Students from across Canada came together at McGill and Concordia University last weekend to attend the first Fossil Free Canada Convergence. The conference, organized by the Canadian Youth Climate Coalition with the support of the Concordia Student Union and the Students’ Society of McGill University (SSMU), featured workshops, networking events, and a keynote presentation, which attracted around 100 people. Contingents of students representing everywhere from the University of British Columbia in Vancouver to Dalhousie University in Halifax were present at the three-day event.

“It is really encouraging,” said Divest McGill member and SSMU VP External Amina Moustaqim-Barrette of the turnout at the event in an interview with The Daily. “I find it so heartwarming to have these events and have organizers come from all over Canada and the United States. Seeing the solidarity and seeing your allies in the flesh is really nice.”

As one of the keynote speakers, Winnipeg-based Indigenous youth organizer Heather Milton-Lightening spoke extensively on the connection between Indigenous spirituality and environmental values.

“The environment is a direct reflection of who I am,” Milton-Lightening said of her spiritual connection to the land.

“Think about how different this country would look if we had equitable relationships, where Canadians respected Indigenous people and we respected Canadians [… where] we were good to each other and we were good to the land. I think that’s possible, but its going to take some revolutionary actions, and also collective thinking,” she added.

Crystal Lameman, a member of the Beaver Lake Cree Nation in Alberta, was also a keynote speaker. Beaver Lake made headlines last year when it sued both the federal and Alberta governments, arguing that development within its traditional territory had left it with no meaningful way to exercise its treaty rights.

Lameman spoke to the effectiveness of divestment from the fossil fuel industry as a means of fighting climate change. “Will divestment change everything? No, but combined with such things as Indigenous rights practices, we will make a difference,” she said. “None of these things alone will stop climate change, but it is a part of the change.”

“Why would one invest money in a dying [industry]?” Lameman added.

Lameman also spoke about the relationship between young Canadians, Indigenous rights, and the environment. “Let me remind you that you are the next generation that is going to be sitting across the table from my people and you have to be the change to the current business model. Remember that, as Indigenous people, our goal is not to stop anyone from making money, but it is to ensure that what we are all doing to make money isn’t causing harm to ecosystems and perpetuating already existing trauma in our frontline impacted communities.”

In an interview with The Daily, Milton-Lightening discussed the power of young people to change entrenched social structures. “That’s, I think, the challenge in Canada and northern, developed states – we don’t think we have power, and we don’t think we have the ability to assert power. Youth groups over the world have [put forward] amazing assertions of power over the last couple of years […] I think the student movement in Quebec showed us that young people do have power in this country, they can do great things.”

Moustaqim-Barrette spoke on the issue as well. “I do think that your average urbanites are starting to get involved and really [starting to fight] for Indigenous rights because they see the value in it, and because they see the importance of it,” she said.

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“It’s important to be here because austerity cuts are affecting everyone in Quebec, students included,” Kelly, a Women’s Studies student at McGill, told The Daily. “Over $200 million has been cut from university funding from the province, and that translates to over $14 million being cut at McGill.”

Organized by a large coalition that includes the Association pour une solidarité syndicale étudiante (ASSÉ), the event drew thousands of students. Buses from CEGEPs and universities were observed picking up protesters at the demonstration’s termination point.

“It was great seeing […] 50,000 people out on the streets,” ASSÉ co-spokesperson Camille Godbout told The Daily. “It was great to see all the groups mobilizing against the austerity cuts. We have today 82,000 students on strike across the province so [it was good] seeing other groups, unions, and community groups coming down to Montreal.”

“It’s important to be here because austerity cuts are affecting everyone in Quebec, students included.”

“The province, as far as I know, didn’t consult people before putting this budget forward,” said Kelly. “They didn’t give people in Quebec a choice about it, that’s why everyone’s angry about it and coming to resist and show the province that this is not the way to do things.”

Kelly was part of a small McGill contingent of around twenty students. A larger contingent from Concordia, numbering around 100 students, was also present.

“We [at the Concordia Graduate Students’ Association (GSA)] do have a mandate, actually, to support free education,” GSA VP External Mohammad Jawad Khan told The Daily. “So I believe right now is not the right time to [make] budget cuts [for] the university and the government. Unfortunately, Concordia has wholeheartedly accepted them.”

Christian, a demonstrator, called the austerity measures anti-democratic. “Austerity measures are a cut at the level of social democracy,” he said. “It is not only a divestment in the [form] of money in the strictest sense, but a divestment [from] the [social] capital.”

“[Instead of the democratic process] right now, it is the IMF [International Monetary Fund] and international banks who are [driving] national economies,” Christian noted.

Although the protest had been declared illegal, police intervention was minimal. Contingents of officers in riot gear walked with the crowd, and a number of officers on bicycles escorted the demonstration. Demonstrators were observed conversing and interacting with the officers at the scene.

Godbout suggested that the lighter-than-usual police presence was a product of the demonstration’s opposition to the controversial Bill 3, which would require higher contributions to the pension fund for many police officers and other public service employees in Quebec.

“We stand in solidarity with all the workers who are touched right now by the [changes in the] pensions. Clearly we still stand against police brutality, but maybe [the pensions have] something to do with the fact that [the police] acted more lightly than usual,” she said.

Indeed, a group of several hundred firefighters representing the Association des pompiers de Montréal (ADPM) participated in the protest. The ADPM made headlines in August when a group of its members disturbed a City of Montreal council meeting in protest of Bill 3. Six firefighters were fired and dozens more suspended following the incident.

