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Monday Music: Songs for late night introspection

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"Monday Music" in giant yellow block letters with a red background
Monday Music: your weekly themed playlist. Image courtesy of The Peak.

By: Harvin Bhathal, Features Editor

What I look for in music is the embodiment of self, where self is more than just an idea, it’s a lived experience. Each song is its own space, its own experience, and certain factors such as its lyrics, sound, tone, and more help the song become firmly entrenched in my mind. When it does, it allows for introspection — particularly late at night when the noise from the day quiets down and all I can hear are my own thoughts. These songs have given me moments of inner peace for the short time they span and they are moments I treasure. 

“Pass The Hours” by MorMor

Courtesy of Don’t Guess

Through subtle ambience, echoing reverb, and a soothing chorus, Toronto’s rising indie-pop sensation MorMor takes you to a place in your mind where you can release any built-up stress in “Pass The Hours.” The rhythm of the guitar pattern represents the mundane and repetitive nature of the day, and the groove of the bassline represents the desperation of wanting to break free from those shackles. It all culminates in the chorus where MorMor’s dreamy, atmospheric voice shines and you’re free.

“Out Getting Ribs” by King Krule

Courtesy of True Panther Sounds

The haunting guitar riff, a constant in the background, lays the foundation for King Krule, an artist whose music spans genres such as punk jazz, darkwave, and trip-hop, to express his thoughts in a way that can best be described as pure emotion. “Out Getting Ribs” doesn’t make you want to escape your feelings but to rather rejoice in them because they’re what make us who we are. Krule was only 17 when he created this masterpiece, a fact I still find unfathomable every time it crosses my mind.

“White Ferrari” by Frank Ocean

Courtesy of Boys Don’t Cry

The excellent production on “White Ferrari” is a highway for Frank Ocean, an R&B icon for today’s generations, to weave through a narrative of unrest and comfort — a dichotomy that comprises much of our lives. The lyrics that speak to finding inner-peace, haunting moments of silence, and a song structure that is uncommon to today’s music caught me off guard the first time I listened and brought tears to my eyes.

“Space Song” by Beach House

Courtesy of Sub Pop Records

Beach House, a dream pop and neo-psychedelia duo, has made music that has gotten me through many tough times over the years. However, no song has helped more than “Space Song.” Listening to this song now is just as cathartic of an experience as when I first heard it years ago. The atmospheric voice of Beach House, combined with the chorus’ guitar riff that sounds as if it’s crying, create a space that is simultaneously filled with both emptiness and fulfilment. Coupled with lyrics that allow for introspection, the song is overwhelming in terms of the emotion it evokes but in a way that makes you want to return to this feeling again and again. 

“Never Leave You Lonely” by Lord Fubu

Courtesy of MARINO INFANTRY RECORDS

Lord Fubu, a young producer from Jacksonville, Florida, transforms a sample of Clara La San’s, “In This Darkness,” and makes it his own through an ambient beat, making the chorus deeper and the core of the song even softer. “Never Leave You Lonely” an amalgam of two styles that balance each other out. The ambience of this song releases any tension you may have and provides a calming presence. 

More songs for late night introspection:

“Baby Blue” by King Krule
“The Morning” by The Weeknd
“The Line” by Mood Rings
“On the Sea” by Beach House

Need to Know, Need to Go: November 16–22

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Illustration of a blue calendar, with "Need to Know, Need to Go" written on top
Arts & Culture events to catch around the city. Image courtesy of Brianna Quan

By: Meera Eragoda, Arts & Culture Editor

Vancouver Podcast Festival | November 18–22 | Online | Free to $5

Presented by DOXA (Vancouver’s documentary festival) and co-sponsored by SFU Woodwards, the Vancouver Podcast Festival is back with virtual content. The festival, which aims to expose attendees to the potential of podcasts, is back for their 2020 run with workshops on how to create various genres of podcasts and talks with hosts of local and international podcasts. Some notables include SFU publishing professor Hannah McGregor, Vancolour’s Mo Amir, and Sandy Hudson and Nora Loreto, hosts of Sandy & Nora Talk Politics. 

Chutzpah! Festival | November 21–28 | Online | $18

Started by the Vancouver West Side Theatre Society, the Chutzpah! Festival focuses on platforming Jewish experiences, stories, and values through performance art. This year’s festival includes a concert with a “folk-rock twist,” stand-up comedy, and a dance piece that revolves around a dining table.

