On Sept. 15, I, along with many other international students, received an automated email from McGill Legal Services notifying me that I was at risk of deregistration due to missing immigration documents. Although I applied for my documents over the summer, the Quebec documents uploading system did not correctly upload[Read More…]
Commentary
Solidarity in Montreal must outlast COVID-19
The Montreal Student Initiative for COVID-19 Response and Relief, a McGill student-led mutual aid group that formed during the pandemic, shut down on Oct. 1. Along with delivering material goods, such as food and prescriptions, to people in need, the group also organized virtual social events to connect their communities.[Read More…]
Kamala Harris’ refusal to be interrupted sets an empowering example for women
Kamala Harris, the Democratic nominee for Vice President of the United States, faced off against current Vice President Mike Pence in the vice-presidential debate on Oct. 7. Harris is a woman of colour and the daughter of Indian and Jamaican immigrants. When facing constant interruptions from her Republican counterpart, Harris[Read More…]
Online discussion forums are the future of conferences
In light of McGill’s announcement that instruction will continue primarily online during the Winter 2021 semester, students in the Faculty of Arts must prepare for the possibility that most of their conferences will remain remote. This new reality will disappoint those who miss direct face-to-face interaction with their peers. However,[Read More…]
The City of Montreal is letting down its most vulnerable
Ask the average McGill student to point you in the direction of Cabot Square, and not many can. You may have better luck with a Concordia student considering the square’s proximity to their campus. To many Indigenous people in Montreal, however, the urban square holds a special significance. As a[Read More…]
McGill’s funding system harms international students
In 2018, Quebec controversially deregulated tuition for international students at the province’s universities, allowing schools to set their own rates. Over the past several years, McGill has gradually raised international fees, a trend that has continued during the COVID-19 pandemic. While tuition this year for most McGill programs increased by[Read More…]
Canada’s new leaders must engage the student voting base
The 2023 Canadian federal election will feature new party leaders representing the Conservative and Green parties. Erin O’Toole of the Conservative Party and Annamie Paul of the Green Party are likely to face off against the current Prime Minister, the Liberal Party’s Justin Trudeau, and the New Democratic Party (NDP)’s[Read More…]
McGill must do more to protect students in residence
McGill welcomed hundreds of new students to its campus residences this fall, despite delivering classes remotely. McGill Student Housing and Hospitality Services (SHHS) must now balance students’ urge to socialize while protecting the community’s health and safety amid the pandemic. As the number of daily cases continue to increase in[Read More…]
The pandemic demands a more accessible McGill BoG
For years, McGill students have fought for change through protests, rallies, and other physical demonstrations. Protests, such as those led by Divest McGill against the occupation of Wet’suwet’en territory and the Indigenous students behind the “Change The Name” campaign, have been crucial to drawing attention to issues on campus and[Read More…]
McGill must prioritize affordable student housing
Seeking out safe, affordable housing is often a significant source of anxiety for students, one that has only intensified due to the disastrous financial consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic. Montreal, in the thralls of a housing crisis, currently has an extremely low vacancy rate of about 1.5 per cent. Low[Read More…]