In order to emphasize their dissatisfaction with the government’s policies, hundreds of protesters took to the streets again on Friday night following the main demonstration. This time, several arrests were made.

A collective organization committee called the “Comité large printemps 2015” has also been formed, through which students and workers will continue to organize and escalate pressure tactics, potentially leading up to a strike.

“History in Quebec has shown that past strikes have been really effective in getting the government to change what they’re doing,” said Kelly.

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Paving of the street is expected to start the second week of November and continue until the termination of work at the site. Full pedestrian access across the street is expected to be restored with the removal of fencing.

Adrian Nicolicescu, McGill Senior Project Manager of Facilities Operations and Development, commented on the delay. “The University has been advised by the City of Montreal of a change in the construction schedule,” he said in an email to The Daily. “From what we have been told, the completion of the infrastructure work of the street will be around [the] end of November.”

City of Montreal spokesperson Jacques-Alain Lavallée was more optimistic. “The majority of the work based in McTavish Street should be completed toward the middle of November,” he told The Daily in an email. “At this time, the fences around the worksite will be removed and the road freed up.”

“Only certain interventions around the McTavish Street stairs will remain to repair the water pipe. This work is expected to take about two weeks,” he continued.

When asked about the University’s role in the closure of the McTavish stairs, Nicolicescu denied any involvement on the part of McGill.

“The University does not have any jurisdiction with respect to the execution and site management of the project,” he said. “The closure of the McTavish stairs, it is a decision taken by the city due to safety precautions of the work in the sector. This decision is under their jurisdiction.”

Aaron, a tourist, shared his first impression of the university with The Daily: “It’s not the best, but for some things you need progress. […] At the same time, it says the university is willing to invest in its infrastructure.”

“I think it’s very annoying,” Valerie, an East Asian Studies student told The Daily. “Our class is right there and we couldn’t hear anything that the prof was saying because of all the machines and stuff.”

“They’re going to have to be quicker to finish it,” Jeremy, an East Asian Studies student said in regards tofinishing construction before the first snowfall.

Lavallée also spoke to the snow issue. “In the eventuality where we do see a snowfall before the completion of the project, the University and the city will collaborate to ensure the sidewalks and pedestrian corridors [around the project] are cleaned and securitized., he told The Daily.

“According to the actual schedule of the project, the road and sidewalks should be clear before the first snowfall.”

Neither Lavallée nor Nicolicescu believed that falling temperatures in November posed any potential for further delays to the project.

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Klein, a Canadian author and political commentator, was in Montreal last Tuesday to give a talk marking the release of her book This Changes Everything.

The event – organized by the Students Society of McGill University (SSMU), the Concordia Student Union, Divest McGill, Divest Concordia, Ricochet Media, and Climate Justice Montreal – drew a full house audience at the Imperial Theatre, near Place-des-Arts. The talk was centred around the relationship between activism, capitalism, and climate change, all themes addressed in Klein’s new book.

According to Klein, This Changes Everything focuses on the idea of radical change, a notion she described as “getting at the root of the problem.”

“In the book, the argument I’m making is that when you’re talking about 10 per cent per year emission reductions, you’re talking about challenging the fundamental logic of economic growth,” she said.

“It’s going to take intervention, it’s going to have to be a much more designed economy,” she continued.

Amina Moustaqim-Barrette, SSMU VP External and Divest McGill member, shared her perspective on the event.

“Hopefully it brings students out, it gets the word out […] and people are kind of swayed toward working on climate justice, toward working toward divestment, […] because of these events that are happening,” she said.

Tuesday night’s event featured a photo montage of sites along Enbridge’s proposed Energy East pipeline, shot by Robert van Waarden (a Montreal-based photographer who focuses on climate change). Gabriel Nadeau-Dubois, an activist who played a large role in the 2012 Quebec student strike, also spoke to the connection between austerity politics and climate change.

Nadeau-Dubois focused on the penetration of neoliberal economics in the Couillard government’s current policy. He accused the federal and provincial governments of closing their eyes to the risks of the proposed Line 9 pipeline, saying that it is wrong of them to require economic grounds in justifying environmental solutions.

A need for activism

Central to the theme of Tuesday’s presentation was the notion of using activism as a tool to fight climate change; Klein spoke more about this idea with The Daily. “I think the change that we need is so deep and so rapid that the only precedents I can point to in history is times when activism stopped being a small subculture.”

“Without [activism] I don’t see a way to deal with the crisis,” she later remarked. “We’re up against the most powerful and rich forces in the history of money, they’re not going to give this up without a fight.”

Moustaqim-Barrette told The Daily that Klein has encouraged student activism in the past. “Naomi Klein is a big supporter of divestment and has been one of the people who is like the face of divestment. She’s been a great supporter of the the movement.”

However, Klein noted that the purpose of this activism would be more to raise awareness, as she said it is unlikely that actions like these would directly impact large corporations.

“This is not going to bankrupt Exxon,” she remarked in response to an audience question.

“The goal is for these companies to be made into pariahs like tobacco companies,” she added.

Klein later noted that she thought the real potential of fossil fuel divestment was the possibility of reinvesting divested money into socially conscious initiatives.

When asked about the potential for divestment as a movement to keep growing, Moustaqim-Barrette seemed optimistic.

“The momentum we’ve seen in the last few years has been insane and I have met so many people who are just so passionate about this and I really feel like those people are not going to let this die,” she said. “We’re going to keep pushing and we’re going to succeed eventually.”