Mental Wellness and COVID-19: What’s Gender Got to Do With It? | November 19 at 12 p.m. | Online | Free with registration

SFU’s Public Square, City Hive, Centre for Dialogue are presenting Mental Wellness and COVID-19: What’s Gender Got to Do With It? as part of their Distant, Not Disengaged talks. Speakers Kelley Lee and Julia Smith will explore the why women are disproportionately experiencing stress during this pandemic and how gender-based policies can prevent this. 

Chai Chat: Body Positivity and Colourism | November 20 at 11:30 a.m. | Online | Free with registration

SFU’s Health & Counselling is presenting Chai Chat: Body Positivity and Colourism, a conversation facilitated by Health Peers. Health Peers are not trained counsellors but are people of colour who are creating a safe, inclusive space for students of colour to attend and explore these topics.

Multitasking helps students tune in, not out

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PHOTO: Gudrun Wai-Gunnarsson / The Peak

by Serena Bains, Staff Writer

Before the pandemic forced us all to watch our professors struggle with technical difficulties through a screen, we were doing so in-person. Even then, I was one of those students who looked like they were never paying attention. I would be balancing two screens and a journal on my desk while listening to music through my headphones. While I understood the perception that I wasn’t paying attention, it was one rooted in a lack of empathy and a misunderstanding of what differing learning styles can look like. Professors should promote a diverse learning environment, instead of punishing anyone who learns differently from the norm.

Every student knows their own learning style best. For example, journaling helps me get out any intrusive thoughts that affect my ability to focus and music prevents any auditory distractions. Despite this, once in a while professors would ask me if I was listening during lecture or advise that I listen more. It became common enough that at the start of the semester I would go to office hours simply to disclose how difficult it was to focus without the help of my practices, and to ensure them that I was listening and not being disrespectful. Not only did I have to take the time to go to every professor’s office hours — which is a nightmare for someone with anxiety — I was also put in a position where I felt I had to justify my preferences. Often, it would result in disclosing my disabilities, when I wouldn’t have done so otherwise. I ultimately learned less from the class and lost potential office hours to help, which wouldn’t have happened if the professors were understanding from the start. 

Now with remote learning I find myself in the same situation, where professors are being more strict about “being present.” Some classes mandate that cameras remain on and that students don’t distract others in front of them by doing anything other than taking notes. Beyond not respecting the privacy of students’ homes, this practice is simply unrealistic for people who rely on focusing in other ways. 

Being at home creates a more distracting learning environment than ever, therefore, attempting to focus requires greater work. Disincentivizing personal practices that help students focus is absurd and prevents students from learning, as opposed to promoting their learning. In this remote learning environment professors consistently ask students to be patient, which is reasonable. But this request is hypocritical when professors do not have the same patience for students trying to learn in the best way they know how.

Not to mention that a practice does not have to be aimed at a disabled student to be ableist. While mandating that students’ cameras are on and that they avoid being “distracting” does disproportionately affect disabled students, it also affects abled students. Everyone has accessibility needs when it comes to learning. Some of which include dividing your focus with things like knitting, listening to music, writing, drawing, stimming, and crafting, to name a few. Denying students their accessibility needs not only prevents students from learning, but is discriminatory. 

Whether in-person or online, professors should teach from the standpoint of universal design, which provides all students an equal opportunity to learn. By having a flexible learning environment that accommodates all individual learning styles, not only will students be less distracted, but they’ll be able to learn and address their individual accessibility needs. When professors extend the same patience and respect they expect in return it promotes a more diverse learning experience that everyone can find value in.

SFUnexplained: Vampire hunters unfairly overtook the observatory

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Humour
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PHOTO: Gudrun Wai-Gunnarsson / The Peak

By: Carter Hemion, Peak Associate

We already know there are vampire hunters among us — some of whom are our own classmates (looking at you, guy in my English class who only turns on his mic to argue against whether Frankenstein was the monster or the scientist). They do especially well with Gothic literature courses shoving Samuel Taylor Coleridge down our throats (if I have to read “Christabel” one more time, I might lose it); they have garlic in everything they eat (ugh, sure, they visited Italy when they were 16 and it was “life-changing” or whatever, but I still pronounce pasta as “PAH-sta”, and you pretentious kids can’t stop me); and they show up to classes looking exhausted after a long night of preying on innocent vampires, saying they’d been up all night “studying.” Sure.

More importantly, we have vampires among us, and they deserve the same equal rights to safety as the pathetic mortals— er, the rest of us on campus. 

