Latest News

Off the Board, Opinion

An ode to the hater

by Liliana Mason on

More in Off the Board:

At the end of sixth grade—a year fraught with the kind of drama only 11-year-old girls can come up with—I made a promise to myself: No more talking shit. I do not think I ever really thought I was going to follow through with it. It was the kind of “new year, new me” resolution that we tend to discard after two weeks. Somehow I found myself taking on my new mantle of optimism with a serious sense of commitment. 

For the next two years, I refused to engage with anything I considered negative. When my friends got into fights, I put my hands over my ears and proclaimed myself neutral. When asked to do something I did not like, I sucked it up and put a smile on my face. Sure, I let the odd complaint slip to my best friend if the task was particularly heinous, but all in all, I remained positive. Much to my surprise, my newfound pledge of positivity did not bring me the freedom or moral privilege that I desired: Instead, all those negative feelings began to build up. Two years of listening to my friends’ complaints about stupid problems, acquiescing to every monotonous school project, and silently dealing with the ever-present anxiety of high school fast approaching gave me a constant pit in the bottom of my stomach.

The solution? Embrace being a hater. Haters get a bad rap. To be fair, this is unsurprising given that identifying yourself with “hate” more likely sparks apprehension or animosity than goodwill, but I think this is a mistake. People tend to associate haters with those who claim to be devil’s advocates. In reality, we haters stand in a category of our own. Where the devil’s advocate raises nasty, spiteful points just for the sake of starting an argument, the hater simply embraces their own personal preferences—refusing to ride the train of toxic positivity.

Adopting this philosophy, my newfound freedom allowed me to expand my interests, explore new passions, and rid myself of the self-imposed constraints that coloured my middle-school years. This outlook became particularly helpful when I started my first year at McGill. 

Starting in September 2020, everyone was particularly desperate for human interaction. The phase at the beginning of the semester when you’re expected to say hello to anyone you end up stuck in the elevator with—the questions of “Where are you from?” and “What’s your major?” seemed endless. It was all too easy to get stuck in the pit of social convention and false niceties, saying yes to every plan that was offered to avoid the terrifying fate of being stuck with no friends. I quickly found myself all too close to reverting to my middle-school self—a horrifying thought. 

One night changed all this when, at an event that I never wanted to go to in the first place, someone told me that their favourite artist was The Chainsmokers. It sparked an important question in me: Why was I pretending to be into the most repetitive, asinine music I knew, to appeal to someone I clearly had nothing in common with?

Now, to be clear, I’m not saying there’s anything wrong with liking The Chainsmokers, if that’s your vibe. I’m also not saying you should scorn everyone whose interests differ from yours. Rather, you should allow yourself to feel your hate. You are under no obligation to sit through a movie you find dull and monotonous, or listen to an album by an artist whose voice you think is weak and annoying, nor—perhaps most controversially—do you need to suffer through conversations with people you don’t like.

Being the bigger person is overrated. It doesn’t do anyone any good to feign appreciation, simply for the sake of propriety. So next time someone in your conference begins a sentence with “just to piggyback off of that,” or you hear someone raving about the latest low-budget Netflix drama, allow yourself the simple pleasure of talking shit with a friend.

McGill, News

Students demand McGill divest from companies supporting Israel’s siege on Gaza in national week of action

by Fabienne de Cartier on

More in McGill:

Over 100 students gathered outside the McGill Arts Building on Feb. 2 to stand in solidarity with Palestine and demand divestment from corporations complicit in Israel’s ongoing siege on Gaza. McGill students joined those from Concordia and walked toward Université du Québec à Montréal (UQÀM), waving Palestinian flags and chanting “free, free Palestine.”

The walkout was organized by Solidarity for Palestinian Human Rights (SPHR) McGill, SPHR Concordia, Al Raya Dawson, and Solidarité pour les droits humains des Palestiniennes et Palestiniens at Université de Montréal (UdeM) and Université du Québec à Montréal (UQÀM). The event was part of a broader national week of action coordinated by National Students for Justice in Palestine (NSJP) and Palestinian Youth Movement (PYM). 

In a statement to The Tribune, SPHR underlined the tremendous scale of student activism for Palestine. 

“Our demands towards McGill administration are not isolated but part of a broader, powerful nationwide call to end Western complicity as a whole,” said a representative of SPHR who wished to remain anonymous. 

Chief among SPHR’s demands was a call for McGill to divest from weapons manufacturing companies and corporations profiting from the Palestinian occupation. In particular, SPHR urged McGill to divest from Lockheed Martin, a weapons manufacturer that continues to sell planes and weapons to Israel.

In an email to The Tribune, McGill Media Relations Officer Frédérique Mazerolle did not give a definitive answer as to whether the university would consider divesting from corporations complicit in the genocide in Gaza. Instead, she maintained that “McGill’s approach to investments aligns with its Statement on Investment Policy as overseen by the Investment Committee of the Board of Governors.” 

