by The Daily Publications Society, a student society of McGill University. The McGill Daily is located on unceded Kanien’kehá:ka territory.
One Year After October 7
Analysis of Israel’s Actions Since October 7 Montreal Climate Strike Update on AMPL Strike A Recap of McGill’s 23rd Pow Wow UN Anti-Discrimination Guide
Garden of Literary Delights Showcases
Reflecting on a Decade of Virtual Learning
How McGill Weaponized Public Health Against Student Protestors Compendium!
editorial board
3480 McTavish St, Room 107
Montreal, QC, H3A 0E7
phone 514.398.6790 fax 514.398.8318
mcgilldaily.com
The McGill Daily is located on unceded Kanien’kehá:ka territory
coordinating editor Emma Bainbridge managing editor India Mosca
news editor Sena Ho
commentary + compendium! editor Vacant
culture editor Eliana Freelund
features editor Elaine Yang
science + technology editor Andrei Li
sports editor Vacant
video editor Magdalena Rebisz
visuals editors Vacant
copy editor Vacant
design + production editor Vacant
social media editor Vacant
radio editor Evelyn Logan cover design Emma Bainbridge Asa Kohn
contributors
Auden Akinc, Leyla Assabghy, Lisa Banti, Jack Bouchard, Siobhan Carroll, Meredith Cloutier,Mariam El Sheikh, Arismita Ghosh, Sena Ho, Andrei Li, Eva Marriott-Fabre, India Mosca, Jason Zhou
3480 McTavish St, Room 107
Montreal, QC H3A 0E7
phone 514.398.690 fax 514.398.8318
advertising & general manager Letty Matteo ad layout & design
Alice Postovskiy
One Year Later
Israel must end its violence
Content warning: genocide, colonial violence, war
On this day last year, Israel began its most brutal assault on Gaza to date after Hamas militants launched a surprise attack on Israel and killed around 1200 people. Over the past year, Israel’s violence has only escalated, expanding to the West Bank as well as Lebanon, Syria, Iran and Yemen. At the time of writing, over 41,000 people have been confirmed by the Ministry of Health to have been killed in Gaza, including nearly 16,500 children. This number is likely an undercount: estimates from independent local medical initiatives have placed the true death toll at close to 200,000.
The past year has been devastating for the people of Gaza. In September, it was estimated that 66 per cent of Gaza’s infrastructure was destroyed by Israeli bombing, including hospitals, schools, and residential buildings. Most of the population has been displaced multiple times, with Israel continuously attacking areas it labels “safe zones.” The humanitarian crisis has even led to a polio outbreak in Gaza, the first in 25 years. Israel has been blocking humanitarian aid from entering Gaza, attacking both those seeking and distributing aid, in violation of international humanitarian law. Reporters Without Borders found that Palestinian journalists attempting to document their genocide have been systematically targeted by Israeli forces.
In July, the International Court of Justice (ICJ) ruled Israel’s occupation of Gaza and other Palestinian territories to be “unlawful.” They demanded that Israel immediately end its occupation and provide reparations to Palestinian victims. Overwhelming evidence, cited by countless international legal experts, shows that Israel’s actions constitute a categorical genocide.
In the past month, Israel has also escalated attacks on Lebanon, carrying out nightly air strikes on Beirut and launching ground incursions into Southern Lebanon in preparation for an invasion. On September 23, Lebanon experienced its deadliest attacks since the end of the 19751990 civil war, when Israeli air strikes killed 492 people and injured at least 1645 more. It is utterly deplorable that instead of complying with international orders to cease its operations, Israel has instead expanded its violence to neighbouring countries. Israel’s actions have brought the Middle East to the brink of regional war, and the international community must do everything in its power to stop Israel before even more lives are lost.
Israel is not acting alone. Its campaign of genocide in Palestine and Lebanon is fueled by weapons imported from abroad, including from Canada. Although the Trudeau government stopped approving new permits for weapons
exports to Israel, it has not revoked any existing permits. According to an investigation by The Maple, approximately $95 million in military goods manufactured in Canada could end up in Israel by 2025. Furthermore, Canadian manufacturers are continuing to export military goods to the United States, which is Israel’s main arms supplier. For example, a recent investigation by The Breach found that the engine sensors used in Lockheed Martin’s F-35 warplanes are solely manufactured by Gastops, a Canadian company. It is imperative that Canada take an immediate stand against the Palestinian genocide by imposing a two-way arms embargo, a demand echoed by many civil society groups. The fact that Israel has been allowed to act with such impunity for the past year, enabled by governments such as Canada and the United States, is shameful.
The effects of the ongoing inhumane violence have been deeply felt by people across the world. Many McGill students have family, friends, or loved ones whose lives may be in danger. In this digital age, we are all witnesses to the violence and dehumanization inflicted by Israel on Palestinians, livestreamed on television and on social media platforms. We are living through what Palestinian UN Ambassador Riyad Mansour has called “the most documented genocide in history.”
It’s easy to feel as if we are powerless to stop these injustices, but there are still ways that we as students can take action. We can take part in the global Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions (BDS) student movement calling on universities to divest from companies complicit in genocide. Additionally, there are ways to take action in and around McGill such as going to events put on by QPIRG (@qpirgmcgill) and Arts for Palestinian Liberation (@artsforpalmtl) which focus on bringing attention to the genocide through art, media, and community. Beyond academia, we can engage in protests calling for the Canadian government to take a stand against genocide. If you’re able, you can also financially support people in Palestine and Lebanon by donating to organizations providing aid, such as the Palestinian Children’s Relief Fund (PCRF), Medical Aid for Palestinians (MAP), the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA), Build Palestine, and Islamic Relief Worldwide’s Lebanon Emergency Appeal.
We at The McGill Daily editorial board stand behind all our readers who have been affected by the horrors unfolding in the Middle East. We are committed to practicing anti-oppressive journalism, as outlined by our Statement of Principles, and reiterate our call for an immediate ceasefire. We understand that words cannot capture the gravity of the situation and the magnitude of the suffering. Nevertheless, our hearts go out to you all on this very difficult day.