Klein’s tour continues across North America and Europe, including an appearance on the late-night Colbert Report on September 23.

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“This is a paramilitary response to a completely legitimate anti-police demonstration,” community organizer Jaggi Singh told The Daily while observing the line of riot police. “There’s a pattern that the police have established with this particular demonstration on March 15 where they try to shut it down right away, they did last year and they’ve just done it right now.”

“Obviously the police will treat a demonstration that targets them directly differently than other demonstrations,” Singh added.

“They’re trying to establish a pattern where people are going to be be scared and stay away from these demonstrations. […] We have to show people that we’re not scared and that we’re going to continue to show up.”

A little after the protest’s 3 p.m. start outside of the Jean-Talon metro station, the march was declared illegal under bylaw P-6, which requires organizers to give the protest’s itinerary and route to police 24 hours in advance.

Riot police, including some mounted officers, from the Service de police de la Ville de Montréal (SPVM) and the Sûreté du Québec (SQ) pushed around 150 protesters onto Chateaubriand and Jean-Talon, where they were kettled for the duration of the protest.

“There [were] two people who had banners, they went into the street and said, ‘À qui la rue?’,” a protester who identified only as Cécile told The Daily, referring to a popular protest chant. “Then the cops just smashed [them], took the banners out, and pushed everybody, [on the] sidewalk and street, to Chateaubriand.”

A group of protesters quickly regrouped, and faced off against the riot police controlling access to the kettle. One protester seen confronting riot police was subsequently arrested and placed in a police cruiser.

The group of protesters was eventually dispersed by a line of riot police who charged at the crowd.

“This is a paramilitary response to a completely legitimate anti-police demonstration.”

Passengers inside Jean-Talon metro station were kept in the station by police during the protest, and an announcement from the Société de transport de Montréal (STM) blamed interrupted service on an “incident.”

Along with the hundreds kettled and fined, five people were also arrested at the march. Those in attendance pointed out to The Daily the unequal nature of the police intervention.

“The police […] intervene quickly, and I think that they’re pretty merciless,” said Vincent Roy, a protester who told The Daily that he was attending the march for the first time. “There are definitely more armed police officers, ready to attack, than there are protesters.”

Commenting on why many people don’t come to the protest, Roy said, “I think that most of us aren’t ready to get beaten with a nightstick, or get arrested, or receive an impossibly expensive ticket, for a cause that doesn’t concern us directly.”

“I think it is important for there to be a demonstration every year against police brutality, it’s a clearly established reality,” Singh said. “I hope this year is a tipping point where folks that are perhaps more mainstream, and not necessarily folks that will come out to a demo like this, will say that it’s totally inappropriate for these demonstrations to be shut down.”

“They’re trying to establish a pattern where people are going to be be scared and stay away from these demonstrations. […] We have to show people that we’re not scared and that we’re going to continue to show up.”

The protesters largely dispersed by 5 p.m., two hours after the beginning of the protest. The kettled protesters were processed and released by 6 p.m..

– With files from Carla Green

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The demonstration was part of the backlash against Breton’s appointment, which saw several UdeM student associations, totaling approximately 4,900 members, go on strike.

The protesters gathered outside Édouard-Montpetit metro station at 4:30 p.m. on Monday to march down Mont-Royal to the university’s 1420 Mont-Royal building, later turning around and heading through campus toward the Pavillon Roger-Gaudry.

Confronted by security guards outside the building’s main entrance, demonstrators attempted to gain access through the building’s front doors, but found them to be locked. One demonstrator discovered an unlocked service entrance on the ground floor and the protest moved inside.

After marching throughout the halls on several floors of the building, the protest moved back outside, where demonstrators tore down UdeM flags from the poles out front, and attempted to burn them among cheers from the crowd; however, the flags did not light.

“Guy Breton, démission,” the crowd chanted as they marched, calling for the resignation of the newly-reappointed Breton.

Standing shivering outside the Pavillon Roger-Gaudry, demonstrator François Cogné explained his reasons for taking part in Monday’s protest.

“Me, I’m here today because I was at the Université de Montréal, I was in anthropology, but I had to give it up due to a lack of money,” Cogné told The Daily in French.

“I’m fighting for educational accessibility,” he continued, referring to the struggle over tuition fees.

Cogné was not alone on the issue of tuition fees. Student concerns around the appointment centred on Breton’s record, the “commodification of education,” and the democracy of the appointment process, among others.

“In my opinion, the institution of university should be more democratic,” Cogné remarked.

“It’s completely anti-democratic to have a rector who is nominated and not elected.”

The appointment, completed behind closed doors by the Conseil de l’Université de Montréal on February 24, extends Breton’s mandate to the year 2020, according to a press release from the university dated that same day.

One banner held by protesters called Breton a “rector nominated by divine right to commodify education.”

Asked if he thought protests were an effective way of implementing institutional change, Cogné told The Daily, “I don’t think the rector will retire thanks to our demonstration.”

Still, Cogné said, “I think its important to highlight our concerns even if almost nothing will come of today’s demonstration.”

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On January 10,  CREPUQ announced that it was changing its name to the Bureau de coopération interuniversitaire (BCI).

The changes come as part of an ongoing overhaul of the organization and have included the removal of the organization’s role of lobbying on behalf of universities, as well as the firing of its former director general Daniel Zizian.

 “In the aftermath of the red squares in spring 2012, universities were pointed at, quite vigorously, by students and the press,” Bédard told The Daily.

