On September 17, McGill President and Vice-Chancellor Deep Saini announced ‘McGill Global,’ a $185 million CAD plan to establish ‘satellite campuses’ abroad—branch campuses operated by McGill outside of Montreal. The announcement comes at a time of financial crisis at McGill, triggered by Quebec’s tuition hikes for out-of-province and international students.[Read More…]
Commentary
More housing for the unhoused
Montreal’s new $2 million CAD housing fund demonstrates an increased political resolve to aid the city’s unhoused population. The fund is dedicated to the expansion of housing non-profits; Plante’s government aims to double the number of housing units available for unhoused individuals. The city is dividing the funding among four[Read More…]
The fatal consequences of racialized 911 calls
On Sept. 21, a police officer shot and killed 15-year-old Nooran Rezayi in a residential neighbourhood in Longueil, a suburb of Montreal. Radio Canada alleges the officer pulled the trigger just 58 seconds after arriving on the scene. At 2:48 p.m., an individual called the police to report a group[Read More…]
Albania’s new AI minister is begging for failure
Earlier this month, Albania’s prime minister Edi Rama presented a novel push in technology: An AI member of parliament named Diella, dressed in traditional Albanian clothing. Diella’s work responsibilities include trying to combat corruption, hiring tenders for infrastructure projects, and navigating users through Albania’s websites to ensure easy access to[Read More…]
Quebec’s Inter-University Transfer Agreement: Unique, but overlooked
Quebec’s Inter-University Transfer Agreement, or Autorisation d’études hors établissement (IUT-AEHE), is a program that allows students to register for courses throughout the province. An opportunity of this nature is especially valuable in Montreal, the city housing the greatest number of universities in Canada. With McGill and Concordia as an anglophone[Read More…]
Montreal’s new language policy furthers Legault’s war on a ghost of Anglophone supremacy
Last March, the city of Montreal provided a new guide for frontline workers. The internal guide, obtained by the Montreal Gazette, is titled, “Exemplary Conduct in the French Language: Mechanisms for Informing the Public,” and offers instructions on how government employees should speak to anglophone customers. One sample script reads:[Read More…]
Safety and speech aren’t either/or
Hate-fuelled harassment deserves a firm legal answer. But Canada’s Bill C-9—also known as the Combating Hate Act—risks the criminalization of non-obstructive protests near community institutions, serving more as a tool to stifle political protest than to combat hate. As currently drafted, Bill C-9 would establish new intimidation and obstruction offences[Read More…]
Sportswashing will not cleanse Israel of its genocide
Events meant to celebrate athleticism are too often exploited to burnish the reputations of countries responsible for humanitarian crises. On Sept. 14, seven protesters were arrested at the Montreal Cycling Grand Prix. They were rallying against the participation of the Israel—Premier Tech (IPT) cycling team in the race. The arrests[Read More…]
Justifying the murder of Charlie Kirk means embracing his fascist rhetoric
At 12:23 p.m. on Sept. 10, far-right activist Charlie Kirk was assassinated in front of a crowd of 3,000 at Utah Valley University. An hour and 20 minutes later, Ruth Marshall, a professor of religious studies and political science at the University of Toronto (UofT), tweeted: “Shooting is honestly too[Read More…]
Why regulating short-term rentals was a must for Montreal
Following a series of deadly fires in two short-term rental units in Old Montreal, city council passed a bylaw heavily restricting the short-term rental market, most principally limiting the timing and duration for which rental properties can be listed. Despite criticism from some homeowners and Quebec’s tourism department, these regulations[Read More…]
