The Tribune Vol. 44 Issue 25 (final winter 2025 special issue)
As you rifle through The Tribune’s final issue, I implore you to consider a heavy, urgent, and tender word: Responsibility. For the past academic year, student revolutionaries took on the responsibility to spearhead movements for Indigenous sovereignty and Palestinian liberation, fought against increasing conservatism and fascism across North America, and resisted rising capitalism and repression. At McGill, we faced a university administration that has increased surveillance, authoritarianism, and suppression of dissent.
Considering these constant revolutions, I ask that you consider your responsibility, and wear it as a badge of honour. Responsibility is your power, not your inconvenience. Responsibility emerges from compassion—a care for someone beyond yourself. It is an act of love to be held accountable for seeking justice for another. I ask that you take on the responsibility of harnessing knowledge of injustice and using it to grow in radicalism. Recall that resistance is a form of love, that knowledge is not neutral, and that silence can never equate to safety. Seek responsibility in protest, in print, in persistence. I ask that in every action you take, every story you digest, every word you speak, you remember your inherent responsibility: To speak truth to power. To resist an
oppressive status quo. To fight against colonialism, patriarchy, and white supremacy.
The Tribune changed my life. I began three years ago as a wide-eyed Staff Writer for the News section, becoming a News Editor the year after. This year, I had the responsibility of leading the largest McGill student paper as its 44th Editorin-Chief. The weight of that title never sat lightly on my shoulders. The Tribune worked tirelessly to uplift Palestinian students, racialized students, queer students, disabled students, Indigenous students, for every voice the institution tried to erase. We sought to hold our student and university administrators accountable. We sought to teach rigorous and critical journalism as an act of kindness, as an act of education, a pedagogy of truth, and most importantly, as a responsibility. Student journalism can not function independently of you, our students. I thank you for your dedication to The Tribune’s goals of fostering trust and transparency. Thank you to our contributors and staff writers, photographers, and illustrators for filling our pages with life. Thank you to our Board of Directors for all your work in keeping our ship afloat, financially and administratively. Finally, thank you to all of our editors for bearing the immense responsibility of pouring your care into our dayto-day collaboration, creating
exceptional issues from week to week. I am endlessly grateful. As I sit in The Tribune’s board room and construct this letter at midnight of our last production day, I recall the day I moved to Montreal three years ago. My dad drove me up from Toronto. The journey should’ve taken six hours; he made it 16. He never admitted it, but he was trying to prolong the final day he had with his daughter. Tonight, I feel like him. I take my sweet time chatting with my editors as I do not want the final production cycle to conclude. I pause between reading paragraphs and share a funny anecdote. I look up at our wall of past issues, and I don’t just see print. I see all
we’ve learned and built together.
This is a space that taught me how to innovate, how to shed fear, and how to master patience. Most importantly, The Tribune taught me responsibility. To keep showing up. To choose justice, even when it’s hard. To know that my words, and silences, shape the world.
And with this, I leave The Tribune. My writers, photographers, illustrators, editors, and readers—I implore you to remember: Revolution should be your daily rhythm, and responsibility, your fundamental commitment.
—Jasjot Kaur Grewal, Editor-inChief
Students organize protest, programming, and pickets in historic three-day strike for Palestine Strike calls on McGill to cut financial and academic ties with Israel
Amelia H. Clark Staff Writer
Olivia Ardito
Staff Writer
Romeo Pelletier
Contributor
From April 2-4, the Students’ Society of McGill University (SSMU) engaged in a three-day student strike to pressure the university to cut financial and academic ties with the Israeli state. In addition to demands for McGill to divest from and cease partnerships with institutions complicit in Israel’s genocide of Palestinians, the strike called for disciplinary immunity for students advocating for Palestine. This marks the first time since 2004 that the student union has been on strike.
Students first brought the motion to strike for Palestine to SSMU through a Special General Assembly on March 27. As 679 of the 692 students in attendance voted in its favour, the motion passed and was put to the student union membership for a ratification vote. Seventy-two per cent of voting students cast a “Yes” ballot to ratify the motion.
Organizers encouraged students to participate in strike programming activities instead of attending classes, including educational activities such as film screenings, teach-ins, and workshops.
Tuesday, April 1, 5:00 p.m.: McGill affirms that academic activities will continue during the strike
A day before the strike, Provost and Executive Vice-President (Academic) Christopher Manfredi released an email statement noting that the university would continue to hold scheduled academic activities such as classes and labs amid the strike.
“Students who choose to participate in the strike will not be entitled to academic accommodations for missed coursework,” Manfredi wrote. “Instructors should refrain from using class time or university resources (e.g., myCourses) to promote strike-related activities.”
Manfredi acknowledged students’ rights to assembly but affirmed that strikers could not obstruct university activities.
Tuesday, April 1, 2:00 p.m.: SPHR launches form to report non-cancelled classes
On April 1, Students for Palestine’s Honour and Resistance (SPHR) at McGill released a “Report Your Non-Compliant Prof” Google Form that allowed students to anonymously report the date, time, and location of any of their uncancelled classes. No field in the form requested professors’ names. The form’s header advised students to first reach out to their professors and ask that they cancel classes before turning to the form.
Wednesday, April 2, 3:00 p.m.: McGill and SSMU issue statements calling for peaceful and voluntary strike
In an email to staff and students on April 2, Angela Campbell, Interim Deputy Provost, Student Life and Learning, released a statement condemning SPHR’s online form. Campbell alleged the form violated McGill’s policies, including the Code of Student Conduct and Disciplinary Procedures.
“Some instructors are concerned that if they are ‘reported’ their classes will be obstructed, and they and their students will be harassed, by protesters over the coming days,” Campbell wrote. “Such an intimidation tactic is totally unethical, unacceptable, and damaging to our community.”
SSMU echoed the McGill administration’s stance in a statement released on the afternoon of April 2 via their official Instagram page. They criticized “a petition circulating online which asks students to report on professors who choose to hold class during the strike,” likely referring to SPHR’s form. They condemned the petition as “promoting actions contrary to a peaceful strike” and called for nonconfrontational, voluntary acts of protest.
When asked about SSMU’s statement, a representative from SPHR who wished to remain unnamed told The Tribune that the student union should represent the democratic will of the student body by calling on professors to comply with the strike.
“Since this is a strike that SSMU is upholding, [...] SSMU should be demanding professors to accommodate students who are striking,” the representative said.
SSMU President Dymetri Taylor confirmed in an interview that the student union’s Instagram post did not go through the student union’s Legislative Council or Board of Directors, as is standard procedure. Taylor stated that the message was pushed out quickly to affirm SSMU’s adherence to its Constitution.
“It was simply the SSMU following through with its messaging [....] That way, [SSMU] couldn’t be held responsible for the actions of other groups that don’t actually have association with the SSMU,” Taylor told The Tribune
Taylor noted there is precedent for circumventing proper regulatory channels due to limited time to approve such messages.
“As an example, the statement on the first declaration of the strike motion didn’t go through any of those bodies, either,” said Taylor.
SSMU Vice President of University Affairs Abe Berglas reported in a written statement to The Tribune that they did not have a chance to read or approve the message before it was released.
“For a statement to be signed by SSMU executives/executive committee, every executive’s consent is needed.” Berglas wrote. “For a statement signed by [Legislative Council] or [Board of Directors], there needs to be a motion to that effect.”
Berglas affirmed they intend to advocate for and support students facing disciplinary action related to the strike, “regardless of how their form of protest conforms with the Code of Student Conduct.”
Wednesday, April 2, 4:30 p.m.: SPHR and AGSEM host “Strike Lessons and Palestine” workshop
Organizers held 10 strike programming events on campus across the three days, including a student rally, national march, and fundraiser for Palestinian Liberation. The Association of Graduate Students Employed at McGill (AGSEM) and SPHR co-hosted “Strike Lessons and Palestine” on April 2, a workshop teaching attendees how to use different strike techniques to effectively negotiate and mobilize. The event speaker, who wished to remain anonymous, shared tactics AGSEM’s Unit 1 (which represents teaching assistants) employed during their three-week strike in 2024.
Rama Al-Malah, a representative of SPHR and co-organizer of the workshop, stated that for the last two years, the student movement for Palestine has been growing, as evidenced by the strike vote passing with a majority.
The AGSEM speaker first emphasized that trust in the union and one’s peers is key to a strike’s ongoing success. They highlighted picketing as a core method students can use to ensure others feel safe participating in a strike, as discouraging students from attending class provides those already striking protection from academic punishment.
The speaker argued that union members must be eager to participate in a strike, otherwise, negotiations are more likely to stall. They outlined that events such as workshops, like the speaker’s own, should be organized by a striking union to remind its members that strikes are an effective method of mobilization.
The speaker told The Tribune that the most important thing students can do during this strike is “know [their] rights, and don’t be afraid to stand up for what [they] believe in.”
Thursday, April 3, 2:00 p.m.: Student protestors smash window to Dean of Engineering’s Office, demand an end to academic ties to weapons manufacturing
Around 150 students gathered outside of the University Centre for a rally as part of strike programming, chanting, “Disclose, divest, we will not stop, we will not rest.” After about 20 minutes, the rally moved inside the Macdonald Engineering Building. The group traveled upstairs to the office of the Dean of Engineering, Viviane Yargeau, where a protestor filled a fire extinguisher with red paint and threw it through the glass door of the Dean’s office. McGill reported that paint sprayed from out of the fire extinguisher, also hitting one staff member inside the office. The rally then moved outside the James Administration Building, where speakers claimed that research from Engineering labs at McGill contribute to the manufacturing of missiles and bombs used in the genocide in Gaza.
“The purpose of the rally is to reaffirm and reiterate the student demands for divestment and the strike for divestment. There won’t be any classes during genocide,” another SPHR representative, who wished to be unnamed, said at the demonstration. “The strike will set a precedent and is part of the long-term campaign for divestment.”
“We’ve never seen the student body this united and galvanized, but also agitated,” Al-Malah said. “We’ve seen students take up pickets against their own classes. We’ve seen professors cancel classes in solidarity. So, we’re seeing this strike pick up and reverberate across campus.”
Around 3 p.m., the rally traveled down rue University and ended outside the Roddick Gates. A large police presence surrounded the rally for the entire duration of the event.
“Based on the huge numbers of police, I think the main takeaway [from the rally] is that the administration is incredibly scared of the power of the students [….] You’ve probably got more cops than students at this rally,” one McGill student in attendance told The Tribune
Friday, April 4: McGill requires McGill IDs to enter buildings
On the evening of April 3, McGill announced via email that students would need to provide their university ID cards to access campus buildings on April 4.
“Our goal is to protect the rights of our students who want unobstructed access to their classes, labs and study spaces,” McGill’s Media Relations Office (MRO) wrote in a
statement to The Tribune. “We hope that a day of card access to our buildings will limit the ability of non-McGill protesters to disrupt the core academic activities, to which all of our university community members have a right.”
In a written statement, a representative of SPHR criticized McGill’s choice to increase security on campus as a disruption to campus and as a surveillance tactic. However, the representative maintained that the final day of strike activities went as planned despite this increase in security.
“On Friday we saw programming for Palestine come to an end with a fundraising bazaar and classes being picketed, a [...] strike strategy that campus has seen before with law faculty strikes and TA strikes,” The representative wrote. “The student movement will never be deterred by these tactics.”
Voter turnout for the vote to ratify the strike motion was 17 per cent. (Zoe Lee / The Tribune )
(Hannah Nobile / The Tribune )
(Zoe Lee / The Tribune )
(Ruby Reimer / The Tribune )
(Armen Erzingatzian / The Tribune )
BREAKING: McGill announces intent to end contractual agreement with SSMU, taking parties to mediation
SSMU President affirms society operations will continue, subject to change after negotiations
Shani Laskin Managing Editor
On the afternoon of April 7, the McGill community received an email on behalf of Interim Deputy Provost (Student Life and Learning) Angela Campbell with the subject line “Termination of the SSMUMcGill Memorandum of Agreement.” The email—which condemned the Students’ Society of McGill University’s (SSMU) student strike the week before—outlined that the University sought to end the Memorandum of Agreement (MoA) with SSMU, the document that governs the relationship between the parties. Per the MoA, this means that SSMU and McGill will enter a mediation process, during which the Agreement, and thus SSMU operations, will remain in effect.
Following a SSMU Special General Assembly (SGA) on March 27, 2,731 students voted to ratify a strike for Palestine from April 2-4. Throughout the three days, organizers picketed classrooms, offered educational programming, and hosted a student rally on April 5. During the rally, a protestor smashed the window of Dean of Engineering Viviane Yargeau’s office with a fire extinguisher filled with paint. Campbell wrote that a staff member was hit. In addition, protestors successfully cancelled certain classes as a result of picketing. Campbell denounced these actions as a “[violation of] our collective values.”
“The SSMU can and should have ruled the motion that led to the strike referendum as out of order given SSMU’s governing documents, but opted against this. The result was a campus environment in which dozens of classes were blocked or interrupted.”
Students for Palestine’s Honour and Resistance (SPHR) at McGill, one of the groups involved in organizing programming, expressed what they believed to be the reason for McGill’s response in a statement to The Tribune
“McGill has once again attacked the Pro-Palestine student movement, threatening to crack down on our democratic channels,” SPHR wrote.
“This newest threat is a reaction to pressure from zionist donors and our warmongering political class, who are desperate to regain control of a student body that stands with Palestine in its struggle for liberation. As always, repression sharpens the contours of the student movement. We call on our union to stand firmly with Palestine and our democratically enforced demand for divestment.”
Under section 16 of the MoA, McGill and SSMU must now enter mediation to attempt to reach a resolution. This process is estimated to last until June. If the parties do not reach an agreement, SSMU’s operations would not cease but would be severely impacted. Primarily,
“Last week, SSMU allowed and, at least tacitly, supported a three-day strike that further divided a campus community already deeply cleaved and hurting,” Campbell wrote in the email.
SSMU’s lease of the University Centre would be terminated meaning services, clubs, and independent student groups would lose access to those spaces, and Gerts Bar & Café would close. The student union and associated student groups would also no longer be able to operate using the McGill name. SSMU would still be able to receive student fees, however, allowing it to operate in an adjusted capacity.
This is not the first time in recent years that McGill has considered termination of the MoA due to SSMU’s activities. In 2022, the university made a similar announcement following a referendum vote that approved the Palestine Solidarity Policy with a 71 per cent majority of votes. In an interview with The Tribune, SSMU President Dymetri Taylor noted that McGill’s response was a culmination of what the administration perceived to be SSMU’s repeated violations of the MoA.