An Analysis of Israel’s Actions Since October 7
Amid regional escalation, the future remains uncertain
India Mosca Managing Editor
Sena Ho News Editor
It has been one year since Hamas launched Israel’s deadliest terrorist attack, killing over 1200 Israelis and taking more than 250 hostages. The immediate Israeli military response has since devastated the Gaza Strip, displacing around 90 per cent of its population, and killing 41,788 Palestinians, according to Gaza’s health authorities. Israel has also continuously been putting pressure on neighboring countries. In the past weeks, the Israeli army has pursued increasingly violent attacks on Lebanon, severely weakening Hezbollah’s leadership, prompting Iran to retaliate with a large-scale missile strike against Israel. Meanwhile international organizations have proved incapable of bringing an end to the violence. Despite multiple international calls for de-escalation and investigations into Israeli war crimes, Israel has continued to navigate multiple military fronts. In the past weeks, it has continued its relentless bombing of the Gaza Strip while also targeting Yemen, Syria, Iran and Lebanon. For the past three weeks, Israel has bombarded Lebanon with airstrikes, killing over 2000 people while injuring nearly 7500 others. In addition to their aerial attacks, Israel announced its decision to begin “ground operations” in Southern Lebanon, reminiscent of their invasion four decades ago. While the Israeli government’s stated goal has been to take down Hezbollah’s structural organization, calling this a “limited, localized and targeted” operation. But the reality on the ground is far from this as shown by the growing
number of civilian deaths. The tensions between the Iranian-backed Hezbollah and Israel are decades old. The militant group Hezbollah was founded in 1982, after Israel seized Lebanon, creating a humanitarian crisis in the southern part of the country. Israel has been targeting Hezbollah leadership in hopes of dismantling the organization, launching one of the most intense aerial campaigns in the Middle East within the past two decades, as Airwars, a nonprofit that monitors military conflicts on Islamic states, reported. Following Iran’s missile strike against Israel, Iranian spokeswoman Fatemeh Mohajerani, said that they are
“There’s this overwhelming sense of uncertainty about whether Lebanon will ever find stability again, and it’s heartbreaking”
- Sarah Tehini, U1 Engineering Student
not seeking a broader regional war. However, as tensions increase between Israel, Lebanon, and Iran, hopes for de-escalation are slim.
As Israel pursued its systematic attacks on Gaza, with disregard for civilian victims and the urgent calls for humanitarian aid, the government increasingly faced criticism from its citizens and grew more and more isolated from the international community. Over the course of the year, thousands protested across Israel calling for Prime Minister Netanyahu’s resignation, and for a cease-fire allowing hostages to return home safely. From the perspective of many of these protesters, Israel’s image as a regional superpower was damaged following the October 7 attacks and their failure to safely return all the hostages. However, since the pager attacks in Lebanon, the current seems to have changed. Recent polls show that Netanyahu’s far right coalition party, Likud, is steadily recovering. The series of successful targeted attacks on leaders of Hezbollah boosted a renewed support for the offensive warfare and created a rallyround-the-flag effect in favour of Netanyahu’s government.
For the past year, international organizations and world leaders have been faced
with the fact that stability will not be reached unless a solution responding to both Palestinian and Israeli national aspirations is reached. Today, a negotiated settlement seems more distant than ever.
There are several reasons why ceasefire deals and talks for consensual agreements have fallen through. Democratic countries such as the US and Israel “are essential for promoting the rule of law…and for ensuring public trust in democratic systems of governance,” the UN announced in a statement. However, Israel’s impunity from its crimes against Gaza, as well as the US and Israel’s threats of retaliation against ICC and ICJ have demonstrated their lack of intention to end the war and protect human rights.
Furthermore, Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu continues to launch military bombardment across Gaza, despite there being no real progress in achieving a ceasefire deal.
International structures designed to maintain international peace and security have consistently failed to effectively carry out resolutions. United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres released a statement with Al Jazeera on the failures of the Security Council to bring about political change in the
region. He believes that the Security Council’s mechanisms at resolving conflict are outdated, referencing the permanent members’ veto powers and the severe obstacles it poses for action. Furthermore, if the Security Council cannot tackle the humanitarian crises that it was designed to, it hinders other UN agencies, such as the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) from completing their tasks. With the recent developments regarding Israel’s shifted focus on Lebanon and Iran, UN experts admitted that “the ballooning violence adds immensely to the instability and the ongoing suffering of civilians in the wider region, including in Palestine.”
Previous peace frameworks, such as the Oslo Accords in 1993, have been unsuccessful at mitigating tensions between Palestinian self-determination and Israel’s desire for domination. For years after the failure of the Accords became evident, the United States and other major powers took a back-seat role in possible negotiations between Palestine and Israel, allowing these tensions to worsen.
What comes next? After one year, the conflict shows no signs of ending. It seems that
Asa Kohn | Visuals Contributor
with US continued support of Israel, refusing to restrict its weapons shipments, alongside Hezbollah’s commitment to continue attacks on Israel until a Gaza ceasefire is achieved; and the ongoing collapse of ceasefire negotiations in Gaza the situation won’t change. This has also been a year of
[A]s tensions increase between Israel, Lebanon, and Iran, hopes for de-escalation are slim.
student uprisings, protests and counter protests. Students in Montreal have been relentlessly organizing marches and protest in solidarity with Gaza and now Lebanon, continuing to call upon the government and university administrations to divest from Israel and recognize the ongoing genocide. Additionally, the Palestinian Youth Movement, alongside other student led organizations held marches commemorating “One Year of Genocide, One Year of Resistance” from October 5 to 7.
As a response to the different calls to mobilize McGill and Concordia have decided to restrict access to their campuses. At the time of writing, it has been communicated with students that access to the downtown campus until October 7 will require a McGill ID or a permission letter for visitors
to enter. They justified these measures to “prioritize the stable continuation of critical academic activities at a time when there is an elevated potential for disruption” even if there have been no threats to physical safety. Students at McGill and in the Montreal community at large have displayed their solidarity with the Lebanese people. On October 1, Students for Palestine’s Honour and Resistance (SPHR) McGill and Concordia alongside other student-led groups held a vigil for Lebanon on the campus lower field. Speakers were students from McGill and Concordia, and professor Michelle Hartman reading out a poem written by professor Rula Abisaab. Around 100 students gathered, with candles and Palestinian flags being held next to Lebanese ones. Speakers later condemned the
systematic violence carried out against Lebanese people and the genocide in Gaza, while praising the power of resistance and the sustained need for solidarity and collective actions.
