Addressing the Indigenous homelessness crisis—if not now, when?
PG. 6
FEATURE
The Illusion of Inclusion
OFF THE BOARD PGS. 8-9
The pill, the personal, and why we need better birth control
PG. 5
LONG LIVE THE STUDENT INTIFADA
Flip to page 16
McGill student contingent joins Montreal-wide protest demanding justice for Palestine
Demonstrators expressed desire for divestment, concerns about i ncreased security at McGill
Mairin Burke Staff Writer
Acrowd of approximately 150 McGill community members chanted, “McGill, McGill, you can’t hide! We charge you with genocide!” outside the universi-
ty’s Roddick Gates on Oct. 5. The demonstrators formed the McGill student contingent attending the International Day of Action march and rally organized by the Palestinian Youth Movement (PYM)’s Montreal branch. Beginning at Roddick Gates, the group marched to the Place des Arts, where it met up with the larger PYM protest. After several speakers addressed the crowd on the corner of Rue Saint-Urbain and Rue
Hundreds rally at Montreal’s “Every Child Matters” march
The Mohawk Mothers held vigil at New Vic site before joining the demonstration EDITORIAL NEWS
Fabienne
de Cartier
News Editor
undreds called out
H“Land back!” and “No justice, no peace!” at Montreal’s Every Child Matters March on Sept. 30, the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation. The rally, which began at
the Sir George-Étienne Cartier Monument and ended at Place du Canada, honoured the children killed in and the survivors of Canada’s residential schools, as well as their families. The Native Women’s Shelter of Montreal and the David Suzuki Foundation organized the event with help from POP Montreal
and Resource Movement.. Before beginning the walk, Nakuset, the executive director of the Native Women’s Shelter of Montreal, invited several speakers to address the crowd. Kevin Deer, a Faithkeeper at the Mohawk Trail Longhouse, led a tobacco-burning ceremony and gave the opening speech.
Sainte-Catherine Ouest, the protest moved down Boulevard René-Lévesque toward the Montreal Consulate of Israel. While the PYM march was meant to mark one year of the Israeli state’s genocide that has killed over 40,000 Palestinians, McGill community members aimed in particular to address the university’s response to pro-Palestinian activism on campus.
PG. 2
As climate crises reach an unprecedented scale, Canada needs to rethink eco-justice
The Tribune Editorial Board
The climate crisis in Canada is worsening every year. In 2023, wildfires burned six times their historical average, polluting Montreal’s air quality to the lowest level in the world for two
days. In 2024, 32,000 hectares of Jasper National Park burned down, rapidly eliminating critical local biodiversity and natural ecosystems. Across all of northern Canada, the permafrost is melting, destroying the ecosystems which sustain local Indigenous communities. In August, Montreal
received more rainfall than it had in 100 years due to Hurricane Debby, causing flooding and the most costly damage in the city’s history. Meanwhile, as 2023 was revealed as the hottest year on global record, studies revealed Canada as the fastest-warming country in the world.
(Drea Garcia Avila / The Tribune), PG. 16
Hundreds rally at Montreal’s “Every Child Matters” march
The Mohawk Mothers held vigil at New Vic site before joining the demonstration
Fabienne de Cartier News Editor
Continued from page 1.
“We’re all gathered here to commemorate some sadness that happened in our collective history as Native people,” Deer said. “Hopefully we can write a new page and a better future, learning from the past, validating all of the hurt and the pain, understanding why this happened [....] Let’s do what our ancestors agreed [on] with your ancestors, because they said that this treaty would endure as long as the sun shines, the grass grows, and the water flows [....] We’re in the time of the Indigenous spiritual resurrection.”
After Deer’s speech, the crowd listened to a song by songcarrier, composer, and activist Jeremy Dutcher, an address from residential school survivor Noëlla Mckenzie, and drumming from the Sacred Wolf Drummers before taking to the street.
Protestors formed a sea of orange as they poured into Avenue du Parc, waving posters that read “Every Child Matters” and “Bring our children home.” Jen Jerome led call-and-response chants with a megaphone at the front of the crowd, shouting, “We are not invisible!”
As the rally approached the Roddick Gates, Jerome denounced McGill’s treatment of the Kanien’kehá:ka Kahnistensera (Mohawk Mothers), who are currently involved in an ongoing legal battle with the university over possible unmarked graves at the site of McGill’s New Vic Project.
Before joining the rally, a group in support of the Mohawk Mothers held a vigil at the New Vic site to bring attention to their fight to stop construction and have a comprehensive investigation at the site.
According to the McGill Media Relations Office (MRO), archeological work at the New Vic site is being carried out according to the recommendations of the archeological panel that was jointly appointed by the Moahawk Mothers, McGill, and the Société québecoise des infrastructures (SQI). The university maintained that archeological work has been undertaken in the presence of cultural monitors, as per the settlement agreement that the Mohawk Mothers reached with McGill, the SQI, Royal Victoria Hospital, the City of Montreal, and the Attorney General of Canada.
However, Rajendra Kapila Basdeo, a coordinator for the Kahnistensera Solidarity Committee at Milton Parc Citizens’ Committee who addressed attendees at the vigil, alleged that construction has destroyed evidence of possible unmarked graves and urged the university to meet the Mothers’ demands.
“The destruction of evidence from a genocide is part of the genocide,” Kapila Basdeo said. “We demand that [McGill] stop construction until a complete and final report on the work has been approved by all parties of the settlement.”
Outside the Roddick Gates, a host of speakers, including Mohawk artist and activist Ellen Gabriel and Director of the Quebec Indigenous Mentorship Network Alex McComber, who is also an assistant professor in the Department of Family Medicine at McGill. McComber underlined
that reconciliation between settlers and Indigenous communities will require work over the course of several generations.
“When [settlers] learn, they become responsible to then become changers of their nation, [...] to teach their children so that their children and our children will get along better. They’ll make that new world in that good way,” McComber said.
Barbara Diabo, a Mohawk dancer who blends Pow Wow, Haudenosaunee dance, and mainstream contemporary styles, performed before the rally moved on to its final stop at Place du Canada.
In an interview with The Tribune, Cael
Dixon, an Anishinaabe student at Concordia University, shared how intergenerational trauma has impacted his family and noted that events held in honour of the children impacted by the residential school system have been an important part of his family’s support system.
Indigenous storytellers and artists shared several more stories and songs and encouraged attendees to continue doing the work of reconciliation outside of the event. At around 4:30 p.m., demonstrators held onto each other and danced to the beat of a victory song performed by the Sacred Wolf Drummers, bringing the march to a close.
McGill student contingent joins Montreal-wide protest demanding justice for Palestine Demonstrators expressed desire for divestment, concerns about increased security at McGill
Mairin Burke Staff Writer
Continued from page 1.
The refrain of “Disclose! Divest! We will not stop, we will not rest!” recurred throughout the protest in reference to McGill’s investments in companies complicit in Israel’s siege on Gaza and Lebanon, such as weapons manufacturer Lockheed Martin, which is a direct arms supplier to the Israel Defence Forces.
In an email to The Tribune , the McGill Media Relations Office (MRO) explained that McGill’s Board of Governors’ (BoG) Committee on Sustainability and Social Responsibility will review potential divestment from companies that derive a dominant portion of their direct revenues from the production of military weapons in December 2024. Until Oct. 1, staff and students were able to provide input on this issue to the BoG through a webform.
solicited now.
“This is just another tactic for McGill to delay and shut down the student movement, and we will not let them,” they said.
The student cohort—organized largely by Solidarity for Palestine’s Honour and Resistance (formerly Solidarity for Palestinian Human Rights) at McGill and Independent Jewish Voices (IJV) McGill—aimed to address other McGillspecific issues, including the increased security measures McGill has taken in response to pro-Palestinian student activism. Addressing a group of cycling police officers monitoring the protest at Roddick Gates, the student coalition chanted, “Who keeps us safe? We keep us safe!”
The MRO wrote that McGill’s decision to restrict campus access and to move as many academic activities as possible online on Oct. 7 was devised in close collaboration with Service de Police de la Ville de Montréal.
sion to restrict access to campus.
“It’s very odd that McGill wants to avoid class disruption by disrupting every class at McGill,” they said.
“I think it sets a dangerous precedent that an academic institution can choose to shut down any protest it likes under the pretext that it might be a security concern. This gives leeway for any university to basically shut down whatever freedom of speech they desire based on their agenda.”
MRO affirmed McGill’s commitment to permitting freedom of expression and assembly within the bounds of the law, McGill policy, and the university’s code of conduct. If breached, “McGill will act,” the MRO stated.
A Dawson College student wishing to remain anonymous explained that they joined university students at the protest because of their frustration about McGill’s “dehumanization” of Palestinians.
“I think that [how] McGill is responding is very immature […] and that they should be ashamed of themselves.”
When asked to comment specifically on McGill’s commitment to review their direct equity investments, an organizer of the McGill student contingent who wished to remain unnamed expressed frustration that after decades-long calls for divestment, feedback is only being
“[The measures] facilitate the continuity of teaching, research and other activities, support the wellbeing of all at McGill, and seek to deter and prevent activities that violate the law and our policies, thereby destabilizing our campus at a very sensitive time,” the MRO wrote.
The contingent representative further stated their views on McGill’s deci -
The
Attendees expressed their desire for McGill to see pro-Palestine supporters among its student body as the majority and not minority, citing the 78.7 per cent vote in favour of the Students’ Society of McGill University’s (since-suspended) implementation of the Policy Against Genocide in Palestine in fall 2023. (Evelyn Li / The Tribune)
The rally also saw contingents from Dawson College and Native Montreal. (Fabienne de Cartier / The Tribune)
Jewish students reckon with antisemitic incidents on campus Some call for McGill to draw distinctions between antisemitism and
Titouan Le Ster News Editor
Content Warning: Mentions of antisemitism and violence
Students and McGill community members have reported acts of antisemitism on campus in recent weeks. In an email sent to the McGill community on Sept. 20, Provost and Executive VicePresident (Academic) Christopher Manfredi and Vice-President (Administration and Finance) Fabrice Labeau stated that the university had reported antisemitic graffiti to the Service de Police de la Ville de Montréal. The Montreal Gazette wrote that the graffiti included a swastika written on a sign for the Redpath Library.
“In recent days, our campus has seen hate incidents, ranging from graffiti to intimidation of members of our campus community, acts which any reasonable person would consider antisemitic,” Manfredi and Labeau wrote in their joint statement.
McGill’s Media Relations Office did not offer further comment to The Tribune on the incidents and referred back to Manfredi
and Labeau’s communication.
In response to these events, Hillel McGill emphasized the emotional toll on students, stating that many have sought support in Jewish student organizations.
“Jewish students were confronted with swastikas vandalized on campus buildings,” Hillel McGill wrote in an email to The Tribune. “Incidents like these […] have led many Jewish students to increasingly turn to Hillel for support and solace.”
Some Jewish groups on campus, such as Independent Jewish Voices (IJV) McGill, maintain that there must be a distinction between Jewish identity and the state of Israel.
“In the past year, we have noticed a strong uptick in the McGill administration’s tendency to conflate antisemitism with antiZionism,” IJV McGill wrote to The Tribune “[McGill administrators] continue to argue that anti-Zionist political movements like Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) are antisemitic, not only mischaracterizing an anti-genocide political movement and thereby trivializing real acts of antisemitism, but ignoring the numerous Jewish voices and organizations that support and participate in the movement.”
Alex*, a Jewish student at McGill, explained that they feel uneasy about displaying religious symbols.
“There’s a growing polarization in campus discourse, particularly around issues related to Israel and Palestine, which has made it more difficult to navigate my identity as a Jewish person,” Alex wrote in a statement to The Tribune. “While I don’t feel unsafe in the physical sense, I do feel increasingly uncomfortable and isolated due to the charged environment [....] I haven’t experienced direct acts of antisemitism, but I have felt the need to avoid displaying visible symbols of my Jewish identity, like my Star of David necklace.”
IJV McGill called on the university to recognize the diversity of perspectives within McGill’s Jewish community and not treat it as a monolith.
“We would like to see McGill revise its policy on antisemitism to prevent the
anti-Zionism
dangerous conflation of antisemitism with anti-Zionism,” IJV McGill wrote. “The Jewish community at McGill is incredibly diverse, and when the administration claims to act in our interests, they speak over the voices of the many anti-Zionist Jews in our community, and even worse, they claim to speak for them.”
