The Students’ Society of McGill University (SSMU) has been plagued by allegations of anti-Semitism since its General Assembly (GA) in Fall 2017, where students failed to ratify a Jewish student to the Board of Directors (BoD) allegedly based in part on his pro-Israel affiliations. In response to these accusations, SSMU[Read More…]
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PGSS Council debates motion to amend commissioner roles
The Post-Graduate Students’ Society of McGill University (PGSS) Council held a meeting on March 21 during which they announced an accessibility audit of Thomson House and discussed a motion to amend the responsibilities of PGSS commissioners. Audit of Thomson House PGSS Financial Affairs Officer Matthew Satterthwaite announced that a[Read More…]
Compost Pilot Project to tentatively launch in La Citadelle Residence
As part of the McGill Vision 2020 plan to introduce environmentally-sustainable operations on campus, McGill’s Facilities Management and Ancillary Services department is implementing the Zero Waste Project, which will introduce compost bins across campus. Composting is the natural biological process in which various microorganisms decompose organic waste—such as food scraps,[Read More…]
BSN spearheading development of McGill Africana Studies Program
The Black Student’s Network of McGill (BSN) is currently spearheading an initiative to develop an Africana Studies program in the Faculty of Arts. The program would offer an interdisciplinary study of the histories, politics, cultures, and contributions people with African heritage and in the African diaspora have made to communities[Read More…]
Tribune Explains: CAMSR
What is CAMSR? The Committee to Advise on Matters of Social Responsibility (CAMSR) is an ad hoc committee whose mandate is to advise the Board of Governors (BoG) on socially responsible investing. Final decisions on the University’s academic, business, and financial affairs rest with the BoG. For an investment to[Read More…]
Canadian tax policy: Subject to change
To mark the 100th anniversary of Canada’s income tax, the McGill Institute for the Study of Canada (MISC) held its annual “Who Pays for Canada? Taxes & Fairness” conference on Feb. 22 and 23. A series of panels covered the philosophy of taxes, ways to fairly distribute tax revenue across[Read More…]
Tre Mansdoerfer wins SSMU Presidency by 69 vote margin
U2 Engineering student Tre Mansdoerfer was elected Students’ Society McGill University Presidenct on March 21 with 50.7 per cent of the vote. Mansdoerfer received only 69 more votes than his competitor, U2 Arts student Corinne Bulger, who garnered 49.3 per cent of votes. 32.8 per cent of the undergraduate student[Read More…]
SSMU Council accepts recommendations from committee on anti-Semitism
At its March 15 meeting, the Students’ Society of McGill University (SSMU) Legislative Council passed the Motion Regarding the Policy for the Implementation of a Fall Reading Break, renewing SSMU’s mandate to lobby for the institution of a Fall break at McGill. Council also passed the Motion Regarding the Joint[Read More…]
McGill professors debate the effectiveness of fossil fuel divestment
“The research shows that [divestment] does make a difference,” Mikkelson said. “The most comprehensive study [of divestment movements] was done at Oxford, and they looked at other divestment campaigns that didn’t necessarily cripple the industries they were targeting, but what they did do is make a big public impact, and that spurred governments to take action [….] Divestment creates impact by raising awareness, stigmatizing target companies, and influencing legislation.”
Etzion further emphasized the status of divestment as a social rather than economic movement.
“I don’t really perceive [fossil fuel divestment] as a financial tactic,” Etzion said. “It’s about something much bigger than what you invest in, it’s actually a social movement. And the objective of this tactic is to de-legitimize an entire industry. [Universities] are very influential in how the world perceives issues, and [divestment] empowers people to envision a world that is not running on a path to destruction.”
ISA walk out brings movement for Indigenous justice to McGill
Protesters honoured the deaths of Tina Fontaine, Colten Boushie, and Brady Francis—three Indigenous youths who were murdered without any suspects being held criminally responsible—at a walkout on campus on March 14, National School Walkout Day. Over 3,100 walkouts took place at schools across North America that day, mostly over gun[Read More…]