A member of Montreal’s Lebanese community has shared their perspective on issues ensuing back home. “As a Lebanese student living in Canada, I can share that many of us are deeply concerned about the ongoing threat in southern Lebanon, even though we’re miles away,” said Sarah Tehini, a U1 Computer Engineering student at McGill. “The situation with Israel is something we’ve grown up hearing about, but now it feels like things could escalate at any moment.”
She expressed concerns about the future state of Lebanon if Israel proceeds with its current military tactics.
“We worry about being able to visit home, or if there will even be a ‘home’ to return to. There’s this overwhelming sense of uncertainty about whether Lebanon will ever find stability again, and it’s heartbreaking,” she said on behalf of herself and other Lebanese students in her community.
In light of Tehini’s worries, she still believes there is room for hope. “Despite everything, the resilience of the Lebanese people keeps us hopeful. No matter how much we’ve been through, our love for our country keeps us holding on to hope for a better future,” she concluded.
AMPL Remain on Strike, Hoping to Arrange a Deal with McGill
McGill administration have yet to reach an agreement with its law professors
Kaitlyn Schramm News Contributor
Update: The McGill Law professors have paused their strike, and are in negotiations with the university to finalize an agreement regarding all faculty unions. However, they are willing to walk out of classes again if a deal is not finalized in the following week.
Since the accreditation Association of McGill Professors of Law (AMPL) in 2022, there has yet to be collective agreement between AMPL and McGill. The AMPL has repeatedly received pushback from McGill for requesting involvement in faculty governance and more clarity.
McGill administration has been outwardly uncooperative, aiming to dissolve the association rather than
collaborate with it. Throughout the summer break, McGill administrators avoided negotiation. In fact, McGill breached the labor code by failing to appear in court to negotiate on August 30, 2024, and has refused to acknowledge the reality of unionization at McGill. When attempts to negotiate were made, they were often not in “good faith,” said Kirsten Anker, AMPL Vice President. Nevertheless, she has newfound optimism that the bargaining unit is finally being heard.
“Our strike action, and public media campaign, have been focused on this issue since the end of August, and I think in the last week the message has been heard,” said Anker. “The Provost has indicated that he now sees a path forward to dropping the judicial review, and has initiated discussions to that end with AMPL.”
Leading up to this development, McGill challenged the accreditation of AMPL as a proper bargaining unit via judicial review, even though AMPL’s requests are not extraordinary. AMPL simply aims to serve as a voice for the faculty in governing themselves the way they feel is right, and improving clarity in this decisionmaking process. Rather than complying or negotiating, McGill has further increased its lack of transparency and accountability. AMPL claims: “The real objective [for McGill] is not fewer unions, but none.” McGill’s refusal to work with AMPL has hurt students in the Law Faculty. With suspended classes, transcript delays, and difficulties processing job applications and scholarships, McGill’s Law students are beginning to get restless. Students are unsure if this semester will even happen at all, as many have signed new leases, uprooting their lives in exchange for zero stability or assurance in their education.
Vice President External of the Law Students Association (LSA), Julien Bérubé, has also expressed concern about the effects of the strike on the students. He explained, “Those who are feeling the brunt of the effects of the strike are the students, strangely, the only ones who have nothing to gain from this conflict.” While the community has been working together to preserve some form of education, and non-unionized instructors continue to teach their classes, many students
“The Provost has indicated that he now sees a path forward to dropping the judicial review, and has initiated discussions to that
- Kirsten Anker,
remain unsure about the future.
“We feel like collateral damage in a conflict where we have nothing to gain,” said Bérubé.
It is not just Faculty of Law students that need to worry about these repercussions, but all the students of McGill.
The creation of new unions at McGill will form ripples at the university-wide level.
Both the Arts and Education faculties have formed their own associations — the Association of McGill Professors of the Faculty of Arts (AMPFA) and the Association of McGill Professors of Education (AMPE), respectively — and are gaining insight from AMPL on tips to earn accreditation, Anker shared. When an association is accredited, it is legally considered a “bargaining unit” or a union. If a faculty association does not have accreditation, it doesn’t hold any power, making it critical for AMPL to maintain its accredited status despite the McGill administration’s wishes.
While such advancements are a sign of hope for many professors, students like Bérubé fear for the future of their academic experience.
“As professors’ unions are
end with AMPL.”
AMPL Vice President
[being created] in the Faculties of Arts and Education, I can only warn my fellow students about the impacts of a potential strike, as we are still living with the impacts of this one,” noted Bérubé.
AMPL, however, does not view the spread of faculty unions in the same light. Rather than fearing the impacts of a strike, there is an understanding that mass unionization is necessary in order to push the McGill administration to properly negotiate. McGill has chosen to maintain its own power instead of prioritizing the education of its students, despite the implications of the administration’s stalling in negotiation efforts.
“While it may be difficult for students to focus on anything other than the way a strike interrupts your studies and impacts you personally, I encourage you to think about yourself as a member of this community too, rather than just a paying customer,” urges Anker. “Right now, we are fighting to preserve and foster important aspects of the university that make it worth working and studying in.”
Mara Gibea | Visuals Contributor
McGill Students Advocate For Environmental Reform at Montreal’s Climate March
Students demand real solutions to climate crisis
Eva Mariott-Fabre News Contributor
Jason Zhou News Contributor
On September 27, the wider Montreal community gathered again to march throughout the city demanding better solutions to the climate crisis.
This marked the fifth anniversary of the 2019 Montreal climate march that brought together 500,000 people, including Greta Thunberg.
Under the collective of Pour la suite du monde, nearly two dozen Quebec cities took part in climate marches alongside Montreal. Over 50 organizations, seeking to bring forth democratic solutions to the pressing environmental concerns, were represented at the Montreal climate march as well. Many McGill student activists participated in the march, bringing self-made banners and chanting for change.