*Alex’s name has been changed to preserve their anonymity.
Resources:
For faculty and staff:
The Employee & Family Assistance Program is available to McGill employees as a confidential support service.
For students:
The Student Wellness Hub offers counselling services for students located in Montreal.
GuardMe is a service accessible 24/7 whenever you need to speak or text with a mental health professional for support. You can access GuardMe from anywhere in the world.
“This is a union campus”: AMPL permanently ends its strike
McGill to drop de-certification efforts against all faculty unions
Fabienne de Cartier & News Editor
Shani Laskin Managing Editor
This is a developing story.
On Oct. 6, the Association of McGill Professors of Law (AMPL) officially ended its strike, after striking periodically since April. A few days prior, on Oct. 1, the union announced that it would suspend its strike and resume classes for law students effective Oct. 3. The initial suspension was pending an agreement on a federated system for collective agreements (CAs) at the university. This system will allow some policies to be applied university-wide and other aspects of CAs to be negotiated by individual faculty unions.
Under this new framework, AMPL, The Association of McGill Professors of the Faculty of Arts (AMPFA), and the Association of McGill Professors of Education (AMPE) established a “confederation for negotiating universitywide working conditions with the University.” Through this system, AMPL secured McGill’s commitment to halt its judicial review against the union’s certification—a process which had been ongoing since AMPL was certified in November 2022. This agreement was announced in a joint statement from Provost and Executive Vice President (Academic) Christopher Manfredi, AMPL President Evan Fox-Decent, AMPFA Interim President Cathrine Leclerc, and AMPE Interim President Dennis Wendt.
“Following this agreement McGill University undertakes to discontinue its judicial review of AMPL’s certification by the Tribunal adminis-
trative du travail by October 8, 2024, as well as its challenges to AMPE and AMPFA as appropriate bargaining units on a Faculty basis,” the statement wrote.
In an interview with The Tribune on Oct. 1, AMPL Vice President (VP) Kirsten Anker highlighted that her union sees this federated system as a step towards securing their CA. Anker explained that part of McGill’s rationale for its decertification efforts was that it believed that policies should be applied across faculties instead of negotiated with individual faculty unions. Hoping to standardize policies across faculties, AMPL said that the university had been unwilling to give up its unilateral authority to change the terms of AMPL’s CA after it had been signed. Over the course of negotiations, AMPL maintained that McGill’s position had been contradictory to the nature of a contract. According to Anker, this new system represents a compromise that will help both parties move forward. McGill and AMPL will now continue their CA bargaining with an arbitrator.
Despite over a month of delay to the start of the term for Law students, the announcement of the agreement stated that students will complete Law classes on time.
The Law Students Association (LSA) organized a rally in solidarity with AMPL on Oct. 2. Carina Cutillo, 1L, attended the event and told The Tribunethat she believes the strike has strengthened bonds between students and professors.
“I think the students have come together in a lot of ways, and I think that hopefully we come out of this with an even stronger alliance between the students and the profs, and can make this year
At the Oct. 1 students rally in support of AMPL, Law students convened outside the Faculty of Law before marching alongside AMPL to the James Administration Building. (Fabienne de Cartier / The Tribune)
even better than previous years because of that,” Cutillo said
The rally hosted representatives from unions across campus who called on the university to bargain in good faith.
“McGill’s realized the ship of having no faculty unions has sailed,” McGill University NonAcademic Certified Association VP Communications, James Newman, told the crowd. “This is a union campus!”
In a speech to the crowd, Fox-Decent expressed his appreciation for the support that students and other unions have shown to AMPL during its strike.
“The best things we do in life, we seldom
do for money, and the best things we do in life, we never do alone,” Fox-Decent said. “And that could not be more true of what we have done over the past several months.”
Anker underlined that McGill’s strength comes from the collective contributions of its staff and students.
“To students: Thank you for your solidarity. I hope we can show up for each other in the future, because this is our community [....] We are McGill. McGill is nothing without its professors. It’s nothing without its support staff. It’s nothing without its students [....] We should think of ourselves as in this together.”
Indigenous speakers discuss reconciliation at sixth annual We Will Walk Together event
Critical Campus Tour highlights McGill’s complicity in settler-colonialism
Fabienne de Cartier News Editor
McGill’s Faculty of Education held its sixth annual We Will Walk Together / Skátne Entewathahíta event at the McTavish Terrace on Sept. 30 in recognition of the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation. The ceremony featured speeches from members of the Faculty of Education, Office of Indigenous Initiatives, and Indigenous students and elders, who recalled stories of residential school survivors and reflected on what reconciliation means for McGill and across Canada. Indigenous student organizers then led the crowd on a Critical Campus Tour, which aimed to spark conversations about McGill’s institutional history.
Associate Professor Jordan Koch, who was the co-master of ceremonies of the event alongside Assistant Professor Michelle Kennedy, offered a land acknowledgement before welcoming former Akwesasne Grand Chief Michael Kanentakeron Mitchell to the mic to open the event.
Mitchell shared a song and highlighted the importance of learning to care for the planet and each other in the wake of Canada’s genocide against Indigenous peoples.
“It’s our ancient way of life that they took away from us and replaced it with something that didn’t belong to us,” Mitchell said. “And so
we are now returning. You are all returning to what all Indigenous people have always carried and that’s the respect for Mother Earth and everything that lives.”
Kennedy then returned to the mic to introduce Ojibwe scholar and Associate Provost (Indigenous Initiatives) Celeste Pedri-Spade, who supervises the university’s progress on the 52 Calls to Action outlined by the Provost’s Task Force on Indigenous Studies and Indigenous Education. Pedri-Spade told the crowd that McGill needs to “stick to the plan” laid out by the 52 Calls to Action. These include concrete goals the university has been working towards since the plan was created in 2017, two years after the Truth and Reconciliation Commission issued its 94 calls to action for the Canadian government. Pedri-Spade underlined that reconciliation requires tangible action.
“Reconciliation is not a metaphor. It’s not a metaphor for Indigenization. It’s not a metaphor for any other kind of social justice issue that’s equally as important,” Pedri-Spade said. “We need to think about who fought for those 94 calls to action [....][The people] who fought for those calls were survivors [...] and their families [....] They fought for compensation. They fought to hold institutions accountable [....] We’re here to remember [and] to center those people, their experiences, and their stories.”
Dean of Education Vivek Venkatesh came
to the mic next and echoed PedriSpade’s call for university action. Venkatesh underscored the importance of listening to Indigenous voices and urged allies to educate themselves and others.
“To be effective allies, we must take the lessons we’re learning today and share them,” Venkatesh said.
McGill’s 52 Calls to Action are divided into five categories: Student recruitment and retention, physical representation, academic programs, research and academics, and building capacity. (Fabienne de Cartier / The Tribune)
Finally, Kennedy invited Ryder Cody, a Kitigan Zibi U3 Education student from Rapid Lake First Nation to speak to the crowd. Cody explained that the first step towards reconciliation is reckoning with Canada’s colonial legacy.
“Your government failed you. The real truth was swept under the rug, was buried. Well, little did they know they were burying seeds of hope, seeds of truth that are now blossoming,” Cody said. “Now it’s your duty to go out of your way and learn about the true history of Canada, the dark history. It’s not a dark chapter in Canada’s history, it’s the whole book.”
Cody ended his speech with a prayer.
“Today, on this walk, let every step be a prayer for those who didn’t make it home. Let every step be a prayer for the children who did make it home. Let every step be a prayer for the children who have yet to come.”
Koch then introduced the students leading the Critical Campus Tour, who noted that they would be leading the crowd to the First People’s House, Hochelaga Rock, and the McLennan Library Building. The student organizers urged participants to reflect on how McGill has erased, misrepresented, and harmed Indigenous communities and how the university can do better.
PGSS Council votes on McGill-amended motion, removes mentions of Gaza and genocide
Attendees express concerns about possible consequences of the vote
Auxane Bussac Student Life Editor
The Post-Graduate Students’ Society (PGSS) met on Oct. 2 for its second Council meeting of the Fall semester. Thirty-six voting members attended the meeting, surpassing quorum—one per cent of regular members, as laid out in PGSS’s Bylaws—for the first time since February of this year. As the previous Council meeting on Sept. 10 had failed to meet quorum and attendees were unable to vote on the motions discussed, this month’s meeting had a particularly long agenda.
The hybrid meeting was held in Thomson House and on Zoom. The discussion primarily centred on three motions—5.4, 5.5, and 5.6— from the December 2023 Council meeting, which expressed solidarity with Palestine. After PGSS and McGill received a legal notice from an anonymous member on June 20 that asked both parties to abide by an interlocutory injunction, the McGill administration proposed modifications to the motions, which would uphold PGSS’ Memoranda of Understanding with the university. These amendments included changing the name of motion 5.4 from “Council stand in solidarity with Palestine” to “Motion on Divestment from Armaments and Efforts to Promote Peace,” and removing words such as “Gaza,” and amending mentions of “genocide” to say “war.”
Many members abstained from voting on Motion 5.4. During the discussion, Member Services Officer Ambre Lambert offered insight on
the importance for PGSS members to be familiar with the motions before voting as approving or rejecting them is their choice. She also added nuance to a previous discourse she held about advising voters to oppose Motion 5.4.
“I was encouraging students not to agree with the motion that was done last month [because the wording] was extremely restrictive and was losing the sense of the motions,” Ambre said. “I do think they are still losing some of their original meanings but I also think that I don’t know if we’ll reach an agreement with McGill [if we keep on debating].”
Some attendees voiced concerns that abstaining could lead to commissioners reentering negotiations—and even arbitration—with McGill over the wording of these motions. Councillors
also raised questions throughout the discussion about adding context around McGill’s “watered-down” wording as Lambert put it.
The conversation turned to motion 5.6, originally called ‘Motion to support and encourage [Post-graduate Student Associations] PGSAs to address the ongoing genocide in Gaza and investigate their ties to settler-colonial violence and genocide against the Palestinian people.’ It was amended to be called ‘Motion to support and uphold the academic freedom and rights of freedom of expression, conscience, and assembly of PGSS members.’ Brenagh Rapoport from the Organization of Urban Planning Students highlighted the aspect of the motion that ensures PGSAs cannot condemn, penalize, or restrict students’ discussions or actions.
“Protecting our students from backlash from the university for [engaging in meaningful] action is really important [and] a material commitment to students not receiving [sanctions] for expressing opinions and engaging in political action [...] is a concern for people in my department,” Rapoport said.
Councillors stressed that work still needs to be done to ensure students know their rights to freedom of expression. In response, University
Affairs Officer Racchana Ramamurthy suggested adding shorter versions of the Code of Student Conduct with important points on myCourses. In the end, abstention was disregarded, and Motions 5.4, 5.5, and 5.6, all passed—with 24 votes in favour of 5.4 and 5.6, and 17 votes for 5.5.
For the last part of the meeting, Shona Watt, Associate Director of Sustainability Projects Fund (SPF) presented the SPF, which funds environmental projects on campus. Since its founding in 2010, the initiative has allocated over $12.6 million CAD in funding to 370 sustainability-related projects. According to Watt, the SPF is the largest dedicated campus sustainability fund of its kind in Canada.
Moment of the Meeting
With the meeting’s extended agenda, the Council put forth a vote to extend the meeting to 8:30 p.m.. While 10 members voted in favour of continuing, 15 voted against. As a result, the meeting was not prolonged and the remaining agenda items will be postponed to future meetings.
Soundbite
“It is 100 per cent your choice as a councillor and you have absolutely that option, to not accept those changes that are basically a compromise between us and McGill.”
— Ambre Lambert, Member Services Officer, on voting members’ right to abstain on approving Motion 5.4.
The next PGSS council meeting will be held before the Annual General Meeting on Nov. 6, at 5:30 p.m. (Evelyn Li / The Tribune)
Editor-in-Chief
Jasjot Grewal editor@thetribune.ca
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As climate crises reach an unprecedented scale, Canada needs to rethink eco-justice
The Tribune Editorial Board
Continued from page 1.