“It has to do with the strike, and it also doesn’t, because this is something
that’s kind of been brewing for quite some time,” Taylor said.
Taylor affirmed that until mediation between the two parties is completed, all SSMU operations will continue to run.
“Everybody will more or less know when they come back in September, what’s actually been affected. Everything will be running as it originally was. There’s not going to be any changed operations. Employees [...] are still very much employees. Insurance is still going on, bookings are still valid, nothing’s changed [....] everything is operating as usual,” Taylor said.
McGill denied The Tribune’s request for further comment.
Seven out of nine candidates withdrawn from PGSS election Chief Returning Officer cites failure to submit expenditure reports as infraction
Jasjot Grewal
Editor-in-Chief
Yusur
Al-Sharqi
Managing Editor
The Post-Graduate Students’ Society’s (PGSS) Chief Returning Officer (CRO) Ali Ekber Cinar announced the withdrawal of seven out of nine of the election candidates for the upcoming PGSS executive election. The election, scheduled from March 24 to April 7, has still run with only two uncontested candidates on the ballot— Ansley Gnanapragasam for Financial Affairs Officer and Cindy Garcia for University Affairs Officer.
In accordance with the Society Activities Manual (SAM), which governs the PGSS election process, candidates were withdrawn from the election due to SAM 9.11.6, which specifies that candidates must send a list of all campaign expenses to the CRO within 24 hours of polls opening. In a written statement to The Tribune, Cinar explained that candidates who did not submit their disclosure were required to withdraw. Cinar also explained that he was unable to grant an extension for candidates to submit their expenses as regulated by the SAM.
“The [SAM] outlines, ‘If no submission of expenditures or declaration that spending did not exceed [$5 CAD] is received by the PGSS within [24] hours of the polls opening the candidate or referendum committee shall be required to withdraw from the election by the Chief Returning Officer,’” he wrote. “Candidates were informed about this requirement, and those who did not submit their disclosure were therefore required to withdraw in accordance with the Society Activities Manual.”
Sheheryar Ahmed, the sole candidate
running for the 2025-26 Secretary General position, was one of the withdrawn candidates. In an interview with The Tribune, Ahmed explained that as a PGSS Counselor, he noticed issues in a lack of transparency of information, inspiring him to run. He said the mass withdrawal of candidates took him by surprise.
“In this case, the decision taken by the [CRO] was quite shocking. It feels like an attempt to observe the rules to the letter rather than interpret their spirit,” Ahmed said.
According to Ahmed, candidates were informed about SAM 9.11.3 on Feb. 24. However, based on his own research into the SAM’s guidelines, he believed that the clauses were not appropriately applied. The SAM 9.11.7 specifies that “Any candidate or
Chairperson, or any person acting on their behalf or suasion, who willfully violates the provisions of this section shall be withdrawn from the election or referendums.”
Amina Bourai was among the candidates who were withdrawn after failing to submit their disclosure, despite not spending any money on her campaign. In an interview with The Tribune, Bourai expressed a similar concern about the CRO’s implementation of the SAM.
“The first thing that caught my attention [SAM 9.11.7] is the part where it says ‘willfully,’” Bourai said. “I would have [...] stopped and wondered, ‘Did seven people out of nine really go about and maliciously decide to hide that we haven’t spent any money?’”
However, Cinar claimed that the SAM
does not include a stipulation regarding intent.
“This rule does not specify that withdrawal requires any malicious intent to conceal funds,” Cinar wrote.
Bourai explained that she had promptly responded to the request for confirmation about her expenditure disclosure, yet she still faced withdrawal due to the strict 24-hour deadline.
“He sent the email March 25 [...] at 7:18, and I sent him the email declaring that I had not spent any money at 7:27, so it was not even 10 minutes,” Bourai said.
For Ahmed, this PGSS election marked increased democratic participation within the graduate student body. The mass withdrawals have illustrated a slowdown in momentum and the potential dangers of vacant positions.
Cinar has submitted a timeline proposal that aims to conclude the process for a byelection for the remaining executive positions before the current executive committee’s term ends on May 31, 2025, to ensure no vacancies. However, he explained that the final authority to approve the by-election process lies within the PGSS Council.
Several candidates submitted contestations of the CRO’s decision for review. According to Ahmed, withdrawn candidates were told that the Elections Committee would meet on April 2 to discuss the contestations. However, the next day, they were informed that the Judicial Board, which currently hosts three out of three vacant seats, had to make this decision.
“We’re basically in hope that the appointment board will fill the Judicial Board by the [council] meeting on April 9, the council meeting so that the appointments can be ratified and the decision can be made in a timely manner,” Ahmed said.
The new MoA between McGill and SSMU was signed on Feb. 28, 2025. (Mia Helfrich / The Tribune )
A pending case regarding ex-candidate Naga Thovinakere’s candidacy was dropped from review due to her withdrawal from the election. (Hannah Nobile / The Tribune )
SSMU LC repasses Policy Against Antisemitism in final moments of year’s last session
Gallery participation seeking to heavily amend the Policy was unsuccessful
Mairin Burke News Editor
The Students’ Society of McGill University (SSMU)’s Legislative Council (LC) aimed to resolve unfinished business at its last meeting of the 2024-2025 academic year on April 3. The session saw the LC’s re-approval of the Policy Against Antisemitism, which faced legal opposition after it first passed in December 2024.
The meeting commenced with Director of Clubs and Services Hamza Abu-Alkhair reading the Services Committee Report. Science Councillor Ishita Kumar asked for clarification on exactly how SSMU services are meant to operate. Abu-Alkhair responded that in Fall 2024, SSMU President Dymetri Taylor asked each service to submit a three-year roadmap of their operating plan to keep them on track.
“Because they have such a large budget, there has to be accountability when it comes to services,” AbuAlkhair said.
The discussion of services was tabled for later in the meeting.
Discussion of the Policy Against Antisemitism occupied most of the remaining meeting time. Solomon described this policy as the result of the “most extensive, sophisticated, and broad consultation [of] any [motion] this year,” with input from students dating back to September and oversight from SSMU’s legal counsel. He called on the LC to “embody the Jewish tradition of thoughtful and respectful disagreement” as they debated.
A member of the gallery proposed a motion to form a working group of 12 student organizations to reform the Policy. The motion failed to meet the two-thirds-in-favour requirement needed to add a motion from the floor. When dissenters requested the Dais read aloud an email describing their issues with the Policy, speaker Jonathan Dong declined, citing section 3.8.10 of the LC’s Standing Rules, which prevents the use of disrespectful language.
The gallery continued to debate whether SSMU had upheld its regulatory obligations during consultations. Solomon asserted the union had, listing examples of feedback from groups such as Hillel McGill that he had incorporated into the Policy.
“The consultation process does not inherently guarantee that every recommendation or amendment proposed by stakeholders will be
Next, VP External Affairs HugoVictor Solomon brought forward a Motion asking SSMU to promote a letter requesting that Quebec’s government base tuition discounts on Francophone language status, rather than nationality. Solomon also introduced a Motion to formalize SSMU’s successful food pantry pilot project. The LC unanimously approved both motions.
incorporated into the final decisions of the Legislative Council,” Solomon said.
Chavurah and floor member Lola Milder expressed frustration at the gallery’s back-and-forth over constitutional requirements, without amendments actively being made. Milder affirmed she had been consulted for the policy and supported it.
“I am exasperated to be here once again,” Milder stated. “I also want to highlight that many of the groups who were signatories on the letters that were put forward in the fall […] are not Jewish groups, but Israeli culture groups [….] Let’s not conflate [the two].”
Members from the floor then asked the LC to review amendments to the Policy they had sent to the Dais in advance. The Steering Committee recessed to review the amendments, ultimately finding that three were not in compliance with SSMU regulations. The LC moved to add one eligible proposed amendment to the policy, excluding two of its sections.
“We will be physically kicked out of this room very shortly,” Solomon then stated. “I’m not saying that all of these amendments are universally rejected, but the Legislative Council does not have the resources to fully consider them.”
Taylor moved to adjust the agenda to accommodate time constraints, allowing the LC to
conclude by approving motions relating to internal regulations and amendments to the SSMU Policy on Harmful Military Technology, and hearing various executive and committee reports.
Moment of the Meeting
Via anonymous online voting, the LC passed the Policy Against Antisemitism, with 14 in favour, five opposed, and one abstaining.
Soundbite
“We are stronger as a community when we reject dehumanization and fascism in all its forms, and accept a plurality of legitimate expression, especially when we might not agree with it [....] There are multiple ways of being Jewish, of practicing tikkun olam, and upholding tzedek.”
—Solomon on the debate over the Policy Against Antisemitism.
Checking in on McGill’s Wi-Fi: Students report connection issues disrupting academic work
Students claim campus Wi-Fi proves mostly reliable, though occasional outages raise concerns
Eren Atac Contributor
When Ryan Taylor, U0 Science, logged onto Zoom for a job interview earlier this semester, he was unexpectedly met with the McGill Wi-Fi cutting out. He had been gunning for an internship with Scotiabank, and the interview would determine how he spent his summer.
“I tried to log onto Zoom on my computer, but the Wi-Fi was totally out,” said Taylor in an interview with The Tribune. “I almost missed the interview, which was pretty stressful. I had to run to my room and use my hotspot to get through it.”
Ryan’s experience is not a oneoff. Among the many students who use McGill’s network every day in libraries and other campus buildings, several others have reported outages. In interviews with The Tribune, some students stressed the importance of maintaining a reliable Wi-Fi connection, as many rely on McGill’s Wi-Fi to contact family and do timesensitive schoolwork.
“The Wi-Fi has gone out multiple times throughout my first year at McGill. Most times, it’s fixed within an hour or two, but there was one time [when] it was out for about four hours. I assume that disrupted a lot of students’ studying and ability to get work done,” said Olivia Sampson, U0 Arts.
“The outage frustrated me a lot, as I was hoping to work on my assignments and had multiple deadlines approaching. It would have been fine if it was only a short outage, but it ended up lasting so long that it completely disrupted my study schedule,” Sampson said.
In a statement to The Tribune, the McGill Relations Office (MRO) said that the university’s wireless service is “very stable” and provides “strong coverage across all buildings,” with more than 7,700 access points across 250 locations. MRO acknowledged that they typically receive a few complaints yearly, primarily due to brief Wi-Fi outages caused by renovation projects.
Despite the occasional hiccups, MRO explained that McGill’s IT team remains proactive in monitoring and maintaining the network. Regular maintenance and long-term upgrades aim to prevent future disruptions and ensure that students can depend on stable internet access throughout their time at McGill.
Extended outages can create unnecessary stress for students like Sampson, especially during busy academic periods such as exam season when deadlines loom.
According to MRO, occasional outages can also be attributed to issues with McGill’s firewall, which both protects and manages traffic across McGill’s Wi-Fi network. The firewall is
undergoing an upgrade spanning the next 12 to 18 months, which should improve security and enhance network performance.
“This upgrade is part of our ongoing efforts to enhance network infrastructure,” MRO wrote.
“Additionally, we recently completed a campus-wide network upgrade that spanned five years, improving both wired and wireless performance across all McGill buildings. The goal of this upgrade is to ensure that both Wi-
Fi and overall network performance continue to remain stable and secure for everyone.”
MRO also encouraged students to reach out to the IT Service Desk for support with Wi-Fi disruptions.
“The network is actively monitored and we often identify and address issues before they become widespread,” the Office wrote.
For any updates on Wi-Fi maintenance or interruptions, students can visit the IT Support site.
McGill’s downtown campus sees thousands of daily Wi-Fi connections across multiple devices, putting constant demand on network infrastructure. (Mia Helfrich / The Tribune )
RESPONSIBILITY CAMPUS CONVERSATIONS
Responsibility is a gift, not a burden
Lulu Calame Opinion Editor
he lovely thing about responsibility is that it implies community. To hold responsibility is to play an indispensable role in the improvement or protection of another’s well-being. That interdependence means that responsibility is also a mechanism of accountability—a parent responsible for a child will be to blame if the child gets hurt. The less lovely thing about responsibility is that we have forgotten how lovely it really is. We utter “responsibility” like it’s a complaint; Merriam-Webster, even, is quick to add “burden” as a synonym under the definition of “responsibility.” I would thus like to call for a reconceptualization of “responsibility.” A parent’s
responsibility for a child is rooted in love, a roommate’s responsibility to buy toilet paper for the household is rooted in collaboration (and also, hopefully, in love), and a journalist’s responsibility to report fairly and honestly is rooted in the knowledge that such writing can uplift and educate.
To refer to these responsibilities— while they might be time-consuming or exhausting—as a burden is to resent our interconnectedness as individuals and reject the privilege of being essential aspects of others’ well-being.
In a global moment when Israel is intensifying its genocide in Gaza, authorities are defunding education, and gloating world leaders are propagating misinformation, we must remember the wonderful capacity of our responsibility to achieve progress. To get a college education is to become equipped with a critical mind responsible for uplifting truth and
deconstructing prejudice.
To attend McGill is to be directly connected to an institution that invests millions of dollars in organizations complicit in the genocide in Gaza; thus, we hold a responsibility to condemn misinformation, fight for accessible education, and call for divestment from institutions complicit in Israel’s genocide in Gaza. These responsibilities are terrifying and incredibly powerful. And they show, too, that people on one side of the world can fulfill a lifechanging responsibility to those on the other. We cannot dismiss the solidarity that comes from our responsibility as global citizens.
Instead of fear and resentment of responsibility, we must remember that responsibility is a product of our beautiful interconnectedness and a gift of incredible purpose.
Responsibility starts close to home
Monique Kasonga Opinion Editor
hange happens from the bottom up.” It’s a cliché, sure—but like most clichés, it became one because it’s true. In a moment where polarization feels like the air we breathe, waiting for those in power to fix things isn’t just naïve: It’s dangerous. Responsibility isn’t abstract. It’s not just who you vote for or what you repost on your story. It’s who you choose to keep close.
It’s who you excuse, who you let slide, who you let shape your world without challenge. Accountability starts with the people you surround yourself with, and that means being honest about what you’re tolerating in your inner circle.
Yes, engaging with people who think differently is important. But there’s a difference between healthy dialogue and enabling harm. There’s a difference between disagreement and disregard for others’ humanity. Choosing your people is an act of responsibility.
We can’t keep talking about structural injustice while ignoring the microcosms of
it in our own lives: In our homes, our group chats, our relationships. Change doesn’t need a podium. It just needs a dinner table, a voice that has the bravery to say that something isn’t okay and mean it.