The McGill contingent gathered on campus by the McConnell Engineering Building around 4:30 p.m., hosting conversation circles and giving speeches, before marching down Sherbrooke Street and Parc Ave. By 6 p.m., they joined the broader Montreal community at the George-Étienne Cartier monument in Mont-Royal Park.
“We want to see more climate justice mobilizing on campus, and we’re coming together to join this significant Quebec-wide day of mobilization,” U2 History student Rebecca Hamilton said.
Activists in Quebec are asking for a social ecological transition, one form of action within a broader environmental citizen movement, anchored in principles such as collaboration, sustainability, decentralization and selfmanagement. In a press release from Pour la suite du monde, the group stated that they requested to meet and discuss with the Quebec government this past May in order to determine “actions in favor of a real social and environmental transition.” However, they have been left with no answers to-date.
“The politicians are just dragging their feet and aren’t implementing
“We’re trying to contribute to that movement the best that we can from McGill today.”
- Rebecca Hamilton
[their promise], and we’re fed up with that lack of action and are coming together to build a new balance of power. We’re trying to contribute to that movement the best that we can from McGill today,” Hamilton added.
During the rally before the march, speakers representing McGill student advocacy groups condemned McGill’s direct investments in the fossil fuel industry. Although McGill has promised to divest from companies on the Carbon Underground 200 list by 2025, it will continue to invest in environmentally destructive companies like TC Energy.
“We also critique McGill’s existing sustainability initiatives, in particular, the New Vic project, where McGill has constantly refused to listen to the demands of the Mohawk Mothers to properly investigate potential unmarked graves on the site,” one of the speakers said in their speech.
Ahead of this year’s Climate March, Divest McGill earned a hard-fought victory after 11 years of student organizing. They succeeded in making McGill’s Board of Governors promise divest from direct investments in fossil fuel companies by the end of 2024.
“This is a big win, but there is more that we can do. We must continue to hold our university accountable for their lack of action to address the climate emergency and demand that they cut their ongoing ties with the industries and institutions that harrow our planet and fellow human beings,” a speaker said in their speech, “Our campaign for divestment from fossil fuels has shown us that the only way we can change things at McGill is through sustained student activism.”
U4 Sustainability, Science, and Society student Annelies
Koch-Schulte was among the demonstrators Friday afternoon. She has been actively participating in gatherings and protests related to climate and environmental change for the past five years. KochSchulte shared that her mindset as an activist has shifted over time.
Stepping down from hot-blooded frontline rallying to raise awareness for climate change by demanding new policy, she came to this year’s climate change march in hopes of solidifying an activist community at McGill and finding support in her own work of sustainability.
Koch-Schulte was glad to see the mobilization of student organizers, and the change they have brought in the past 10 years, but she believes that it is important to address questions like “What do we want activism on campus to look like?” or “What principles do we want it to be founded upon?” She wants
to help student activists find their bearings, know who they are, and believe in their place in this field of work.
“It’s a feeling of hope and courage for future activists because it’s generations of students who work towards the same goal,” KochSchulte said, “There’s definitely a feeling of solidarity that comes from knowing that you are picking up the work of students that have come before you. I think that that is a really meaningful thing to be part of, that passing of the torch of activism on campus.”
After McGill’s announcement to divest from their investments in fossil fuel companies, student climate change activists are hoping to shift the trajectory of current protests and gatherings.
“We were focused on calling out the issues and identifying what the problems are… Now, we have a consensus that climate change is a problem, and it’s become a lot more nuanced, a lot more critical and a lot more interconnected with a lot of other social services movements, which I think is a really good step for it to be taken,” Koch-Schulte said. She added that it’s important to still be protesting to show people that these issues matter just as much as they did years ago.
There is a consensus in student activist groups that a solution lies in systemic change. Hamilton said that the climate movement for so long has been focused on individual actions. This has changed the narrative from climate action as something that can create a more equal and affordable society to an elitist movement because a lot of individual actions are more expensive and take a lot more effort to do.
“Most people’s number one priority in choosing what food to eat isn’t whether it’s plastic. It’s about whether it’s cheap. I think that we all lose if the climate
movement focuses on narratives that perpetuate this sense of being an elitist [movement],” Hamilton said.
Various students came from the Students Strike for Palestine Organisation to advocate for Palestinian liberation alongside environmental protection. McGill student Carina believes that both issues are connected through the concept of extraction that encourages the exploitation of natural resources and reinforces colonial mindsets.
“The tie between the two of them is the legacy of imperialism and capitalism,” she said. “Once you see those connections between the layers of oppression and extractivism [for] any marginalized group, including the environment, it’s hard to look away and you can see the interconnectedness of all of these movements.”
Throughout the march, students chanted “Water is life, water is sacred, stop the pipeline, stop the hatred!” on their way to the GeorgeÉtienne Cartier monument.
Relating to the chant, another McGill attendee, Sebastian, condemned the Canadian government for constructing the Trans Mountain pipeline from Alberta to British Columbia.
“It violates every single aspect of Indigenous sovereignty over those lands. On the other hand, there’s already been leaks in the construction of it,” he said. “It’s not like it’s just a question of private interests and businesses… The entire Canadian government, the state, it’s completely complicit in it and of course, the corporations involved have the politician’s ears.”
While progress has been made worldwide in the 5 years since Thunberg marched alongside Montrealers, such as a decreasing global dependency on fossil fuels, Carina said activists continue to push for change by protesting as
these issues persist.
“There’s been victories and some milestones, specifically the climate movement, [but] I also think that there’s a lot of work that needs to be done,” she said. “There’s structural issues, systemic issues… root issues that haven’t changed.”
A first-year McGill student, who chose to remain anonymous, said the march was the first climaterelated strike they had attended at McGill. As a result, they felt compelled to get involved out of concern for their future and that of following generations. They emphasized the role of youth in climate activism, explaining that many young people get involved because the issues at hand directly threaten them, and action must take place to prevent it.
“I felt like I would regret it if I didn’t come,” they said. “The youth are the future – who else is going to be involved?”
Veteran student organizers like Hamilton and Koch-Schulte are hopeful for a better activist environment on the McGill campus in the future. Hamilton calls on students with interests in environmentalism and sustainability to get involved.