For starters, just look at the design of the walls, ground, and benches: everything about Science Courtyard is meant to trap vampires. Folklore has noted for centuries that a spilled bag of rice or seeds forces a vampire to count every last morsel. As a modern equivalent, there’s a handful of “star charts” that serve to be dozens of tiny lights sprinkled across the walls, just waiting to be counted. It’s time-consuming, I tell y— well, uh, that’s what I would say, of course.

Meanwhile, it’s common knowledge that vampires can’t be seen in mirrors, nor can they touch silver. Do you remember what every concrete bench there is lined with? Shiny strips of metal, likely an alloy with some silver in it, that distort your reflection in them. It’s inaccessible — truly in-character for SFU.

Lastly, since vampires can’t go out in the sunlight, the vampire hunters have placed an array of lights across the area so that they can clearly see the vampires at night. Who else would need to see at night? There is no way that all of these choices are a coincidence.

In a cruel turn, there are a handful of small trees in the observatory’s courtyard, obviously planted to use as wooden stakes. It’s clear that they’ve been luring in my kin— er, our kindred peers, just to kill them. 

It’s no wonder we’ve seen a lockdown on campus with no in-person observatory nights happening right now! The vampire hunters are coming down hard, and unjustly. 

After all, a vampire only harms out of necessity to live, but a vampire hunter goes out with the intention to kill. If people still suck face and risk dying in a pandemic, why can’t we — sorry — vampires suck blood to live?

Celebrating Transgender Day of Remembrance should be backed with action

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SFU needs to actually support the trans community. Image courtesy of SFSS Out on Campus via Facebook

by Madeleine Chan, Opinions Editor

Content Warning: Mentions of transphobia, trans death. 

It has been almost 21 years since Transgender Day of Remembrance (TDoR) was first held on November 20, 1999. It is held annually on November 20 to honour transgender and gender non-conforming lives lost to violence. Despite the event now being held and recognized globally, including by SFU and the BC government, transphobia continues to permeate the lives of those who should never have to deal with it. Along with hosting TDoR events, there should be further action to ensure that this day isn’t just another X on the calendar. 

Transgender Day of Remembrance, started by transgender woman Gwendolyn Ann Smith, was created to memoralize the murder of Black transgender woman Rita Hester in 1998. Last year, the BC government officially recognised the day for the first time with a flag raising ceremony. They have also committed to making the province “safe and welcoming for trans people” through avenues of education, identification, access to gender-affirming surgeries, and by “re-establishing a human rights commission,” all of which have been realized. Of course more can be done, but these efforts are substantially more than any SFU has put forth.

I must preface that the SFSS Out on Campus and Women’s Centre have been instrumental in voicing their support for the trans community and do incredible work at SFU to make them feel supported on campus. However, SFU as an institution hasn’t done much to help. SFU’s Health & Counselling system that is supposed to help students is rife with transphobia. They also allowed an event led by transphobic speakers to remain scheduled at an SFU campus. A school that puts up trans flags during pride month but would allow these atrocities to happen does not truly prioritize the well-being of its students. 

SFU should be creating more gender neutral washrooms, making sure that the Women’s Centre and Out on Campus have adequate resources to operate, publicly condemning any form of transphobia on campus, and not make decisions that put the validity of transgender lives into question. Especially when acts of transphobia aren’t decreasing.

The reported number of transgender and gender non-conforming people killed from 2008 to 2020 across 75 countries is approximately 3,665. This doesn’t even account for those lost to suicide, accidental death, premature death, those who aren’t out, and those misgendered in police and journalistic reports. This number also affects trans women of colour more severely, and does not account for the probable high levels of violence that occured prior to anyone recording them. The total number of trans people murdered in the US this past August already exceeded the entire number for 2019. This isn’t something that should be pushed under the rug — especially when the problem is getting worse.

I hate that this topic is even an opinion, that this day isn’t as widely recognized as Remembrance Day, that we only remember those who have suffered in the name of imperialist war created by the same hegemonic structures that perpetuate trans violence. But it is, and we need to push for it to not just be an opinion, particularly at SFU, so that it’s importance becomes a staple in the common consciousness. We need to push for these days to not even have any names to read out so that we aren’t always mourning those taken too soon, but celebrating the flourishing of trans and gender non-conforming folks.

Out on Campus is hosting an event on Transgender Day of Remembrance, Friday, November 20, at 5:00 p.m. PST via Discord, which you can find on their Facebook page. 

