University is a time of experimentation, exploration, and self-discovery. For some students, this includes experimenting with drugs. However, users rarely have access to comprehensive education regarding safe drug use—a necessary component of a harm reduction approach. For many first-year students, their only “harm reduction” measure is an informal tradition: Floor[Read More…]
Opinion
Opinions from our editorial board and contributors.
A secure campus requires open communication
On the morning of Sept. 14, several campus buildings were evacuated and morning classes were cancelled as police responded to a suspicious package in the McCall MacBain Arts Building. Four days later, two men were stabbed just steps away from campus on Sherbrooke Street, and one of them later died.[Read More…]
Action is due against sexism in SSMU
On Sept. 22, The McGill Daily published an article shedding light on a long-standing culture of sexism and misogyny rampant within the Students’ Society of McGill University (SSMU). The article featured many accounts of past and present SSMU members who called out a culture of sexism within the Society. In[Read More…]
SSMU’s failed activities night undermines its integrity
On Sept. 13, over 1,000 students barricaded the virtual entry doors to the Students’ Society of McGill University (SSMU)’s Fall 2021 Activities Night. Internet disconnection alerts flooded the screens of many confused students and club leaders. Although students might have anticipated a mediocre gaming platform with thousands of live participants[Read More…]
Let your unconscious dance
I often wake up and wholeheartedly believe I am still dreaming. The scenes in my slumber world and my reality meet and intertwine, carrying the affect of my dream into the start of my day. Sometimes, I am 50 feet tall and walking for miles down unrecognizable roads; other times,[Read More…]
When being deemed ‘non-essential’ threatens cultural existence
On Sept. 16, Grévin Montréal, the famous Montreal wax museum, permanently closed its doors. It had been temporarily closed since March 2020 as public health protocols forbade non-essential activities like cultural exhibitions from fully opening. Numerous Black-owned businesses faced similar circumstances after being deemed “non-essential,” exposing how such arbitrary labelling[Read More…]
Quebec must answer for non-consensual sterilizations
Content warning: This article discusses forced sterilization, racism Radio-Canada recently aired an interview with a 44-year-old Haitian woman, Maria*, who claimed she was sterilized without consent at a Montreal hospital in 2018. She was asked if she wanted to undergo tubal ligation to prevent further pregnancies during her emergency C-section.[Read More…]
Finding new words for my identity
It took me until I was 12 to realize that my father’s English was accented. Before that, it was just my father’s voice: Familiar and melodic, a vestige of his first, tonal language. Like many mixed kids, I was hyper-aware of the racial categories I fit into from a young[Read More…]
McGill’s library vaccine mandate is indicative of its patchwork approach to COVID-19
On Sept. 17, McGill sent an email announcing that students will need to present their Quebec COVID-19 vaccine passport to enter any on-campus library—beginning in mid-October. The announcement came three weeks into the Fall semester, amidst demands from McGill students and faculty to implement stricter COVID-19 protections. The Students’ Society[Read More…]
Embracing the uncertainties of hybrid learning
After the August heatwave, September promised to bring fall weather, pumpkin spice lattes, and the ability to wear full-length pants outside of the house. And for a while, it did: Jeans walked the campus roads; cardigans thrived. But then, the average temperature rose to around 20 degrees Celsius, bringing with[Read More…]