SPHR’s continued demands for divestment come after the Quebec Superior Court ordered the Students’ Society of McGill University (SSMU) to postpone the ratification of the Policy Against Genocide in Palestine until a final verdict is reached at a court hearing in March. The policy, that 78.7 per cent of non-abstaining McGill student voters supported in the fall referendum, would have mandated that SSMU take an official stance in support of Palestinian liberation and lobby McGill to divest from corporations complicit in the Palestinian genocide. 

SSMU President Alexandre Ashkir told The Tribune that SSMU remains committed to contesting the injunction and supports SPHR’s activism. 

“SSMU supports mobilization for the Palestinian cause and therefore this week of action,” Ashkir wrote by email.

However, at the rally, SPHR and student protesters criticized SSMU’s response to the court order. 

“An injunction such as the one they are facing must be consented to, and the fact that [SSMU] lawyers consented means that the Policy Against Genocide in Palestine has been stalled for months,” said one student protester who wished to remain anonymous. 

Another protestor, who also wished to remain anonymous, asserted that “[SSMU] has failed to represent the student body who voted in a historic referendum.” 

Despite the ongoing legal challenge to the Policy Against Genocide in Palestine, students at the rally highlighted that student activism has successfully led McGill to divest in the past. 

“It was student advocacy that got McGill to divest from fossil fuel companies, and it will be student advocacy which gets McGill to divest from the ongoing genocide,” said one student protester who wished to remain anonymous. 

A representative from Independent Jewish Voices echoed the importance of student mobilization. 

“Student activism forced McGill to divest from apartheid South Africa in the ‘80s,” the representative, who wished to remain unnamed, said. “Once again we will leave this administration no choice but to stand on the right side of history.”  

SPHR’s representative also emphasized that Friday’s walkout demonstrated solidarity with the broader Palestinian struggle. 

“This week of action was another successful effort to be coordinated with all student groups across Turtle Island, including SJPs and SPHRs from the United States and across Canada. We are showing once again the unity, coordination, and strength of the Palestinian student front.”

Science & Technology

Swimming upstream: The case of U.S.-Canada collaboration in fishery management

by Ella Paulin on

More in Science & Technology:

While “transboundary fishery governance” may not immediately evoke images of glamorous public servants heroically striving toward healthy ecological practices, it turns out to be a critical, yet often overlooked aspect of our food supply. Fishery management is the practice of regulating the extent of fishing, specifying permitted and restricted areas, and managing environmental conditions in order to ensure robust fish populations. Without it, we face the risk of depleting fish populations and the ensuing collapse of marine ecosystems.

Evelyn Roozee, a PhD candidate in Natural Resources Management and Policy at McGill, spoke to The Tribune about a recent paper investigating risk, control, and trust in transboundary fishery networks. Roozee, the first author of the paper, collaborated with researchers from Montreal, Texas, and the Netherlands to perform a quantitative analysis of fisheries in Canada and the U.S. bordering the Salish Sea. 

Roozee explained that, theoretically, each country has complete rights to use resources within 200 nautical miles of its shore. However, fish aren’t always interested in following international human law.

“Fish don’t really abide by political boundaries,” Roozee said. “They can have pretty large geographic ranges. So, oftentimes, they move between those economic exclusive zones, and that requires states to work together to conserve the species.”

As Roozee explained, the practice of fishery management within one country is hard enough, let alone trying to collaborate across national borders. 

“There’s lots of different groups that are involved. Fishers oftentimes don’t like managers, because managers are the ones telling them, ‘you can’t go out, you can’t fish this species here,’” Roozee said. “Similarly, scientists can also be seen as in opposition with fishers and managers, because they’re trying to alert everyone on what the science is saying about how the fish stock is doing. And that doesn’t always align with political goals, or with business and trade goals.”

These conflicting identities and motivations can create tense situations within a single fishery, but when two fisheries controlled by different governments have to collaborate, relationships get even hairier. 

“In the paper, I talk a lot about how to break down those identity issues or those them-versus-us perceptions, mainly through building trust, to come together collaboratively because the key to collective action is collaboration,” Roozee said.

To address this issue, the researchers applied principles from the business world, building on an influential business strategy paper that outlines the relationships between risk, control, and trust in economic alliances. Their research explores how these same concepts can be applied to natural resource management.

“Risk is sort of the key variable that needs to be reduced. Essentially, if the risk is too high, people won’t work together,” Roozee said. “However, fisheries are inherently pretty risky, because of the nature of the resource. It’s really hard to know a lot about fish: They’re underwater, they move a lot, [and] their populations are very erratic.”

Increasing trust and controls are two major ways to combat risk, both in business and fishery management. 

“For example, if I’m a fisher, and I don’t know if I will be able to catch enough fish to support my business, I need to trust the information that the scientists are giving me and the managers are telling me about where the fish will be and how much I can take,” Roozee explained.

Control, on the other hand, is more about regulation. This may take the form of banning fishing in a risky area or on risky days. 

“However, a lot of our research now is sort of showing that control doesn’t affect risk directly,” Roozee noted. “It affects risk through the building of trust.”