Student selling soul on Facebook used textbook page — along with other irrelevant items

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PHOTO: George Pagan III / Unsplash

By: Devana Petrovic, Staff Writer

BURNABY, BC — Vadia Gondew, SFU student, failed co-op participant, and eternal debt-and-general-misery holder, is reportedly putting her soul up for sale on Facebook Marketplace, since no other resale site would accept the posting of such damaged goods. 

She made the post early last week on the “SFU Books ‘n Beedie Bitches” Facebook page and has already been “bumped” by 12 other interested SFU students — in the true style of business students making transactional connections in light of their inability to make true connections, for they too lack sufficient souls.

“Used post-secondary student soul for sale!” the posting reads. “A little scratched and worn, but otherwise in decent condition. Perfect for burn-out and senioritis. Price up for negotiation. Message for details.”

In an emailed interview with The Peak, Gondew explained that she made the posting after finding out about SFU’s decision to once again increase tuition. 

“It was the last straw,” she said. “I’ve given SFU everything — besides the essentials of my massive K-pop CD and merchandise collection and my left kidney . . . or was it the right one that I still have? Anyways, I have nothing else left to give except for my soul.” 

The decision was primarily fuelled by SFU’s demands, but also because robbing her professors during their office hours was no longer a viable income option. 

“A breaking-and-entering charge would not be it. I work more cleanly than that, but right now, I can’t be like a vampire invited into the home, y’know? Who needs their soul in this day and age, anyway? I’m a computer science major. I lost my will to be a decent person somewhere in a coding assignment during my first semester.” 

Since posting the advertisement, several students continue relentlessly bidding on the item. Others followed in Gondew’s footsteps and made postings of their own. 

“Pre-remote learning vibe, no weed necessary!!!” reads one posting, “like new. Comes with emotional support Spotify Premium account for all your miserable Lorde hours. Pick-up from Burnaby only. $20 (+$5.99 for Spotify Student acc sry I’m poor)”

“I really hope it’s me that gets to buy it. I failed two midterms this semester and I moved here from the States. I really need this, especially after what Nevada put us through,” a student bidding on Gondew’s soul told The Peak. 

Besides her soul, Gondew is also selling other non-book related items on the Facebook group page. These include an overly re-gifted keychain her cousin brought back from a trip to Mexico, UberEats coupons (exclusively for orders over $30, on every other Wednesday, for select restaurants with a rat infestation, and valid only during leap years— offer ends in January of 2016), and a broken office chair. 

“People sell all sorts of stuff on there,” replied Gondew when questioned about the irrelevance of selling these items on a book-specific page. “If someone can try and sell their iPhone, why can’t I make a couple bucks off all the cra— I mean valuables lying around in my house? There’s always meaning behind beaten-up, crumbling items around the house, right? Just look at me!” 

It is unclear whether Gondew’s soul has been sold yet, but if you see a student with their camera and microphone actually on in a tutorial, this may be an indicator that they’ve done some soul searching . . . or shopping.

What’s next for the SFSS after voting to condemn tuition increases

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News
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Written by: Karissa Ketter, News Writer 

At the Simon Fraser Student Society’s (SFSS) Annual General Meeting (AGM), roughly 600 attendees voted in favour of condemning the university for tuition increases during the pandemic. Vice-President, Academic and Provost pro tem Jonathan Driver and Vice-President, Finance and Administration Martin Pochurko also said in an email statement that SFU proposes that these increases continue for the next two years.

The Peak discussed the SFSS’s plans to continue to push for a tuition freeze with SFSS President Osob Mohamed. According to Mohamed, they’re “formalizing [their] essential demands of the university” in preparation to receive the university’s draft budget. She stated that SFU is going to be presenting the budget to the student societies in the coming months for feedback. Mohamed noted that if SFU “chooses to put out a draft budget that reflects even more tuition hikes during the pandemic, again, I think that that’s going to be a time for us to, you know, have some more action [and] continue with our campaign.”

The SFSS’s main priority is ensuring that students can afford their education. Mohamed noted they can work towards this by seeing “affordable tuition as a result of rollbacks of some of these increases.” The SFSS also wants post-secondary to receive more funding from the provincial government, which they believe is the minimum of their demands. Mohamed remarked that the SFSS doesn’t “want this to be a one time vote and for things to die down. [They] want students to see [ . . . ] you do have power and you do have a voice.” 

In response to the vote of condemnation, Driver and Pochurko released a statement to the SFSS explaining their decision to increase tuition citing that inflation and other economic factors are the main reason why the university’s expenses are rising. 

