Subsidizing legal producers of cannabis may seem outlandish, but it might be the solution to bringing the Trudeau government closer to its goal of “keeping marijuana out of the hands of children, and the profits out of the hands of criminals.” With the Cannabis Act (Bill C-45) supposed to come[Read More…]
Opinion
Opinions from our editorial board and contributors.
Don’t show me the (read) receipts
“U r bombed me,” read the notification. My immediate reaction was, “What?” Several text bubbles later, I found myself engrossed in arduous digital warfare with this person, who believed I had ignored their earlier messages. I later learned that R-bombing means reading a message intended for you but not responding.[Read More…]
The spectre of anti-Semitism haunts BDS
At a recent forum of McGill’s Task Force on Respect and Inclusion, Associate Professor Laila Parsons defended the existence of the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) movement against Israel at McGill. Parsons claimed that “BDS is a normal method of activism, [and] the University’s condemnation of the BDS [movement] exacerbated[Read More…]
Textbook costs need more than a textbook solution
Post-secondary textbooks are expensive. Any McGill student can attest to this: For many, spending hundreds of dollars at the bookstore is an unfortunate reality of every semester. Others turn to scouring the internet for alternatives and older editions of required texts, or pawning off last year’s gargantuan, intro-level books on[Read More…]
Gender-neutral bathrooms have impact beyond the stall
In October 2017, the Social Work Students’ Association (SWSA) launched a campaign to designate the bathrooms in the School of Social Work’s Wilson Hall as gender-neutral, meaning that students of any gender would be able to use any bathroom they please. On Jan. 9, the campaign succeeded, and most of[Read More…]
When AI slips between the sheets
Last week, I finally watched the 2015 sci-fi and artificial intelligence (AI)-themed movie, Ex Machina. Providing viewers with an in-depth look at the possibilities of AI in a not-so-far future, the film centres around the relationship between a young programmer named Caleb and a seductive robot, Ava. Caleb is mandated to[Read More…]
Divestment comes at a price to students
At the Dec. 12 McGill University Board of Governors (BoG) meeting, members of Divest McGill protested against a recent revision to the Committee to Advise on Matters of Social Responsibility’s (CAMSR) mandate. The policy change would prohibit the University from using the Endowment Fund to further specific social or political[Read More…]
The agonies of email etiquette and prof dudes
Dear Professor Buddle, You recently shared a rather condescending blurb about how McGill students should learn email etiquette, insinuating that most students do not put the correct amount of effort into the vital student-professor communication medium. I challenge this assumption. I’m not sure who originally wrote, “Hey Prof Dude,” but[Read More…]
Renaming buildings: One step toward a more inclusive campus
Recently, McGill struck the Working Group on Principles of Commemoration and Renaming. The group will develop guidelines to consider whether McGill should rename campus buildings that honour historical figures whose legacies no longer seem worth commemorating. As with any debate on how to best memorialize the past, the Task Force[Read More…]
Students have the power to effect change in Quebec through political volunteerism
The importance of youth involvement in politics was evident to me well before I started my studies at McGill. The mayor of my hometown–Moncton, New Brunswick–once told me, “I hear from a lot of older people, every day. Unfortunately, I don’t hear from many young people […] and yet every[Read More…]