You’re not “too sensitive.” You’re being responsible. And if you’re serious about building a better world, that work starts close. Uncomfortable, unglamorous, and necessary. Start small. Stay steady. Speak up.
Staying informed is a duty, not a chore
hen I started at McGill last fall, I assumed that the bulk of my university workload would come from writing papers and studying for exams, with maybe the occasional group project or discussion post.
To my surprise, though, the task that has proven the most daunting and timeconsuming has been keeping up with the news in advance of seminars and class debates. The pressure is always on to be upto-date on current events, to be ready with a niche yet timely insight into the latest topic chosen by my professor to guide our
As a result, I found I spent more time
actually completing assignments this year. Yet, my weekly quest to find the perfect contribution to bring to in-class discussions—or even to the dinner table— has reminded me of the cruciality of being
With a plethora of biased outlets to sift through, news fatigue from what can seem
like a never-ending slew of disheartening headlines, and the cognitive burden of even mustering up interest in current events in the first place, staying plugged in can be an overwhelming task.
Coming to Montreal as an international student, I felt especially swamped. I didn’t know anything about Canadian politics— much less about Quebec—and was tempted not to even bother trying to understand the tensions, cultural nuances, and historical dynamics that underscored the current events popping up on my feed.
Yet, keeping informed is both a privilege and a responsibility. Staying on top of the news is part of recognizing the role of information in shaping narratives and policy. This fact is evidenced by the frequency with which governments use media suppression tactics to silence dissent, both throughout history and in our
Although I am similarly tempted to neglect my readings when a professor
Sen, or Freud, I reflect on the lengths taken by these authors to push past the status quo beneficiaries who sought to prevent their voices from reaching the public. To feel burnt out by “too much” information
or “too many” perspectives is the ultimate
Literature and the news are vehicles through which communities and individuals fight against power, fight for dignity, and fight to make their voices heard. Journalists, essayists, and writers risk their lives to deliver truth to our front doors. It is our duty to make time to listen
Yet, at the same time, listening is not passive. Staying informed is a skill, one that needs to be constantly developed and improved upon. A quick skim over headlines or a brief glance at a journal article abstract does a disservice to the complexity and context lying both behind and within a piece. Beyond a responsibility gest information is another duty to gest it: To question our assumptions and
Although it is easy to limit our engagement with information and media to passive consumption, the power of knowledge comes with the imperative to act. Engage in discourse, support studentled organizing, fight for justice through protest and policy—commit to turning
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Jasjot
Carter
Simon, Eren Atac, Isobel Bray, Jeanne Le Roux, Kendyl Daley, Millen Yemane, Norah Adams, Romeo Pelletier, and Simona Culotta.
WINTER 2025: Responsibility to Each Other
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From Space to Place: Third Spaces and Why They Matter Exploring the Hidden Role of Informal Gathering Spaces in University Life
Written by Roberta Du, Web Editor & Designed by Zoe Lee, Design Editor
Icame to McGill with a lot of big questions: What will I major in? What classes will I take? But most importantly, I asked myself: “Where am I going to hang out?”
I had this dream of what university would look like: Sunbathing on the grass with a hot dog in hand, watching people play frisbee on the field, lounging on a picnic blanket with friends in the park, or maybe just sitting in a cafe sipping coffee and watching the people go by. I didn’t realize it at the time, but there was a term for what I was looking for. It wasn’t until I took an urban sociology class that I realized what I searched for is what sociologists refer to as a third space—a place to just be.
The term “third space” was first coined by the sociologist Ray Oldenburg, who defined it as a space outside of the home (the first place) and work or school (the second place), where people gather informally to socialize, exchange ideas, and build community.
These spaces are essential not just for community life and mental well-being, but for fostering the kind of informal, peerdriven learning that enriches the university experience. As members of the McGill
on the fifth floor of Burnside Hall. Calling the GIC a study space would be doing it a grave injustice—the GIC is multipurpose: You can heat up your lunch and eat while chatting with friends in some armchairs, study in silence in the quiet zone, work on the communal computers, join a group study session, or chat with friends in a booth. I go there ostensibly to study, but really, I go to see people. As a Geography major, the GIC is where I feel a true sense of both academic and social community. It starts with a familiar face that slowly grows into learning names, telling stories, and building friendships.
Ava Maika, U3 Arts, says her favourite third spaces at McGill include the Players’ Theatre and the University Centre. For her, these are places that offer both casual connection and meaningful conversation. Off-campus, she highlighted the Quebec Public Interest Research Group’s (QPIRG) Alternative Library, a space that prioritizes inclusion and accessibility.
“QPIRG’S alternative library is an amazing third space,” Maika wrote in a statement to The Tribune. “They prioritize community and inclusion, which is crucial. From their website: ‘A library is a site of gathering where everyone should feel welcome to be, read, and exchange.’ I like their definition.”
For another student, Sarah Grech, U3 Arts, her favourite third space is even closer to home. She has lived on boul. St.-Laurent for the last couple of years, and she considers the street itself to be a kind of
“I especially enjoy the summer, when the street is closed off and you can interact with different shops, vendors, tourists, and locals—pretty much anybody,” Grech said in an interview with The Tribune. “I think these spaces all have a positive influence on my life—whether my experiences within them are positive, negative, or neutral—because they allow me to gain a better understanding of
the world around me.” She also mentioned Square Saint-Louis and Parc La Fontaine as go-to spots regardless of the season.
For students at a large, often overwhelming institution like McGill, third spaces are more than just hangout spots—they are lifelines of belonging. These inclusive and welcoming environments combat feelings of isolation, especially for students living far from home for the first time. This sense of belonging doesn’t just affect emotional health—it can impact physical health too.
Take, for instance, the 1995 Chicago heat wave, which overwhelmed most of the Midwest and led to 739 heat-related deaths in Chicago over five days. Many lives were lost, but studies revealed that neighbourhoods with stronger community ties, where neighbours knew and looked out for each other, fared significantly better, even when compared to neighbourhoods of higher socioeconomic status. Consider a similar finding in Roseto, Pennsylvania, where researchers noticed that the rate of heart disease in the borough’s close-knit Italian-American community was strikingly low. Upon investigation, studies concluded that strong social connections and communal living played a central role, and coined the phenomenon as the “Roseto Effect.” Our environments and our relationships within them have a tangible influence on our health and wellbeing. Community is crucial, and it needs space to grow.
Beyond building a sense of community, third spaces are educational spaces. University is about more than classes and coursework. Learning happens everywhere: In extracurricular clubs, studentrun services, and especially in casual dialogue with peers.
Professor Jan Doering, now at the University of Toronto (UofT), but formerly of McGill’s Department of Sociology, reflected on how physical space shaped his connections with students.
“At McGill, there was no graduate student office space in Leacock, where my office was located. As a result, I did not usually have any casual interactions with graduate students in that space,” he wrote to The Tribune. “In my new office at the UofT, graduate student workspaces and faculty offices are in the same space, which means I have more conversations with students.”
The value of informal learning extends off campus, too.
“Speaking during (restaurants, new ideas Doering same somewhat tion that These cal. Here, share cal space controls ence which suppressed. come student have turned ing lawns, sites of dents mands, asserting university sive surveillance can make cessible, spontaneity
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“Speaking in the evening (rather than during work time) and in casual spaces (restaurants, bars) makes it easier to share new ideas that have not yet solidified,” Doering added. “Conferences can do the same thing, but they often encourage a somewhat performative style of interaction that is less generative.”
These spaces can also become politi cal. Here, people can come together to share values, organize, and resist. Physi cal space is never neutral. Its design, who controls it, and who are welcome all influ ence which voices are heard and which are suppressed. At McGill, this dynamic has come into sharp focus in the last year as student encampments and other protests have turned everyday locations, includ ing lawns, streets, and buildings, into sites of collective resistance. When stu dents occupy space against McGill’s de mands, they are reclaiming visibility and asserting a right to be heard within the university they attend. However, exces sive surveillance and security measures can make third spaces feel tense or inac cessible, discouraging the openness and spontaneity that make them generative.
“Post-encampment, the heavy se curity presence on campus has cer tainly not made me feel any more safe,” Maika said.
The power of a third space lies in its openness, its ability to welcome multiple perspectives, hold disagreement, and be a place for exchanging ideas. Cafes, libraries, and student lounges become places where political movements are born, people come together, and ideologies form through conver sations. Without these spaces, ac tivism becomes fragmented, driven into the margins, or shut down al together. While McGill says it aims to create spaces where students can safely explore and express ideas, the administra tion must ask itself if it is truly pursuing this aim, or whether it is policing campus spaces into silence.
shift third spaces appeared online, from Zoom breakout rooms and Discord servers to Twitch streams and Netflix Parties. They became lifelines for many students, especially those isolated from campus. In these digital spaces, people could study together, organize events, and keep their
TikTok. These spaces can empower access, especially for those beyond traditional institutions. However, they don’t come without drawbacks.
“Online spaces attract similar mindsets,” Doering said. “In physical spaces, you meet people from all walks of life.”
A university that values free inquiry cannot treat space as apolitical. How we gather is how we resist and speak truth to power.
While we have seen third spaces bounce back post-pandemic, the echoes of lockdown life still linger, as well as the digital platforms that sprung up to replace physical ones. During COVID-19, make-
vided, they also highlighted the limitations of online communities. Screens can connect us, but they can’t replicate the feeling of bumping into someone while on the way to class or the unplanned depth of a conversation that lasts a little too long during a morning run to the cafe.
There has also been a growing discourse about the “digital public square,” referencing the idea that civic discussion and debate now happen on platforms like X, Reddit, and even
Algorithms, designed to reinforce engagement, often create echo chambers— spaces where users only encounter opinions they already agree with. Without the friction of physical proximity, we lose opportunities for disagreements and negotiations.
While digital third spaces have value, we should resist the idea that they can replace the real thing. Face-toface interaction isn’t just nice to have, but foundational to learning how to live with others and be a member of society. The richest communities, online or offline, are those that allow for organic interactions and all the messiness and surprise encounters that they come with. That is what physical spaces offer that digital versions often lack.
Third spaces allow for spontaneous and creative social interactions, but the spaces themselves are shaped by deliberate funding decisions and architectural design as well as sustained policy measures.
At McGill, we need to move beyond the idea of spaces as neutral backdrops to learning, and recognize them as the active participants they are in educational experiences. The university has a responsibility to foster inclusive and accessible gathering spaces to support community, learning, activism, and wellbeing. They are not distractions from university life—they are university life.
So, go find your third space. Use it. Share it. Cherish it. Remember, sometimes the most important part of your education isn’t where you have to be—it’s where you choose to go.
COMMENTARY
Emma Simon Contributor
ITerm limits on elected officials infringe on democracy
n advance of the upcoming election, Canadians are haunted by a seemingly innocent quandary—do term limits break democracy? But let’s start with a different question, one you probably know the answer to: How long can any given Canadian prime minister govern? If you answered, “Until they’re voted out or resign,” you’re correct. This flexibility, with no term limits for the prime minister, is an underrated feature of the Canadian democratic system—one that other countries could learn from. Unfortunately, term limits for elected officials can actually harm democracy by restricting voter choice and making politicians less accountable in their final term.
Since the formation of the confederation, Canada has had 30 prime ministries—although only 24 individuals have held the position. Our current Prime Minister, Mark Carney, has only been in office for a handful of weeks, but others have stayed in power for much longer. William Lyon Mackenzie King, for example, sat three separate terms between 1921 and 1948, totalling over 21 years in office.
Likewise, Sir John A. Macdonald, Sir Wilfrid Laurier, and Pierre Elliott Trudeau each spent over 15 years as prime minister.
Should we be concerned that these
extended terms signal a frail Canadian democracy? Other nations would be. The United States, for example, implemented a term limit for the presidency in 1951, following the end of Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s 12year presidency, the longest in United States history. Meanwhile, Mexico banned reelection entirely in 1933, with presidents only being permitted to serve a single six-year term each. Even France bowed to the trend in 2008, limiting the president to two consecutive terms with a constitutional limit, as is the case in the U.S.
Now, Canadians have started to wonder if term limits for prime ministers would be a good idea. In a 2019 poll, 54 per cent of respondents believed term limits to be necessary for elected officials. Some have even proposed that Canada follow the U.S.’s example and adopt its own term-limit policy.
Proponents argue that term limits prevent dangerous executive branch takeovers in the style of many historical and current despots. Clear limits stop leaders from rule-lawyering their way into reigns of arbitrary length, calling sham elections without the slightest shift in power—obviously, an outcome every democratic country wants to avoid.
But term limits are a poor way to thwart it. They’re like locking a cookie jar and assuming that, without limits,
people would just keep taking cookies until they’re sick. While this might work on an unruly kid, it’s not a fair approach for a country of responsible adults. When lawmakers impose term limits, they’re essentially saying they know better than the voters. But in many cases, a leader serving two consecutive terms may not be a sign of power-hungry behaviour—it could just mean that the leader is genuinely popular and doing a good job, earning the continued support of the people.
Furthermore, once a politician is elected for the last time, all concerns about the will of the people vanish. After all, if the politician has no chance of being elected again anyway, why should they try to please the voters? Term limits encourage this lack of accountability by placing the leader in a situation where no action they take— short of perhaps breaking the law— will cause them to lose power. With nothing to lose, they might feel entitled to take unpopular actions without sufferingany consequences.
When the laws and constitutions
implement no term restrictions, the only real limit on politicians’ terms is how much voters like them. And voters know what they want. Just ask William Lyon Mackenzie King, who was voted out of office not once, but twice! Given a baseline level of democracy, voters can always kick unpopular candidates out of office. But in Canada, they are trusted, as reasonable adults, to dip their fingers into the cookie jar as many times as they like.
A welcome until it wasn’t: The double standard of Quebec’s secularism COMMENTARY
Millen Yemane Contributor
Montreal’s city hall recently took down a welcome sign in its lobby that portrayed a woman in a hijab, less than a year after its installation. This decision comes amid a series of changes implemented under Quebec’s Bill 21 and the continued movement towards secularization—the separation of public institutions from religious influences through legislation intended to enforce religious neutrality.
Montreal Mayor Valérie Plante defended the decision to remove the sign by citing the “discomfort” it caused and the overarching desire to secularize public institutions. However, this raises an important question: What exactly does it mean to experience discomfort when seeing a veiled person?
If a depiction of a person wearing a hijab on a wall makes one uncomfortable, then surely a walk down rue Ste.-Catherine must be unbearable. After all, nearly 12 per cent of Montreal is Muslim. Representing this reality in public art has no bearing on the secularization of public institutions, nor should it produce unease. The welcome sign was simply an accurate depiction of Montreal’s religious and cultural diversity—something lawmakers should regard with pride rather than discomfort, especially considering Canada’s commitment to multiculturalism.
