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…]
Opinion
Opinions from our editorial board and contributors.
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…]
Make libraries cool again
On Monday, as I was parting ways with a friend, she casually mentioned, “I’m going to the library to pick up a book for my research.” This phrase stuck with me—not because of what she said, but because of how rare it is to hear someone, especially a student, talk[Read More…]
True nation-building is rooted in our environment
A wave of reinvigorated commitment to infrastructural expansion is sweeping the uppermost echelons of Canadian government. On Sept. 10, as an extension of the Building Canada Act, Prime Minister Mark Carney released a list of five major ‘nation-building’ projects aiming to “turbo-charge” the Canadian economy and create jobs. Meanwhile, Quebec[Read More…]
Maple-washing by grocery giants threatens the Canadian domestic market
The Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) confirmed 12 cases of ‘maple-washing’ between February and May 2025, a marketing tactic that exploits Canadian patriotism to encourage sales of imported goods. The agency caught multiple grocery chains promoting non-Canadian products using “Product of Canada” and “Made in Canada” labels, as well as[Read More…]
Embracing the unaesthetic
I love seeping into an aesthetic. Going for walks in the park in a long skirt, colour-coding my notes, listening to an ‘indie morning’ playlist over gentle sips of coffee. Yet, watching my grandfather empty the guts from a fish, I realized that aesthetic lifestyles set unrealistic expectations of beauty[Read More…]
Quebec cuts into education in a callous attempt to balance its budget
After large public outcry from various parents’ associations, teachers, and administrators, the Quebec government rescinded the $570 million CAD budget cut it made to education back in June, promising to put $540 million CAD towards student services. Though this attempt at financial redress seems like a genuine commitment to meeting[Read More…]
McGill’s notice of default with QPIRG demonstrates hostility towards student activism
On Aug. 8, four McGill unions signed an open letter in solidarity with the Quebec Public Interest Research Group (QPIRG) in response to McGill’s notice of default on QPIRG’s Memorandum of Agreement (MoA). In the notice, the university threatened to suspend student funding to the group if it did not[Read More…]