign” is English. Still today, players in Gaelic sports are discouraged from playing English games. The GAA has yet to completely shed its antagonistic relationship with the culture of the old colonizer England. In the interests of reconciliation, and even sportsmanship, this is a sorry historical hangover.

Indeed, to Canadians who might suspect that history is just history, such questions are still very tense in Ireland. Croke Park, a GAA stadium in Dublin with a capacity of 80,000 – making it the largest amateur stadium in the world – still retains a rule that prohibits the playing of foreign games on its grounds. When the other stadium in Dublin was in disrepair, and Ireland was due to host a series of international rugby matches in 2007, a controversial decision was made to overturn this rule. Although the rule banning foreign games still technically exists, it can be overturned at any time by the Central Council. The first fixture of the matches was Ireland against England, the first time that a foreign game had ever been played on the grounds. The match was highly symbolic; much was made of the of the fact that “God Save the Queen” would be played at one of the most hallowed sites of Irish identity. In the end, the stadium stood silent and respectful during the English anthem, but the symbolism was lost on no one, and the Irish anthem was bellowed at full-cry in response.

Sport and identity are thus inextricably linked. Over the centuries, Ireland emptied due to oppression, economic exploitation and enduring poverty. Emigrants mostly lost their language when they left, but their sports stuck with them. Indeed, it is fascinating to watch how Gaelic games have spread across the globe in tune with Irish emigration, and how local GAA clubs act as anchors in immigrant communities. These clubs follow the diaspora wherever they go and are found all over the Americas and Antipodes. Even Irish-born people are surprised to learn that at one time Argentina had an active hurling league, with full coverage in Spanish language newspapers. Montreal follows the trend and has its own GAA club, founded by in the late 19th century by Irish immigrants. That the club is still active today is a testament to the pull of Gaelic games on the Irish community and the strength of cultural identity. Recent Irish immigrants, as well as Canadians of Irish descent, play Gaelic sports at the club in Montreal, perhaps as a reminder of home, or as a celebration of some intangible feeling of identity.

Visit a GAA club outside of Ireland today and you will find an eclectic mix of people of all backgrounds. Often drawn by the novelty, the drama, and the romantic glamour of these ancient sports, newcomers are sometimes prone to forget the politics behind them. This is a good thing. International sport is usually political, but rarely do sports in themselves symbolize political movements. If painful political shadows are gradually disappearing from Gaelic games, this marks a victory for the politics of self-determination. Irish identity is perhaps no longer seen as threatening. May it serve as a reminder that cultural identity can be preserved, even under external pressure.

The post Hurling and shenanigans appeared first on The McGill Daily.