While Canada as a whole is on track to reduce emissions by about 35 per cent by 2030, Quebec is falling behind, projected to reduce emissions by just 26 per cent. Quebecers took to the streets on Sept. 27 to demand more transparency and concrete climate action in the province. Like many places around the world, Quebec is prioritizing economic growth at the expense of sustainability. And while its goals for economic development include investment in Indigenous communities, they ignore the reality of Canada’s systematic eco-racism, and the fact that no investment in marginalized communities will promote systematic equity if climate justice is not first and foremost addressed. While the climate crisis
Kellie Elrick Arts & Entertainment Editor
The rash was not improving. I was crying, laughing, shaking, and not sleeping; I didn’t want to go outside; I developed joint pain. I felt like I was losing my mind.
I had been taking the birth control pill for four months. Side effects were to be expected. I felt that it was the price I had to pay to be in control of my body.
At the end of November 2022, I admitted that something was wrong— my childhood eczema returned with a vengeance, and the joint pain was such that I could barely bend my arms. The best course of action was for me to fly home the same day to get an immunosuppressant prescription in Ontario. I was petrified.
affects everyone, certain communities feel its effects much more severely. In Canada, Indigenous and lowincome communities without the resources to escape or protect themselves against the disastrous effects of climate change bear the greatest burden of the crisis. The ability to evade wildfires or floods by car, or to survive deadly heat waves with air conditioning, is a potentially lifesaving privilege available only to those who can afford it. These same heat waves are destroying crops both in Canada and abroad, hiking up food prices and exacerbating Canada’s already high food insecurity and cost of living. Meanwhile, the damage to biodiversity, especially in Northern Canada, puts Indigenous communities at unique risk, as they rely directly on the land and its ecosystems for much of their food security. McGill—as an institution and as a student body— has the potential to hugely
influence Quebec’s policies and initiatives towards climate action and climate justice. McGill has made important steps towards addressing its own complicity in the global carbon footprint by divesting from fossil fuels in December of 2023. While decisions like these deserve due credit, they are not enough; McGill’s vast room for improvement cannot be hidden under micro-scale band-aid initiatives, such as upgrading to an electric heating system or expanding campus green spaces. McGill continues to propagate environmental racism through expansions such as the New Vic Project, which is located on unceded Kanien’keha:ka territory and is potentially home to unmarked Indigenous graves. A recognition of global citizenship and a responsibility towards a healthy planet for future generations is the defining task of this generation. On the provincial level,
Quebec must enact tangible policies which rethink climate issues from the bottom up, and construct infrastructure with the changing climate in mind first, and economic growth second. McGill must move away from performative greenwashing towards more divestment from companies invested in fossil fuels such as Royal Bank Canada. It must use its state-of-the-art STEM facilities and faculty to make progress towards new sustainable technologies, and it must work in any and all ways possible towards substantive reparations for the Indigenous communities whose land and history McGill has violently disrupted. Finally, the McGill student body must recognize and utilize its own power—the power that successfully pushed McGill once before to divest from fossil fuels—and find space in its activism every day for climate action and climate justice.
The pill, the personal, and why we need better birth control
Many struggle with side effects. How do we change the birth control paradigm?
After the plane landed, I blindly followed another passenger through Toronto Pearson Airport and soon found myself—having flown domestically—in the international baggage claim. The ensuing events led to a customs officer taking me to the interrogation room. Sobbing, I desperately wanted to tell them I was smart, but that I felt like I couldn’t think. I explained that I hadn’t meant to discover a serious security flaw in their airport; they eventually determined that I was not an international security threat, and escorted me out the back.
That night, I stopped taking the pill. At the ER in Fergus, Ontario, I explained to the triage nurse that I had been taking the pill and felt like my mind and body had gone rogue. When she told me I wasn’t crazy, I cried.
For the months I was on the pill, I doubted myself constantly; I was horrified by the idea that my body wasn’t cooperating. Birth control was supposed to be empowering, and I felt terrible for not feeling empowered by it. Part of me—enchanted by fictional images of beautiful sick women with ambiguous diseases, punctuated only by demure coughing that kept them
lovely and made them tragic—was upset that I had not developed a more poetic health condition. The infected rash was not sexy.
My experience has led me to advocate not against birth control, but for better birth control. For some, the pill is wonderful. But too often, birth control is prescribed with a trial-anderror approach: You’re prescribed a dosage, and you hope it works for you. Reproductive healthcare is increasingly de-individualized and difficult to access. To advocate for better birth control, we have to talk about it—and have someone willing to listen.
I now have an IUD, Kyleena. (Kyleena, Mirena, Skyla, Twirla—I do not know who decided to give birth control AI-generated millennial baby names.) When I picked up the prescription, the pharmacist handed me a box the length of a standard fireplace log. I was horrified. I was not well-acquainted with my uterus, but I was sure that it did not have room for the log.
To my relief, Kyleena was only 3 cm long. I had tried to have an IUD inserted months earlier, before I began the pill, but the insertion didn’t work. This time, my gynecologist
prescribed me painkillers, and I brought my mom with me. I listened to The Chipmunks Christmas Album during the insertion to distract myself from the pain of the pointy metal medieval tools (gynecological instruments).
This isn’t a comfortable topic for me—I’m sweating writing this, and reading this piece will likely be how many of my family members discover I was taking birth control in the first place. But, to my bewilderment, nearly everyone I’ve spoken to about my problems on the pill revealed that they or someone they knew had struggled with its side effects. I suppose I wasn’t as difficult as I thought; it was the system that made me feel difficult—that advocating for myself was inconvenient, that women taking control of their bodies was supposed to be painful. Birth control can change. Researchers are developing new methods, including birth control for men. Pieces appeared in The Walrus and The Atlantic earlier this year calling for a “Birth Control Revolution.” A new world is forming, wherein birth control could provide reproductive autonomy without sacrificing well-being.
Shatner University Centre,
Celine Li, Ella Gomes, Jasjot Grewal Sophie Smith
Bianca Tri, Charlotte Hayes, Mairin Burke
Alex Hawes Silva, Coco Usher, Elisa Gunawardana, Ezra Moscovitch, Lis Bergfors, Helene Saleska, Leanne Cherry, Matias Plasencia Sanchez, Samathar Senso, Yasmine Mkaddam, Zain Ahmed Basma Atri, Bruno Cotler, Diana Yamada, Emiko Kamiya, Evelyn Li, James Knechtel, Reese Platta, Sophie Alonza, Sophie Schuyler
Addressing the Indigenous homelessness crisis—if not now, when?
Montreal has long shirked its responsibilities towards its Indi genous residents. Now is the time to make a change
Ezra Moscovitch Contributor
All too many Indigenous residents of Tiohtià:ke—the island known to many as Montreal—face truly dire circumstances. Only recently, however, through a conversation that I shared with a lovely Inuk man named Paulu, have I come to recognize both the profound gravity and pressing urgency of the situation. During our conversation, Paulu described in great detail the many injustices faced by members of his community daily, focusing especially on the city’s pitiful lack of public infrastructure to shelter its rapidly growing population of unhoused individuals. Above all, Paulu expressed his broiling frustration toward the utter impotence of Montreal’s municipal government in implementing concrete solutions to the injustices that he and his community have endured for years.
The city of Montreal has recently hired Randy Legault-Rankin as its newest Commissioner of Indigenous Affairs. On paper, it appears that Legault-Rankin is the ideal candidate for the job. With years of experience working in Indigenous relations in both government and nonprofit environments as well as, more importantly, being a member of the Abitibiwinni Nation himself. Legault-Rankin seems to possess both the knowledge and connections to
COMMENTARY
Helene Saleska Contributor
Mgenuinely better the lives of Montreal’s almost 20,000 Indigenous residents. However, when asked by interviewers to divulge the precise ways in which he plans to curb specific issues facing Indigenous communities in Montreal—the most poignant being the city’s growing homelessness crisis—Legault-Rankin routinely responds with the same empty platitudes about ‘community partnerships’ and ‘centring Indigenous voices’ that have defined Canada’s pathetic attempts at reconciliation for years.
Montreal’s neglect of Indigenous issues has entrenched a devastating crisis: Indigenous people in the city are 27 times more likely to experience homelessness than non-Indigenous residents. For Inuit specifically, the disparity soars to 80 times more likely. Furthermore, the minimal attention given to this crisis by policymakers has created a reality in which the city’s network of emergency shelters is utterly insufficient in supporting its swelling population of unhoused individuals—a reality that disproportionately affects Indigenous communities who make up a staggering 12 per cent of the visibly unhoused population of Montreal despite constituting merely 0.6 per cent of the city’s total population. Still, Montreal provides fewer than 2,000 beds in shelters each night, failing to meet the needs of the city’s 5,000+ individuals who require these crucial sheltering services.
This discrepancy is especially disgusting considering that there remain upwards of 800 derelict and abandoned buildings across the island that could be converted into shelters if only for the commitment of the municipal government towards developing such projects. However, for years the city has prioritized private development of these sites or has simply left them to languish in decrepitude—a deeply irresponsible injustice that especially angers Paulu, and rightfully so. If the city truly cares for Indigenous residents and their wellbeing, addressing this situation with compassionate yet decisive action should be the first thing on every municipal politician’s to-do list.
As members of a Montreal-based institution, the McGill community maintains a responsibility toward the Indigenous peoples of this land. Both within the classroom and in our daily lives, students must use their voices to pressure university administrations and local governments to pursue action-oriented reconciliation with Indigenous groups in our community.
Luckily, Legault-
COMMENTARY
Rankin is in the perfect position to bring about this crucial change in the city’s approach toward reconciliation. However, over a month into his role and still having yet to propose a single precise policy change, Legault-Rankin risks slipping into the same trap of inaction to which his many political predecessors have fallen victim. In evading this trap, LegaultRankin must expand his strategy beyond the vague platitudes that have defined his tenure so far and pivot towards concrete policy improvements to provide crucial support for the Indigenous communities of this city. For the sake of Paulu and every other Indigenous resident of Montreal, I hope that he will succeed.
McGill is leading in research but lagging in workers’ rights
cGill is continually ranked as a top research university in Canada, recently coming in second for medical research. Despite this status, the school consistently fails to adequately recognize the rights of its workers. From pushing its teaching assistants (TAs) to a hard strike for livable wages to undermining its law professors’ union, McGill has time and again resisted progress that would lead to fair labour practices.
How can a university be leading in research while lagging so severely in workers’ rights?
Does top-ranked research come at the expense of workers’ rights, or even worse, in spite of them?
If McGill aims to maintain its prestigious ranking, it must prioritize the needs of its TAs and professors—the driving force behind its research output. This became especially clear after the Association of Graduate Students Employed at McGill (AGSEM) strike in March 2024. After nearly a year of McGill disregarding AGSEM’s demands, the TA strike began. Even as the work stoppage unfolded, the university resisted reasonable requests for a month before finally conceding to a deal. Some of these included a wage increase, demands for more say in Teaching Support budgets and the working hours of TAs, as well as special protection for transgender TAs and support for mental health.
Some might argue that because of
McGill’s high ranking and reputation, it is justified in having high demands of workers, or that these demands contribute towards McGill’s prestige. But many TAs have said that, under these conditions, they have been forced to sacrifice their quality of work to get by. If graduate students are struggling with mental health, overloaded with extra hours, working a second job, or worried about paying rent, they will not be able to produce the cutting-edge research that McGill boasts, or the high-quality education necessary to remain in the undergraduate rankings.
McGill faces a stark choice: Support its workers or forfeit the benefits of their labour. The university cannot expect excellence while its staff struggles to make ends meet.
A study by Northwestern University shows that productivity increases with minimum wage—that higher pay will lead to better output. So what is standing in the way of McGill prioritizing its workers when it is likely to benefit the TAs and the university alike?
While the AGSEM strike was significant progress—offering TAs a 15.5 per cent raise over four years—for McGill Law professors, things are different.
Before temporarily suspending their strike on Oct. 1, the Association of McGill Professors of Law (AMPL) was striking for better pay, for more of a say in the governance of the faculty, and for their right to unionize. McGill resisted their demands for months, taking actions to undermine the legitimacy of the union by legally challenging its certification, which was granted by Quebec in 2022.
McGill’s actions were ruled illegal by the Quebec labour tribunal after two administrators attempted to undermine the union in communications to Law professors just before a critical strike vote. On Oct. 1, AMPL agreed to go back to teaching for now, after McGill threatened to cancel the semester if the strike continued.