“There were all kinds of blames being levelled at universities [and] university administration.”

 Bédard explained that as part of CREPUQ’s former mandate as an advocate on behalf of university administrations, it attempted to “intervene” in the discourse directed against the schools.

“Some interventions were judged as being inadequate by some rectors [chancellors],” he continued. “That whole situation eventually ended up in CREPUQ being blamed openly by some rectors in spring 2013.”

CREPUQ’s troubles gained some prominence in May with various media outlets reporting that several member universities were threatening to leave the organization.

Olivier Marcil, McGill Vice-Principal (Communications and External Affairs), painted a slightly different picture of the internal strife CREPUQ encountered in the spring.

“There’s been some conflicts of interest between members,” Marcil told The Daily.

 “Some institutions felt that CREPUQ was a tool [that no longer was good] a tool that was not still a good tool to defend their own interests.”

Despite an article that appeared in La Presse which claimed otherwise, Marcil refuted that McGill was attempting to form a competing organization in collaboration with the province’s other “private charter” universities – typically those outside of the Université du Québec system established by a private charter.

“It’s never been on the table that the charter universities would create a kind of CREPUQ of their own.”

 Bédard explained that the ongoing changes are designed to make CREPUQ more amenable to increasingly disillusioned universities.

“Eventually the board of CREPUQ, which was made of the heads of all the university establishments in Quebec, had to decided to make major changes to CREPUQ and the way CREPUQ operates,” he noted.

“It’s following up all those discussions and the turmoil [in the spring].”

Bédard noted that the largest change to CREPUQ’s mandate was that it now no longer lobbies on behalf of universities.

“Having CREPUQ to lobby on behalf of McGill was not the best idea on earth,” Marcil told The Daily.

“McGill is totally free to lobby for ourselves, keep our own position, make some alliances with different universities.”

Despite the change at CREPUQ, Marcil stressed that McGill’s administration was satisfied with the role the organization played in the past.

“McGill University always thought that it was better to work with that kind of body that will gather all institution[s] and try to keep some common position […] and would have preferred to keep the CREPUQ,” he noted.

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However, the Campaign itself was controversial as it depicted students in the offensive costumes it was trying to ban. Concerns were also raised on the process of approval for costumes. On November 19, SSMU held a public forum to discuss the Campaign and the issues associated with its implementation.

What is cultural appropriation?

While students at the forum generally agreed that the goal of the Campaign was to prevent cultural appropriation, students had difficulty agreeing on what cultural appropriation entailed.

SSMU’s Costume Campaign laid out several questions to consider when dressing up, including, “Does your costume mock or condescend historically oppressed people and/or cultures? Does your costume caricature oppressive, historical, and/or current conditions of marginalized groups or persons in a way that may serve to trivialize them?”

Some of the examples provided by SSMU included popular Disney characters such as Pocahontas and Jasmine.

SSMU Equity Commissioner Justin Koh gave more criteria. “One of the questions [asked by volunteers] was does your costume require you to paint your skin colour to match the skin colour of a different race?”

Some of the attendees at the forum claimed that the application of face paint was an inadequate definition of cultural appropriation. Despite discussion, the attendees did not agree on where cross-cultural exchange transitioned into cultural appropriation.

One attendee asked the question of whether cultural appropriation could be perpetrated by people of colour. While attendees believed this was possible, SSMU forum facilitator Annie Chen disagreed.

“Cultural appropriation stems from very problematic ideas due to privilege, the privilege that white people have,” Chen told The Daily in an email.

Where do you draw the line?

Students at the forum voiced concerns on what they saw as the relative subjectivity of the volunteers in deciding which costumes were culturally appropriative and which were not. SSMU volunteers at the forum mentioned that they received as little as 20 minutes of training before being asked to judge costumes at the door.

Koh told The Daily in an interview that it was a matter of judgment. “We really left it to the conversation between the individual coming in that costume and the volunteers.”

An issue discussed at the forum was the possibility of censoring individuals who identified with the culture portrayed in their costume. This issue became especially problematic when such cultural associations were not immediately known to volunteers. Students at the forum were undecided on the issue.

“You have cases where an Indigenous person came in a costume that was part of their culture, and they felt they had the right to wear it that night. Who are we as someone who didn’t identify as Indigenous to say that that’s appropriative?” Koh said, referring to an incident that occurred at this year’s 4Floors.

Was the campaign effective?

Opinions at the forum were varied as to whether the Campaign was a success, especially the targeting of costumed people at the door. One participant alleged that attempting to discuss the issues of cultural appropriation with intoxicated party-goers was unlikely to succeed.
The Equity Commissioner doubted the campaign’s effectiveness, and hoped it would prove unnecessary in future years.

“We don’t think that this is necessarily the right way to go, this is [only] a pilot project,” Koh told The Daily, later adding, “Maybe with a more educated student body we wouldn’t have to check costumes at the door.”

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This National Day of Action Against Pipelines saw demonstrations across Canada, with groups organizing in more than 120 communities in opposition to the expanding tar sands industry in Canada. Particular attention was paid to the reversal of the Enbridge Line 9 pipeline, which runs through the unceded Mohawk territory that is now called Oka Park. The weakening of environmental protection laws through Bill C-45 and Bill 38 were also criticized.

“[We are] faced with the realities of climate change, faced with governments who will exploit the last drops of oil, and faced with companies who are still allied with those governments.”