The targeted nature of Quebec’s commitment to secularism shows in its inconsistencies. Consider, for example, the Mount Royal Cross. Proponents of Bill 21 argue the cross does not exist in the public sector, making it appropriate, and transcends religion
in its emblematic significance—points that are not without reason. However, the religious implications of displaying a 103-foot-tall LED-lit symbol of the Catholic Church overlooking the city are glaringly obvious.
Yet, the monument is exempt from secular legislation as a symbolic element of Quebec’s cultural heritage. The desire to protect an integral aspect of the city’s cultural identity is legitimate. But could the same not be said about Montreal’s Muslim population? The value of Muslim culture extends far beyond faith: It represents a deep-rooted part of Montreal’s evolving cultural identity as a religiously pluralistic city.
Many would mourn the loss of the Mount Royal Cross—the elimination of Muslim individuals in hijabs in art should engender a comparable reaction. The lack of such a response begs the question: Is the discomfort Plante describes from the depiction of a religious symbol, or from the depiction of a hijabi? The persistence of this double standard suggests an antiMuslim motivation hiding within socalled “neutrality.”
Parti Québécois Leader Paul St-Pierre Plamondon went as far as to describe the welcome sign as an example of religion “invading” the public sphere; but how can something invade a space it has long been a part of? A public sphere encompasses all aspects of social existence. To designate religion as an invader is to say religious minorities have no place in Montreal beyond the confines of their own homes.
But the reality is this: Muslim hijabis are here—as are dastar-wearing Sikhs and Jews in kippahs. These are
all real communities with active roles in Montreal’s daily life. The use of barbed language like “invading” or “discomfort” reflects a typical xenophobic line of thought, one that validates anti-Muslim sentiment by implying that individuals wearing hijabs, and by extension Islam, are inherently alien. The term “invasion” misrepresents history as well, implying that the city’s public spaces were once purely secular and are now suddenly under siege. While it’s true that Quebec once used secularism to sever the corruption of religion-affiliated organizations from their governance, as seen in the Quiet Revolution, it now uses it to justify xenophobia. The freedoms of conscience and equality are very important, but the use of legislative pretext for discriminatory action does little to protect these freedoms. If anything, actions like removing the welcome sign distance Quebec from the state of religious neutrality it craves. Such an approach risks secular fundamentalism that disproportionately targets visible
religious minorities, ultimately undermining its purpose of secularizing the province in a fair and non-sectarian manner. It’s important to recognize that despite current secularization movements, Montreal always has been and always will be multi-religious—a characteristic that enriches a city, not devalues it.
Sir Charles Tupper served the shortest term of any Canadian Prime Minister, at just 68 days. (Eliot Loose / The Tribune)
76 per cent of respondents in a survey by Islamic Relief Canada felt it was harder to work as a Muslim in Quebec than other provinces. (Armen Erzingatzian / The Tribune)
When democracy is detained, Türkiye’s youth stand alone
More than 1,900 protestors detained, most being students
Defne Feyzioglu Staff Writer
Some mornings begin with coffee; others begin with the news that a friend from high school is in jail. As an international student, life abroad feels like a dream—until reality hits and helplessness kicks in. Students, journalists, and lawyers are behind bars—and so is Ekrem Imamoglu, Türkiye’s strongest opposition leader.
On March 19, police detained Imamoglu on corruption charges. The day before, Istanbul University abruptly annulled his university diploma—along with the degrees of countless others—disqualifying him from a presidential run. The decision came just days before he was expected to announce his candidacy. He is now being held in a high-security prison on the outskirts of Istanbul.
For many students of Turkish descent, watching the events unfold from abroad serves as a reminder of the ongoing reality of political suppression.
“In Turkey, nothing is just administrative or procedural anymore; everything is political, and it’s all controlled by the state,” Ipek Peya, U2 Arts, wrote in a statement to The Tribune . “I know some people avoid calling it political, but I think that’s exactly what it is. And it’s important to say it out loud.”
In response to the political crackdown on opposition figures, Türkiye is witnessing its largest wave of protests in over a decade, with tens
of thousands flooding the streets. This uprising is not merely a reaction to a single arrest but a collective act of defiance against intimidation and authoritarian drift, and a demand for democracy.
“I don’t think these protests are [happening] because Imamoglu got arrested,” Emir Sahin, U3 Arts, said in an interview with The Tribune . “It’s just that the Turkish people want to make sure that there’s a rule of law that is objective to both sides.”
Recep Tayyip Erdogan, president of Türkiye, condemns the protests as “street terrorism” and “a movement of violence,” but it is the protestors who
face violence. Citizens are routinely targeted with water cannons, tear gas, pepper spray, and plastic bullets— sometimes fired at close range at the face and upper body.
“It’s one thing to see these things on the news, but when it happens to someone even slightly connected to you, it hits completely differently,” Peya wrote. “It makes everything feel way more real—and honestly, way more frightening.”
A U2 Arts student who wished to remain anonymous described the current movement as a breaking point, saying the silence surrounding political repression can no longer continue.
“We have been silent about our rights being taken away in broad daylight,” she said. “And it’s time to say something about it—and do something.”
Being physically removed from the crisis does not make it any less real. Safety from afar comes with a responsibility to stay aware and engaged, through
Fair Trade at McGill: Why your purchases matter How students can responsibly support sustainable practices
Jeanne Le Roux & Simona Culotta Contributors
Avariety of tabling events often take place on campus, each aimed at promoting and raising awareness for diverse causes. On March 27, The Tribune spoke with the Fair Trade tabling event organizers outside the McConnell Engineering Building. The information booth, identifiable by its red tent and “Spin the Wheel” game, offered chocolate and coffee to participants.
The event was organized to educate students about McGill’s Fair Trade Campus designation and to raise awareness of the real-world implications of fair trade practices.
“We are trying to educate students on how fair trade helps farmers in developing countries fight climate change,” Goktug Bender, sustainability coordinator at McGill Student Housing and Hospitality Services, explained in an interview with The Tribune Bender elaborated on how Fair Trade establishes a minimum price that every retailer or buyer must pay, in addition to a Fairtrade premium. This premium is paid to farmers above the minimum price and is designed to help communities invest in sustainable development for their local organizations.
“We basically invest in them by building infrastructures or having initiatives and investments in their communities and buildings,” Bender stated. Zach Suhl, associate director for
McGill Food and Dining Services, delved into the challenges farmers face in the context of climate change. He pointed out how larger companies often fail to implement tangible initiatives to ensure producers get a fair value for their products.
“For example, bananas have had the same price for many years compared to everything else,” Suhl explained. “Our consumption habits are generally always looking for something cheaper to the point that we need to ask ourselves: How is it possible that a banana from Costa Rica can come here and only cost 39 cents? You need to ask yourself who is getting paid to produce this and who is being paid to take care of this.”
Suhl also emphasized the need for purchasers to be conscientious when buying goods, as price discrepancies reflect the underlying issues farmers face when making profits for their businesses.
“The minimum price established by Fair Trade helps farmers purchase more tools and technologies to fight climate change,” Bender added.
This is increasingly important, as modern technology is a key implement for farmers to address new and unpredictable weather conditions in a changing climate.
In addition to Fair Trade, Suhl made suggestions for how McGill students can particularly contribute to this cause. His first recommendation is to be aware of these global trade dynamics, and be critical of low prices of goods.
“I think that students should be
very selective in their purchasing. If they are at a [shop] that is not selling fair trade products, it would be good to inquire as to why, what are the issues, why are they not able to carry out fair trade,” Suhl proposed.
Calling on students for more collective awareness, in turn, leads to their second objective, which is to make selective purchasing decisions. Suhl and Bender encouraged students to act on their knowledge of the Fair Trade impacts on farmers.
“Yes, everyone has a limited amount of disposable income, but the best way to support these initiatives is through your own pocket,” Suhl said.
The Fair Trade tabling event reminded students that everyday choices— like questioning prices or choosing fair trade— can have a real impact, especially on small farmers who already face the obstacle of surviving against the competition of massive agricultural corporations. With greater awareness and intentional purchasing, students can support more just and sustainable systems, on campus and beyond.
following independent news, sharing information, and having conversations that keep the issue visible.
“I don’t expect people to take these problems in Turkey and make them their own,” she said. “I just expect them to be aware of it and at least know of it because the more people know and the more people talk about it, the more they help us. And that’s such an easy thing to do.”
Peya echoed this sense of isolation, noting that many within her McGill circles at McGill aren’t aware of the situation’s scale or its implications.
“There’s always this fear in the back of my mind: What if something happens and I can’t reach [my family]? What if I find out about it too late? It creates this constant anxiety,” she explained. “I’m here, in a place where I can speak freely and feel safe, but they’re not. And that disconnect is something I don’t think I’ll ever get used to.”
This is not a battle between Erdogan and Imamoglu, nor about left or right-wing politics. It is about ongoing oppression, and a population fighting to be heard. At this crossroads between democracy and autocracy, citizens’ struggles are measured by their physical and mental endurance. However, solidarity travels, and as long as we resist, democracy still has a voice, and so will we. Now is the time for the Turkish diaspora, and for all who can speak freely, to carry that voice forward, making sure it echoes far beyond the borders that tried to silence it.
Türkiye’s Radio and Television Supreme Council (RTÜK) has banned the broadcasting of live footage of the protests. (Julia Buckle / The Tribune )
Celebrating Sikh Heritage Month at McGill
Both
students and institutions are responsible for celebrating cultural
diversity
Malika Logossou & Auxane Bussac Student Life Editors
April is officially recognized as Sikh Heritage Month in Canada. It is a time to reflect, acknowledge, and celebrate Sikh history, values, and contributions to Canadian society.
The McGill Sikh Students’ Association (MSSA) supports students through cultural, academic, social, and spiritual events. They welcome both Sikh and non-Sikh students, with diversity and meaningful dialogue at the core of the club’s values.
Throughout April, MSSA holds a series of events, beginning with the Kirtan Samagan on April 2. It included devotional singing and a community meal, in collaboration with McGill’s Office of Religious and Spiritual Life (MORSL). On April 7, MSSA screened The Battle of Amritsar , a documentary that examines the 1984 Operation Blue Star, when the Indian Army launched a coordinated assault on the Golden Temple Amritsar, targeting Sikhs.
Harsimran Singh Kapoor, President of MSSA, emphasized the importance of dedicated spaces that allow students from specific communities to celebrate their identities openly and proudly. These spaces are not limited to celebration, they are also about dismantling misconceptions and negative stereotypes.
“Representation gives students
April is important for Sikhs because it includes Vaisakhi (celebrated every April 14), marking the creation of the Khalsa—the baptized Sikh community committed to living by Sikh principles. (Mia Helfrich / The Tribune)
a voice and space to safely express their identity, values, and faith. It helps build awareness and challenge stereotypes, especially around visible articles of faith like the Dastaar (turban) and Kara (iron bracelet), which are often misunderstood,”
Kapoor wrote to The Tribune . “Having a strong representation not only supports current students but also inspires future generations to lead, serve, and contribute to an inclusive and culturally aware campus.”
Kapoor also emphasized the responsibility students have in gathering and creating avenues to represent their community on campus in a written statement to The Tribune
“Students do have a role in sharing their culture on campus. Universities are spaces of learning, diversity, and dialogue, and representation matters. When students share their heritage, it helps break stereotypes, builds understanding, and inclusivity. It also gives students a sense of belonging, making them feel seen and valued [....] Hosting celebrations, like Sikh Heritage Month, not only educates others but also allows students to connect with their own roots,” Kapoor wrote.
However, students should not be the only ones bearing the responsibility of raising awareness and educating their peers. Educational institutions such as McGill are key actors that play a crucial role in creating welcoming, safe, and inclusive spaces for students to thrive.
“MSSA plays a key role in representing Sikh students at McGill, but we don’t see ourselves as their sole voice,” Kapoor wrote. “Our goal is to provide a platform where Sikh students feel seen, supported, and heard. However, true representation requires a collective effort, from students, faculty, and the university
itself. The university can support us by recognizing and promoting cultural diversity and providing spaces and resources for our initiatives.”
Kapoor also highlighted McGill’s responsibility to increase inclusiveness on campus, especially considering Quebec’s expansion of Bill 21, which bans public employees from wearing visible religious symbols.
“Given the ongoing discussions on secularism and visible faith symbols in Quebec, it’s important that McGill continues to actively foster an environment that supports religious diversity, ensuring that students feel safe and respected in expressing their faith,” he added.
MSSA has many more events lined up—both during April and all year-round—creating continued opportunities for students to learn, engage, and reflect on Sikh heritage. A keynote speech titled “Wrapped in Faith: The Sikh Turban and the Fabric of Canada” is scheduled for April 10, with Senator Baltej Singh Dhillon—a community leader and lifelong advocate for diversity and inclusion—as the speaker. Weekly Simran sessions at MORSL are also on the agenda, providing students with an opportunity to take a break from academic stress and a space to connect spiritually.
MSSA’s events are informative, free, and accessible, underlining its commitment to creating a sense of community and belonging for Sikh students on campus.
How to support your friends (and yourself) during finals Small acts of care can make a big difference during exam season
Tamiyana Roemer Staff Writer
March is the Trojan horse of the semester. While the end of midterms and the start of spring lull us into a false sense of security, final exams are lurking just out of sight. In April, when they do arrive, it’s crucial to put yourself first—but that doesn’t mean forgetting those around you. Fostering a sense of community can make this stressful time a little easier for everyone. As finals season approaches, The Tribune has put together a few simple ways to support your friends. After all, the whole student community thrives when we look out for each other.
Respect their study style
Not everyone works best in the same study environment. Some people need absolute silence, while others focus better in a lively café or with background noise. Before inviting a friend to a group study session or quizzing them on course material, check in on what works best for them. Even the best of friends may not be compatible study buddies—and that’s okay. It’s also important to recognize when someone needs space. If a friend declines your invitation to study together or prefers to work alone, don’t take it personally. Respecting everyone’s study preference shows real consideration and helps everyone stay productive.
Encourage breaks In a culture that valorizes
productivity, many of us mistakenly try to maximize our work time by taking as few breaks as possible. Oftentimes, breaks can feel unnecessary or even counterproductive. However, regular study breaks can lower stress and even improve recall, helping you make the most out of your time in the long run. Encourage your friends to avoid burnout by stepping away from their desks for a while. Remind your friends (and yourself) that breaks don’t have to be long—it can take as little as five minutes to refresh the mind and body. Prompt them to get some fresh air, grab a snack, or relocate to a new study spot.