Progress has been made since then, but not because of McGill’s support for unions— rather, because of AMPL’s tireless work for months on end. AMPL reached an agreement with McGill on Oct. 7, with McGill agreeing to drop its legal challenge of the union in exchange
for AMPL negotiating collective agreements with two other unions in the Arts and Education faculties. Still, this decision took far too long to reach and shouldn’t have been challenged in the first place; it reflects McGill’s stubbornness and reluctance to prioritize constructive dialogue with its faculty and staff.
So, can McGill balance its high rankings with low workers’ rights? Worker rights are non-negotiable, and McGill can no longer afford to ignore them. Silencing dissent only transforms isolated grievances into a unified call for change. The more the university resists, the stronger its workers’ resolve grows.
Indigenous residents of Montreal are four to five times more likely to be ‘randomly’ stopped by police on the street. (James Knechtel / The Tribune)
AMPL is the only unionized faculty at McGill University. (Fabienne de Cartier / The Tribune)
Sally
Rooney’s latest masterpiece: ‘Intermezzo’
A messy and chaotic story about two problematic brothers captures global attention
Elisa Gunawardana Contributor
Since the release of the wildly popular television adaptation of her novel Normal People in 2020, author Sally Rooney’s books have been garnering obsessive attention from young people everywhere. Her three poignant past novels—two of which have been adapted into TV shows—captivated both international fans and those from Rooney’s home country of Ireland. Her latest novel, Intermezzo , was published on Sept. 24 and is already the fastest-selling book in Ireland this year, also reaching similar heights on U.K. and U.S. charts.
The story follows two brothers, Peter and Ivan, as they deal with the recent loss of their father and their complicated relationships with both women and each other. Peter is a successful lawyer who is emotionally detached from seemingly everyone in his life besides his ex-girlfriend, Sylvia, who remains a close friend despite breaking up with him after a tragic accident. He struggles to balance this relationship with his new, chaotic younger lover, Naomi.
Ivan is a socially awkward chess prodigy who fears that his talents are declining until he meets an older woman named Margaret at a chess tournament. They fall into a thorny relationship,
plagued by Margaret’s age, marriage, and past. The tension between the women, the age gaps, the brothers, their careers, and the finishing touch of their father’s death make for a messy and evocative story.
As in her previous work, Rooney demonstrates her talent for balancing such complicated characters and plotlines with immense grace. For many authors, the act of writing can seem like a limiting form of media, as it necessitates simplifying the intricacies of real life into a digestible story. It is a near-impossible task to thoroughly explore every angle of every character needed to understand their complete reality, which is typically far more multidimensional than stories allow. However, Rooney has always masterfully fought against this; she allows her characters to be flawed and elaborate, without making her writing too decorative or wordy. This level of honesty and realism is what resonates with so many readers and is the common thread running through all of Rooney’s work.
Unlike her previous novels, however, Intermezzo prominently features the theme of existentialism. Peter’s troubles with drug use and sleeping echo the nihilism of Ottessa Moshfegh’s My Year of Rest and Relaxation , which attracted a similar fanbase of young people grappling to find meaning in a cynical world. Nearly every other character in Intermezzo has a moment in which they seem to question
their entire existence. Rooney’s trademark choppy sentences, which are even more exaggerated in Intermezzo than in her previous works, add to this feeling of a fast-paced and almost hollow reality. This existential tone is more intense than it has been in her past books, potentially reflecting a society that is becoming increasingly hard to navigate and extract meaning from. However, it is carefully balanced with comforting moments of peace and strong emotion, usually occurring in intimate scenes between lovers.
Knopf described ‘Intermezzo’ as “an exquisitely moving story about grief, love, and family.” ( Sophie Schulyler / The Tribune )
This stark contrast between existentialism and sentimentality pushes readers through scenes that deal with difficult topics in hopes that there will be another moment of joy and love. Rooney never disappoints; although her work can be described as existential and painfully realistic, it is nevertheless hopeful and ultimately optimistic.
Throughout the novel, Rooney develops a sense that life, even one that is subpar in most aspects, is still worth living because of its special moments. She boldly trumpets that love, be it romantic, platonic, or familial, is what gives meaning to a nonsensical world. Her characters agree; after sharing an intimate moment with Sylvia, the cynical Peter thinks to himself that “To love just these few people, to know myself capable of that, I would suffer every day of my life.” This powerful theme alone makes Intermezzo worth the read.
Intermezzo was published on Sept. 24 and is now available for purchase
The stories and sounds of Montreal’s Black women DJs
How Black women are redefining the city’s musical landscape
Monique Kasonga Opinion Editor
Montreal’s cultural fabric is shaped by its artists. From writers and sculptors to fashion designers and chefs, there is a scene for everyone. When it comes to musical history, the city’s Black communities hold great significance. The music scene extends to DJing, with events like Igloofest and Aire Commune, along with collectives like Boiler Room, showcasing its vibrancy and diversity. Given this cultural backdrop, I sought to explore the experiences of Black women DJs whose perspectives are underrepresented despite their significant contributions. I interviewed three Black women DJs to understand what the art means to them—and how their identities influence their artistry.
Drawing on her Cameroonian heritage and upbringing in France, Inès, who performs under the name Ms Baby, skillfully blends traditional and contemporary African and European electronic influences with the richness of popular African American music. The result is a sound that resonates beautifully within Montreal’s diverse landscape. Playing African music, especially traditional tunes, holds immense significance, as countless African artists have shaped music globally while going unrecognized for it. For Inès, it’s not just about playing songs; it’s her mission to give those artists their flowers, honouring and celebrating their contribu -
tions to the music world.
Another voice in the scene is Asha, a Toronto-born DJ with Guyanese parents who entered the electronic music scene after living in Berlin. Like Inès, she noted that many DJs draw from diverse global influences, but the creators behind the sounds are often overlooked. She emphasized that DJing involves much more than playing music; it requires research and proper crediting of the artists.
“If there’s one thing I wish people understood better, it’s how much weight the music you play carries,” Asha explained. “When you take on the role of a DJ, you’re not just spinning tracks; you’re also a curator of culture and history.”
Asha noted that this awareness is not only about respecting artistry but also about recognizing the political implications of music selection. “In my opinion, DJing is political,” she asserted. “It’s about acknowledging the producers you support and the cultural energies you’re promoting.”
For Janelle (IAMNOTMYHISTORY), the music she chooses to play is largely influenced by her Tobagonian background. When asked about her DJ name, Janelle shared that it reflects her awareness of how Black history is often simplified or distorted in educational contexts. She pointed to the importance of recognizing the depth and complexity of her heritage beyond a single narrative.
Janelle emphasized that her name is also a personal declaration. “I don’t
want to be defined by my past,” she explained. “I am not just my history; I am so much more.” Her perspective embodies her desire to remain present and open to growth, allowing her to evolve as an artist and an individual.
women DJs’ journeys highlight the importance of agency, resilience, and community support, showcasing a cultural tapestry that is vibrant and inclusive. (
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“While my background informs my music, I want to continue creating and exploring new avenues without being confined by what I’ve already accomplished,” she said.
All three women highlighted the unique challenges of being Black women DJs in a male-dominated industry. Inès emphasized the importance of representation, noting that seeing other Black women DJing fostered a sense of belonging. She described the frustrating expectation for Black women DJs to simply be grateful to be given opportunities, which often results in low performance expectations and relegation to less prestigious slots. Despite these obstacles, the three women expressed empowerment in their journeys, citing the joy of sharing music
in the city as a key source of their success.
As Black women artists like Inès, Asha, and Janelle navigate the complexities of being minorities in the DJ scene, they are carving out spaces that honour their heritage while also embracing their multifaceted identities. In a city where a shared love of music fosters creativity and collaboration, these DJs remind us that the past does not define one’s future; instead, it serves as a foundation to build limitless possibilities. As they continue to break barriers and inspire the next generation, the unique contributions of Black women DJs enrich Montreal’s artistic landscape, ensuring that their voices are heard in the sound of the city.
Black
Reese Platta / The Tribune
As an American who came of age during the tumultuous Trump era, with the 2016 election marking my first real exposure to the complexities of national politics, I couldn’t wait to move to Canada. Amid the chaos of increased polarization, inflammatory rhetoric, and escalating tensions that defined U.S. politics, Canada seemed like a beacon of reason across the border. Its political landscape seemed a world apart: Less divisive, less extreme, and free from the overt racism that had become normalized within American politics. However, as I settled into Montreal, and my daily scroll through the New York Times was soon accompanied by CBC and the Montreal Gazette, it became clear that this divisive rhetoric was not a uniquely American issue, but a deeply-rooted and distinct phenomenon in Quebec.
Quebec headlines warning of “immigrants threatening national cohesion” and conflating immigrants with “conflict, extremism, and violence” echoed the narratives I’d seen perpetuated throughout American media for years. These sentiments, thinly veiled within Quebec’s rhetoric about protecting the French language, reveal a political tactic that exploits cultural concerns for expediency. By framing immigration as a threat to Québécois culture, politicians deftly manufacture public anxiety about demographic changes, scapegoating newcomers for broader societal issues. The same arguments I’d heard from the Trump administration about immigrants straining public resources or taking jobs from locals were being voiced by Coalition Avenir Québec (CAQ) politicians, as they blame immigrants for housing and healthcare crises. It was a harsh lesson that anti-immigration sentiment transcends borders, even in a country which actively portrays itself as multicultural, welcoming, and inclusive.
Quebec’s immigration policies under the CAQ government represent a dangerous fusion of economic opportunism and cultural fear-mongering, exploiting immigrants while simultaneously disparaging them. Dissecting the CAQ’s contradictory stance on immigration exposes how seemingly progressive societies can weaponize identity politics to exclude and marginalize newcomers. Understanding these tactics is crucial for dismantling the dangerous narratives that threaten both immigrant rights and societal cohesion, not just in Quebec, but wherever such divisive political strategies are wielded.
A History of Discrimination
To understand Quebec’s current immigration policies, we must first acknowledge Canada’s long history of discriminatory practices. From the late 19th to mid-20th century, Canadian immigration policies were designed to maintain a white settler society. The government actively recruited immigrants from Britain, the United States, and northern Europe, systematically excluding or limiting immigration from Asia, Africa, and other
parts of the world deemed “undesirable.” They employed informal mechanisms like border inspection regulations to exclude non-white immigrants, effectively halting the immigration of Black farmers from Oklahoma to Saskatchewan and Alberta in the early 20th century.
The Illusion Unveiling Quebec’s Paradoxical
Written by Nell Pollack, Opinion Editor
This racial hierarchy embedded within Canadian immigration policy was not just implicit; it was legally codified. The 1910 Immigration Act, for instance, included a “continuous journey” provision specifically designed to prevent immigration from India. The Chinese Immigration Act of 1923 effectively banned all Chinese immigration for over two decades. These discriminatory laws continue to shape contemporary discussions, providing historical precedent for exclusionary rhetoric and policies. Present arguments about the preservation of cultural homogeneity mirror historical attempts to maintain a specific vision of national identity within Canada.
While these overtly racist policies were gradually dismantled in the latter half of the 20th century, more subtle forms of systemic discrimination persisted in Canadian immigration practices. The seemingly objective points-based system introduced in 1967 still largely favours Western immigrants due to its language requirements and education criteria. As Yasmeen Abu-Laban, a political scientist at the University of Alberta, said in an interview with The Tribune, “The shift away from race, to skills and then to ’human capital’ in Canadian immigration policy has obscured, but not eliminated, discriminatory outcomes.”
Visa applicants from Africa face a higher visa rejection rate than any other continent, exemplifying the pervasive biases ingrained within Canada’s immigration system. From 2015-2016, the approval rate for temporary resident visas for African applicants fell by 18.4 per cent. Meanwhile, for European applicants, the approval rate rose 4.4 per cent during the same timeframe. This imbalance in accessibility restricts mobility for many, while affording more convenient visa processes to applicants from wealthier, predominantly white countries.
The CAQ’s Contradictory Stance
In Quebec, the province’s unique position as a francophone enclave within a predominantly anglophone country has long fueled concerns about cultural preservation, although outside of Montreal, Quebec is Canada’s least racially diverse province and studies demonstrate that the use of French in the Quebec public sphere has remained stable over the past 15 years, despite increases in migration numbers. Nevertheless, these anxieties continue to frame the CAQ government’s paradoxical approach to immigration.