“It can feel isolating to just be learning in classes about ecological devastation and to feel rage at the small group of decision-makers that […] let destruction to people and the planet happen. But by coming together, we can feel hope,” she said. “It feels really good to be part of something bigger than yourself.”
“Your life is your moment in the sunshine where you have the opportunity to make change. It’s on all of us to use that sunshine and take that unique opportunity that is being you, and use it to the best of your abilities to make things better. [This is] a beautiful moment to make change,” KochSchulte concluded.
Jason Zhou | News Contributor
UN Guide Revolutionizes Anti-Discrimination Laws
Document provides a clear path to tackling systemic discrimination around the globe
Lisa Banti News Staff Writer
Anew comprehensive guide on anti-discrimination legislation, published by the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) and the Equal Rights Trust, is being hailed as a crucial tool for addressing systemic discrimination across the globe. Titled “Protecting Minority Rights: A Practical Guide to Developing Comprehensive Anti-Discrimination Legislation,” the 2023 publication provides a framework for governments and advocates to create robust laws that protect marginalized communities.
This guide is the product of a two-year collaboration between the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) and Equal Rights Trust, with their joint OHCHR Technical AntiDiscrimination Law Development Mission to address Costa Rica.
Written by experts Claude
Cahn (OHCHR), Jim Fitzgerald (Director, Equal Rights Trust), and UN Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Religion or Belief, Nazila Ghanea, the guide focuses on establishing international standards for legislation on equality. It offers clear, actionable steps for lawmakers and human rights defenders alike to draft and enforce more comprehensive anti-discrimination policies.
The origins of globally comprehensive anti-discrimination legislation can be traced back to post-World War II efforts, most notably the adoption of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) in 1948. While not legally binding, the UDHR was adopted by the United Nations General Assembly and represents a global commitment to human rights, influencing national and international law worldwide. Article 2 of the Declaration explicitly prohibits discrimination on several grounds, laying the foundation for national and regional efforts
Illustration courtesy of The Daily Archives
to codify protections; and though its principles are universal, countries are encouraged to incorporate these protections into their legal systems. For instance, the 2000 Equality Directive in the European Union and South Africa’sPromotion of Equality and Prevention of Unfair Discrimination Act of 2000 stand as key examples of national responses that have furthered the principles laid out in the UN’s new Anti-Discrimination legislation and guideline.
The release of the OHCHR’s Guide comes at a time when discrimination and inequality remain pervasive in many regions of the world. While several countries, such as Canada, known for its progressive LGBTQ+ rights; Argentina, which has advanced gender equality and same-sex marriage; and Portugal, recognized for its comprehensive anti-discrimination laws, have made strides in enacting equality laws, many others are still struggling to protect minorities and marginalized groups from both incidental and systemic discrimination. The guide provides detailed insights into these challenges, offering best practices from countries that have successfully implemented comprehensive legal frameworks.
The release of the guide also comes amid a wave of recent anti-discrimination initiatives across the globe. In early 2024, Germany passed its first comprehensive federal law addressing discrimination in the
workplace, specifically aimed at preventing bias against women, LGBTQ+ individuals, and people with disabilities. Similarly, Chile’s parliament is currently debating new legislation to address racial and indigenous discrimination, while Canada has seen renewed discussions on tightening existing anti-discrimination laws as part of an ongoing review of its Human Rights Act.
However, despite these developments, many countries face significant obstacles in enforcing these laws. For instance, in the U.S., enforcement of anti-discrimination protections has come under scrutiny from those who see the issue as an extension of the political division throughout the country, leading to many states rolling back protection for transgender individuals in schools and workplaces. Similarly, South Africa, while having one of the most progressive sets of equality laws, continues to grapple with enforcement issues, especially in rural areas where access to justice can be limited.
According to its authors, the guide is “an essential tool for policymakers working to dismantle discriminatory systems that disproportionately impact vulnerable communities.” They highlight how the guide examines international legal standards to provide practical examples of legislation from around the world, helping governments adapt and tailor anti-discrimination laws to their specific populations.
The guide also outlines several key principles essential for creating
effective anti-discrimination laws, including prohibitions against direct and indirect discrimination, harassment, and victimization. It emphasizes the need for reasonable accommodation for individuals with disabilities and other protected groups, aiming to ensure their equal participation in public life without undue burden. It further draws attention to the importance of enforcement mechanisms, encouraging the creation of independent bodies to investigate complaints and impose sanctions on discriminatory practices. The authors pointed out that “strong enforcement is critical to ensuring that anti-discrimination laws are not just symbolic but result in real-world change.”
Ultimately, this guide stresses the importance of international cooperation in combating discrimination. Collaboration between governments, civil society organizations, and international bodies is essential to sharing knowledge and addressing the cross-border pervasion of inequality. It also points out that despite the progress made, the journey toward global legislative equality is far from over, with many legal frameworks still lacking sufficient scope or mechanisms for enforcement. With the global rise of radically conservative movements and increasing polarization, the contribution to comprehensive antidiscrimination legislation is more urgent than perhaps ever before.
Indigenous and non-Indigenous people celebrate Indigenous culture
As streams of people wandered through the indoor athletic complex, the hot air was charged with unusual excitement and curiosity. While some attendees were clutching their school bags, others circulated through sporting beautifully intricate traditional Indigenous garments. This marked the 23rd annual Pow Wow hosted by the First Peoples’ House and the Office of Indigenous Initiatives at Tomlinson Fieldhouse. The nearly seven-hour event scheduled on Friday, September 20th reiterated for some, but introduced to many, the variety and vibrancy of Indigenous culture.
Pow Wows are colorful celebrations gathering First Nations communities. Deeply rooted in the traditions of Indigenous peoples in North America, they allow individuals to socialize, dance, and sing whilst honoring their cultures.
Dancers flowed into the centre of the Fieldhouse during the Grand Entry and MCs Lance Delisle and Marie-Celine Charron delivered their opening remarks. Flags including that of the Haudenosaunee Confederacy were pinned up and honored. The participants at the event could not be more eager to kick off the day.
