One would expect voter suppression and the arbitrary application of electoral rules to be the exclusive hallmark of states like North Korea, Syria, or perhaps Russian-controlled Crimea. The reality is we might have more in common with those regimes than we would like to believe. Official voting policy for Quebec[Read More…]
Opinion
Opinions from our editorial board and contributors.
Some of us are wrong: why we need a culture of debate
Relativism is one of the biggest threats to academic rigour in the humanities. Institutions such as the Students’ Society of McGill University (SSMU) and the McGill Daily, with their commitment to this dangerous brand of relativism—the concept that truth and morality are not absolute—validate the deep worries about educational trends [Read More…]
EUS Student Space Fund debate
During the Engineering Undergraduate Society (EUS) referendum period, which runs from March 24 to 28, Engineering students will be asked to vote on a referendum question that seeks to create a $15 per semester ($7.50 for part-time students) opt-outable fee for a Student Space Fund (SSF). The SSF would exist[Read More…]
SSMU and PGSS Winter referendum endorsements
SSMU Winter referendum endorsements Click here for our previous reporting on the questions. Disaffiliation from TaCEQ:Yes This motion seeks to disaffiliate the Students’ Society of McGill University (SSMU) from the Table de concertation étudiante du Québec (TaCEQ), a group intended to advocate for student interests at the provincial level.[Read More…]
A microlesson in microaggression: clarifying a misinterpretation
On Dec. 5, the SSMU Legislative Council met and decided that a listserv sent by the SSMU VP Internal Brian Farnan containing a GIF image of Barack Obama kicking down a door served to reinforce the negative stereotypical image of the hyper-masculine aggressive black man. They decided that the Equity[Read More…]
An & in the wilderness
Last year, I transferred from the Faculty of Arts into Arts & Science after falling in love with the Cognitive Science program. Having entered McGill from the U.S., I had actually expected Arts & Science to be the default––at most universities in the United States, it is the largest faculty,[Read More…]
Eliminating ethnocentric tuition policies
Quebec has always made the preservation of the French language and culture within the province a priority. In many areas of Quebec, speaking French is not only encouraged, but necessary. This custom of preserving Quebec’s French roots merits praise; however, it should not come at the cost of alienating people[Read More…]
Recent rhetoric highlights need for linguistic tolerance
The issue of the flight of anglophones from Quebec returned to the forefront following the release of a study that found that over half of Quebec’s anglophone and allophone (those with a mother tongue that is neither English nor French) population has considered leaving Quebec in the past year. The[Read More…]
Voter ID laws: Disenfranchisement under dubious justification
On February 4, the Harper government unveiled its proposed Fair Elections Act, which, among other things, claims to simplify regulations, give law enforcement more autonomy, and increase the donation limit to campaigns. One of the more notable provisions would significantly strengthen voter identification requirements and dispose of the previous provision[Read More…]
The moral hazard of Birks
I was sitting in a conference in the basement of the Birks building, staring through the floor as the TA mumbled something about critical thinking… and I suddenly noticed that one of my classmates was still wearing his boots. As a rule-following person in general, I’ve followed the Birks rule[Read More…]