At 11:45 a.m. the opening prayer was shared over a megaphone with the people gathered, first acknowledging that the location of the gathering and the whole island of Montreal are unceded Mohawk territory. Following the prayer were singers and a dance that invited all of the women present at the gathering to partake in the centre of the circle of people.

“We talk about creation, but we are creation,” said the opening prayer’s speaker.

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Speeches were made by Idle No More’s Melissa Mollen Dupuis, Patrick Bonin of Greenpeace, Beverly Jacobs of Six Nations, Lily Schwarzbaum of Climate Justice Montreal, and Amir Khadir, Québec solidaire Member of the National Assembly for Montreal’s Mercier riding. The speeches connected the Indigenous struggle with ongoing colonialism and the environmental movement.

“In Idle No More, we used to ask ourselves if we were alone in our fight for the environment, in our fight for the earth, but I can say that today we are feeling less and less alone,” Dupuis told the crowd in French.

Bonin shared views on solidarity with the crowd. “We are here because we realize that we don’t have a choice in being together,” he yelled through the megaphone. “[We are] faced with the realities of climate change, faced with governments who will exploit the last drops of oil, and faced with companies who are still allied with those governments.”

Khadir also shared his concerns about the Alberta tar sands industry, calling it “the dirtiest oil on the planet.”

“Why do the people of Quebec need to kneel before Albertan oil?” Khadir continued.

The Facebook event for the demonstration at Oka indicated the greater problem of long-term environmental sustainability and the lack of consultation with Indigenous peoples, who are key stakeholders in the land.

“The pipelines and this issue of corrupt government, corrupt corporations, and the potential to destroy the beautiful landscape that we have in our community, affects everybody,” protest organizer Ellen Gabriel told The Daily in an interview.

“We need to change how capitalism is working, we need to change how we as consumers allow these kinds of corporations to continue to be exploiting our land.”

“Why do the people of Quebec need to kneel before Albertan oil?”

Saturday’s National Day of Action was partially in response to a deal signed on November 4 between Alison Redford, the Premier of Alberta, and Christy Clark, the Premier of British Columbia, that would lay the framework for future pipeline expansion in both provinces. The basic five-point agreement eliminates what was previously a major obstacle to the expansion of pipelines in Western Canada, notably the proposed Northern Gateway project.

“It’s illegal, it’s illegitimate,” Gabriel said in regards to the agreement in an interview. “I don’t think they consulted with the original people of this land.”

“If it goes ahead, its going to be bad not just for the Indigenous peoples but for [all] Canadians, because if they’re allowed to break the rule of law, what’s to stop them from taking democracy away?” she continued.

“What we have seen is that the Premier of BC seems to want to negotiate conditions which aren’t representative of what the population wants,” Bonin told The Daily in French. “The population has clearly expressed its will as being against the projects.”

“In reality, the decision of Christy Clark doesn’t respect this political will,” he added.

The fight for sustainable development against fracking and tar sands took to Highway Route 344 West, just outside the entrance of Oka Park, where protesters participated in a festive round dance around four singers, taking up the breadth of the road. The gathering dispersed at 1:30 p.m..

According to protesters, the creation of gatherings and protests against unsustainable development will only continue in the future.

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The demonstration began at 10:30 a.m. near the Milton Gates. Around two-thirds of the demonstrators rode their bikes in a circuit passing by the Arts building, Leacock, and McTavish Street, before ending up on the steps of the Arts building.

No significant security action was noted in response to the demonstration. One lone guard was seen vigorously pointing to a sign instructing cyclists to dismount and walk their bikes.

“Divestment is the tactic, climate justice is the goal,” the demonstrators chanted as they rode through campus.

The remaining demonstrators walked to the Arts building waving signs and banners encouraging the University to divest from fossil fuels.

The demonstration was put on by Divest McGill, a group which seeks to end the University’s continued investment in fossil fuel companies. The group came into the spotlight in May when it unsuccessfully petitioned McGill’s Board of Governors to divest from investments in companies profiting from fossil fuels.

“[We’re] highlighting the contrast […] between all of the energy that goes into targeting bikes versus like basically none of the energy that goes […] into addressing tar sands [and] climate change,” remarked local climate activist Curtis Murphy to The Daily.

“We think that we should be focusing not on blocking sustainable solutions, like having bikes on campus, but more on things that are productive.”

“We think that we should be focusing not on blocking sustainable solutions, like having bikes on campus, but more on things that are productive,” noted Divest McGill member Kristen Perry.

“It supports the rejection of fossil fuels,” said a demonstrator who identified only as Loïc, when asked about the potential for bikes on campus. “It’s a better way to commute around.”

The demonstrators were quick to point out that their main focus was not specifically bikes on campus, but rather the broader issue of divestment from fossil fuels as a whole.

“The climate crisis is now,” yelled protest organizer Lily Schwarzbaum from the steps of the Arts building.

“When we talk about taking down the [fossil fuel] industry, we are taking down the most powerful group […] in the world. Their business plan, which is to burn through the reserves past our carbon budget, puts all of our lives at danger. By taking them down we are fighting for our very survival,” Schwarzbaum continued.

“Our hope is that they’ll divest,” Perry remarked when asked how she hoped the University would respond to the demonstration.

“Just making sure that [the University] knows that we’re not going to go away just because they said no the first time is really important. […] Just keeping the pressure up and just making sure that they understand that we’re here to stay because climate change is not going away,” Perry noted.

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This funding prioritizes seven areas of research, according to a press release from the government of Quebec, namely: aerospace, biofood, biotechnology, renewable energy and electric transportation, creative industries, communication and information technology, and personalized medicine.