Quebec, like many regions, faces significant labour shortages across various sectors. The CAQ government has acknowledged this and recruits temporary foreign workers to fill gaps in industries such as agriculture, food manufacturing, and hospitality. Since 2018, the government has
conducted over 60 international hiring missions, spending millions to attract workers from countries like Brazil, Mexico, and Morocco.
While recognizing vital immigrant contributions to Quebec’s pressing labour needs on the one hand, the CAQ administration also portrays newcomers as threats to the province’s cultural fabric and social infrastructure. This conflicting rhetoric leads to irresponsible policies, fostering an inconsistent environment for immigrants, where they are initially recruited for their labour but are then met with insufficient support and resources upon arrival.
It’s hard to square this economically-motivated migration with Legault’s repeated warnings that increased immigration—including the temporary workers that his government has actively sought out—could be “suicidal” for the French language and Quebec’s cultural identity. This framing creates a false dichotomy between immigration’s economic benefits and Quebec’s cultural health, ignoring the potential for immigrants to contribute positively to both spheres.
This exclusionary mindset perpetuates a cycle of precarity for many immigrants. The CAQ fails to recognize that long-term economic stability and growth often depend on immigrants putting down roots, starting businesses, and becoming fully engaged members of their communities.
Scapegoating Immigrants: Housing, Education, and Healthcare
While actively recruiting immigrants to address labour shortages, the CAQ government simultaneously blames them for social issues, particularly housing, education, and healthcare.
In May 2023, Legault claimed that the housing crisis was “100 per cent” the fault of temporary immigrants. This statement not only oversimplifies a complex issue but also conveniently deflects responsibility for years of inadequate housing policies and underinvestment in affordable housing.
The CAQ’s policies further expose the hollowness of their claims tying immigrants to the
ture.
of Inclusion
Paradoxical Immigration Policies
Editor & Designed by Zoe Lee, Design Editor
housing crisis. In late 2023, when the Canadian government announced a program to welcome 11,000 people from Colombia, Haiti, and Venezuela who have immediate family members in Canada, Quebec declined to participate. This decision particularly impacts Quebec’s significant Haitian community, as 87 per cent of Canadians of Haitian origin reside in the province. It also starkly contradicts Legault’s assertion that immigrants are completely to blame for the provincial housing crisis. By opting out of Canada’s nationally instated family reunification measures, the CAQ overlooks an opportunity for newcomers to be housed with their existing family members. Instead, the government continues to prioritize temporary workers, underscoring how the CAQ’s anti-immigration sentiments are rooted in nationalist ideologies rather than the realities surrounding housing infrastructure.
Similarly, with regard to education, Legault has pointed to the “explosion in the number of immigrant children” as a primary cause of teacher shortages. However, education experts argue that the real issues are long-standing problems such as poor working conditions, low pay, and an aging workforce. The government’s rhetoric deflects attention from the CAQ’s failure to address these systemic issues, placing the blame instead on immigrant families.
François Rocher, emeritus professor of Political Studies at the University of Ottawa, expounded on the reductive correlation between social crises and immigration in an interview with The Tribune “Immigrants can play a role in those issues, but not a significant one. It’s a factor among others. All of these issues: Housing, teacher shortages, are structural problems which predate increases in immigration. Immigrants are targeted [by Legault] as a source of the problem,” said Rocher.
In healthcare, the same narrative runs parallel, with Legault stating that immigration in Quebec is “hurting our healthcare system.” This rhetoric frames immigrants as a burden on the system, despite evidence suggesting that recent immigrants tend to be younger and healthier than the general population, often underutilizing healthcare services. The CAQ government also conveniently disregards the significant contribution of immigrant healthcare workers to Quebec’s medical system. By 2020, nearly 20 per cent of nurses and 35 per cent of doctors in Quebec were immigrants or born to immigrant parents, highlighting the essential role they play in contributing to—rather than straining—the province’s healthcare infrastruc-
Scapegoating serves a dualistic purpose: It provides a simple explanation for social issues that the provincial government has failed to address, while simultaneously reinforcing the notion of immigrants as “others”—not fully part of Québécois society. It’s a narrative that ignores the economic necessity of immigration while fueling social divisions and Quebec’s cultural protectionist narrative.
Language Policies and Lack of Integration support
Stephan Reichhold, director of the Table de concertation des organismes au service des personnes réfugiées et immigrantes (TCRI), summarized the unjust situation in an interview with The Tribune
“There is a disconnect between the discourse that says we need immigrants and the measures that are put in place to welcome them. We’re not giving ourselves the means to properly welcome and integrate the people we’re inviting to come here,” Reichhold said.
Quebec’s language policies further illustrate the CAQ government’s paradoxical approach to immigration, highlighting the government’s failure to provide adequate support for successful newcomer integration. Bill 96, implemented in 2022, mandates that after six months in Quebec, immigrants must interact with government agencies—including critical resources such as healthcare, social services, and employment assistance programs—exclusively in French. While actively recruiting workers to fill labour shortages, it imposes linguistic demands that can severely hinder their ability to fully participate in Quebec society, long before they’ve had a reasonable opportunity to develop fluency.
Moreover, the government’s approach to language learning support is woefully inadequate. While free French courses are theoretically available, they are often inaccessible due to long waitlists, inconvenient schedules for working immigrants, and limited availability in rural areas. According to data from the Ministère de l’Immigration, de la Francisation, et de l’Intégration (MIFI), as of 2022, the average wait time for government-sponsored French courses in Quebec was 4.5 months, with some regions experiencing wait times of up to eight months. Out of the 50,000 immigrants eligible for these courses annually, only about 30,000 were able to enroll due to capacity constraints. Moreover, 62 per cent of enrolled immigrants reported difficulties attending classes due to conflicts with work schedules. This lack of accessible language training directly impacts im-
migrants’ ability to integrate into the job market and society at large. In 2021, nearly 60 per cent of university-educated immigrants were forced into jobs below their qualifications, not due to lack of expertise, but because they didn’t meet French language requirements for positions matching their skills.
The discrepancy between the CAQ’s ostensible prioritization of French language protection and its failure to provide adequate programs for immigrants to learn French raises questions about the true motives behind Quebec’s language policies. This inconsistency suggests that language politics in Quebec may serve as a proxy for exclusionary and racially biased agendas, rather than genuine concerns of maintaining French culture. Selective Francophone preservation is echoed in Quebec’s new tuition policies for international students at McGill University: Despite French being an official language in 28 countries worldwide, most of which are in Africa, reduced tuition rates are offered exclusively to students from France and Belgium. This policy, disguised as an attempt to attract Francophone students, only further entrenches a system that prioritizes white, European French speakers.
Reimagining Quebec’s Immigration Paradigm
Quebec’s current approach to immigration is not only unsustainable but fundamentally at odds with the principles of inclusivity it claims to uphold. It’s hypocritical and deeply unfair for the government to recruit immigrants to fill labour shortages, only to blame them for problems the CAQ itself failed to adequately address. To proceed, Quebec must reconcile its economic needs with its cultural anxieties, and call on the CAQ government to implement policies that genuinely support immigrant integration rather than creating barriers. This requires a multi-faceted approach: Quebec must significantly expand accessible French language programs and job integration resources, and foster a political discourse that celebrates diversity rather than weaponizing it. The CAQ government must be held accountable for its contradictory policies, and voters have a responsibility to demand a more coherent, equitable approach to immigration.
Ultimately, Quebec stands at a crossroads. It can continue down the path of exclusion, and the same tired narrative of “us” versus “them.” Or, it can embrace a future where immigrant contributions are fully recognized and integrated, understood as enrichments rather than threats to
Bowen Yang might be the best person to talk about Chappell Roan His sensitive-satirical tone works perfectly for discussing sudden pop stardom
Charlotte Hayes & Yusur Al-Sharqi Staff Writer & Managing Editor
Season 50 of Saturday Night Live (SNL) premiered on Sept. 28 to the highest ratings it has received since 2020, but the comedic sketch show’s return was not without controversy. Cast member Bowen Yang appeared on Weekend Update dressed as famed internet hippo Moo Deng. In recent years, Yang has become a regular on these segments, frequently portraying animals or inanimate objects, like the absurd personification of the Titanic iceberg. His characters are hilariously melodramatic and serve as cutting cultural commentary on modern celebrities, so naturally, Yang’s baby hippo wasn’t all that different. However, about 30 seconds into the impression, it becomes obvious that Moo Deng is operating as a stand-in for rising pop icon Chappell Roan. This comes shortly after Roan announced that she would be stepping away from the All Things Go Music Festival to take some time for her mental health.
The morning after the sketch aired, the internet got up in arms, calling it offensive for supposedly mocking Roan, a woman who is already enduring internet hate for calling out obsessive fans. However, this is just a really strong piece of satire; the sketch perfectly toes the line between poking fun at and bringing to light real issues that seem to be plagu -
ing the new generation of pop stars. Yang himself most certainly understands the importance of prioritizing mental health, as he has faced struggles with depersonalization and, like Roan, took a break from his work to recuperate.
The secret behind Yang’s ability to tap into this unique landscape of the modern celebrity might come from his years of co-hosting the podcast Las Culturistas with friend and comedian Matt Rogers. On the show, Rogers and Yang break down pop and celebrity culture through the lens of what cultures shaped them and who they were made for. Along with a variety of guests, the hosts are often able to pinpoint exactly why something or someone has captured the imagination of the general public. Years of this in-depth analysis prepared Yang to offer a nearperfect satirization of a modern celebrity persona. Casting it through the lens of an inanimate object or an animal simply heightens the eccentricities.
Following the backlash to his sketch, Yang posted an Instagram story clarifying that his intention was always to support Roan and to emphasize that she should not be treated like a zoo animal. Yet the fact that Yang even had to address this “controversy” raises serious questions about the nature of fandom culture and the often dramatic behaviours that accompany it.
On social media, audiences are divided; some are making fun of modern audi -
ences’ inability to enjoy a man in a hippo costume impersonating a pop star, while others have gone as far as invoking identity politics, highlighting that Bowen is a “cishet gay man” (have we forgotten that “gay” and “heterosexual” are antonyms?) and is perpetuating misogyny by mocking and belittling women’s mental health struggles. These claims are so outlandish that they only further fuel Yang’s point about crazy fans.
It’s clear that Yang is trying to illustrate the absurdity of the accusations against Roan rather than shaming her, as he said so explicitly in the skit: “Leave her alone. Let her take as much time as she needs for her mental health.”
Just because fans can’t recognize the sketch as satire doesn’t mean it isn’t. It’s interesting how Roan was forced to address obsessive fan behaviour, yet this backlash exemplifies that very issue—fans tak -
ing things out of proportion. By highlighting characteristics that Roan is often accused of or defamed for having—namely, being rude or ungrateful—Yang can make light of just how ridiculous those complaints really are. If die-hard fans want to counter the “parasocial bestie” allegations, they’re going to have to loosen up a bit. With some critical thinking, it’s obvious that Yang’s message is simply to leave Roan alone. And while you’re at it, give the slippery, bouncing baby hippo some space, too.
Arts & Entertainment Hot Takes
The Arts & Entertainment team share their thoughts on all things pop culture
Abolish the pop star ad-lib
By Charlotte Hayes, Staff Writer
After discovering Sabriana Carpenter through the song of the summer, “Espresso,” it suddenly dawned on me: A lot of young pop stars love an ad-lib. Singers often tack these cheeky improvised quips onto the beginning or end of a song to show off a little personality. For Carpenter, ad-libbing at the end of her hit song “Nonsense” helped the track go viral months after its release. Olivia Rodrigo also makes liberal use of them, with ad-libs appearing on songs like “brutal” off of 2021’s SOUR and “get him back” off of 2023’s GUTS Here’s the thing: They’ve got to stop. I’ve heard way too many and I simply don’t care about how funny you thought a line was. It’s less a charming addition than it is an annoyance crowding the space at the end of the song. Sure, it can be fun once in a while, but if everyone starts doing them, it begins to feel manufactured. These ad-libs are an attempt at adding personality that ends up working as a veneer of insincerity, ultimately cheapening the final product.
