Canadian identity has always been elusive; like a tentative adolescent, Canada seems unable to definitively grasp a self-image that resonates. But Canada, I sympathize. At only 21, I am more than familiar with that wrenching internal tension, swinging between the desire to conform while desperately seeking my own niche. Luckily[Read More…]
Opinion
Opinions from our editorial board and contributors.
The Pedneault Affair: Why motion to censure was a bad call
Last Thursday, March 29, a motion was submitted to SSMU council proposing to censure SSMU’s VP External, JoÃl Pedneault. The motion, moved by nine council members, only narrowly failed to pass, with a vote of 11 for, 11 against, and one abstention. The Tribune believes the nine movers of the[Read More…]
Fighting for Internet freedom on two fronts
Never mind that public opposition shut down internet regulation laws SOPA and PIPA in the United States. Never mind that protestors in the European Union managed to delay the progress of their version, ACTA, through the courts so that (knowing European bureaucracy) the law may never in fact be enacted.[Read More…]
McGillLeaks are not worth a legal crusade
Last month the anonymous group “McGillLeaks” published confidential documents from McGill’s office of Development and Alumni Relations. The administration has been seriously investigating the leak, even bringing in the police to help. Their response has been aggressive and effective, and the “McGillLeaks” website was quickly taken down. The university’s lawyers[Read More…]
U.S. university applications process is far from ideal
Four years ago I sat down in my living room with a middle-aged woman who upon first impressions seemed kind and respectful. It was my Yale entrance interview. Palms sweaty and nerves high, I plodded through the first 25 minutes before she stopped me and said, “You’re not being very[Read More…]
Safe space strife
The latest flashpoint of tension at Queer McGill (QM) revolves around the dismissal of Brian Keast, the former treasurer of the club, after an equity complaint filed by Libby Bouchard, the club’s Political Action Co-ordinator. The complaint alleged that Keast, an executive of the group, had violated QM’s anti-transphobia mandate.[Read More…]
The gem that is Quebec theatre
Two Sundays ago, as the rest of the city reveled in the sun-drenched welcoming of spring, I found myself cursing Google Maps, lost in the depths of St. Laurent. Accompanied by fellow theatre lovers, I was searching for the entrance to Infinitheatre, a bath house turned performance space. A matinee[Read More…]
Why I don’t speak French
I wish I spoke French. I really do. Back home in Ontario, everyone laughs when I tell them I’m studying English and German in Montreal, but yet can’t speak French and I have to be honest-I really don’t have a good reason for my apparent resistance to my country’s second[Read More…]
Departmental GAs contravene the AUS constitution
On March 13, the Arts Undergraduate Society (AUS) held a highly-attended General Assembly (GA) in the SSMU building. Over 1,100 students voted on whether arts undergraduates should go on strike in opposition to the Quebec government’s proposed tuition fee increases. The result was close; but the attendees ultimately voted against[Read More…]
Community? Community. Community!
Sitting in on the Department of English Students Association’s General Assembly, where its members debated whether they should continue to strike, I came to a realization: the discussion centred around something far greater than the issues themselves. The debate was really about how to discover and maintain a sense of[Read More…]