The policy will also provide funding to the FRQ, a tri-organization funding system that supports research throughout the province. According to the FRQ’s website, this 25 per cent increase in funding is “the first real and sustained increase to the budget of the Fonds in more than ten years.”

Jonathan Mooney, Secretary-General of McGill’s Post-Graduate Students’ Society (PGSS), told The Daily that the cuts to the FRQ earlier this year were “devastating.”

“Students who [had] great projects, great research, great supervisors, and interesting research, [weren’t] getting any funding from the system to actually pursue it,” he said.

Despite the specific targeting of the seven “strategic areas” in the fund, the University denied that the fund would come at the cost of basic research, which, in contrast to applied research, is not done for immediate commercial gain, and lays the foundation for further discoveries.

“This is only one plan. […] Provincial funding only accounts for 20 per cent, roughly, of McGill funding for sponsored research,” Vice-Principal (Research and International Relations) Rose Goldstein told The Daily. “It’s still the majority federal [money], which is mainly [directed to] basic research.”

“There is a lot of money that is dedicated to [basic] research,” Mooney noted. “It’s not as if there is going to be a clawback.”

However, Mooney also said that there could be a lack of growth outside of the seven targeted areas. “Maybe there isn’t going to be growth in those areas […] But there is still going to be an opportunity for scientists or students who want to pursue those topics to pursue them.”

$367 million in bursaries will be available to students in the coming years, according to the specifics of the fund. As per a statement by PGSS External Affairs Officer Navid Khosravi-Hashemi in the press release, this will create 1,500 more grants for students across Quebec.

According to a press release from PGSS, Quebec universities will receive $340 million of funding, targeted toward those seven areas, as well as $478.7 million for indirect costs of research. However, Goldstein said that it was too early to tell how exactly funding would be distributed both between Quebec universities and within McGill, noting that the plan was currently only at a “higher level.”

$367 million in bursaries will be available to students in the coming years, according to the specifics of the fund. As per a statement by PGSS External Affairs Officer Navid Khosravi-Hashemi in the press release, this will create 1,500 more grants for students across Quebec.

Goldstein alluded to the implementation of some form of competition for funding at McGill, noting, “It’s not just going to be handed out.”

Both the University and PGSS remained optimistic on the potential of the funding, saying that there is a significant possibility for growth, especially within the targeted areas.

“It’s going to allow the researchers in those [strategic] areas to grow their groups,” Mooney said. “It’s going to allow McGill to shift its research focus a little bit so what it’s doing with its research policy […] is in line with what the government is doing.”

“We think it’s a very holistic, well-integrated plan,” Goldstein added. “The seven strategic areas [align] very closely with our strengths and priorities. If you look at [the government’s] plan and our strategic research plan we think there’s a very good match.”

Goldstein also welcomed the funding for indirect research costs, giving examples such as electricity costs and libraries. “All research incurs indirect costs. […] The indirect costs are the institutional costs that benefit and support the research.”

Despite the lack of funding increases in certain areas, the reaction to the fund was overwhelmingly positive.

“It means we are going to have $37 million more available for supporting students,” said Mooney.

The policy aims to fulfill the government’s goal of investing 3 per cent of the province’s GDP in research and development.

For more on basic and applied research at McGill, see this year’s feature on Principal Suzanne Fortier, “New Sheriff in Town: Welcoming new principals and principles.”

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The arrests followed a violent clash between police and Mi’kmaq activists protesting the continued development of shale gas in the province. In September, the Mi’kmaq Warrior Society began a peaceful blockade on unceded Mi’kmaq territory in New Brunswick, aiming to stop fracking company SWN Resources. The blockade reportedly costs the company $60,000 a day. The RCMP has responded with violence, bringing in armoured riot police and snipers, and using intimidation tactics.

“We are here to show our solidarity with the Mi’kmaq nation,” protester Natasha Kanapé Fontaine told The Daily in French. “[The violence] is really caused by the racism that exists between the band and the RCMP.”

Some at the protest compared the New Brunswick events on Thursday to the 1990 Oka crisis, where violence erupted after police used tear gas and pepper spray to disperse a crowd of protesters attempting to block the development of a golf course on their Indigenous lands.

“At the time of the Oka crisis, there wasn’t much solidarity,” a protest organizer told The Daily. “If this is a second crisis, [the government] will have to recall that this time we are much more active.”

Kanapé Fontaine shared a similar sentiment. “I have the impression that mindsets are more open now […] I was surprised by the number of people who showed up today.”

The protest began with speeches at Cabot Square before making its way slowly to the RCMP building on the corner of Greene and Dorchester. Following the speeches and drumming, the protest passed once again by Cabot Square before turning down Ste. Catherine where it continued east through downtown.

Tensions rose temporarily as the protest took a sudden turn on McGill College to arrive in front of the Victoria Rifles Armoury where a few demonstrators confronted the uniformed servicemen inside. The demonstration dispersed eventually at the corner of Réné-Levesque and St. Laurent without incident.

The confrontation began Thursday in New Brunswick as RCMP attempted to enforce a court injunction requiring the activists to remove a blockade on the road leading to facilities owned by SWN Resources.

To break the blockade, the RCMP used pepper spray and fired non-lethal rounds of rubber bullets into the crowd. In response, resisters confiscated fracking equipment of SWN, and six RCMP cars were torched.

“They’re setting an example of what we all should be doing,” Kanapé Fontaine said through a megaphone to the crowd in Montreal, in reference to the resistance in Elsipogtog.