On this, Mohamed explained that raising tuition “is one of those issues that affects literally every single student.” For Mohamed, this is about students having “rights in the classroom with their instructors and we want students to be respected.” She also stated that the SFSS is disappointed with the university for forcing students to choose between attending SFU and “[worrying] about where their next meal is going to come from or how they’re going to pay their rent.

“I’m really hoping that more students are going to want to get involved with student movements that we have been working with and have endorsed, such as Tuition Freeze Now and the C19 Coalition.” According to Mohamed, “When you have a message that does come directly from the students [ . . . ] that is a lot of power and a lot of leverage.” 

SFU students can attend virtual budget information sessions, led by the university, on November 23 and 30 to learn more about SFU’s budget. 

COVID-19 family confessionals

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Humour
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PHOTO: Scott Webb / Unsplash

By: Turkish Delight and Oogly Boogly

By Turkish Delight

This is the tale of an eccentric mind experiencing the effects of the pandemic. It all started a couple months ago when my Dad started watching a Turkish television drama. Keep in mind, he’s not Turkish. Watching television or cinema from other countries is interesting and something people should partake in more, though. 

Here’s the twist — soon after he starts the show, the subtitles stop working. But does that deter him? Not at all. He decides to continue watching, except the subtitles are now in his mind. He makes up what the actresses and actors are saying based solely on their mannerisms and clues from the one episode he watched before the subtitles left. It might make sense if he wanted to learn the Turkish language, but that’s not even the case. 

While most of us lost our understanding of basic human interactions during quarantine, my dad purposely chose to watch shows he didn’t understand in the first place.

This is all to the dismay of my mom who just wants to go to sleep while the voices of Turkish actors boom around the whole house. I’m surprised that he hasn’t been banished to the couch by now, but maybe the Turkish voices mimic socialization, and I know we could all use more of that.

By Oogly Boogly

There’s a running joke in my household that a reality show centres around my family. This isn’t because we’re entertaining, compelling, or because my mother leaked my sex tape for celebrity status because marrying an Olympian and having O.J. Simpson’s child wasn’t enough. This is because we act like a ~quirky~ family sitcom that barely made it past pilot season. In quarantine, this only got worse. 

I could talk about my mother’s off-key singing or my adult brother’s newfound tendency to create board games and scream at them. The true star of the show, though, is my older sister. On day eight, she started hugging my legs. On day 20, she called the cat and me “oogly boogly.” On day 36, she gave me a sticky note that read: “oogly boogly, if you illegally download The Sims for me, I will stop quarantine touching you.” Was this a threat or a promise?

Turns out, the so-called quarantine touching wouldn’t end until day 52: Electric Boogaloo. She entered my room at 3 a.m. and asked me to name every single Chicago Blackhawks player and their jersey number. Each time I failed, she would suffocate me with a pillow until I got it right. 

It was somehow the thing about a group of men I was most afraid of.

That, dear reader, was the night I decided that the world needed to bear witness to these horrible acts. Please donate to my GoFundMe to officially produce the first season of Keeping Up with Yet Another White Family Getting Sick of Each Other and Being Toxic About It During COVID-19.

What PSSU’s Election Night viewing party taught me about partisanship

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Features
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Photo courtesy of CBS News.

By Emma Jean, Staff Writer

Disclaimer: As a queer white cis woman, I only speak from my own experiences, and cannot speak on behalf of racialized or trans people who have experienced harm because of these ideologies and the policies and attitudes that spawned them, nor do I intend to. 

It had been three years, 11 months, and 26 days of waiting, and somehow it was finally here. The US presidential election was set for Tuesday, November 3, 2020, and every day leading up to it, a lurking dread sat in my stomach each time I looked at the polling. To commemorate these near four years of turmoil and a chance at a future, the Political Science Student Union (PSSU) decided to throw an election night viewing party over Zoom, complete with trivia and prizes.

A way to watch the election with built-in breaks to relax? Of course I was in. Not to mention, it would also be nice to share the evening with whoever was there, but that was something of an afterthought. What I didn’t realize at the time was that the students that participated in this event alongside me would stick with me the most. 

In an interview with The Peak, Christina Salvador, the PSSU president and an organizer of the event, told me that “this event is a space to approach these issues and maybe learn in a comfortable environment[ . . . ] that gives everyone a chance to voice their own opinions.” 

Boy, were they right. 

At 7:00 p.m., the night began and the event quickly grew to around 25 participants; even through the screen, the nervous and somewhat awkward energy was palpable. A CBC feed begins to play as students shouted over it to talk to their friends. People repeated new Biden-positive state totals as they come in, giving thumbs up each time. At 7:14 p.m., a voice pipes up. 