The agenda outlined a variety of cultural dancing such as Haudenosaunee social dancing and Métis jigging. People gathered around to watch performances of Inuit throat singing and drumming by the RedTail Spirit Singers, Ottawa River Singers, SpiritWind, and Spirit Wolf. Indigenous peoples of different Nations were encouraged to join in on the celebrations of culture. Dozens of vendors lined the walls of the Fieldhouse selling jewelry and fundraising for causes like Native Montreal, an organization that offers health and support services to
Indigenous communities in the greater Montreal area.
The McGill Pow Wow provided non-Indigenous peoples with the opportunity to experience unique Indigenous traditions first-hand, serving as a valuable moment for cultural education. Attendees were encouraged to join in at many moments to learn dancing techniques.
The Pow Wow conveyed to non-Indigenous peoples the importance of Indigenous heritage preservation, which was expressed by a first-year McGill student to The Daily after witnessing the Jingle dance. This was her first Pow Wow.
“There are so many dimensions to Indigenous culture that I am being introduced to today. Being in the presence of so many people [who are] willing to share their culture with others so openly is a gift,” she said.
Even members of the Indigenous community were impressed by the collective displays of culture. Kona Slays,
an Indigenous entrepreneur of the fashion brand Love, Koko, took home first prize at the Ribbon Skirt special. She expressed to The Daily her excitement surrounding the Indigenous participants.
“My favorite event was the Jingle dancing,” Slays said. “I didn’t know that there were so many dancers!” She was rewarded $500 for her teal ribbon skirt.
Ribbon skirts represent the sacredness of womanhood and strength in many Indigenous cultures across North America. Named for the colourful rows of ribbons sewn along the bottom hem of the skirt, they have evolved into symbols of remembrance for the Missing and Murdered Indigenous women.
While an opportunity for commemoration and celebration, this year’s Pow Wow was also tinged with irony as the university fights Kanien’kehá:ka Kahnistensera (Mohawk Mothers) in court over the possible presence of unmarked graves on the site of The Royal Victoria Hospital. Mohawk Mothers were present at the Pow Wow as well, highlighting above all the resilience of the Indigenous community and the importance of healing on Kanien’kehà:ka land.
Leyla Assabghy News Contributor
Auden Akinc Visuals Contributor
A Look Into Four Emerging Canadian Authors of South Asian Descent
New authors take root in “The Garden of Literary Delights”
Content warning: colonial violence, racism, white supremacy
On September 29, literature enthusiasts from in and around Montreal gathered at Le Gesù to attend the fourth edition of the Kabir Cultural Centre’s “Garden of Literary Delights.” Established as part of the centre’s NexGen MultiArts Festival, this event aims to highlight South Asian writers in Canada who are emerging onto the literary sphere. Each writer read a selected section from their books, before converging in a panel discussion and taking questions from the audience.
The panel was curated by writer and journalist Veena Gokhale, who has written several books herself and takes part in organizing this event each year. For the 2024 iteration of the Garden of Literary Delights, she proudly introduces two new genres: translation and children’s literature. As she introduced the panel, Gokhale emphasized the “pluralism and diversity” of the authors present in the room: Janika Oza, Mariam Pirbhai, Shahroza Nahrin, and Mitali Banerjee Ruths.
Janika Oza kicked off the panel by reading from her recent debut novel, A History of Burning . Oza comes from a long lineage of migrants who left British-ruled India for British-ruled East Africa, where they lived for multiple generations until the 1972 expulsion of Asians from Uganda. As the first person in her family to be born in Canada, she wanted to tell the untold stories that arose
As Oza shares her experience of visiting Kenya for the first time to promote her book, an audience member stands up: “I was born in Nairobi, and the way you described Kenya is so realistic that I can hardly believe you’d never been there.” It felt like a full-circle acknowledgement of the stories she set out to represent while writing A History of Burning
from this history of immigration. A History of Burning is a result of this dream. Shortlisted for the 2023 Governor General’s Award for English Fiction and the 2024 Carol Shields Prize for Fiction, her novel is a striking historical epic that charts the genealogy of one family from 1898 onwards. Oza read from a chapter about Rajni, a character who moves from Karachi to Uganda after getting married, giving us insight into the subaltern voices that often go unheard when discussing history from a broader perspective.
It is these unexplored histories that Oza wants to bring our attention to. When asked about her research process for this novel, she explained that she initially tried to consult historical resources, but found that there was a huge lack of written material about Indians in Kenya and Uganda. She turned to asking around her family for information,
and filled in the rest of the gaps with fiction. By having these conversations with real people in her life, she says she realized the importance of collective memory and highlighting these stories from within her community.
As Oza shares her experience of visiting Kenya for the first time to promote her book, an audience member stands up to say: “I was born in Nairobi, and the way you described Kenya is so realistic that I can hardly believe you’d never been there.” It felt like a full-circle acknowledgement of the stories she set out to represent while writing A History of Burning.
The problem of representation is one that all the authors on this panel contend with. Mariam Pirbhai is a professor of English literature at Wilfrid Laurier University, who joined us via Zoom all the way from Waterloo to discuss writing her work through a decolonial lens. She presented two of her most recent books: Isolated Incident, a fictional novel about the lives of Muslim Canadians on the heels of a hate crime against a mosque in Toronto; and Garden Inventories, a work of creative nonfiction that reflects on how gardens contain histories of culture. The scene she read from Isolated Incident
Through rich, visually-immersive writing and evocative imagery, Pirbhai draws connections between her human experiences and gardening.
Arismita Ghosh Culture Contributor
Arismita Ghosh | Culture Contributor
For Nahrin, a translator becomes an activist when they translate a book from a marginalized community and bring these voices to the forefront. She describes Life and Political Reality as a “frictional work,” a “thorny text” that goes against the mainstream grain.
showed the difference between how two characters confronted an Islamophobic parade in Montreal, an incident based on a real white supremacist demonstration that took place in Quebec City. Pirbhai explained that she tried to cast the lens inward and show the friction that exists within Muslim communities as well, in order to counter how reductively Muslims are represented in the media.
