The extension of the SRB Pie‑IX down to Notre‑Dame has been approved, to cost $167 million and be finished in 2027.
Updates from June, 2023 Toggle Comment Threads | Keyboard Shortcuts
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Kate
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Kate
Ste-Catherine Street, which was closed for two months between Robert-Bourassa and McGill College because of an unstable building on the south side, has been reopened.
I imagine other quick improvements are being made in advance of Grand Prix weekend next week.
shawn
Curious to see if the foreign owner pays up when the city submits the bill, or it goes to court.
Kate
We may never know. This could be a private deal the city was keen to make quickly to open the street before GP weekend.
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Kate
It’s been 30 years since the Canadiens last won a Stanley Cup. Here are some reminiscences from Radio‑Canada.
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Kate
Wednesday, the Journal ran a story about a McGill course lecturer in music who didn’t get to teach a course he wanted. They put the headline on it that McGill had excluded him because he’s a white male. (Here’s the original semi-blocked story with the photo.)
McGill can be wily, but the Journal casts shade on the idea that they chose an Indigenous woman because she was better qualified. Without access to the internal politics, it’s hard to know what the true reasons were – although a desire to crush the white male probably isn’t top of the list.
But why would the Journal even run this minor story about a hiring complaint at an anglo university?
Because it gives MBC an excuse to come out all guns blazing on Thursday about the terrible prejudice against white men, of course – starting with a banger in the headline.
EG
Local music website Ludwig Van has more details about the case, and is maybe less biased than the Journal: https://www.ludwig-van.com/montreal/2023/06/07/nouvelle-un-charge-de-cours-en-musique-poursuit-luniversite-mcgill-pour-300-000/
This McGill teacher is a friend of mine. I know him. And in addition to having conducted the McGill Wind Symphony, he still conducts a band that I'[ve often played with (outside of McGill.)
I admit that I don’t know how to feel about all this.
He has been conducting the McGill group for the past few years, and was highly recommended for the job opening by many people. He’s very qualified. He thought he was going to get the job.
It does seem clear that he was very qualified for the job. People in his circle all support him in this. I know he’s very qualified.
But, on the other hand, he’s often made racist and sexist jokes, and shown prejudiced attitudes. He’s also shown gross insensitivity towards Indigenous people in the past. (I don’t know if the music dean who rejected him from the job knows about any of that, or if it isn’t as widely known and wasn’t a factor in choosing someone else.)
And now he and his friends are claiming that McGill “discriminated against” him because he’s a white man. Some of his friends are saying things like “discrimination,” “reverse discrimination,” and even “wokeism.”
I’m not an expert on social justice, but I’ve read enough anti-racist literature to know that discrimination against white males is not a thing.
And it just seems like nobody will learn anything from any of this.
So, I don’t know how I feel about all this, and I don’t know how it’ll all turn out.
jeather
I guarantee that if everyone knows he’s making racist and sexist jokes and especially anti-Indigenous jokes, the dean of the department also absolutely knows this. Also I will argue that someone who makes racist and sexist jokes is not, in fact, qualified to teach.
I’d love to know the make up of the hiring committee here. I also do not believe for a second that he was markedly more qualified than any other shortlisted candidates. I know a lot of academics, and a lot of academics on hiring committees, and there are a LOT more immensely qualified candidates than spots. Unless the shortlist was rigged to make him the only feasible candidate, of course.
JP
@EG Nobody can tell you how to feel about this but perhaps this part of your answer can help guide you:
“But, on the other hand, he’s often made racist and sexist jokes, and shown prejudiced attitudes. He’s also shown gross insensitivity towards Indigenous people in the past. (I don’t know if the music dean who rejected him from the job knows about any of that, or if it isn’t as widely known and wasn’t a factor in choosing someone else.)”
Tim S.
Well, one thing to learn is that administrators who set up a committee and then ignore that committee’s recommendation create more problems for themselves than they solve.