Téléfrançais! is nightmare fuel
By Kellie Elrick, Arts & Entertainment Editor
I recently re-discovered a relic of my school days: Monsieur Ananas. Téléfrançais, a 1984-1986 French-Canadian children’s show, was once popular viewing in French Immersion classrooms. I remembered a merry pineapple man who sat on a fence and taught me French when my teachers got tired; a talking pineapple seemed well within the bounds of reason, and I remember thinking he was very polite. Upon seeing a clip algorithmically recommended to me, I thought it would be comforting to be transported back to childhood memories in this time of midterms and rain and chaos. But Good Lord! Monsieur Ananas was horrifying. I now saw him for the anthropomorphic, bulgyeyed, tropical being he always was. I also did not remember that he lived in a junkyard. Or that he had human hands. His sentience distressed me. Sophie and Jacques, the two children, repeatedly insist that “les ananas ne parlent pas,” as Monsieur Ananas slow-blinks and makes gurgling sounds. The skeleton band, Les Squelettes, were mostly as I remembered them, though now, I am unsure of their location in relation to the junkyard. They play their music in a netherworld, against a dark background, but the possessed fruit puppet and the two French children can hear the music.
Monsieur Ananas does the splits during the number (he has legs). Distressing as it is, the puppetry holds a certain absurd appeal to me, and I hope that future generations will be able to ride the trip that is Téléfrançais . I only regret that I have not been given the opportunity to use the phrase “les ananas ne parlent pas” more often.
‘Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story’ represents everything that true-crime haters hate
By Yusur Al-Sharqi, Managing Editor Exploitation abounds in true crime media, and Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story is no exception. The nine-episode season delves into the notorious case of the Menendez brothers who, in 1989, murdered their parents in their Beverly Hills home. The brothers, played by Nicholas Alexander Chavez and Cooper Koch, were sentenced to life in prison after a highly publicized trial in which they argued that years of psychological and physical abuse at the hands of their father, a prominent Hollywood music producer, motivated their actions.
Feedback on the show has been overwhelmingly negative and for good reason. While audiences acknowledge the cast’s stellar performances, they
feel it can’t compensate for the confused narrative. Furthermore, the brothers and their family members have publicly denounced the show, claiming it is riddled with harmful misinformation and exploits their story. While shedding light on the boys’ trauma is an important step, placing it within a series titled Monsters , especially following a season centred on Jeffrey Dahmer— a serial rapist and killer who inflicted suffering on countless innocent boys and men—marks a serious miscalculation. It doesn’t help that producer Ryan Murphy responded to the criticism by asserting that the brothers should be thankful for the attention his show has given them. He noted that he intended to explore the various theories surrounding the murders rather than deliver a straightforward, factual account of the case, but the approach feels haphazard, resulting in an insensitive, sensationalist, and ultimately unsatisfying series. As scrutiny around the ethics of true crime continues to grow, Murphy cannot escape the backlash—and honestly, I can’t argue with it. This show made me feel disturbed not by its depiction of the crimes, but by the undeniable reality that it was crafted sensationally and without consent, exploiting real trauma for entertainment’s sake.
Bowen Yang joined the cast of SNL in September 2018. ( Diana Yamada / The Tribune )
Learning beyond the classroom with the Arts Internship Office
Delving into the services, programs, and experiences offered to Arts students
Coco Usher Contributor
In 2002, responding to popular demand, Anne Turner inaugurated the Arts Internship Office (AIO) to provide services meant to prepare Arts undergraduate students for that daunting and amorphous next step: Life after a BA degree.
Housed in the Leacock Building, the AIO helps returning Arts students access and apply to internships aimed at enhancing their academic experience. For students hoping to pursue academic research, the AIO’s Arts Undergraduate Research Awards Program (ARIA) offers a unique opportunity to work on high-level scholarship under the direct supervision of a professor or faculty member.
Throughout the application process, the AIO hosts workshops over Zoom to teach students the concrete skills they need to succeed. Charlotte Petitjean, U3 Arts, described the benefit of these workshops in an interview with The Tribune
“They offer a lot of workshops, like how to write a CV, how to do a letter of recommendation,” Petitjean said. “I feel it’s really helpful [.…] It motivates you to update your CV or implement a lot of recommendations,
Many of the AIO’s staff are made up of past interns who are always ready to share their own experiences with the internship process.
(Mia Helfrich / The Tribune
)
which are super important skills.”
The AIO has also established an Arts Internship Mentorship Initiative (AMI) in collaboration with the Arts Undergraduate Society. The program pairs students with an AMI mentor—an undergraduate who has recently completed a successful internship or academic research project. These mentors guide students through the application process for obtaining internships and funding through the AIO, creating a network of support for navigating the complex application process and succeeding in unfamiliar research tasks. For interested Arts students, applications to become an AMI mentee are open until Oct. 14.
Theresa Decius-Timothée, U4 Arts, spent her 2024 summer internship with the
Montreal-based nongovernmental organization Éduconnexion, working on genderbased violence and social healing.
“This was one of those jobs where I was really able to apply my McGill knowledge into the workplace […], so it was really nice bridging that gap,” Theresa said in an interview with The Tribune. “It made me realize that embracing education doesn’t just mean getting a degree, it means seeking to be curious in every aspect of your life.”
Describing her own internship experience as an undergraduate student, the AIO’s Liaison Officer Jade Perraud Le Bouter suggested that, whether good or bad, an internship teaches you about your own interests and capabilities.
“You can learn from doing an internship you don’t love, because that can teach you a lot about what you want in the future, so it’s very valuable,” Perraud Le Bouter explained. These opportunities to grow in a new context can also be exciting, challenging, and memorable. Thelma Caye, U3 Arts, echoed
this blend of nerves and excitement when describing her trip to Columbia for her internship this summer with Solidarité Colombie Québec.
“I was on the plane to go, and I was like, ‘oh my god, this is not possible.’ I was shaking,” Caye said in an interview with The Tribune. “But after that, I realized there was a bit of nervousness, but I was mostly excited.”
For Arts undergraduate students, the path after university can often seem nebulous and uncertain. In the sea of essays and theory, it can be difficult to discern what the real-world application of an Arts degree actually looks like. Decius-Timothée, Petitjean, and Caye, each suggested that their internship experience played a vital role in refining their own personal goals.
“I think it’s imperative in terms of understanding what you want to do with your career. I know for myself, my career decisions have been heavily impacted by my work experience, and by my internship experience,” Theresa said.
Whether you’re unsure about the process or already hoping to apply for a summer internship, the Arts Internship Office is there to support you throughout your decision, providing a space for each student to grow and learn.
Lettuce leaves falling: Who was crowned fourth Head of Lettuce?
Letting the green survive on the Lower Field
Lis Bergfors & Contributor
Auxane Bussac Student Life Editor
While the leaves turned orange and red in the city, the Lower Field was filled with green on Sept. 27. Students enthusiastically gathered for the fourth annual lettuce eating contest, and this year, competition was more fierce than ever. Although midterm season was right around the corner, a dedicated crowd turned out to compete and cheer on the participants.
The McGill Lettuce Club lays out clear-cut rules about how to participate in their event crowning the fastest lettuce eater—and they are very specific about their lettuce. Of course, the competition is BYOL (Bring Your Own Lettuce), but not just any type of lettuce is welcome. The head of iceberg lettuce should weigh around 600g. Cheating is not an option as a weigh-in period is scheduled starting 30 minutes before the countdown. Still, word spread about how some dipped a smaller lettuce in water to make it heavier. Participants are also allowed to bring dressings and utensils, depending on the technique they plan on using.
This contest has become an iconic part of McGill’s annual rhythm for some students. While some were regulars and knew the event well, the peculiar absurdity of the competition is what truly captured the attention of most spectators.
Bee Budrean, U2 Arts and Science, underlined the importance of having such an event to break the daily academic mo -
notony in an interview with The Tribune
“As university students, we are really able to find joy in the most absurd, innocuous things.” Budrean said, “One can be a Rhodes Scholar, and one can be the Head of Lettuce, and we are here to celebrate that.”
Participants had a variety of backgrounds in terms of their relationship with lettuce. Some had been training for the event, others randomly decided to join at the last minute. In fact, a highlight of the event was Anwyn Li’s, U1 Science, spectacular run towards the last lettuce available. The Tribune had a chance to ask her why she decided to race for the last spot.
“Vibes! I was thinking about ‘Oh what a shame, I wanted to do this next year!’, but why do it next year when I can do it now?” Li said, panting after her mad dash.
Malak Oualid, U1 Engineering, also jumped on the occasion without notice.
“I was with my friends and I said ‘If you do it, I’ll do it’, because why not?” Oulaid told The Tribune
As the contest finally started, participants
rushed to their lettuce and began digging in. The leading lettuce eaters quickly stood out from the crowd. The competition was ferocious, but it was James Levitsky, U1 Science, who pulled ahead, and secured the title of Head of Lettuce, finishing in just two minutes and 58 seconds.
Surprisingly, Levitsky did not prepare at all. “I didn’t know the strategies, I didn’t know what to do; I tried to eat the lettuce as fast as I could,” he said.
After his victory, the new champion stood proudly, having the honour of wearing the exclusive lettuce suit—a white lab
coat with green fabric hanging like lettuce leaves—and signing it like his predecessors had done in previous years.
“I’m feeling ecstatic, I’m over the moon right now,” Levistky said. “[This new title is] going on the CV, it has to, [but] I’m not eating lettuce until like ever, I’m never having a salad again.”
While Levitsky lets the fame sink in, The Tribune cannot wait to meet him again for next year’s lettuce event (which he is expected to organize—the prestigious Head of Lettuce title doesn’t come without its responsibilities).
According to the Guinness World Records, the fastest time to eat a head of lettuce is 46.53 seconds, achieved by Leah Shutkever in London on Aug. 3, 2023. (Bruno Cotler / The Tribune)
Indigenous Ojibwe Anishinaabe art on campus fosters continuing conversations of reparations
Carmen Robertson and Robert Spade gave a
Yasmine Mkaddam Contributor
McGill’s Indigenous Awareness Weeks kicked off with multiple Indigenous scholars and speakers offering students a chance to learn about the various intricacies of Indigenous culture, stories, and testimonies. On Sept. 24, a crowd gathered at the Redpath Library to listen to guest speakers Carmen Robertson and Robert Spade discuss Centering Ojibwe Anishinaabe Art.
Carmen Robertson, Scots-Lakota Professor of Art History at Carleton University in Ottawa, presented in depth the life and works of Norval Morrisseau, the renowned Ojibwe artist also known as Osawa Bego Binesa (Copper Thunderbird). She focused on his use of colours, symbolic elements like water and manidoog (spiritual entities), and his connection to the land. Robertson also touched on the visual storytelling of the artist and his journey of artistic selfdiscovery.
Robertson’s presentation resonated with many students, as it explored the powerful symbolism behind Morriseau’s art and its connection to Indigenous worldviews. Mylee Downey, U2 Education, shared her thoughts in an interview with The Tribune
thought-provoking presentation on Ojibwe art
“The visual and the talk of colour were so clear in how they related and it was powerful to see its intricate meaning of life and land,” Downey mentioned.
Afterwards, Robert Spade (Keeshigooninii), an artist-educator from the northern Ojibwe territory in Northern Ontario (Obuckimaakang), shared his personal experience. Currently a professor at McGill’s Schulich School of Music and a specialist in Indigenous music, he offered attendees a personal and thought-provoking testimony of his childhood and his passion for art. He demonstrated a persistent sense of self and his community through his paintings, describing his persistence with art despite systemic barriers.
Yigit Akalin, U2 Education, shared that he is glad that Indigenous experiences and histories are finally being discussed, as they have often been sidelined or erased in mainstream education.
“[They are] no longer swept under the rug and Indigenous perspective is possibly slowly being integrated into the university culture,” Akalin said.
During Indigenous Awareness Weeks, McGill seemed resolved to acknowledge its role in the alienation and continued oppression of Indigenous people in Canada and its campus. But is the university truly meet -
ing its responsibilities? By opening spaces to the Indigenous community with discussions and other events on campus, McGill appears to be pursuing the recommendations of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s Calls to Action to address injustice and recognize the rights of Indigenous peoples. But is this effort truly so sincere?
In 2018, McGill’s men’s sports team changed their name from “Redmen” to “Redbirds” after nearly 80 per cent of students voted in favor of the change in a referendum held by SSMU. This decision reflects the integrity and solidarity of the McGill student body in supporting progress and systemic improvement within McGill culture.
While the McGill student body is advocating for meaningful changes, many feel that McGill’s Indigenous Awareness Weeks may not be sufficient on its own.