Offer practical help Support doesn’t have to come in grand gestures—sometimes, the smallest acts of kindness make the biggest difference. If a friend is drowning in assignments, offer to proofread an essay, help organize their notes, or create flashcards for key concepts. If they’re struggling to stay motivated, suggest studying together for accountability or remind them to set a few manageable goals for the day. Even simple gestures, like saving your friend a library seat during peak hours, grabbing an extra snack, or reminding them of an upcoming deadline, can lighten their load. By offering practical help, you can lessen their burden and show them they’re not alone.
Celebrate small wins Finals season can feel like an endless grind, with one major task
In a 2022 survey of college students, over 89 per cent of respondents reported that they experienced stress due to final exams. (Ryan
blurring into the next. That’s why celebrating small victories is so important—it helps break the cycle of stress and reminds us of all the progress we’ve made. Whether a friend submits a tough paper, powers through a challenging study session, or endures another taxing group project, acknowledging their effort can make a huge difference. Send a quick message of encouragement, treat them to a coffee, or plan a short study break to unwind together. Recognizing these wins, no matter how small, helps make finals feel a little less overwhelming.
Direct them to on-campus resources
Sometimes, the best way to support a friend is by connecting them with the right resources. At McGill, students can navigate exam season with a range of free academic assistance and mental health support. Student associations often host group study sessions, providing a collaborative learning environment, while the Student Wellness Hub offers stress-relief activities like animal therapy, Mount Royal walks, and Art Hive open studios. A quick reminder about these services can make all the difference in easing a friend’s stress.
Dvorak / The Tribune )
Farewell to The Tribune: The last words from our graduating editors
Drea Garcia Avila, Creative Director:
During my first year of university in November 2021, my friend off-handedly mentioned that The McGill Tribune was looking for illustrators. What started as a creative outlet led to me becoming a Staff Creative for two weeks, Design Editor for the next three semesters, and, finally, the Creative Director. I watched the paper ground its roots in advocacy and activism, from dropping “McGill” from its name, to adopting an Anti-Oppressive Mandate, covering stories locally and beyond. Our creative community has flourished this year, and I’m incredibly proud and grateful for my years at the paper. While I’m immensely sad to leave, I cannot wait to see what our brilliant team does next year.
Shani Laskin, Managing Editor: Where to begin… My time at The Tribune fundamentally shaped my university experience. I came in
a part of this team has been an absolute pleasure. Watching the paper evolve into what it is today has been unforgettable, and I can only hope that the model and mandate The Tribune has established will serve as a reminder, for all publications, of the importance of responsible journalism in the face of injustice.
Eliza Lee, News Editor: I’m so grateful to have spent the last three years covering campus life, news, and resistance for The Tribune. From Sports Staff Writer to News Editor, each of my roles at the paper has taught me how to better write, think, and care about this community. None of this would have been possible without the guidance and support of The Tribune team. To Editors, Board members, and writers, it has been a privilege to learn from and with you all. Of all the lessons I learned throughout my degree, “curiosity delivers” might be the most memorable. Wow, thanks!
Roberta Du, Web Editor: Since arriving at McGill, I’ve always admired The Tribune —first through my friend Shani, then as I became a weekly reader myself. Hearing about the community drew me in, but being part of it exceeded every expectation. As Web Editor, I didn’t just code and maintain pages and sites; I finally found the courage to write—something I’d always wanted to try but feared. This experience has been transformative. To anyone thinking about joining: Do it. You’ll find purpose, growth, and an incredible group of people.
K. Coco Zhang, Science & Technology Editor: I couldn’t recall how I first stumbled on the Facebook page of The Tribune’s SciTech section, but it happened sometime in 2022, right around when I realized I needed to look beyond my endless cycle of nutrition textbooks. I was searching for something more fulfilling, something that would nourish my mind and my passion. The Tribune turned out to be exactly that. Looking back now, I couldn’t be more grateful to have become part of this community, where I’ve grown not just as an editor and journalist, but as a person.
Amalia Mairet, Features Editor: I joined The Tribune in my first year at McGill. My time at the newspaper started with a short roundup for the Arts and Entertainment (A&E) section. Since then, I’ve reviewed student plays and new albums, served on the Board of Directors, and, finally, spent a year in Features—the role I’ve been aiming for since the beginning. The Tribune has let me bring my love of storytelling into student journalism. It’s been a privilege to be trusted with people’s stories and help bring them to life. To everyone who wrote a 2000word epic with me this year: See? It all came together in the end.
small part in every piece that’s come off the press. I’d like to give some gratitude from behind the scenes. Thank you to the writers for teaching me about all things McGill for so long; to my fellow editors for giving me a home and embracing my most analretentive nitpicks; and to the readers, for taking our earnest attempts at creation and running wild with them.
Kellie Elrick, Arts & Entertainment
Editor: My first article at The Tribune was an investigative piece for News. I was terrified, thrilled, feverish, and fascinated. I later began writing for A&E, where I discovered that publishers would send The Tribune books—unpublished ones! That we could read and review! For free! I fell in love with the wonderful events and publications we cover and the lovely, curious community that flourishes at the paper. Though a late Easter means we will be denied the opportunity to publish a long-planned A&E piece on “Things on the rise other than Christ,” I am eternally grateful for my time here and will be eagerly reading The Tribune next year.
Charlotte Hayes, Arts & Entertainment Editor: The first time I attended an A&E pitch meeting, I was sitting in my dorm room, nervously joining a Zoom call with my camera off. Due to pandemic restrictions, I wouldn’t set foot in The Tribune office for almost a year, but even through the screen, I could tell I had stumbled into something special. Since then, the A&E section and The Trib as a whole have become some of the most meaningful parts of my degree. A long line of wildly talented A&E writers and editors have shaped me into the journalist (and person) I am today. I still have no idea how to thank them properly, so I guess this paragraph will have to do.
Anoushka Oke, Sports Editor: The Tribune has been part of my life since I came to McGill in 2021, and it has left a mark on my university experience. From my days as a News Staff Writer to the past couple of years as Sports Editor, this space has helped me grow as a writer and thinker. As somebody who came to McGill during the pandemic, The Tribune offered me a sense of community, and I have made so many friends here. It has been a privilege to witness the paper grow and work alongside so many intelligent and kind people. I will miss all of you dearly, and I can’t wait to see all the amazing things the next Editorial Board accomplishes!
as a Staff Writer for News at 18 years old— nervous and unsure of myself. I quickly fell in love with news coverage and journalism, feeling the thrill of chasing a story, listening to people’s experiences, and challenging my assumptions. To me, The Tribune has been an invaluable space for knowledge co-creation; at a university without a journalism program, we become our own teachers. The community at this paper has raised me, and, after nearly four years, I’m happy to know I’m leaving The Trib in incredibly capable hands.
Monique Kasonga, Opinion Editor: Joining the Opinion Section pitch meeting on Zoom in my first year, I never expected to stick around for so long. Four years later, I have learned more than I could have ever imagined. From the guidance of those who were editors before me to the growth I have witnessed in our amazing writers, being
Auxane Bussac, Student Life Editor: When I stumbled across The Trib at Activities Night three semesters ago, I had no idea it would bring such a long-awaited meaning to my university experience. From contributor to Staff Writer to Editor, learning and striving in Student Life was a privilege. My journey has been nothing short of amazing— our newsroom is full of inspiring people who have helped me grow both as a person and as a journalist. I will forever be grateful to this team for teaching me about myself, my peers, and what it means to be a university student who speaks truth to power. Maybe I’ll get a “curiosity delivers” tattoo.
Matt Adelberg, Copy Editor: As Copy Editor, my role is somewhat hidden from the rest of the paper—I’m just one editing pass among many on Production Day. However, for almost the past two years, I’ve had the privilege of reading and having some
Aliya Singh, Social Media Editor: Having a strong community when you’re miles away from home is a rare gift—and for me, that community has been The Tribune From the moment I stepped into our office, I was welcomed by some of the brightest, kindest, and funniest people I’ve had the privilege of knowing. These are people who hold knowledge with humility and create space for growth, laughter, and care. As I say goodbye, I’m filled with gratitude—for the conversations, the chaos, and the quiet moments in between. Working on social media gave me a space to balance creativity and connection, and I leave knowing I was part of something deeply special. Thank you, Tribune
Hannah Nobile, Photo Editor: To every lovely writer and creative I had the pleasure of working with—thank you for welcoming me with open arms. It’s been such a privilege to witness the love, passion, and care poured into every piece that filled our pages. The Tribune has given me the hardest yet sweetest farewell to my time at McGill that I could have ever imagined. And while I’m heartbroken to have to say goodbye, I can’t help but feel immensely excited for every future student who walks through those office doors for the first time. What a journey it will be!
Illusion, reality, and the aesthetic diversity of perspective
“Mirage” provides an opening for creativity and a challenge to visual perception in the McGill Fine Arts Commission exhibit
Clara Gaede-MacLaren Contributor
Strolling down boul. St.-Laurent towards the McGill Fine Arts Commission (FAC) exhibition, I momentarily regretted never completing that Art History minor. Not being an educated scrutinizer of fine art, how could my perspective add anything to the artistic conversation? But as the bubbling atmosphere of jazz, artists, and gallery-goers swiftly immersed my visual and auditory senses, I felt that the space demanded nothing more than true appreciation and openness to engage with the surrounding creativity. I became aware of how much artistic perception relies on intuition instead of critical analysis and grew to appreciate the value in the singularity of each artistic expression.
The exhibition, titled Mirage, ties visual art to the naturally occurring optical phenomenon of a mirage, exploring the fine line between illusion and reality.
“The whole idea of Mirage is that everyone has their own reality, everyone sees something different, [...] and that in itself is so unique,” Diya Senghera, FAC Co-Commissioner, explained in an interview with The Tribune
The exhibition brings together a wide range of perspectives, encouraging viewers to explore the boundary between imagination and reality through their interaction with the artists’ ideas and the theme of illusion. Despite the many interpretations each painting, sculpture, and film may offer, Mirage’s presentations diversify this range of interpretations
even more. Mythical realms, imagined spaces and undefined objects challenge the viewer’s visual perception and play a role in most of the exhibition’s fine art.
The majestic emanation of Mia MacLeod’s oil on canvas, titled Free Fall, caught my eye from afar. Its deep blue colour—a thematic element in the exhibit connecting art to the natural phenomenon of the mirage—and the intricate fusion of physicality and lightness in her figures are central to the exhibit’s impact. MacLeod describes her artistic vision as a combination of surrealism’s style with expressionism’s colours.
“I love spaces that aren’t settled in reality but have a mystical, magical quality to them,” MacLeod said in an interview with The Tribune
Kat Sun’s glazed ceramic sculpture, Reverie, plays with space differently. Its interwoven shape has an uncertainty to it; it appears to be twisting and decomposing at the same time.
Maya Farres’s digital art similarly relates to the ambiguity between what we perceive as our imagination and the uncertainty of physical space. In Sofishticated, a shining fish swims above a young woman’s head, bubbles rising, in a space resembling water. In her inscription, the artist explains her goal to express the discernible truth that can be found in mind wanderings.
“The piece asks the question whether the fish we swim with are subtle reflections of the physical world, or simply just daydreams,” Farres wrote.
For some artists, Mirage relates to the illusion found in mirrors and, thus, in appearance. Phaedra’s vividly coloured
painting When the Mirror was Play, depicting a young girl and her mirrored reflection in a playground setting, is part of her larger series concerning mirrors.
“The mirror transitions in its meaning as we get older to points of insecurity and judgment,” Phaedra said in an interview with The Tribune Winnie-Grace Melchor’s work Lost in Reflection similarly explores the relationship to the mirror by discussing beauty standards, society’s expectations, and consumerism.
The diversity of artworks does not end here; Aia Segal’s Self Performance displays a room filled with a jumble of imagined, fictitious objects and material
items through a unique combination of oil pastel and embroidery on cotton fabric. On top of that, Mirage’s immense diversity in themes, styles and materials goes beyond visual art by incorporating a performance from Mosaica, one of McGill’s oldest dance companies.
“There are so many different artists at McGill, and that is part of what we want to celebrate,” Katherine Squitieri, FAC Co-Commissioner, explained to The Tribune.
Truth be told, this experience doesn’t need an Art History minor because, ultimately, it is our own perspectives that create meaning in art and bring it to life.
Sheep are having a Pop Culture moment—and it’s unsettling From horror to pastoral realism, sheep in the media aren’t mere props—they’re our reflections at centre stage
Defne Feyzioglu Staff Writer
They’re baaaaaack—and not in a cute nursery rhyme kind of way. Sheep have tiptoed their way back into the cultural frame, not just as pastoral props but as fullblown characters, metaphors, and messengers. From a blood-streaked Icelandic hybrid in Lamb to the softeyed flocks in Bergers , the modern media sheep is anything but innocent. Sophie Deraspe’s Bergers (or Shepherds ) features numerous sheep, but none are quite as unsettling as the humans around them. The film follows a disillusioned Montreal advertisement executive, Mathyas, who escapes the corporate grind to become a shepherd in rural Provence. This might sound like millennial burnout-turnedfarmer fantasy, but Deraspe doesn’t romanticize. Instead, she places her protagonist face-to-face with an uncompromising truth: Nature doesn’t care about your spiritual awakening In Bergers , the sheep aren’t mythical, magical, or symbolic. They are bodies—vulnerable and ultimately commodified. As Mathyas learns, even this so-called simple life turns out to be unstable, challenged by a shifting climate and economic strain. He is initially drawn to the romantic notion of a pastoral life. However, he soon faces the harsh realities of herding and
the struggles of adapting to a new way of life. Nature is harsh, indifferent, and, at times, violent. Lamb (Valdimar Jóhannsson), on the other hand, could not strike a more contrasting tone. The Icelandic folk horror follows a couple adopting a half-human, half-sheep creature named Ada. On paper, it’s absurd; in execution, it’s devastating. What begins as a tender attempt to reclaim lost love spirals into horror with the arrival of Ada’s ram father. This isn’t just folklore gone feral; Lamb unfolds like a dark environmental fable: Nature, again, refuses to be rewritten. So, why sheep? And why now?
In pop culture, sheep have long signified docility—“sheeple” being used as an insult towards conformists. But as Lamb and Bergers portray, that connotation is ready—and even destined—to change. These stories portray sheep not simply as the symbol of innocence we know from nursery rhymes or nativity scenes, nor as a symbol of docility. Instead, they use the animals to critique how humans project their desires—whether for control, comfort, or escape—onto the world around them.