Garden Inventories , which was a finalist for the 2024 Foreword Indies Book Award for Nonfiction/Nature Writing, takes on a similarly introspective tone. It draws inspiration from Pirbhai’s own garden in Waterloo that she spent years cultivating. It was there that she realized that plants were not so different from people, which in turn led her to question our relationship to nature in our everyday lives. Through rich, visually-immersive writing and evocative imagery, Pirbhai draws connections between her human experiences and gardening. She reflects on her position as someone who has moved through multiple continents before settling in Canada, and how this history of immigration affects the way she interacts with the land around her. As a surprise for the audience, Pirbhai even shared a few photos of this titular garden –and it is every bit as stunning as she described it to be!
The next panelist moved us away from landscapes and back to history, as Shahroza Nahrin introduced her translation of
works by Bangladeshi author Shahidul Zahir, entitled Life and Political Reality: Two Novellas. A graduate student from McGill, Nahrin has a background in academia and literary translation. She was recently featured on CBC ’s “All in a Weekend with Sonali Karnick,” where she spoke about Zahir’s influence on Bengali literature. Before reading from her book, she posed an important question to the audience: “Who makes the decision of which books get translated and which don’t?”
For Nahrin, a translator becomes an activist when they translate a book from a marginalized community and bring these voices to the forefront. She describes Life and Political Reality as a “frictional work,” a “thorny text” that goes against the mainstream grain. The excerpt she read from the book exemplified this perfectly, as it brought attention to the effect of the Bangladeshi genocide on a small locality in Dhaka, highlighting the silenced voices there.
Nahrin spoke about the struggles that come with translating the works of such an iconic literary figure, explaining how she and her co-translator tried to keep Zahir’s musical writing style alive throughout their translation. They also made the decision to retain some Bangla dialogues within the text, in order to challenge English hegemony and stay true to the original tone wherever possible.
representation within children’s literature: since monsters are often considered non-human because they cannot see their own reflection, Ruths wanted to provide children with their own reflection so that they would not feel less than human. Her latest series, The Party Diaries , follows the main character Priya Chakraborty as she plans different parties for the friends and family in her community.
Ruths, laughing, when a member of the audience asked her about her own children’s response to her books. “If there’s a joke they don’t laugh at, I know I have to go back and rework it!”
From historical fiction to children’s literature, the wide range of authors present in this year’s Garden of Literary Delights leaves me with hope for the future of South Asian representation in Canada’s literary scenes. If you’d
Ruths explained that she wanted children to be able to see different foods and cultures represented in their picture books, both as a valuable source of learning and a way of identifying themselves in what they are reading. She is grateful for the opportunity to shape children through her writing, as she herself harbours a huge appreciation for the books she read as a child.
like to get more involved, the Kabir Centre’s NexGen MultiArts Festival will continue to highlight emerging Canadian artists across different fields over the next month, including a visual arts exhibition and celebrations of classical music and dance. culture
Nahrin is extremely passionate about Zahir’s work, which was evident from the heartfelt way in which she outlined the importance of his legacy on Bangladeshi literature. Similar to the fictionalized accounts of Dublin and Macondo which characterize the works of James Joyce and Gabriel García Márquez, Zahir mythologizes Old Dhaka and creates a unique world through magical realism.
The importance of bringing South Asian voices into the spotlight, which has been expressed by all the authors so far, is exemplified through the work of children’s author Mitali Banerjee Ruths. A self-proclaimed “TexanQuebecois” born to Indian Bengali parents, Ruths’ main intention as a children’s author was to write the kind of books she wanted to read as a child. She uses a creative metaphor to describe the lack of South Asian
Ruths explained that she wanted children to be able to see different foods and cultures represented in their picture books, both as a valuable source of learning and a way of identifying themselves in what they are reading. She is grateful for the opportunity to shape children through her writing, as she herself harbours a huge appreciation for the books she read as a child. “My kids are always my first critics,” said
Arismita Ghosh | Culture Contributor
A Personal Decade of Virtual Learning
From computer labs to COVID-19 and beyond
Andrei Li Sci+Tech Editor
Before I turned ten, “internet” and “school” were two separate concepts. The “internet” was something I used at home to watch nature documentaries and Nickelodeon cartoons, to browse books on the municipal library website, and to make my first, admittedly terrible, steps into writing. At “school,” we wrote and drew and scribbled on paper. We were given paper handouts and handed journals on floppy, hole-punched notebooks. All our work was done with a pencil in hand. The “internet” didn’t belong at school, the way running laps didn’t belong in a music classroom and the way you never brought your math worksheets to a reading of Anne of Green Gables.
The notion that the internet had academic applications barely crossed my mind as a child. Sure, I learned things by surfing around on Internet Explorer (oh, the antiquated horrors), and I did search up answers on web browsers for some of my homework assignments. But the other possibilities just never really clicked for me back then.
So, come Grade 3 and my thirdperiod “computer studies” class, you could colour me surprised. We were marched, single-file, to one of those big “computer labs” lined with rows of desks and those clunky, absurdly slow Windows desktops. This was before the Chromebook carts, mind you. If you wanted to access the internet at school, you went to the computer lab. You pressed the power button on the monitor, then the power button on the desktop if that didn’t work, then prayed that something would happen. With some luck, the computer would whir to life. Just as frequently, you would be stuck on a loading screen, watching the little white pixels twirling in a perpetual dance. Early 2010s school tech –what more is there to say?
Our teacher dressed more like the office IT guy than an elementary school teacher, with his dress shirts and squareframed glasses and oddly-timed jokes about obscure Albanian customs. We learned about Ctrl + Alt + Delete, about our student numbers and how we could use them to log onto school computers. We learned how to set passwords and download files and open our student Google accounts. Some of my classmates were ahead of the
curve: I distinctly remember the boy next to me learning to code in Javascript on Khan Academy while the rest of us were still learning how to navigate the school website.
Soon thereafter my teachers started using Google Classroom. Announcements and assignments were posted online. I typed up my homework in Google Docs, uploaded the file into the submission box and pressed that big bold “Submit” button with a slight sense of foreboding. Grades were returned online, and to this day I hesitate before viewing them. By the time middle school rolled around, all of this had become second nature. I didn’t have to think twice to know that
We were marched, singlefile, to one of those big “computer labs” lined with rows of desks and those clunky, absurdly slow Windows desktops. This was before the Chromebook carts, mind you.
when you create a new account, you had to go into “settings” and check “site permissions” and “privacy,” to make sure things like “share data with third parties” and “location access” were off. For group projects, you shared documents with your group partners by either copying the link to the file or uploading it to the cloud. School clubs set up their own Google Classrooms to keep in touch and set deadlines. We played Kahoot in sex-ed class, hoping that our laughter could hide the embarrassment.