“Standing up for the earth, for our children, for the future generations, standing up against colonial exploitations […] today they were extremely brave,” said an unidentified protester about the Elsipogtog resisters.

“It’s clear that they want to eliminate us because we are simply going to continue to fight for what is right,” said an organizer to The Daily in French. “I think it’s a continuation of a cultural and ecological genocide.”

A subsequent solidarity protest was held Friday as part of the National Day of Action.

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Fossil Free Canada is a partnership between 350.org and the Canadian Youth Climate Coalition that urges “universities, religious institutions, city and state governments, and other institutions that serve the public good” to divest from companies involved in the extraction of fossil fuels, such as oil or coal.

Cameron Fenton from the Canadian Youth Climate Coalition started the event with a brief history of the movement against tar sands, and discussed the relevance of the growing divestment movement.

“The fundamental goal of this is not simply stopping pollution – it’s achieving justice, and building a more just and sustainable world,” Fenton noted during his speech.

The Tar Sands Reality Check Tour took place during the same week as National Energy Board hearings concerning the Enbridge Line 9 pipeline. Enbridge wants to increase the line’s capacity from 240,000 to 300,000 barrels per day, and reverse the flow from westbound to eastbound. If reversed, the pipeline would carry crude oil from the tar sands in Alberta to refineries in Quebec.

The proposed reversal of Line 9 has sparked a backlash from environmental groups and concerned citizens, especially over a potential for spills. A report published earlier this year by pipeline safety expert Richard Kuprewicz concluded that there was a “high risk” of Line 9 rupturing due to a combination of cracking and corrosion.

According to the Toronto Star, Enbridge’s current response time to spills is between 90 minutes and 4 hours, meaning that the municipalities along the pipeline would most likely be responsible for emergency clean-up.

“Any pipeline that comes out of the tar sands allows for the tar sands to be expanded. It is an imperative that we block each and every pipeline. [Line 9] is not the biggest one, but it’s the one that’s coming through here, so it’s our job to stop it,” said Curtis Murphy, a member of Divest McGill, in an interview with The Daily.

Divest McGill, one of the hosts of the Tour stop in Montreal, is 1 of 14 university divestment groups in Canada. Although concentrated mainly in North America, there are over 300 divestment groups on campuses worldwide.

One of the speakers, former McGill student and activist Audrey Yank, underlined the importance of students and young people in the movement. “Our generation is in an interesting situation. We’re already facing [environmental] change, but we are young enough to actually be involved in it too, to fight it. And it’s not everybody that is in this position. It’s an opportunity for our generation to make this change.”

Anthony Garoufalis-Auger, one of the speakers, and an organizer at Divest Concordia – the newest divest group on Canadian campuses – spoke about strategies for the divestment movement to attract more supporters.

“One step that the divestment movement at Concordia is taking is talking to different student associations, actively […] trying to get the General Assemblies – if there are General Assemblies – to talk about our movement,” he said. “If we can get student associations to talk about this, we can get a lot of people to start getting involved.”

Fenton also emphasized the influence of student activism in the divestment movement. “Last year, a campaign to get campuses to divest from fossil fuel started off in the U.S. and took off faster than anything I’ve ever seen. […] This is happening in so many different places in so many different ways, that we have this new front that we want to pursue.”

In May 2013, Divest McGill presented a petition with 1,300 signatures to McGill’s Board of Governors (BoG), asking McGill to divest from companies that profit from the extraction of fossil fuels or tar sands, as well as the “North for All” plan (formerly known as Plan Nord).

McGill currently invests in a total of 645 publicly-traded companies, of which 35 are involved with fossil fuels, while 14 extract crude oil from tar sands. The stocks and bonds from these companies comprise about 2.5 per cent of McGill’s endowment, according to Divest McGill organizers, which is valued at over $1 billion.

The petition was rejected after the Committee to Advise on Matters of Social Responsibility – a body that steers University investment toward socially responsible options – recommended against divestment.

Lily Schwarzbaum, one of the organizers of the Tour stop and an organizer with Fossil Free Canada, remained optimistic about the future of divestment at McGill.

“When there is so much visibility and momentum around this idea, I think that the McGill administration will see that there is not even an option about whether or not we should take climate change seriously for the future of our students and our community,” she told The Daily.

Divest McGill continues to pressure McGill to stop investing in fossil fuel industries, according to members.

“Where there is money, there is power,” Murphy said. “[The divestment movement] fundamentally is trying to redistribute power, because there is a lot of power in the hands of some industries and politicians and not enough power in the hands of ordinary people, like students and Indigenous communities. We need to empower those communities because they have not only the skills and the capacity to change things, but the motivation to do so.”

Heather Milton-Lightening, the co-director of the Indigenous Tar Sands campaign in Alberta, and one of the speakers at the event, agreed that there is a fundamental power imbalance when it comes to fossil fuels.

“All the environmental legislation, all the changes in Canada were pushed by petroleum producers. That says a lot. That says that the petroleum producers and the people that have money run our country,” Milton-Lightening said. “That is why I really appreciate divestment campaigns and students critically thinking about where the money is.”

“Because at the end of the day, here in Canada, a lot of our strategies need to change. We need to think about who has the money, who’s really controlling the government here in Canada, and who has the ability to give us what we want. And what we want is a new livelihood, a new vision, a new paradigm to move forward.”