“Wait, are all of you guys Democrats?” 

A PSSU moderator then chimes in, reminding everyone to stay civil. The feed, which made other participants hard to hear, stops. Someone asks the student who asked about democrats if he is one. 

“Nope, I’m rooting for Trump.” 

You could have heard a digital pin drop. Someone asks him why. 

“Well, I’ve got a stake in finance in the states, and I like the way he’s been handling China and Jerusalem, so I’m on his side.” 

“Well . . . that’s okay!” says a moderator. The room grew silent yet again, and after a comment about Mike Pence, he ensured everyone that he has gay friends. 

Why are you voting against their rights then, I think. Someone soon gets called a cuck, and a no-swearing rule is established. Unfortunately, that doesn’t jive well with my instincts when I’m stressed. To be honest, the event wasn’t helping on that front. An ideological challenge from a group that doesn’t think I, and many, many others, should have the full rights of a human being wasn’t what I wanted or was expecting. 

Someone suggests that everyone introduce themselves to break the ice, and in a round-robin fashion, we all say our names, majors, and political alignments. The range in responses is both wider and slimmer than expected. Most identified themselves as some version of a centrist; some with political parties, some as whatever ‘creates the greatest good’, and some as whatever ‘elevates women’. 

I soon found myself realizing that I might be one of the only firmly left-wing students in attendance. 

As a communication student, the term “echo chamber” is thrown around a lot in my classes. It’s usually used in the context of social media as a place where people see their opinions parroted back to them on an endless loop, and while I certainly don’t have that in real life — three different federal parties are represented in my family alone — I can’t completely deny it online. This event, however, was far from an echo chamber. 

Attending a Christian high school, this certainly wasn’t the first time I’ve been outnumbered, but it wasn’t something I was expected to experience at this event. I would soon find out that we all had one thing in common: a desperate investment in a Joe Biden win.

As the results took their sweet time rolling in, the conversation warmed and the point of discussion became anything under the political sun ranging from Christy Clark’s ties to SFU (“we don’t talk about that here”), to Palestine, to, as it flip-flopped, what individuals would have actually deserved to win Texas (answers: The Rock, Kanye West, Andrew Yang). As California is called yet the midwest looks uncertain, a student predicts that Biden will only get 244 electoral votes, losing the presidency. 

But after about an hour of lively discussion, I noticed the Trump-supporting student was nowhere to be found. 

At times, our political differences were barely noticeable. We all hollered as Biden picked up states and worried when they were close. But at times, these differences were all I could think about. 

Around 10:30 p.m., a student began to theorize about how their political hero, former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, would be able to handle all of this better, noting how cute she looked with former president Ronald Reagan. As if the election didn’t have my adrenaline pumping enough, it took my remaining nerves to keep a calm voice as I tried to articulate that the hundreds of thousands of people who died of AIDS while they refused to lift a finger made it hard for me to have any respect for either of them. 

Then the New York Times would call a state again, and we would all pump our fists in unison. It was something to see everyone ranging from a “card-carrying member of the Conservative party” to a democratic socialist disagree about everything under the sun, and then share the same joy each time a state turned blue.

Around 12:30 a.m., the results stalled and only six students remained. Rather than worry closely about election numbers, most students were wrapped in blankets, leaning back in chairs and beds, and musing loosely about academia, workplace drama, what they want out of life, television recommendations, and anything in between. This was a very different picture of election night than I imagined, but despite the palpable election tension I felt, it was a much kinder ending. 

As I closed my eyes, trying not to fall asleep, students were jumping over themselves to offer wisdom to a first-semester political science student. This was the sort of generosity of spirit that makes me a glimmer of optimism about the world and informs my political philosophy. If all these students can be generous with their time to help each other out, maybe we can too on the issues that plague our neighbours we feel removed from in our policies that would make their lives safer and better. 

This wasn’t about ‘all sides coming together’; we’re well past that when an ideology causes active harm to a large portion of the population. But meeting a broad range of people across the political spectrum reminded me that we’re all capable of being well-intentioned and caring for our fellow human and if that’s the case, a version of politics where we act on what those interests are rather than our own is possible, especially for those who are left behind by the housing crisis, drug policy and a deeply racist colonial system. It may not be there now, but I believe it could be.  

I had naively assumed that the night would end with all of us either ecstatic or despondent. How the night actually ended was at 2:00 a.m. with midwestern stalemates, heated arguments about Nietzshe, and an exhausted me trying desperately to butt in to bid the participants a goodnight. 