A man trades his desk job for a field of bleating livestock, or a family dresses a sheep-child in baby clothes: Beneath all the absurdity lies a real discomfort. These images are too close to fantasy to be real but too
grounded to dismiss. The sheep reveal just how anxious we can be about agency, autonomy, and belonging. They reflect the quiet fear of wanting to escape the systems we’re born into but having nowhere to run. Whether shepherded or anthropomorphized, sheep expose our need to make sense of disconnection through control, care, or even delusion. The unease comes not from the sheep themselves but from the human need to reshape them into what we want them to be.
The cultural fascination with sheep is never only about cinematic allegory, nor is it new. Sheep have long been used as a symbol in both fashion and pop culture. From Princess Diana’s iconic “black sheep” sweater to Lamb Chop, a 20th-century sock puppet known for her surprisingly sassy comebacks, they’ve made their mark. The image of the sheep constantly
sways between conformity and defiance, obedience and disruption. Maybe that’s the point. In a media landscape increasingly obsessed with binaries—good vs. evil, tech vs. nature, us vs. them—the sheep offers something more blurred and possibly more real.
They aren’t just back—they never really left. It’s just now that they are stepping into the centre, not to lead or to follow, but to remind us that meaning often comes dressed in wool.
The FAC is an entirely student-run organization. (Jameson Abenn)
Lamb was Iceland’s official entry for Best International Feature at the 2022 Academy Awards. (Eliot Loose / The Tribune)
Exploring
the etchings of women’s shame at ‘Bad Girls Only’
The MMFA’s new exhibit confronts the
fabrication
of
sin
through a mirrored process of printmaking
Norah Adams Contributor
Their bodies are cast in stark black ink. Harsh cross-hatching carves out exaggerated forms featuring sagging breasts and bulging stomachs. The slight fingers of one of the women curve around a heart, pulling it to her mouth moments before taking a bite. Another’s hand grasps tightly around the hilt of a sword drawn from the sheath at her hip.
The first room of the Montreal Museum of Fine Art (MMFA)’s new exhibit Bad Girls Only: Women and the Seven Deadly Sins features preparatory drawings by Dutch artist Hendrick Goltzius (1558-1617) coupled with their matching prints created by Goltzius’ stepson, Jacob Matham (1571-1631). The second adjoining space holds another set of prints created by Flemish engraver Hieronymous Wierix (1553-1619). The pieces share a common thread: They all depict women as embodiments of the seven deadly sins.
A TV screen at the end of the exhibit shows modern-day artist Xavier Charbonneau demonstrating the act of printmaking. He takes a pointed tool with a wooden handle called a burin and makes small marks on a copper plate. Once finished, Charbonneau applies a thick black ink to the face of the etched plate with a roller and stamps it onto a piece of paper, the image now permanent.
From gluttony to envy, the prints
demonstrate society’s prevailing villainization of women. The earliest pieces in this collection were produced in the 1580s. That women still feel conscious about these ideas 450 years later reveals a terrifying durability surrounding women’s shame. The act of printmaking seems to metaphorically describe the establishment of these ideas in the Western social sphere. Originating as simple sketches, the fuzzy edges of women’s shame are subsequently carved into a metal plate and confirmed throughout time in stark ink.
In addition to the video featuring Montreal artist Charbonneau, the exhibit’s end faces a wall of handwritten cards. Beside this wall sit slots with empty sheets and pencils, providing viewers with the opportunity to make their mark. The cards hold questions relevant to each deadly sin, asking things such as, “What is one thing that made you proud today?” answered by one museum-goer with “Being engaged and enjoying breakfast and art with my family.” Another paper asks, “Describe a food or drink that gives you comfort,” and is met with the answer “Pancakes.”
These prompts act as a way for viewers to reframe their positions on shame.
“The empowerment comes from the knowledge of this period, and that internalized shame is not natural and innate; it is culturally and societally produced,” curator Mary-Dailey Desmarais said in an interview with The Tribune
The distorted bodies of the women
in the exhibit are a representation of how society has historically placed women as vessels for degradation. Seeing the artistic process of this is not an ignition of fear but a way of contextualizing such perspectives.
Some Dutch man in the 1500s sat down to draw women in their most demeaning form—warnings to women about how their actions make them look to others, thus contributing to a continuing history of slandering women.
But that’s all they are: Drawings. That fact allows for a certain level of freedom. Understanding the fine-scale method it took to bring sketched-out misogyny into permanent ink provides
a new sense of power. A pointed carving tool should not make women feel ashamed for eating, getting angry, or having sex.
Facing these works, it can be easy to see yourself in them. All of the things that society tells women not to do stand embodied in front of you. By understanding the process by which these pieces came to be, however, one can see the fabricated nature of their insecurities and start to break free of how society frames them.
‘Bad Girls Only: Women and the Seven Deadly Sins’ is on display at the MMFA until Aug.10 . Tickets are available both online and in person. Free for those aged 25 and under.
The radiance and resilience of De Stiil Booksellers Montréal’s coolest bookstore owner and her response to the trade war
Carter Forman & Kendyl Daley
Contributors
De Stiil Booksellers, a small independent bookstore nestled in the Plateau, is caught in the crossfire of an international trade war.
In response to U.S. President Donald Trump’s recent tariffs on Canadian goods, Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney has promised to act “with force” by issuing counter-tariffs taxing American products.
While not included in the March 4 Canadian counter-tariffs, books were added to the list of commodities liable for further tariffs, a surprising move that led booksellers to, as De Stiil’s owner Aude Le Dubé put it, “freak out.”
As the situation unfolds, the future of De Stiil—and independent bookstores across Canada—remains uncertain.
But Le Dubé is determined not to let this affect her customers. When asked about the tariffs, she stressed that she would never raise prices by more than 10 per cent.
“I didn’t want to worry our customers,” she said in an interview with The Tribune. “This is our problem, not theirs.”
Though Le Dubé’s devotion to her customers is admirable, her store will absorb any extra costs, threatening already slim profit margins.
“I don’t know anything about bookselling, and I refuse to learn,” Le Dubé joked.
There is truth in her words; Le Dubé is not interested in maximizing profit, but in providing readers with a wonderful selection of curated literature
and translations.
Though she may not know much about the business of bookselling, she certainly knows a lot about books. Originally from France, Le Dubé is wise, worldly, and well-dressed, her charisma outshone only by her humility. She effortlessly weaves apt quotations and spontaneous gems of wit into her warm, welcoming speech. Le Dubé reads every morning and prescribes this practice to others, a treatment for the chaotic whirlwind of life. And she doesn’t dogear her pages—“I use a bookmark,” she said, laughing. “Are you kidding?”
De Stiil Booksellers is a perfect reflection of its owner: Polished and inviting, intellectual and teeming with life. The store’s eclectic selection is curated by Le Dubé and her staff, giving it a personal identity that most bookstores lack. Le Dubé has high standards for her selection, guaranteeing that customers are met with mastery on every shelf—from Italian classics of yesteryear to newly published 700-page Catalan tomes, such as the one Le Dubé is currently reading.
For her, bookstores are the last standing technology-free third places in Canada.
“Where else are you going to sit for hours and talk to people and see life unfold around you? See people come and go, hear them talk and laugh?” she says.
Fittingly, De Stiil hosts a weekly “Page Break” event every Wednesday at 7 p.m. In the bookstore turned silentreading sanctuary, guests pay a $5 CAD entry fee, hand over their phones, and
enjoy a glass of wine while immersed in their book.
However, Le Dubé believes that the importance of books is not only their escapist potential. Amidst the rising global tide of violent jingoism and the seemingly endless effusion of negativity, literature’s power to foster empathy and share diverse perspectives is needed more than ever.
“I want people to read about other ways of thinking [...] that’s the only way we’re going to change people to not get into a nationalistic whirlpool,” she said.
The best way to support independent bookstores such as De Stiil
is to buy their books. But Le Dubé says she would never want anyone to feel obligated to purchase anything at her store.
“Come to the bookstore to be around people, to read, to be around books,” she said.
It is hard to imagine walking around De Stiil and not being overcome with a love for literature and an appreciation for its owner.
“I do believe in our mission as booksellers,” Le Dubé said. “I think we’re important […] [because we] can change something and people’s minds […] a little bit, one at a time.”
Le Dubé said with a grin that the only books De Stiil won’t buy are “the bad ones.” (Ruby Reimer / The Tribune )
Each figure has a different animalistic theme, pushing the supp osed “wildness” of sinning women. (Anna Seger / The Tribune )
A&E on the most impactful novels they’ve encountered in the classroom A tale of three Russian men and Toni Morrison
Eugene Onegin by Alexander Pushkin (RUSS 223: Russian Literary Giants 1) Isobel Bray, Staff Writer
Eugene Onegin is a timeless novelin-verse set in 19th-century Russia. It follows the titular aristocrat, who, after inheriting his uncle’s estate, retreats to the countryside. Eugene is bored with high society and indifferent to those around him. He meets personalities like the poet Vladimir Lensky and young, intelligent Tatyana Larina. The verse form only enhances the story, as Pushkin blends social commentary with his melodic and emotional writing. His portrayal of Russian high society is sharp and often ironic, yet never fully devoid of empathy. What stood out to me was the realism of the characters—flawed, human, and heartbreakingly self-aware. Onegin, with his cynicism, is both frustrating and strangely familiar. Lensky, the doomed romantic, is his foil: Idealistic and earnest in a world that doesn’t reward it. The narrator is a character unto himself, breaking the fourth wall with asides that feel surprisingly modern. Pushkin reflects on his own youth, writing, and memory with a tone that is both playful and melancholic. Despite being written two centuries ago, Eugene Onegin is filled with moments that speak to the present about identity, image, and the consequences of not acting when it matters.
Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov (ENGL 227: American Fiction after 1945) Bianca Sugunasiri, Staff Writer Content warning: Pedophilia, Kidnapping, Sexual Assault
Fresh out of high school and heady with literary ignorance, I was met with a rude awakening in the form of Vladimir Staff Lolita. I was thrown from my comfortable world of sheltered grade-school literature into one of the most viscerally disturbing novels I have ever encountered. The thought of devoting time to dissecting the first-person account of a repulsive pedophile was terrifying. I was further
disturbed by the Vanity Fair review quote printed on the back of my copy: “The only convincing love story of our century.” Everything in me was primed to reject the novel. But one class, my professor said something that turned my perspective on its head. He challenged the notion that Lolita was a sick fantasy, but was instead designed as a rebellion from the modernist notion of “art for art’s sake.” The novel is widely known for its unexpectedly embellished prose that flows artfully like poetry. Contrasted with the uncomfortable ideas that Nabokov presents, it makes a sadistic mockery of the Aesthetic Movement. All of a sudden, the novel went from a glorification of inhuman immorality to a meticulously crafted protest for me. Although it is impossible to know what Nabokov truly intended, the man insisted that there should not be a child anywhere in the book design. This is not a love story, but an exposé of the parts of humans we deign to forget: Discomfort deliberately wielded to elicit change.
Jazz by Toni Morrison (ENGL 505: Sound, Voice, Music, Noise)
Kellie Elrick, Arts & Entertainment Editor Content warning: Violence, feminicide
Last summer, I was on a transatlantic flight from Rome to Toronto when a fuse blew, knocking out the electricity in my part of the plane. This is how I first read Jazz—in one sitting, in close quarters, hurtling at top speed over the sea in a lightly malfunctioning airplane. It knocked me out. The narrative twisted and turned, screaming, singing, breathing. I encountered it again in a seminar in the fall and remained enraptured by the text. Jazz changed what I thought a novel could be. The narrative speaks to itself, echoing between chapters, calling and responding in non-chronological order. The present moves forward into the past, which in turn responds to the present, engaging in an oral tradition that rebels against its written form, speaking at once from Harlem in 1926 and Virginia
in 1888. Morrison’s novel sings of Black womanhood, history, modernity, music, enslavement, violence, what’s unspoken, what’s heard, freedom to act, freedom to speak, freedom to be; Joe shoots his young lover Dorcas; his wife Violet slashes Dorcas’s face in her casket, and the novel shoots off into the present, past, and future all at once. It begins with a sound—sth—and ends with a call: “Say make me, remake me. You are free to do it, and I am free to let you because look, look. Look where your hands are. Now.”
Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoevsky (RUSS 224: Russian Literary Giants 2)
Charlotte Hayes, Arts & Entertainment Editor
On a Wednesday night in the dead of February sometime last year, I came to a sudden, horrible realization: I needed to be on page 300-and-something of Crime and Punishment by 11 a.m. the next day—and I had yet to crack open the book. Although I’m not proud of this (and by no means
endorse the following actions), what transpired over the next 16 hours was nothing short of transcendent. I sat down on my couch and just started reading. The floorboards of my empty Plateau apartment creaked. Cold air squealed through its barely sealed doors. I sat hunched on the couch, eyes glued to the page. Hours passed in a blur of plot twists, coffee, and sleep-deprived delirium. Maybe it was heart-pounding guilt-byproxy brought on by Dostoevsky’s prose, or maybe it was just 5 a.m. Still, I’ve never felt more connected to an objectively awful person than to Rodion Raskolnikov. Reading Crime and Punishment shifted how I view literary canons. For the first time—outside of Shakespeare or a few biblical parables—I grasped how a piece of writing can ripple across art forms. From later Russian novels to the moral puzzles of ‘70s Hollywood cinema, Dostoevsky’s tale of guilt, greed, and moral ambiguity in redemption has proved enduring and unsettling. I may not have known it then, but sitting groggy in a conference on four-ish hours of sleep the next morning was exactly what I needed to round out my university experience.
A spotlight on student strike for Palestinian liberation film
The screening was the first in a two-part series hosted by SPHR McGill
Charlotte Hayes & Kellie
Elrick Arts & Entertainment Editors
The arts have long been a powerful medium for human rights activism. Last week, students hosted two film screenings alongside
workshops and teach-ins during the Student Society of McGill University (SSMU)’s student strike for Palestinian liberation.
“It’s to reiterate that our education is not just happening within the classroom,” Rama Al Malah, U2 Science, said in an interview with The Tribune. “Education is happening when we’re having these discussions and these reflections within these political and cultural spaces, and it’s also part of this revolutionary study and education that we need to engage with in order to be part of this movement.”
Gaza Fights for Freedom —written and directed by Abby Martin— documents the
Great March of Return protests that took place in 2018. The opening shot shows Palestinian children building sandcastles, washed away by the sea— the same sea that Israel has blockaded.