“It is nice to see that there are steps taken towards reconciliation, but I think there is always more to be done,” Downey said, regarding the event.
Theresa Kannuthurai, U4 Education, also acknowledged that there is still significant room for improvement in how Indigenous issues are addressed at McGill, particularly in amplifying Indigenous voices.
“Not everyone’s voices are heard
Ask The Trib: Overcoming the fall season flu
The ultimate remedies to a cold
Auxane Bussac & Malika Logossou Student Life Editors
Dear Tribune, I caught a cold a few days ago and as the days pass by, my runny nose and rusty cough keep getting worse. I don’t feel like I can skip classes because we’re in the middle of midterm season, and I badly need to study. How can I recover as fast as possible?
Sincerely,
Ill Academic Weapon (IAW)
Dear IAW,
The Tribune has you covered. Fall is officially back: Some were dreading it, others could not wait. Slowly but surely, sunny days are fading away while students’ spirits drop every morning when they open their weather app. Apart from the constant din of construction on campus, the invading sounds of sneezes and coughs fill the ears of students who are courageous enough to brave the rain and declining temperatures. Fall entering the scene also means that the season of colds is back.
After trying to escape the “Frosh flu,” first-years will now discover the joy of stepping into a library filled with viruses floating in the air. Looking around, it’s hard to miss the traces of microbes— the astonishing amount of tissues in the bins, a classmate’s unstoppable coughing fit in the middle of class, or the bright red colour of friends’ noses. Colds are all around, so here are some tips to cure them
and be ready to face midterms.
Honey-lemon hot tea
Most of us have been told—probably by a grandmother—that honey is good for soothing a sore throat. Making hot tea with lots of honey is a great way to soothe a sore throat, or you can skip the tea and just make hot water with honey, optionally along with the juice of a lemon. Ginger is also a classic for home sore-throat remedy recipes. Although the research on honey, lemon, and tea for sore throats is spotty, and there’s some concern that the acidity of the lemon may be irritating for certain sore throats, follow your grandma’s advice and do what works for you.
Steam inhalation*
Blowing your nose into a tissue when it’s all stuffed up can be frustrating, and it can get painful if your runny nose lasts for more than a few days. Some may use salted water to clean their noses, but
enough. McGill should contribute more to promoting these events,” she said.
The powerful art showcased at the event made it inevitable to be affected by a multitude of profound and intertwined feelings regarding identity, community, and resistance. The continuing legacy of McGill and Canada’s oppression of Indigenous people complicates their attempt to showcase Indigenous art. No one is free until everyone is, and the celebration of culture is essential for this journey.
using a homemade inhalant is the best way to go.
Ingredients:
• 10 cups of boiling water (or enough to fill up a large bowl)
• 2 tbsp each of peppermint, lavender, and thyme
• 2-3 drops of essential oil (optional but recommended)
Steps:
1. Pour the boiling water into a large heatproof bowl.
2. Mix all the herbs together and put into the bowl. Add the essential oil.
3. Cover the bowl and let it steep for 10 minutes.
4. Place your face over the bowl and cover your head with a towel to keep the steam in. Make sure the water has cooled a little bit first—you don’t want to get burned from the steam!
5. Close your eyes and inhale through your nose for 10 breaths, then inhale through your mouth for 10 breaths and repeat. Do this for a maximum of 10 minutes.
Sleep
Another crucial way to overcome a bad cold is by sleeping. While it can be hard to make time for sleep during mid -
term season, our bodies combat infections when we are asleep because that is when we produce cytokines—a type of protein in our immune system that targets infections. Getting a good 7-9 hours of sleep is vital to boosting your immune system for recovery.
Protect yourself and others
While it’s best to stay home from classes if you are feeling sick, if you must go to campus, it’s important to wear a mask when you enter a shared space such as a library or a classroom. Masks are available for free in several buildings on the downtown campus. And don’t forget that at the end of the day, your health comes first. If you are too sick, don’t hesitate to go to the hospital or take a few days off. It may not seem like it, but your studies can wait.
Get a flu shot
As they say in the medical industry, an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. While it can be easy to forget about yearly flu shots when living away from home, it’s a crucial part of keeping yourself and others healthy for the winter. Go online now to schedule an appointment at your local pharmacy—pharmacies typically book one to two weeks out. Also, it’s often possible to book a COVID-19 vaccination at the same time as your flu shot.
*The inhalant recipe was adapted from Herbal Reality’s steam inhalation recipe.
Norval Morrisseau, the renowned Ojibwe artist, has been prominently exhibited at the Musée des Beaux-Arts de Montréal.
(Zoe Lee / The Tribune)
According to Agovirax, droplets from a sneeze can travel at about 160 kilometres per hour. (Julia Buckle / The Tribune)
The Toronto Raptors dribble into McGill’s home courts for pre-season practice
The Raptors face off against the Wizards in the 10th edition of the NBA Canada series
Anoushka Oke & Lialah Mavani Sports Editors
This past Friday, Oct. 4, the Toronto Raptors visited McGill’s Love Competition Hall for an open pre-season practice. Their visit marks the team’s first time holding a training camp in Montreal and their seventh pre-season game before the start of the regular National Basketball Association (NBA) season. Proceeds from the sales of the open practice tickets will be used to send underserved youth to McGill’s summer sports camp for free, making sports like basketball more accessible to these communities. The team’s trip to Montreal was packed with other community initiatives, including running a Community Impact Clinic at Kateri School and opening up a newly refurbished court at Parc Oscar-Peterson.
The NBA also used the team’s visit to Montreal to honour the Raptor’s 30th season in the league with “Maison NBA,” a three-day interactive experience including games, photo walls, meet-and-greets and more with past and present NBA and Women’s National Basketball Association legends. The exhibition included meeting players like Raptors star Vince Carter in Old Montreal.
During the practice,half of the players wore grey jerseys while the other half wore black jerseys, indicating early signs
of the upcoming scrimmage. Expectant students and fans packed the hall, eager to watch the Raptors battle it out on the court.
Before the match, the players warmed up. They lined up doing plyometrics before moving to ball handling. After a few drills, players split into their respective teams and practiced some shots. The warmup sequences were rhythmic and synchronized—almost dance-like on both ends of the court. As players put up shots, they would occasionally bounce the ball hard against the floor or the backboard using the momentum to dunk the ball midair, drawing cheers from the crowd and leaving spectators on the edge of their seats.
The teams then began scrimmaging, with upbeat music playing in the background generating an electrifying atmosphere. A fast-paced play ended the first quarter with a 22-18 scoreline for the black-jersey team. RJ Barrett (#9) was particularly strong offensively, as he made his second-season debut with the team.
In between periods, North Side Crew dancers threw shirts into the crowd, prompting spectators to stand up and eagerly hold their hands out in anticipation.
The second period saw a comeback from the grey-shirt team, ending tied at 38-38 and featuring a strong performance from Jared Rhoden (#8). The quarter ended in a drama-filled sequence in which a stoppage left 0.6 seconds left to play. In
the short amount of time remaining, the team wearing black managed to get a shot off but missed, temporarily injuring D.J. Carton (#3) on the grey team in the process.
During halftime, Raptors mascots kept the excitement high, pumping up the crowd in anticipation for the last bit of the scrimmage.
The Raptors skipped the third quarter entirely, instead opting to immediately follow halftime with a five-minute fourth quarter in which they changed the scores up to 90-90—presumably to simulate the high-pressure last five minutes of a tied game. Following those five minutes, the scrimmage ended with a score of 10298 in favour of the grey-jersey team.
The Raptors are building up a young team this year to try and come out strong for their 30th season. Throughout both the warmups and the game, the
rookies tried to prove themselves. However, many of the returning players like Gradey Dick (#1), D.J. Carton (#3) and RJ Barrett (#9)—whose name has been floated for the most improved player for the 2024-2025 season—stood out in particular amongst the team. Looking ahead to this season, the Raptors’ returning players are still the ones to watch.
The Raptors finished their week-long visit to Montreal with a pre-season match against the Washington Wizards on Oct. 6. Finishing their visit on a high, the Raptors beat the Wizards 125-98.
Game recap: Martlets soccer dominates Bishop’s Gaiters with a 4-0 victory on senior night
An emotional farewell for graduating players fueled an unforgettable performance
Matias Plasencia Sanchez Contributor
After a tough 1-0 loss last week against the Université du Québec à Montréal Citadins, Martlets soccer was determined to revive its winning streak against the Bishop’s Gaiters on Oct. 4. It was the last home game for graduating players.
After initial difficulties staying composed, the team rebounded 11 minutes into the game when second-year striker Alexandra Hughes-Goyette scored an unstoppable first-point header. Following this goal, Hughes-Goyette continued to trouble Bishop’s defense. In the 28th minute, she scored what was arguably one of the best goals of the season: A powerful shot from the outside
corner of the box that rocketed into the top corner of the net. The Martlets’ domination didn’t stop there; their defense allowed only four shots on goal, all of which were easily saved by goalie Sophie Guilmette.
Before the end of the first half, Renaud scored one more goal to add to her tally; she is currently the league’s top goalscorer. Returning after halftime, the Martlets continued to dominate, with a quick goal by third-year midfielder Elisabeth Pronovost in the 50th minute that ultimately secured the team’s 4-0 win.
Hughes-Goyette reflected on the team’s win and her two goals.
“I’m super excited about it,” she said. “Our team has worked hard this week to get back in the mindset to win, and I couldn’t
have done it without them. I was very happy for the corner because we had really worked on that this week and it paid off.”
Head Coach Jose-Luis Valdes also shared his thoughts.
“Tonight, the mentality was super positive,” he said. “Obviously, the emotions were quite high as it was senior night, and in the first minutes, that affected us, but as soon as the emotions were out of the way, we had the players playing how we play—we controlled, we kept the ball, we moved it around. It’s fun to watch.”
Next week, the Martlets will face a difficult opponent, the Université de Montréal Carabins, as they try to finish their season on a high note with only four regular-season games left.
After this dominant win against the Bishop’s Gaiters, the Martlets moved up to second place in the eight-team RSEQ conference. ( Zoe Lee / The Tribune )
Kelly Olynyk (#41) remained a strong, controlling force in the back for the grey team. ( Anoushka Oke / The Tribune )
McGill Squash(es) the competition at home opener
McGill takes on UOttawa and Queens in first home game and double-header of the year
Zain Ahmed Contriutor
The McGill Squash team had a weekend to remember, hosting their only home match of the season against the Ottawa Gee-Gees and the Queen’s Gaels. The energy at the Webster Squash Courts was palpable as the players took to the court, eager to showcase their skills and lay down statement victories in front of home-crowd support.
The men’s team kicked off the tournament with a convincing 6-1 victory over the Gee-Gees. The match was highlighted by dominant performances from several McGill
players. Grayson Wheeler, U3 Arts, cruised to a straight 3-0 win, showcasing his exceptional shot-making and court coverage. Cocaptain Mo Kamal, U3 Science, also delivered a commanding performance, utilizing his powerful shots and tactical awareness to overwhelm his opponent. The Gee-Gees battled valiantly but ultimately fell short against a determined McGill side. The second match against the Queen’s Gaels proved to be a much closer affair. The men’s team fought hard but ultimately fell by a narrow 4-3 margin. Kamal and Zachary Llewellyn, U0 Management, led the way for McGill, securing emphatic wins. However, the Gaels proved to be a formidable opponent.
Speaking to The Tribune about the progression in quality and dedication of the team, Kamal explained the consistent improvements to the McGill Squash program in the last few years.
“Our first tournament, we show up in cars, unmarked clothing, everyone’s wearing random stuff,” he said. “And then we became more and more legitimate throughout the sea-
son, we were training more, winning games, and here we are. McGill squash is on the rise.”
The Redbirds will look to bounce back from their disappointing loss to Queen’s and continue the season in good form. Kamal is hopeful for the rest of the season.
“The women’s team were the only team last year to beat [Queen’s], and so we finished first in the league,” he said. “On the men’s side, we finished fourth last year. So we’re hoping to start to push that, maybe get top three, aiming for second at least to Western.”
The women’s team also enjoyed a successful weekend, sweeping both the GeeGees and the Gaels. Against Ottawa, the women’s team dominated from start to finish, winning all seven matches in straight sets. Co-captain Ava Bicknell, U2 Arts, was particularly impressive, displaying exceptional skill and athleticism to cruise to a 3-0 victory against her opponent.