In a final act of goodwill, a student recognized my foggy mental state and swiftly barged in between the debaters to offer me the floor one last time to thank them for their company before I hit the hay. My goal had been to stay for the entire event, but as participants furiously raced to their bookshelves to cite their philosophical sources, I realized that, much like the election results we so desperately craved, this argument was just getting started.

It’s difficult to decide what to conclude from all of this. Does the election of Joe Biden, whose presidency will likely change nothing for the lives of many people but everything for others, mean a cause of celebration or a sobering look at how we got here? How do you see the value of a variety of political perspectives of others while acknowledging the damage they have caused? In those cases, I think that it’s possible to do both. 

As Christina from PSSU said, “I find if you approach politics from your own perspective, you’re never really going to be challenged.” As I see it, this isn’t about drifting towards the centre in an attempt to be balanced; it’s about knowing how to work with people you disagree with to create a better world. 

As I write this, Joe Biden is ahead in Georgia, Pennsylvania, Nevada, and Arizona, and with 253 electoral votes, it’s almost certain that he’ll win. I cried and hugged my dog when I saw that Georgia and Pennysvania had flipped blue, and I felt more optimistic about the potential state of American politics than I have in a long time, especially seeing a new wave of progressives coming to congress. The election of Joe Biden may not mean immediate positive change, but just like seeing the good-heartedness in so many of these students, it leaves the door open to a future worth being hopeful for. 

Update: Joe Biden is the 46th President-Elect of the United States of America, and Kamala Harris, a child of Jamaican and Indian immigrants, is the first Black person, first woman, first Black woman, first person of South Asian descent, and first woman of South Asian descent to be their Vice-President.

Still, the fight for equity and inclusion, as well as issues related to social and climate justice, does not stop with Biden and Harris being elected. Whether about the crime bill that Biden drafted in 1994 that disproportionately impacted Black people or Harris’ track record on issues related to trans and sex work issues, we must continue to hold leaders accountable for the purpose of protecting the democratic principles that govern a country.

How the WE Charity scandal led to the cancellation of the Canadian Student Service Grant program

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Photo courtesy of Yahoo News Canada.

By Sara Wong, Peak Associate

On June 25, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau unveiled a new initiative — the Canada Student Service Grant (CSSG) program — which would offer paid volunteer jobs to post-secondary students and recent graduates. However, before the $900 million program could officially launch, the WE Charity Scandal came to light. Here is a timeline of events that highlight the depth of this political controversy:

July 3: The WE Charity relinquished its $19.5 million contract with the Liberal government to run the CSSG, as criticism continued to grow on the organization’s founders, Craig and Marc Kielburger, and their connection to the Trudeau family. Following the WE Charity’s announcement, Global News reported that Canada’s Ethics Commissioner, Mario Dion, said “he would begin an examination [into the federal government’s handling of the WE Charity grant] and that he had notified Trudeau about it” on the same day.

July 9: Financial ties between the WE Charity and members of the Trudeau family were exposed. According to CTV News, “Trudeau’s mother, Margaret Trudeau, spoke at approximately 28 events and was paid [a total of] $250,000 in speaking honorariums between 2016 and 2020. His brother, Alexandre Trudeau, also spoke at eight events from 2017 to 2018 and was paid a total of approximately $32,000.” CBC News would later add to this report, writing in an Instagram caption that “the prime minister’s wife, Sophie Grégoire Trudeau, attended seven WE events and was reimbursed a total of $25,326.”

July 16: The Ethics Commissioner launches a separate investigation into then-Finance Minister, Bill Morneau. Like Justin Trudeau, Morneau had familial connections to the WE Charity. His two daughters, Grace Acan and Clare Morneau, worked for WE; the former was a contract employee, while the latter spoke at several WE Day events. Similar to Trudeau again, Morneau did not recuse himself from the government’s decision-making process on which organization would run the CSSG program. 

July 22: Global News discovers that the contract the Trudeau government awarded WE was for their foundation, not their charity, which Trudeau advertised the money was going to. Reportedly, the WE Charity Foundation “was described by WE as inactive in August 2018 and only became a federally registered charity in April 2019. Its stated purpose was to hold tens of millions worth of WE Charity real estate.” Also on this day, Bill Morneau repaid $41,000 in incurred expenses from his family’s WE Charity trips to Kenya and Ecuador. 

