Opinion

Opinions from our editorial board and contributors.

Why I’m voting no

This fall’s referendum features two questions which are almost identically worded; one regarding the McGill chapter of the Quebec Public Interest Research Group, and one about CKUT, a radio station run by McGill students. Both questions call for the renewal of the groups’ opt-outable fees, but both also demand a[Read More…]

There is never a case for bullying

Bullying awareness and ‘it gets better’ campaigns have been gaining momentum this year. So when I read the news that the state of Michigan passed an ‘anti-bullying’ bill, I was shocked and greatly disappointed. This bill essentially justifies bullying if it’s based on a strongly held religious belief or moral[Read More…]

Letter to the Editor

The referendum on continued student funding for QPIRG is important, because QPIRG—the Quebec Public Interest Research Group ­—has been a key campus organization at McGill advancing alternative ideas on environmental, political, and social issues. The need to explore alternative ideas has always been important, but perhaps never more so than[Read More…]

Tough yet inconsistent on human rights

For anybody who has been paying attention, it’s clear that the current government is injecting a new kind of fuel into Canada’s foreign policy. Prime Minister Harper, Foreign Affairs Minister John Baird, and Immigration Minister Jason Kenney form a trifecta of tone transformation: they give bang for their rhetoric’s buck,[Read More…]

The McGill (students’) Tribune backs the MoA

Sometimes you have to give in order to get. That’s exactly what SSMU’s Legislative Council did last Friday by voting in favour of signing a new Memorandum of Agreement (MoA), (see “MoA”, page 1). This particular MoA has been in negotiations for a long time, mainly because of a section[Read More…]

Yes for funding, no for offline opt-outs

This week, students will have the opportunity to vote for the continuation of student funding of the McGill chapter of the Quebec Public Interest Research Group (QPIRG) and CKUT, the campus radio station. The referendum questions have each demanded a change to the current opt-out system so that students will[Read More…]

A midterm adventure

Sometimes, during the middle of midterms when one’s diet consists of a problematic number of Tim Horton’s bagels and too much coffee, and the dirty laundry pile is functioning as a chest of drawers, one decides to take a small adventure. A small midterm adventure, to be precise. The small[Read More…]

Confusing questions and unclear mandates

On Thursday morning voting in the Fall Referendum period closes, and in all likelihood the QPIRG-McGill and CKUT referendum questions will pass—as long as quorum is reached. It’s rare for a fee renewal question to fail, as these referenda are more a test of whether a group can mobilize enough[Read More…]

Geuss’s winning maxim

Last October, philosopher Raymond Geuss stood in a graveyard in Cambridge, England for a mysterious filmed interview. In an eery setting, Geuss communicated an inspired statement: knowing the historical context of what you stand for “will change your attitude toward the world and toward yourself … It will prevent you[Read More…]

Online gateway toward greater accountability

McGill Tribune Following the lead of Toronto, Vancouver, and Ottawa, the City of Montreal has created a website—donnees.ville.montreal.qc.ca—opening up its municipal data to the public. The website, known as an open data portal, is intended to be a universally accessible resource for municipal information, ranging from government contract details to[Read More…]

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