The victory over Queen’s was a more challenging test for the women’s team, but they ultimately prevailed by a score of 5-2. Bicknell and Lialah Mavani, U2 Arts, led the way, winning their matches in straight sets. Bicknell fought hard to a 3-0 victory. Meanwhile, Mavani pressured her opponent, Gabriella Waite, to a four-game victory for the first time in the pair’s four-match history—a huge moment for her in front of the home crowd. Bicknell shared her story on the squash court.
“It’s a family sport for us [....] I started when I was eight years old,” Bicknell re-
counted. “After playing the Junior League in high school, I stopped during COVID, [and] I didn’t know I was going to pick it back up until I came to McGill. I’m so happy that I tried out. The team is my family.”
As the season progresses, the McGill Squash program will look to build on this weekend’s success and achieve even greater heights. With a talented group of players and a supportive home crowd, the future looks bright for the team.
Moment of the game:
Mo Kamal had back-to-back victories against the UOttawa and Queen’s number 1 seeds (one of whom was ex-McGill Squash player Sayeed Mavani).
Quotable:
“One of my favourite parts of the day was getting to see the rookies’ first tournament experience as a team. Seeing their nerves turn into energy and excitement built up so much momentum for the rest of the season.” — Women’s co-captain Chloe Stoneburgh.
Stat corner:
McGill’s women’s squash team won 12 of 14 matches, and the men’s team won nine of 14 matches.
Current Sports Editor Lialah Mavani is on the women’s squash team but was not involved in the writing of this article.
Game recap: Martlets rugby lose 115-0 against the Ottawa Gee-Gees
The Martlets conclude their season without a win
Alex Hawes Silva Contributor
On Oct. 5, Martlets rugby took on a challenging game against the undefeated Ottawa Gee-Gees. McGill team captain and third-year flanker Olivia Ford led the team in a noble effort on home turf to try and overthrow the 6–0 Gee-Gees. In the end, however, the Martlets lost 115-0. McGill’s Percival Molson Stadium provided the perfect atmosphere for the game, with the sun shining and fans decorating the stands. The Gee-Gee’s got an early lead, scoring four tries within the first 15 minutes. They carried this energy forward throughout the rest of the half and ended the first 40 minutes with 58 points ahead of the Martlets.
Ottawa had several scorers, among which centre Aurora Bowie stood out, being
both the team kicker and a key leader on the scoreboard. For the McGill Martlets, secondyear fullback Emma Piers dazzled with her consistency and determination on the defensive side. Throughout the match, the Martlets struggled to transition to more offensive plays but put up an admirable fight defensively.
In a highlight moment of the game, Ottawa’s prop, Deborah Oyetoran, battled through about five attempted tackles and slid the ball down the left corner of the field to make a try.
Despite the Gee-Gees’ seemingly endless amount of tries, the Martlets kept up their morale throughout the game, even through the final minutes when Ottawa’s centre, Ella Blyth, snuck in one last try as the final whistle was blown. Aurora Bowie then successfully made the final conversion, cap-
ping off an undefeated season for the Gee-Gees. This match concluded the regular season for the Martlets, leaving them with a record of 0–6. The graduating seniors were honoured in a flower ceremony at the end of the game, where players had their final send-off on the McGill field.
*Upcoming Home Games*
Volleyball Football Hockey Rugby
October 10th:
• Martlets Volleyball vs. UQTR (6:00 PM) @ Love Competition Hall
October 11th:
• Redbirds Football vs. Sherbrooke (7:00 PM) @ Percival Molson Memorial Stadium
October 19th:
• Martlets Hockey vs. Concordia (12:30 PM) @ Place Bell - Community Rink (Laval, Que)
• Redbirds Hockey vs. TMU (3:30 PM) @ Place Bell (Laval, QC)
October 19th:
• Redbirds Rugby vs. Harvard (4:30 PM) @ Percival Molson Memorial Stadium
Martlets took home the first-place banner in the Ontario Jesters League last season. (Emiko Kamiya / The Tribune )
Martlets rugby had their first official game in 2003. (Bruno Cotler / The Tribune)
Exploring galactic evolution from the Big Bang to the Milky Way The Trottier Space Institute hosts a talk on cosmic formation
Samathar Senso Contributor
On Oct. 3, McGill’s Trottier Space Institute presented a public talk titled “From Clouds to Cosmic Giants: The formation and evolution of galaxies.” This event featured Tracy Webb, associate professor in McGill’s Department of Physics and observational astronomer, who discussed the development of galaxies from the Big Bang to the present day. The talk also highlighted current innovations aimed at demystifying our understanding of these complex systems.
Webb began her talk by discussing the galaxy we call home: The Milky Way. Amongst the whopping hundreds of billions of galaxies in our observable universe, Webb emphasized that the Milky Way is just one of many.
“[The Milky Way] is sort of a regular galaxy in a regular group of galaxies, nothing really special [...] except that it is home to us,” Webb stated in her talk.
The composition of galaxies
Galaxies are primarily composed of a large oval called the dark matter halo, which forms the body of a galaxy and accounts for most of its mass. At the center of the halo lies the bulge and disk—made up of stars and surrounded by what’s called the “interstellar medium.” At the very centre of the galaxy resides a supermassive black hole.
“A galaxy has a total mass of [around]
1 to 2 trillion times the mass of our own sun, and that mass is made up of dark matter, which makes up about 90 per cent of the galaxy. Then we have gas and dust making up the next component, around seven per cent, and stars [...] only make up about three per cent,” Webb explained.
Galaxy classification
After focusing on the components of a galaxy, Webb shifted to a broader topic: How galaxies are classified. Edward Hubble, astronomer and namesake of the Hubble Space Tele-
scope, came up with a simple classification of galaxies based solely on their shape, known as the Hubble Tuning Fork. The first type of galaxy is elliptical galaxies, and the second is spiral galaxies.
“There’s a whole bunch of galaxies that don’t fit into the Hubble Tuning Fork, [which we] call irregular galaxies,” Webb clarified.
Galaxy formation and growth mechanisms
According to the Big Bang Theory— which is the idea that the universe began as a single point and has been perpetually expanding ever since—galaxies formed approximately one billion years after the beginning of the universe. Galaxies first coalesce as dense packs of gas and grow larger over time by merging with other galaxies. The Milky Way is on a collision course with our neighbouring galaxy, Andromeda, although the impact is still a few billion
The science behind the beat How our brains dance to music and decode speech
Lana Liquard Staff Writer
Imagine a world where every sound makes you want to move. Why is it that some sounds, like the rhythm of a song, spark an irresistible urge to dance while others, like everyday conversation, leave us still and focused?
Benjamin Morillon, who completed his postdoc at Montreal Neurological InstituteHospital (The Neuro), tackled this puzzle in his recent lecture at the Feindel Brain and Mind Seminar Series, revealing the ways our brain distinguishes between music and language and how these differences shape our responses to these sonic stimuli.
On Oct. 1, Morillon presented his work on the neural dynamics that underlie music perception and speech comprehension. His talk, Neural Dynamics and Computations Constraining Music and Speech Processing, explored the intricate ways our brains process these auditory experiences.
Morillon’s talk began with a question many of us might not have considered before: Why do we instinctively dance to music?
“Why do humans dance? It’s completely weird,” Morillon questioned. “You have a vibration in the ear that you perceive thanks to your sensory systems, and then you spontaneously move yourself. It’s completely ridiculous.”
Central to his research is the idea that the brain’s auditory and motor systems work together to anticipate the next beat in a song. This
process of “predictive timing” is what causes us to naturally want to move to music.
“Dance is the expression of an oscillatory entrainment. Your body is entrained to the sound of music and is anticipating the next beat within the audio-motor loop,” Morillon explained in his talk.
This entrainment happens within the dorsal auditory pathway, a brain pathway that helps determine the source and location of sounds. While auditory regions track the rhythm of a song, the motor system uses this information to anticipate when the next beat will occur, leading to the desire to move in time with the beat. Interestingly, this response works best for rhythms that occur around 2Hz—or two beats per second—a frequency that aligns with natural movement patterns like walking or nodding.
“The motor system is actually quite simple; you can do stuff at 2Hz, and you can anticipate things in time at 2Hz. That’s quite limited for cognitive function that was evolutionarily selected for its flexibility,” Morillon remarked.
Additionally, the motor system engages more when music follows a moderate level of complexity. If a song is too simple, we lose interest; if it is overly complex, it becomes difficult for us to synchronize our movements. This “sweet spot” of syncopation triggers a “groove”—a sense of wanting to move to the music.
After discussing music, Morillon transitioned to another fundamental human behaviour: Speech comprehension. Like music, speech engages specific brain regions along the
years away. Apart from collisions, galaxies also grow by absorbing the cosmic material around them. A more obscure growth mechanism of galaxies has to do with the supermassive black holes at their center, which are suspected of regulating galaxy growth during this process.
The future of telescopes
Webb then moved on to talking about the use of telescopes in studying galaxies. When observing galaxies, telescopes behave as time machines. The images we see of galaxies actually show how they appeared billions of years ago since the further away they are, the longer it takes for light to travel to us. This means that when observing the Andromeda galaxy, we’re observing it 2.5 million years ago, and when observing the furthest galaxies visible through the Hubble Telescope, we’re actually observing them 13 billion years in the past.
The James Webb Telescope is a recent telescope project launched into space that surpasses the Hubble Space Telescope in terms of its observational capabilities. Another upcoming project is the Square Kilometer Array—an international effort to build the world’s largest radio telescope array, which is a network of separate telescopes located across the globe that operate as one.
While many advancements are underway to deepen our understanding of the galaxy, much is left uncertain. The more knowledge we gain on galaxy formation, the better we will understand how the world we live in came to be.
The motor system is involved in processing short durations that are in the range of natural movement, often on the scale of milliseconds to a few seconds.
auditory pathway. Speech comprehension involves the brain adapting to different acoustic features, particularly when speech is presented in challenging conditions, such as when it is compressed, sped up, or layered with background noise.
Morillon’s findings also touch on the concept of “channel capacity”—the brain’s ability to manage and process multiple streams of information simultaneously, such as different acoustic or linguistic features in speech.
Morillon demonstrated that different features of speech, including syllabic rate and pitch, impact our comprehension to varying degrees, with the syllabic rate being one of the most influential factors.
Through human intracranial recordings, Morillon’s team found that the auditory cortex processes syllables and phonemes at different time scales, allowing for parallel processing of speech signals. While the brain is decoding the syllabic rhythm of speech, it is simultaneously processing finer phonemic details—a remarkable example of neural efficiency.
Morillon’s research sheds light on the fascinating ways our brains juggle the rhythms of music and speech, offering a glimpse into how these neural processes shape our everyday experiences—whether we’re moving to the beat of a song or engaging in a conversation.
Visible matter only makes up five per cent of the entire universe.
(Rohan Khanna / The Tribune )
(Drea Garcia Avila / The Tribune )
TOctober 7th, 2024 Protest in Photos
Monday, Oct. 7 marked the one-year anniversary of the Hamas attack on Israeli-occupied territory. Pro-Palestine protestors from McGill, Concordia, and the greater Montreal community took to the streets to mourn the 41,000 Palestinian and 1000 Lebanese civilians who the Israeli forces have killed, demanding that their institutions divest from companies supporting Israel. The protest began at 2 p.m. at Concordia’s Hall Building, moving toward McGill’s downtown campus despite increased entry restrictions. Protestors walked up Peel Street, and then across Dr Penefield Avenue to gain access to campus from the McTavish steps. Protestors were then led down a path beside the Bronfman Building, and walked back up to Pine Avenue once again through Peel Street. Tensions arose upon reaching Pine Avenue, when protestors smashed the windows of the Sylvan Adams Sports Science Institute—a $29M CAD donation from Adams, an Israeli billionaire. The protest ended after police officers increased aggression toward students, causing them to disperse.
Protesters in front of Concordia Hall Building.
Protestors heading towards McGill.
Protestors enter McGill campus, head down McTavish, towards McLennan Library Building and lower field.
Protestors walk down Pine Avenue, towards Sylvan Adams Sports Science Institute.
Protestors walk up Peel Street.
Broken glass in front of the Institute.
Photos by Drea Garcia Avila, Zoe Lee & Shani Laskin