July 28: Craig and Marc Kielburger testify (virtually) in front of the finance committee. The meeting lasted just under four hours. In a clip posted by @cbcnews on Instagram, Craig Kielburger is recorded saying the following: “I’ve never seen the prime minister or Sophie Grégoire Trudeau in a social setting [ . . . ] the McCain-Morneau family are very generous philanthropists and we have hosted them on humanitarian trips, and, you know, all of this is in furtherance of the cause [ . . . ] what we’re doing here is fulfilling the purpose of our charity and that is a difference than a personal relationship.”

July 29: CBC News publishes an investigative report revealing that in 2018, employees of the WE Charity in Toronto were pressured into attending a holiday party hosted by Bill Morneau. One past employee, who remained anonymous in CBC’s article, explains that they were instructed “to go after work to ‘fill the room’ and that [the celebration was described] as though it were a ‘WE event or a Craig Kielburger event’.” The reason why employees did not speak up sooner was because of their NDAs (non-disclosure agreements), which CBC learned “forbids staff from disclosing ‘business and/or personal information about Craig Kielburger, Marc Kielburger’ and ‘any person or company’ with which WE ‘enters a strategic alliance or any other partnering arrangement’.” 

July 30: Justin Trudeau testifies in front of the finance committee, also done virtually. He claimed, as quoted from Global News, “that he didn’t know anything about the decision to give the deal to the WE Charity until the matter was set to come before his cabinet in early May.” You can watch the full meeting on YouTube.

August 17: Bill Morneau resigns as Finance Minister and as a Member of Parliament (MP). During his press conference, Morneau stated that he wished “that, in hindsight, [the government, including himself] had done things different around the We Charity.”

September 9: Craig and Marc Kielburger announce that they will be leaving the WE organization and that the WE Charity will cease operations in Canada. The Globe and Mail points out that “the charity’s statement did not make clear the future of its operations in the U.S. or Britain and didn’t address the future of ME to WE.”

October 8: At the ethics committee meeting that occurred on this date, the Conservative party put forward a motion to “revive a push for documents from the speaking organization WE Charity used to pay hundreds of thousands of dollars to members of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s family”, CTV News’ Rachel Gilmore writes. These documents had been requested in late July, however “when Trudeau prorogued Parliament, the ask evaporated alongside all other committee investigations into the WE controversy.” Furthermore, the meeting was adjourned before the motion could be voted on. The next ethics committee meeting has not been scheduled.

With the WE Charity Scandal ongoing, the CSSG program has been completely abandoned. “I had a couple friends sign up. There were a lot of remote opportunities, but aside from taking applications nothing ever happened,” a user on an SFU Discord noted when I posed a question on the WE Charity Scandal’s effect on students. 

On the scandal itself, the user added: “We got increased student loans instead [now that the CSSG is not running], which should have been done from the start, but we instead spent all this money on starting something that logistically was never going to fit into a summer timeline anyways.”

Prior to its cancellation, approximately 35,000 students had applied to take part. 

“Personally: I was looking for a summer job in order to finance my education, but due to COVID-19, the job market was (and still is) tough with many places having closed down or having hiring freezes. When the student service program was announced, I hoped to join it as it would at least earn me some money and would let me put some experience on my resume, as well as get a reference,” one SFU student shared with me via Instagram. 

When asked how the cancelled program had affected them, the student said, “I’m currently using CESB money to pay for tuition and supplies, but I’m not exactly sure what my longer-term financial outlook is.”

The CESB program has now ended, leaving many students without any monetary support from the government. Since applications for the CESB closed, the New Democratic Party (NDP) has been calling on Justin Trudeau to provide more financial aid to post-secondary students and recent graduates. 

As reported in The Gateway, the NDP Edmonton Strathcona Member of Parliament — Heather McPherson — “wants all the money [that was] allocated towards [the CSSG] program to be spent on extending the Canada Emergency Student Benefit (CESB).” 

This idea has been supported by cross-Canada student groups such as the Canadian Alliance of Student Associations (CASA) and the Canadian Federation of Students (CFS). 

Similar to CASA and CFS, the Simon Fraser Student Society (SFSS) released a statement calling on the federal government to provide more financial aid to students. Notably, the SFSS published their statement while the CESB was still in effect and before the CSSG program was announced.

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Simon Fraser University’s independent student newspaper since 1965.

Contact us: [email protected]

© The Peak Publications Society 1965-2024

Simon Fraser University’s independent student newspaper since 1965.

Contact us:
[email protected]

© The Peak Publications Society 1965-2024