“Google Classroom” started as a name mentioned carelessly in a stuffy computer lab, and ended up a staple of the academic experience by the time I graduated middle school. High school made the virtual classroom into the core of the learning environment. In the pre-COVID-19 months, some of our teachers diverged from
the Google Classroom equation and experimented with D2L Brightspace. D2L stood for “Desire 2 Learn,” a hippie name for a “cool and modern” learning platform, except that Brightspace’s sterile, brutalist layout stripped away any desire to learn instead of engaging me as advertised. Even now, opening up myCourses triggers a deep-seated nostalgia for those simpler bygone times, when you could access course content in an intuitively-displayed feed, instead of needing to click through ten gazillion tabs only to realize your teacher hadn’t made the content visible.
Then came the pandemic. If I still had any lingering doubts that virtual learning platforms would become an essential aspect of the modern classroom, COVID-19 beat them soundly out of my head. Without Google Classroom and Brightspace, there would have been nowhere to submit our work during the lockdown. Without Google Meet and Zoom, classes would have been restricted to notes and
The internet made learning possible during the pandemic — made it possible for us to retain some degree of normalcy while the world was flipped upside down.
recordings, and teacher-student interaction would have fallen even below the dismal minimum it had already dropped to. The Internet made learning possible during the pandemic — made it possible for us to retain some degree of normalcy while the world was flipped upside down.
Isn’t it ironic? In my early schooling years, I never envisioned the Internet to play any significant role in school. A little less than a decade later, schooling only seems to be possible because of the Internet.
Nowadays, vestigial practices from the COVID-19 era remain central components of academic life. Missed a lecture? No problem: the professor
probably made a recording. Have to organize a meeting with ten participants in different locations? No biggie – just set up a Zoom call and you’ll all be side by side on your screens. The internet is the most powerful tool of our time, and it’s been an enlightening and encouraging experience to see it shape our classrooms for the better.
Meredith Cloutier | Visuals Contributor
How McGill Weaponized Public Health Against Student Protesters
Public health scholars speak out
Mariam El Sheikh Siobhan Carroll Commentary Contributors
Content warning: mentions of overdoses, drugs, war, genocide
For 74 days, the student encampment protesting McGill’s ties to industries profiting from the ongoing genocide in Palestine was in full view from our offices at the School of Population and Global Health. At 5:00 a.m. on its 75th day, a private security firm hired by McGill forcibly removed protesting students and dismantled the encampment. In its place was a bulldozer guarded by police cars and officers. McGill justified these actions by claiming the encampment posed health and safety risks. As PhD students in epidemiology at the School of Population and Global Health, we strongly believe that this weaponization of public health narratives to justify actions against student encampments must stop.
The real public health crisis is the one unfolding in Gaza.
For months, McGill failed to convince police and courts to intervene and dismantle the encampment. At the same time, official emails to the McGill community became increasingly false and alarmist. On May 10, McGill sent an email detailing “the risks that the encampment pose[d] to the safety, security and public health of members of the McGill community.” Based on media reports and first-hand accounts of healthcare professionals who were on-site daily, we disagree. These
The housing and drug crises have not disappeared since the encampment was dismantled—they are just no longer visible on campus.
included physicians, one of whom stated in an affidavit that there was no threat to public health in the camp. In response to McGill’s email, nearly 150 members of our School signed an open letter denouncing the mischaracterization of the encampment as a public health threat and highlighting the dire public health crisis in Gaza. Even after they acknowledged receipt of our letter, the McGill administration continued to flood our inboxes with the same false claims.
The day that McGill dismantled the encampment, President Deep Saini cited an alleged rat infestation as a motivation for its actions. While we have not seen evidence of such a problem, McGill has been ignoring rat infestations across campus for years. If the administration is concerned about rodent infestations, we suggest they pay a visit to its student residences or the basements of any of its libraries.
Saini also claimed that “there [were] fire risks, including a propane canister and flammable materials next to tents.” Ironically, McGill itself partly created
this risk. The administration shut off electricity around the encampment, including to the streetlights on lower campus. This forced students to use propane for cooking, leading to potential fire hazards. In fact, the students proactively practice fire safety, keeping fire extinguishers on site.
In the same email, Saini complained that “Unhoused individuals now make up most of the few people who are sleeping in the camp overnight,” elaborating that “two overdoses occurred at
the camp […] Syringes are visible, and illegal narcotics have been sold there.” These claims were not supported by any evidence, and given Saini’s history of making questionable statements to criticize and undermine the encampment, we have doubts about the reliability of these assertions. Furthermore, the term “unhoused” rather than “homeless” is now used to reduce stigma by emphasizing people’s lack of housing rather than tying it to their identity. In an incredible show of hypocrisy, McGill used this destigmatizing term to justify dismantling the encampment due to its proximity to unhoused people. Authorities have often weaponized narratives related to public health to justify actions against unhoused people. Students at the encampment created a welcoming community, offering free resources (including food and water) to those in need. Blaming overdoses on the encampment and citing them as reasons for its dismantlement is also low. Overdoses are the tragic consequence of individual- and systemic-level factors, but they are
not caused by student protests. The housing and drug crises have not disappeared since the encampment was dismantled — they are just no longer visible on campus.
While the administration spread false claims about public health threats, it failed to engage in any genuine discussion related to divestment from companies profiting from the ongoing genocide in Palestine. Students organized the encampment in solidarity with people in Gaza, who are facing indiscriminate bombing, organized starvation, disease outbreak, and the destruction of their healthcare system. These are actual public health crises. If McGill cared about public health, it would address this reality and stop funding industries profiting from it.
With contributions from Zeinab Cherri, Phoebe Friesen, Rina Lall, R.L., Y. S. Law, Kaya Van Roost
Students organized the encampment in solidarity with people in Gaza, who are facing indiscriminate bombing, organized starvation, disease outbreak, and the destruction of their healthcare system. These are actual public health crises.
