McGill Tribune Last week’s SSMU General Assembly (GA) once again failed to reach quorum for the majority of its motions. As the SSMU executives are only compelled to act on those that did—sadly consisting of just the distinctly tepid duo of motions concerning the selection of the Financial Auditor, and[Read More…]
Opinion
Opinions from our editorial board and contributors.
What’s a Grammy worth?
Proclaiming that the Grammy Awards aren’t the definitive measure of musical success isn’t exactly going out on a limb, but why is it that so many music fanatics approach this ceremony with either indifference or downright distain? The winners of the film industry’s Academy Awards might not always coincide with[Read More…]
Are the USA and Canada tangoing to different music in the 21st century?
Canada-U.S. relations have enjoyed an eclectic array of descriptions since the International Boundary that separates the two countries was set up in 1783. Pierre Trudeau famously said that living next to the U.S. was like sleeping with an elephant: “No matter how friendly or temperate the beast, one is affected[Read More…]
Student Democracy: The agency of the few
The SSMU General Assembly last week was the latest installment of an institution at McGill showcasing both the theoretical promise of direct democracy and the reality of its own illegitimacy. The theoretical promise comes from the reasonable idea that the student body of a university should have a say in[Read More…]
A Different Approach to Religion
McGill Tribune Around 80 people were shot to death during a political gathering at a summer camp in Norway in 2011. Many have claimed this crime was fueled by religions and that it is exemplary of its faults. There have been mass suicides in the United States led by religious[Read More…]
Google and I are calling it quits
The new year dawned on me along with a hangover that made me wish it hadn’t. I was uninspired to write any new year’s resolutions while still stuffing my face with Christmas cookies and eggnog in the days leading up to no-longer-2011. Instead, I had planned to debauch all I[Read More…]
The chaos, it seems, has passed
Last semester I remember walking by countless campus tours, the huddled crowds of eager high schoolers and their skeptical but silent parents, and thinking to myself, “God, they came to visit at the wrong campus.” Considering that one of the main concerns of protesters last fall was the lack of[Read More…]
QI: a bold initiative, but not without costs
McGill Tribune At last week’s senate meeting, the university announced plans to team up with the École de Technologie Supérieure (ÉTS), the Federal government, and the City of Montreal, with the aim of creating the Quartier de l’innovation (QI), a proposed entrepreneurial hub designed to synergies.” The project has several positive[Read More…]
The Referenda results were clear
McGill Tribune The assertion by Professor Mendelson and supported by the McGill Tribune (“Admin was right to refuse the referenda” Jan. 16, 2012) that the referenda questions run by QPIRG McGill and CKUT 90.3fm were unclear betrays a particularly low estimate of the intelligence of McGill students. We asked students[Read More…]
McGill’s Shortest Course: Premiers 101
Canadian premiers are like janitors: you’re not always sure how they got into the building, or how long exactly they will stay. Yet unlike janitors, our provincial leaders get six-figure salaries and don’t always leave the place clean. In Canada’s federal system they wield a fair amount of power, and[Read More…]