JaneyB
More likely she got it because she has a PhD while he only has a Masters in Music. From her bio, she has 4 degrees (including 2 in Music Ed) while he has only 2 degrees. She was also tenured faculty at Cal State; he is a course instructor at USherbrooke and McGill. This is a universe of difference in academic qualifications. I’m sure he’s an excellent conductor but he would be easily beat by many other candidates. Any Indigenous angle for her is just a bonus. Details: https://www.mcgill.ca/music/danielle-gaudry and https://en.jonathandagenais.com/biographie
Kate
Great info and analysis, everyone!
jeather
I could have missed something, but as far as I can tell we believe that he was the unanimous first choice of the committee because Dagenais himself says that someone on the committee told him that, then told him their choice was overruled solely for diversity issues. Is there any external proof that this is true, and not either something he misunderstood from a committee member, or just a straight up lie from a committee member who is a friend and said this to try to make D feel better?
I also don’t see anything saying that Gaudry claims indigenous ancestry, though I didn’t do a particularly exhaustive search.
It just seems all of this is built on one man’s complaint and description that is of course going to be biased to make his argument sound better.
walkerp
Kind of seems like a no-brainer with your excellent research, JaneyB. She seems hell of qualified. I’m sure your friend must feel quite bad not getting the job, but he probably is only making it worse for himself by trying to anti-work strategy.
EG
jeather, I think the Ludwig Van story in my first comment goes more into detail about how he found out about the “diversity” thing, though I’m not sure. I think it also mentions a bit more about the woman who was chosen.
EG
To be clear — this guy would make racist and sexist jokes at and around rehearsal times with the community band that I was in. I did not play in his band at McGill and don’t know if he behaved differently there. I do know of one incident at McGill where he accidentally made a racist joke, but that was a slip-up. (The fact that he’d repeat that story more than once among friends, painting it as a hilarious incident, is what I find troubling.)
I don’t remember him making anti-Indigenous jokes, but I can name two examples of times he’s been very insensitive towards Indigenous people.
As for the present story — I can understand him thinking that him not being chosen was unfair. But suing McGill for “discrimination” against a white man, is ridiculous.
Meezly
If he’s shown “gross insensitivity” towards Indigenous people, visible minorities, and women in the past, then he’s likely pissed that he lost the position to a more qualified, non-white woman. Pathetic. He’s certainly not the first highly educated, embittered white man to claim reverse racism and rail against wokeism because he didn’t get a plum position he wanted.
His resentment and bruised ego must be overwhelming his rationality because all this attention just makes him look bad. EG seems to at least be questioning his friendship with him, I’m sure others are too. I guess the really sad thing is that there’s certainly a percentage of people who’re rallying behind him, too.
walkerp
Also, academia has always been ruthless and awful when it comes to internal politics and even worse so now that higher education is under attack and there are fewer jobs. These kinds of appointments often incur bitterness and resentment even before we add racial and gender justice. Going anti-woke is stupid but I do have some sympathy for your friend, EG.
jeather
The article, as I recall, is all what Dagenais claims happens. And even if he is not misremembering, or slanting things to sound better to him (both of which are natural), one committee member saying, in essence, “you were our unanimous choice but the dean rejected you because we wanted an Indigenous woman more” does not mean that this is what happened. This is a well known false story bandied around. “You’re the best! But alas, we are no longer allowed to hire/promote white men.” This is rarely if ever why someone doesn’t get a job.
Look, I’m also sympathetic to an adjunct getting shortlisted and being bitter they didn’t get the actual tenure-track job, as a general rule. But he really sounds like a racist and sexist person, and honestly McGill has enough of those already. This should be an excluding condition from teaching.
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Kate
Finding a place to stay on Grand Prix weekend – June 16‑18 – will prove expensive if you haven’t planned ahead.
Mayor Plante admits that Formula One is bad for air quality but that she can’t cancel it – deals have been made and contracts signed.
A second public jollity mentioned here is also bad for air quality: the annual fireworks festival.
Ephraim
It’s always expensive if… you don’t do 4 nights and you don’t plan ahead. Been booked for 6 months already. Mostly with guests that return year after year. One was so afraid that I would cancel that they prepaid me. But I’ve never cancelled on anyone, ever. But it’s profitable for me and for the housekeepers
mare
The fact that those high prized apartments show up as available means their price is *too high*, otherwise they would have been rented already and wouldn’t show up in the search. Will they be rented next weekend? For sure, but most owners will have lowered the price at the last moment if there were no takers.
DeWolf 00:25 on 2023-06-09 Permalink
It should be noted that the cost includes a full reconstruction of the underground infrastructure. I’m really not sure why the city doesn’t break these numbers down, it would make for much better PR.