The documentary centres on Palestinian stories, faces, and voices. Poet and journalist Ahmed Abu Artema, watching birds fly over barbed wire, tells us that he hates the occupation because it goes against nature. His poetry inspired the March. Nurse and paramedic Razan Al-Najjar’s grieving family tells us how, at the end of the day, she used to tell them about every person she had saved. The Israeli Defense Forces fatally shot her in June 2018.
“If you look at [...] Black Studies, if you look at Indigenous Studies, and then you look at Palestinian Studies, documentaries have been critical for people under occupation, or people whose histories—or some parts of their histories—have been obliterated because the documentary puts you in direct contact with the people living the reality of an occupation,”
Professor of Islamic History
Rula Jurdi said in an interview with The Tribune
Perhaps the power of documentary lies in its intimacy in the face of injustice: That, too often, the people who see, hear, speak, and live under occupation are not those who are listened to. From behind the camera, viewers can hear voices, some since silenced, telling us not to forget.
Gaza Fights for Freedom screened on April 2.
The McGill University Department of Russian Studies was establi shed in 1968. (Mia Helfrich / The Tribune )
Neurostructural correlates of obesity: Evidence for brain-body interactions
New McGill study links weight gain to structural brain changes
Daniel Pyo Staff Writer
Obesity is more than just a physical health issue—research increasingly shows that it takes a toll on the brain as well. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), global obesity rates have tripled since 1975, with over 650 million adults now classified as obese.
A recent study led by Filip Morys, a Research Associate at The Neuro in Montreal under the supervision of Dr. Alain Dagher, explores the bidirectional relationship between obesity and brain function. The findings reveal that weight gain can be both a cause and a consequence of changes in the brain.
“We have this bi-directional model of obesity and brain interactions where changes in the brain can be vulnerability factors for weight gain in younger adults, and in older adults, chronic obesity is actually leading to brain damage,” Morys explained in an interview with The Tribune
In other words, brain structure and function can shape a person’s susceptibility to obesity, while longterm obesity may, in turn, contribute to cognitive decline and other neurological impairments. One key factor in this complex relationship is inflammation.
“Being obese essentially means that your body is in a constant state of low-grade inflammation because fat tissue produces substances that cause inflammation in the body,” Morys said.
While this chronic inflammatory state is known to contribute to insulin resistance and cardiovascular disease, it also appears to impact brain health.
The study found that inflammationrelated changes in brain structure and function may influence eating behaviour and self-regulation, potentially creating a feedback loop that makes weight management more difficult.
To investigate these brain-body interactions, Morys’ team used noninvasive imaging techniques, including diffusion-weighted imaging, which measures water movement in brain tissue.
This allowed them to examine differences in brain structure and function among individuals with varying body mass indices (BMI), providing insights into microstructural changes linked to obesity.
“What we’re looking at is not necessarily direct inflammation,” Morys clarified. “We’re doing non-invasive brain imaging, which makes it difficult to definitively say the changes are neuroinflammation.”
Despite this limitation, their findings suggest that obesity-related brain changes may be linked to inflammatory processes, which can alter cognitive function and decision-making related to food intake.
Individuals with higher BMI also tended to exhibit changes in the brain regions involved in impulse control and reward processing, areas that are critical for regulating eating behaviour. Disruptions in these networks may explain why some people struggle with
overeating despite knowing the associated health risks.
Moreover, decreased connectivity between key brain areas could impair a person’s capacity to manage cravings and choose healthier foods. These findings underscore the complexity of obesity and highlight the importance of addressing cognitive and emotional factors alongside conventional weight management approaches in treatment plans.
For many years, the neurological consequences of obesity were poorly understood; however, research efforts are ramping up. Strategies like cognitive training or anti-inflammatory treatments targeting brain function may help mitigate obesity risk. In older adults, reversing or mitigating brain damage caused by long-term obesity may help slow cognitive decline and improve quality of life.
Looking ahead, Morys hopes to conduct long-term studies to track how brain function and obesity interact over time.
“Ideally, we would love to observe these changes over the course of time, starting with children and following them throughout their entire lifetime to trace how brain changes relate to body mass
index and obesity,” Morys said.
Such research could yield critical insights into the lifelong relationship between brain health and body weight, paving the way for more personalized and effective treatments.
Ultimately, this study supports the idea that obesity is not simply a result of willpower or lifestyle choices, but a multifaceted condition encompassing biological, neurological, and environmental influences. By understanding how the brain influences appetite, behaviour, and metabolism, scientists can develop more holistic interventions that address the root causes of obesity, rather than focusing on its symptoms alone.
Measures of water diffusivity in magnetic resonance imaging of the brain include fractional anisotropy (FA), mean diffusivity (MD), radial diffusivity (RD), and axial diffusivity (AD). (Leanne Cherry / The Tribune)
Rethinking environmental risk assessment for Indigenous communities The limitations of conventional assessment approaches in Canada
K.Coco Zhang Science & Technology Editor
Across Canada, Indigenous communities are grappling with a severe environmental crisis.
Approximately 4,500 sites on reserve lands are listed as contaminated in the Canadian Federal Contaminated Sites Inventory, representing 29 per cent of all such sites nationwide. This disproportionate concentration of contaminated sites has resulted in significantly higher exposure to environmental contaminants for Indigenous populations compared to the general population.
Despite the urgency of this issue, there remains a notable lack of research into holistic, culturally appropriate methods of assessing environmental contamination and its health impacts on Indigenous communities.
In response to this critical gap, Katie Chong, a PhD student in McGill’s Faculty of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences, conducted a study evaluating conventional risk assessment practices across Indigenous communities in Canada.
Using an anonymous mixed-method survey, Chong gathered insights from 38 stakeholders—including representatives from Indigenous governments, environment and health offices, federal and provincial agencies, and academia—who are actively involved in risk assessment work in Indigenous contexts.
One of the study’s key findings pointed to risk communication—the process of sharing information about potential environmental hazards with stakeholders— as the most challenging aspect of the
assessment process. Participants noted particular difficulties in navigating the balance between communicating the risks of consuming contaminated traditional foods and acknowledging these foods’ deep cultural, nutritional, and spiritual significance.
Nearly all respondents identified time constraints, high costs, and limited resources as moderate to serious barriers in their work. Few respondents were familiar with innovative risk assessment methods, and around three-quarters agreed that current approaches require significant improvement.
Chong’s research also underscores how the disproportionate exposure of Indigenous communities to environmental contaminants is rooted in historical and ongoing environmental racism.
“Environmental racism is basically a broad term that refers to marginalized and racialized communities being inequitably exposed to or affected by environmental issues, such as contamination or climate change,”
Chong said in an interview with The Tribune. “It has been the root of pervasive environmental justice issues both within Canada and globally.”
Beyond health effects, environmental contamination threatens cultural continuity.
Of particular concern are species such as the boreal caribou, which are significant to many Indigenous groups, not only as a source of food but as a central figure in ceremonies, stories, and community knowledge. When environmental contamination endangers such species, Indigenous communities risk losing generations of traditional knowledge and cultural identity.
While Canadian federal and provincial environmental policies regulate industrial activities and contaminated site remediation through frameworks like Human Health Risk Assessment (HHRA) and Ecological Risk Assessment (ERA), these conventional approaches often fall short.
“These two frameworks basically quantify how much of a chemical a person or species is exposed to and how toxic that chemical is. This allows us to calculate risk and [inform] decisions on a regulatory level,” Chong explained.
However, these conventional approaches often fail to address the complex and unique risk contexts that many
Indigenous communities face. HHRAs, for instance, typically exclude critical exposure scenarios relevant to Indigenous practices, such as participation in ceremonial events or the harvesting and consumption of traditional foods.
The shortcomings of current assessment methods extend beyond their narrow scope.
“These methods provide a [restricted] definition of health that’s based on contaminant exposure and toxicity, which often fails to [encompass] the much broader and more holistic [understanding] of health that many Indigenous communities hold,” Chong added.
Moreover, these assessments are timeconsuming and resource-intensive, posing a significant barrier given the vast number of contaminated sites and chemicals requiring evaluation.
Moving forward, Chong advocates for the development of more inclusive and culturally grounded assessment approaches. While acknowledging the study’s limitations, including its small scale and the diverse contexts of Indigenous communities across Canada, she emphasized its role as a foundation for future research.
“[This study] supports the need to develop new approaches to risk assessment that are designed for and by Indigenous communities specifically,” Chong noted, highlighting the importance of integrating diverse perspectives and improving cumulative risk assessment techniques.
According to study participants, modernizing risk assessment requires advancing cumulative risk evaluation, enhancing risk communication, and promoting Indigenous leadership and knowledge at every stage of the assessment process.
affected by contaminated sites. (Zoe Lee / The Tribune )
Concealed identity: How social science research overlooks multiracial participants
Study reveals multiracial folks often don’t identify with a combination of their parents’ races
Jasjot Grewal Editor-in-Chief
For many multiracial individuals, answering a seemingly simple question—“What is your race?”— can be anything but straightforward. Demographic forms, surveys, and research questionnaires often present a narrow list of options. These limited categories, often shaped by researchers’ own biases, can lead to results that may not fully encompass one’s true racial identity.
In a recent study published in the journal Race and Social Problems, N. Keita Christophe, assistant professor in McGill’s Department of Psychology, explored different ways of collecting demographic information on race in social science research, methods which ultimately inform researchers’ understanding and classifications of multiracial participants in their samples.
Christophe and his colleagues also compared the participants’ selfreported racial identities to those of their biological parents and found that many multiracial folks identified differently than their parents. These discrepancies challenge widely held assumptions about how race is inherited, perceived, and recorded.
“One would assume that the races I select are a sum of what my biological mother is and my biological father is, right? But what we observed is that that
really wasn’t holding true for a really big piece of the sample,” Christophe explained in an interview with The Tribune
The study came about as a project of The Loving Study Collaborative—a team dedicated to capturing the experiences of multiracial college students. Despite being the quickestgrowing populations in the U.S. and Canada, multiracial individuals are still frequently underrepresented— or misrepresented—in social science research.
“[Multiracial individuals are] really absent from a lot of big-scale data. I think what a lot of people do, both at government levels but also in academic research, is they often might just group people into a specific minority group. So, if I check Black and white and Asian, someone might just put me in the Black category or put me in the Asian category,” Christophe said. “So in a lot of research settings, multiracial people just kind of get erased from science, or they’re in their own group of multiracial people, but that group might be small because of the way they ask the question, so they exclude them from the analyses.”
Christophe encouraged other researchers to consider that the methods used to ask demographic questions can impose categorization bias on racialized persons, and that changing the wording of these questions can result in different-sized sample groups.
“Identity is really complex, and
there are decisions that go into how people choose to self-identify on forms, and there’s a reason that people aren’t selecting the same groups for themselves as they may select for their parents,” Christophe said. “Maybe they don’t identify with those groups very strongly. Maybe they have a phenotype or physical appearance that doesn’t really match some of the groups they check for their parents, so they’re not checking them themselves.”
Christophe emphasized that the ways in which multiracial folks identify are complicated and evolving. Some might choose to identify with one identity over others, some may identify as a blend of their parents’ races all the time, and some might change their identification based on context. He explained that social science research needs to do more work to accommodate these nuances in identity.
“There’s not a lot of people doing this work, but I think it’s a population
that needs a lot more research,” he said. “Studying risk, resilience, discrimination, health, and well-being in multiracial populations—it’s almost like it’s a very new area. Students and more junior people in the field can actually make big contributions [....] There’s definitely a lot of room to jump in and look at interesting questions and get your voice heard.”
Patient perspectives on services provided by a deradicalization clinic How a therapeutic approach can reduce the risk of violent extremism
Leanne Cherry Science & Technology Editor
As social polarization increases around the globe, attitudes that justify the use of violence grow alongside it. Deradicalizing both potential and convicted offenders of violent extremism—violence motivated by ideological, political, or religious agendas—thereby continues to be important for preventing the perpetuation of hate.
In a recent study, Cécile Rousseau, professor in McGill’s Division of Social and Transcultural Psychiatry, and her colleagues interviewed patients at the Polarization Clinic—a Montrealbased centre focused on deradicalizing individuals at risk or found guilty of committing acts of violent extremism. Through their conversations, Rousseau determined how patients perceived the services they were receiving.
“One of the things we discovered in this study is how much [patients] had experienced hardship, failures, and hurt in not being heard, and feeling that socially, in their families and within their surroundings, they didn’t have a voice,” Rousseau said in an interview with The Tribune
From the patients’ perspectives, there were three main outcomes from this program that helped them disengage from their violent ideations and ultimately integrate back into society. First, these services allowed patients to openly express their views to a clinician without feeling judged. Over time, this perceived lack of judgement helped foster trust in the clinician-patient relationship.
Second, it helped them repair broken social connections, allowing them to mitigate interpersonal conflicts and ultimately reduce feelings of isolation. Finally, it helped patients regulate their emotions, particularly anger, enabling them to distance themselves from violent impulses.
Despite the hateful ideologies that many of their patients subscribe to— with many holding far-right, whitesupremecist, and religious-extremist beliefs—the clinic’s main goal is not to change the beliefs outright, but rather, to address the underlying emotional wounds that fuel such views in the first place.
“[The study’s participants] have undergone a lot and they’ve become bitter, and they’ve become desperate: Despair and rage go together and, in fact, hate protects from fear,” Rousseau said. “I do not, of course, endorse the hate, but we listen and we try to understand the fear under the hate. We try to reach a person beyond what we may condemn, and I think that’s what makes a difference.”
Many of the patients had experienced bullying and social rejection throughout their lifetime, which had ultimately led to social isolation. Some turned to online communities to soothe their distress; however, this merely furthers existing polarization rather than truly relieving this feeling of loneliness.
“Online, you are rewarded because you meet people who think like you, who have the same grievances, and you can say, ‘I’m not alone. I’m with people who are just like me,’” Rousseau said. “You can construct an online narrative. But online, the relations are not like they are in
person [....] The problem is that when you prefer your life online, it means you begin creating a distance with life, and there you have a link with the legitimization of violence.”
In future studies, Rousseau intends to explore how the families and significant others of patients in this clinic view the effectiveness of these deradicalization programs.
“Questioning our work and our perspective and triangulating perspectives, I think is important. So nobody has the whole truth—not our patient, nor their family, nor us. We have to cross gazes,” Rousseau said.
Rousseau noted, however, that our current healthcare system is not equipped for this model of clinical deradicalization. To further the impact of such clinics and research, we must change our perspective on this issue on a societal level, rather than simply an individual one.