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National Energy Board hearings were held earlier that week on the proposed reversal of Enbridge pipeline 9B. Enbridge wants to reverse the flow of Line 9B to carry crude oil from the tar sands in Alberta to refineries in Montreal, potentially endangering municipalities and water sources along the line.

The clash began almost immediately after protesters started marching northbound from their assembly place at Square-Victoria. Despite a prior announcement from a police loudspeaker instructing the protesters to walk in the direction of traffic, a contingent of riot officers immediately appeared and funneled the group onto the sidewalk.

Soon, the protesters were blocked entirely by riot officers on the corner of de la Gauchetière and University, and were surrounded by police. Protesters were seen running in all directions attempting to take cover as the riot officers moved in.

While most demonstrators managed to escape, approximately one dozen individuals were kettled in a small alcove at the base of the Banque Nationale Tower where they remained for the duration of the protest.

“I thought it was unbelievable,” a protester who identified as Cecil told The Daily after her release from the kettle. “I was just sitting there, people were on the sidewalk and then, wham, they just arrived and pushed people into a corner.”

“I thought it was total repression for no reason,” she remarked. “First we were walking in the streets, then they pushed us on the sidewalk, and we stayed on the sidewalk, so I don’t understand why they [arrested us].”

“They just happened to be able to get us into this spot where we couldn’t get out,” said Freda Gutman, another protester who was kettled. “We just waited…”

After the kettling, the approximately 40 remaining protesters, mostly assembled on the lawn immediately south of the Banque National Tower, were slowly pushed south by a line of officers on bicycles before they eventually dispersed.

At approximately 5 p.m., officers began bringing protesters to a parked STM bus for processing where they were issued a fine and subsequently released.

Some protesters attributed the crackdown on the protest to political motives.

“Montreal has become a city that protects businessmen and politicians in a way that is just incredible,” said one protester, Guy Bourbonet, to The Daily in French, while observing the kettled group. He estimated that there were more police present than demonstrators.

“It’s fascism when people can’t protest,” Gutman remarked to The Daily. “Its a human right to be able to do that.”

“These people here didn’t do anything,” said one protester, Michèle Languois, to The Daily, about the protesters. “[The police] are always predicting some kind of violent action.”

The National Energy Board hearings are slated to wrap up in Montreal on Friday before moving to Toronto next week.

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Réal Ménard from Coalition Montréal, Philippe Schnobb from Équipe Denis Coderre, and Alex Norris from Projet Montréal all participated in the debate, which attracted around 100 people.

Major issues of the evening included the continued development of bike lanes across the city, the development of a ‘reseau blanc’ or a ‘white network’ of plowed bike lanes in the winter months, and continued funding for the city’s Bixi bike program. Increased bicycle parking facilities and improved timing for signalization along bike corridors was also discussed.

While all candidates present expressed the desire to improve cycling infrastructure and usage in the city, the candidates differed significantly on their preferred methods of doing so, especially in terms of financing.

Schnobb proposed a minimum expenditure of $10 million per year for the development and improvement of bicycle infrastructure. Other candidates didn’t put forward specific numbers, instead suggesting that the realities of infrastructure development were more complicated than could be described by a single figure.

Schnobb also expressed his desire for the development of a year-round ‘Reseau Blanc’ – the ‘white network,’ or winter bike lanes – and criticized Norris’s borough, Plateau-Mont-Royal, for not adequately clearing bike paths during the winter.

“When crossing Sherbrooke […] I had great difficulty cycling because the Plateau […] either never or at least very lightly, [cleared] the bike lanes,” Schnobb said.

Norris responded by suggesting that the design of select bike paths prevented plowing, and instead proposed that the paths be redesigned. He also criticized the funding for implementation of the ‘white network,’ stating, “No financing has ever been given to the boroughs to put [the white network] in place,”

Norris continued, “so each borough has only proceeded according to its means. To finance this, we need to take a look at where the money is coming from.”

Norris suggested the creation of a city-wide department to fund the cycling network, similar to those that exist for basic utilities.

However, Ménard disagreed that the city should be responsible. “It’s the boroughs that need to do it,” he stated when asked about implementation of the winter bike lanes.

A question submitted by an attendee concerned the legalization of contra-flow cycling on local one-way roads.

Norris believed that legalization was necessary. “Already cyclists ride in the wrong direction on one way streets,” he said. “It’s in the interest of everyone: drivers, pedestrians, and cyclists.”

Schnobb also said he supported the idea, suggesting it would help distribute cyclists more evenly throughout neighbourhoods. However, Ménard reserved judgment on the idea.

“Yes, but with evaluation,” he said when asked about the implementation. “We have to see if the conditions are right at the level of safety.”

Differing opinions were expressed regarding the promotion of the financially struggling Bixi system. Norris proposed integrating Bixi into the Société de transport de Montréal (STM), and told the audience that it was a public service, while Ménard proposed re-investment into the system with the goal of eventual profitability.

All candidates expressed desires to allow cyclists access to reserved bus lanes – as is the case in a growing number of other cities, including some parts of Toronto.

Zvi Leve from the Montreal Bike Coalition told The Daily in an interview that the goal of the debate was to spread information about cycling policy in politics, as “Montreal has been a cycling city for a long time.”

Leve added that while he was happy it was an issue being debated in the election; the debate would hopefully expand to higher levels of government in the future.

“Our perspective is that cycling is a legitimate means of transportation, and we’re trying to get that recognized,” he said. “Given the extent that planning in general is done in a very political environment, it’s important that citizens are aware of the stances of the respective parties.”

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