“Is it worth doing the work? We think, yes, you know, for just one attack or one mass killing that you can prevent, it’s worth doing the work. But as a society, we need to say, ‘This is important to do and we should address this form of fear in youth,’ and not just think of them as criminals, because punishing this fear is terribly dangerous,” Rousseau said.
The Loving Project also researches the familial support multiracial children receive from their parents of different races. (Zoe Lee / The Tribune)
Out of all 18 participants in this study, only one identified as a woman. (Mia Helfrich / The Tribune )
Varsity Report Card: Winter 2025
With the year coming to a close, The Tribune reviews the Martlets’ and Redbirds’
Clara Smyrski, Alex Hawes
Silva & Reuben Noam Sports Editor & Staff Writers
Martlets Artistic Swimming:
Synchronized swimming had an outstanding season marked by dominance, consistency, and poise in the pool. The Martlets brought home 17 titles, culminating in a silver medal finish at the Canadian University Artistic Swimming League (CUASL) nationals in Victoria, B.C. They made waves at every invitational they entered, earning multiple golds in all varieties of routines. Led by standout swimmer and serial medalist Sonia Dunn, McGill proved to be a force each time. Dunn was recognized individually on March 23 for her triple-medal performance at nationals. Head coach Lindsay Duncan won the Anne Smeeton Award for significant contributions to the CUASL. Despite a season this decorated, and a national podium finish to cap it off, Martlets Artistic Swimming are used to bringing home the gold. For that reason, the team earns a solid A for 2024-2025.
Martlets Badminton (10–2):
Martlets Badminton had an impressive season and finished with a second-place spot in the Réseau du sport étudiant du Québec (RSEQ) behind the Université de Montréal (UdeM) Carabins. They started strong, sweeping their first meet in October, and in November, they triumphed over most of their competitors but fell to UdeM. At the RSEQ Championships in February, they lost in the semifinals to Université Laval (ULaval) for the first time this season in a close 2-3 loss. Senior Eliana Zhang was triumphant in the individual category, demolishing the competition and securing the final match in two straight sets (21-6 and 21-9). Zhang was named RSEQ Player of the Year and is a first-team all-star.
Redbirds Badminton (5–7):
The Redbirds competed in six inter-Quebec tournaments, including two RSEQ tournaments, before making an appearance at the YONEX Canadian College Championships in March. They started the season flying, with Captain Nicholas Germain taking home a silver medal in the A-elite men’s doubles division at the first individual tournament. From there, the Redbirds went 3-3 at home, 2-4 at Université de Montréal (UdeM), and placed third at Sherbrooke. McGill achieved third place at the RSEQ provincial championships, the weekend before nationals. There, the Redbirds took seventh place. The encore may have been disappointing, but it was not for lack of trying. McGill has not won the national championships since the 1981-82 season, when both Redbirds and Martlets took home the gold.
Martlets Basketball (13–12):
The Martlets started off the preseason with narrow wins against York University and the University of New Brunswick, but also faced tough losses to Toronto Metropolitan University and the University of Ottawa. Their performance during the McGill Basketball Classic was strong, winning two of three games, including a significant 75-50 victory over the University of Northern British Columbia. Once regular RSEQ play began, the team showed some resilience. A
highlight was their 66-55 win over the Concordia Stingers and a close 66-64 victory on the road at Bishop’s University. However, they also faced challenging losses to ULaval, falling in both their home and away matchups. Overall, the Martlets have demonstrated solid potential, with a balanced record reflecting both promising wins and opportunities for growth.
Redbirds Basketball (6–22):
It was a sputtering season for the Redbirds. Following the preseason, they went 4-17 in all competitions, finally managing to take off with a win—by one point—in the season’s final game, away at Université du Québec à Montréal (UQÀM). This was one of their four wins after the pre-season. Two players, Noah Sincere and Georges Lefebvre, managed to shine, earning
games, they were not fully able to turn the momentum for the majority of the season. But despite the circumstances, the Martlets showed resilience and stayed competitive throughout the season.
Redbirds Hockey (25–16–0):
Redbirds Hockey had a great run in their gruelling 41-game season. They battled past the Université du Québec à TroisRivières (UQTR) in the Ontario University Athletics East Quarter-finals to face off against the rival Concordia Stingers in the semis, but their season ended in a heartbreaking 4-5 loss in game three of the three-game series. The season saw impressive opportunities for some star Redbirds; centers William Rouleau and Mathieu Gagnon, along with Coach David Urquhart, competed in the Fédération
conference rookie of the year and all-star status, respectively. The 2025 Canadian Elite Basketball League (CEBL) draft reveal, set for April 10, will hopefully combine with an undeniably disappointing season to fuel a successful 2025-2026 campaign.
Martlets Hockey (7–24–0):
The Martlets hockey team faced a challenging 2024-25 season, finishing with a 7–24 record. Despite showing effort and resilience, they struggled to close out games and fought through a losing streak of four matches. Offensive leaders included Taylor Garcia, who topped the scoreboard with 22 points, and Mika Chang with 13 points. Olivia Pridham and Syrine Kacem each contributed 12 points. Goaltenders Sophie Lajeunesse and Jade Rivard-Coulombe shared the workload but were under pressure in most matchups. Though the team managed to win a few tough
Internationale du Sport Universitaire World University Winter Games in Torino, Italy, in January. Additionally, forward Brandon Frattaroli earned first team all-star pick and defenceman Igor Mburanumwe secured all-rookie. Most recently, Zach Gallant was called up to the American Hockey League for the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins. Though the season did not end with a new RSEQ banner, Redbirds Hockey has fostered some incredible players this season.
Martlets Volleyball (16–12):
The Martlets’ volleyball season may not have gone as planned—with the team narrowly missing a ticket to the RSEQ Finals—but it is a season that showed great progress. The regular season started strong with a home-court victory against UQTR, but the Martlets, unable to gain traction, fell short for the next five games.
Winter seasons
Despite these losses, the team persevered; coming back after New Year’s, they were poised to achieve an eight-game win streak in early 2025. Their triumphs were captained by pin hitter Elyssa Lajmi, who led the team with 336 points and 290 kills. They gained a spot in the RSEQ playoffs and attempted to win their second championship in the 53 years of tournament history. Unfortunately, the Martlets fell on the third of a threegame semifinal series to the reigning champions, the UdeM Carabins. Their 16–12 record does not capture the full story of this season; the Martlets’ retiring coach, Rachèle Béliveau, has much to be proud of.
Track and Field: Martlets / Redbirds
The McGill Redbirds had a fruitful season, winning the McGill Team Challenge, their first team victory at the meet since 2002, edging out ULaval in a tight finish. Standout performances of the season included Markus Geiger’s school record in the 600m, Samuel Hepworth shattering the McGill record for the 1,000m race at the Valentine Invitational, and a top10 national time in the 4x400m relay
The Redbirds placed second at the RSEQ Championships, while the Martlets placed third. Placing 16th out of 27 teams at the U SPORTS national championship, Donna Ntambue put the Martlets on the board with a phenomenal performance in the 60m dash. While they opened the season strong, the Martlets struggled to place highly in track events at nationals and did not have entries in several relays, which limited their overall impact at major meets.
Swimming: Martlets / Redbirds
Both Martlets and Redbirds Swimming could not manage to lose this season and came out in the gold medal spot for every regular season cup they competed in. The combined team dominated, breaking 1,000 points and winning by a margin of at least 200 points in every regular season cup. Their success was highlighted by a group of especially strong swimmers, including seniors Naomie Lo and Elizabeth Ling, who earned five and six gold medals, respectively, at the RSEQ Championships. The future of McGill Swim looks just as bright, with rookie Loïc Courville-Fortin and sophomore Mats Baradat both earning silver and breaking school records at the National Championships. Junior Emilia Mastromatteo cannot be forgotten, as she broke multiple school records throughout the season, earned McGill Athlete of the Week four times and RSEQ Athlete of the Week. With a final standing of first in the RSEQ for both teams, as well as second in the nation for women’s and fourth for men’s, McGill Swimming has rightfully received top ratings, and The Tribune cannot wait to see what they accomplish next season.
(Hannah Nobile / The Tribune )
Protecting trans children’s right to sport is everyone’s responsibility As human rights crackdowns crop up across the U.S. and abroad, trans folks cannot fight alone
Shani Laskin Managing Editor
Since the start of Trump’s second term, the U.S. has seen a slew of executive orders, policies, and lawsuits attacking a fundamental right for transgender youth—the ability to play sports. Last week alone, the U.S. Department of Agriculture froze funds to educational programs in Maine due to the state’s support of trans athletes, the Nevada Interscholastic Activates Association ruled it would no longer allow trans girls to play on women’s high school sports teams, and a similar proposed ban in Washington gained support from Congressman Dan Newhouse.
Prejudiced policy directed toward trans youth is not just an American issue though; in 2024, Alberta Premier Danielle Smith announced a series of policy resolutions which included banning or severely limiting trans women and girls’ access to sports and even prohibiting puberty blockers for trans youth. Amid this onslaught, it is crucial that the rights of trans children to play sports be taken seriously by all.
The Olympic Charter outlines access to play sports as a human right. For children, sports provide numerous physical, emotional, and social advantages that such policies aim to strip away. For trans kids—many of whom face harm from others for their gender identity—participation in sports can be invaluable in terms of self-esteem and academic performance. A study from the Human
Rights Campaign Foundation and the University of Connecticut found that trans high schoolers who played sports experienced lower levels of depression and earned higher grades. Forcing them out of one of the most prominent public spaces is not just a cruel erasure—it is deeply dangerous.
Arguments in favour of banning trans kids from sports often insist on the right to fair play for cisgender girls—in the American context, this means the persistent invocation of Title IX, a federal civil rights law that prohibits sex-based discrimination in educational programs, including school sports. These arguments ignore that there is no compelling empirical evidence that trans girls have a biological advantage in sports. Further, sports are otherwise unfair due to a plethora of biological or socioeconomic factors. An athlete can have a competitive advantage by being taller, having higher endurance, or being able to afford extra training, regardless of gender.
The twisting of Title IX is a badfaith argument, veiling bigotry with a self-righteous call for girls’ rights. If the self-proclaimed proponents of Title IX really cared about girls’ well-being, they would care about all girls. If it was really about girls’ safety, they would be talking about the factors that lead girls to drop out of sports, such as social stigma, ubiquitous misogyny, and the scrutiny of women’s bodies. This selective advocacy shows that it has never been about cisgender girls and women; it is about pushing an agenda
of what they believe gender should look like. Trans peoples’ participation in sports is an easy target for conservatives because it attacks a small minority in one of the largest public arenas—an incredibly gendered one, no less.
Banning trans kids from sports opens the door to even more discriminatory policy, sidelining, and erasing any deviation from a strict gender binary. This should be seen not just as an attack on the trans community but also as an assault on all kinds of free gender expression.
When it comes to combatting these heinous measures, it must be all hands on deck. Of the roughly 300,000 trans kids aged 13 to 17, two-thirds live in states that have enacted laws restricting their access to play. The scale of these policies is enormous and
Sports media’s duty to athletes and fans Journalistic principles for responsible sports coverage
Anoushka Oke Sports Editor
Sports journalism is often seen as a “soft” area of the media, but it is a lot more complicated than it appears. In covering sports events and athletes, journalists must uphold key journalistic practices, ensuring they truthfully and fairly represent the stories they are telling. Oftentimes, however, journalists and media sources covering sports fail to do so, breaching ethical boundaries or contributing to harmful cycles in the process.
Sports media should represent all stories
Sports are an incredibly diverse domain, with people of all ages, ethnicities, genders, and racial identities participating, making them unifying activities. Thus, it is the responsibility of sports journalists to make sure they are telling the stories of all kinds of athletes, as well as accurately representing them. The Paralympics deserve the same standard of coverage as the Olympics, the WNBA the same coverage as the NBA, and the African Cup of Nations the same coverage as the Euros.
Equitable media representation spurs higher levels of sustained interest in underrepresented sports, or underrepresented groups within a sport. An area in which sports media severely lacks this equal representation has been in women’s sports, with a 2023 study finding they made up 15 per cent of sports media coverage. This is unjust to women athletes, who have worked tirelessly to get to their professional status, and also
contributes to lowered interest in women’s sports, as higher levels of media coverage for a league are directly tied to increased interest. Swedish Television committed to increasing coverage of women’s sports so that it was equal to men’s sports coverage. They found that the league’s broadcast often became so popular that competitors sought to acquire their rights.
Technology must be used responsibly Journalism is one of many fields that has been negatively impacted by an increasing reliance on AI, and sports journalism is not safe from this. Beyond the ethical and environmental implications of AI-generated content, responsible journalism requires a human perspective and human values. Emotionally charged writing is something a machine could never be taught. It is what separates a sports piece from being a droning recap of a game to something that readers can connect to.
There is a disturbing rise in AIgenerated content, even among reputable sports news sources. Sports Illustrated, for example, published articles written by AI in 2023, and She’s A Baller posted nowdeleted AI-generated images on their social media. In both of these instances, an opportunity was taken away from a writer or an artist to produce work that offers a human perspective.
Sports journalists need to respect athletes When working with athletes, journalists also have the responsibility of protecting their privacy and dignity. This includes avoiding invasive questions that are not relevant to the topic at hand
expanding each week. Cisgender allies must recognize that these policies threaten the well-being of children. Protecting the next generation is the biggest responsibility of all.
or questions that have discriminatory undertones—like when Canadian tennis player Eugenie Bouchard, after winning an Australian Open match in 2015, was asked by a reporter to “give [him] a twirl” and tell him about her outfit, rather than about her performance.
Sports media often use biased or discriminatory language
Like any form of journalism, it is important in sports writing to avoid using language that stereotypes athletes, especially when the language pushes discriminatory ideology about underrepresented groups. For example, male athletes tend to be described as “men”, while female athletes tend to be described as “girls”.
Athletes are also often stereotyped based on their racial identity; Black athletes or athletes of colour with darker skin are often described in relation to their height and perceived “natural” physicality, while whiteplayers’ physical moves are
often attributed to intelligent decisionmaking. This kind of language reinforces harmful stereotypes, categorizing individuals based on race, gender identity, or other underrepresented traits. It is up to sports journalists to be vigilant about their word choices and consider whether any of their language is motivated by unconscious bias.
A Pew Research Center survey found that 66 per cent of adults in the U.S. favoured laws that require trans athletes to compete on teams with their sex assigned at birth. (Zoe Lee / The Tribune)
In 2021, Naomi Osaka withdrew from the French Open after she was penalized for refusing to speak in press conferences; she had stated that press conferences adversely impacted her mental health. (Zoe Lee / The Tribune )
Krystale Crockett Armen Erzingatzian
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