This reflects the general trend of the research, demonstrating that while trust is more difficult to build and maintain, it is ultimately more powerful in reducing risk than control is. Additionally, Roozee emphasized that although her research did point to some general trends, the complexity of each unique fishery area makes it impossible to adopt a one-size-fits-all strategy. 

“You can’t just storm into the situation thinking you know best,” Roozee said. “There’s a lot of history you have to learn. There’s a lot of context that’s really important before you start collaborating. You have to do your homework.”

Science & Technology

Annual hackathon abounds with creativity, camaraderie, and caffeine

by Eliza Lee on

More in Science & Technology:

There are many ways to get an adrenaline rush. For some, skydiving, horror movie jump-scares, or kickboxing does the trick. For others, it’s McHacks. 

McHacks is an annual hackathon that a team of McGill students organizes, where teams of hackers have just 24 hours—from Saturday noon until Sunday noon—to design a project showcasing their coding prowess to the judges. Now in its 11th year, the competition took place on the weekend of Jan. 26 and 27 in the University Centre and attracted nearly 500 competitors. 

The competition’s short time limit often guarantees a nearly sleepless night for participants as they rush to complete their projects. The organizers even converted the ballroom into a sleeping area for competitors, complete with mattresses sprawled out on the floor. 

Co-directors Judy Yun, U4 Science, and Juliette Xu, U3 Science, oversaw the event’s organization. In an interview with The Tribune, Yun explained that there are a variety of features that judges look for when evaluating projects.

“The main thing is functionality, especially for the top five. It’s generally like, ‘how complete [is this] as a project?’” Yun said. “We also judge on creativity a lot, something super innovative, really different than we’ve ever seen before. And I think design, usability, accessibility, that type of stuff is also a really big category.”

Yun also expressed that the thrill of the busy weekend is one of her favourite aspects of the event each year.

“It’s kind of like a really long adrenaline rush for like, 36 hours,” Yun explained. “And then it’s over and you’re like, ‘oh my gosh, my life is like, stopped.’ But it’s super rewarding.”

This year, Tessa Davis, U3 Science, Gabrielle Lavoie, U2 Engineering, and Gabrielle MacInnes, U2 Science, won the first place prize with their project, Danstrument. During the team’s demo of Danstrument during the closing ceremonies, Lavoie explained that the web application allows users “to meet with your friends and to dance, which will generate music.” 

Danstrument accomplishes this goal by scanning users’ movements during video calls using computer vision artificial intelligence (AI), which triggers audio cues associated with different sounds depending on the selected musical instrument. For example, on the application’s sine wave setting, the frequency of the continuous sine wave playing over the call increases or decreases as the user raises or lowers their hand, respectively. 

One challenge the team encountered was accurately mapping movement to sound using the programming language JavaScript. 

“One of the issues that we ran into was that the library that we were using in the JavaScript back end wasn’t necessarily the best at tracking continuous hand movements,” Davis said during the closing ceremonies demo. “We have another version that if we had more time, we would integrate into the back end of the web app that you just saw, which is better able to recognize movements.”

The judges awarded second prize to Gülce Apaydin, U1 Science, Negar Akbarpouran Badr, U1 Engineering, Dany Makhoul, Dawson College, and Ida Su Ozdemir, U1 Engineering, for their project, Melo-N, which uses AI to allow users to change the genre of songs. During their demo at the closing ceremonies, the team explained that the application uses AI and software library FFmpeg to separate the vocals from the instrumentals of the original songs. The application then uses MusicGen API to change the genre of the instrumentals before recombining them with the original vocals to create the final product.

In a group interview with The Tribune, the creators of Melo-N highlighted their strong collaboration with one another as a key factor in their win, emphasizing how much fun they had working as a team.

“For me, I didn’t know anything about AI or anything about machine learning,” Makhoul said. “And so we were cooperating with each other, collecting information and everything so we could build our project. So having this final project at the end is something phenomenal.” 

Badr and Ozdemir also expressed surprise at how smoothly the competition went, as it was both team members’ first ever hackathon. 

“Everyone told me, ‘you’re not going to enjoy your first [hackathon]. Like, it’s gonna be difficult,’” Badr said. “But it was so good. Brainstorming ideas, getting to do different stuff, actually implementing what I knew, it was amazing.”

Mohamad Addasi, Concordia University, Aden Bessam, Champlain College, Garance Danvin, U3 Desautels and Andrew Rowe, Concordia Engineering, claimed third prize with their project FluentFingers. The app is designed to teach users sign language by using AI to analyze photos users upload of their signs, and indicating whether the user’s sign is correct for the desired word. Disaster struck on Sunday morning when the team lost all their unsaved training on the AI—which was responsible for mapping hand signs—due to a wifi interruption. This setback meant the team was unable to demo their project at judging or during closing ceremonies.

In an interview with The Tribune, Bessam emphasized that although the team was unable to present the functional version of their project, the concept behind FluentFingers was crucial to their success.

“It was really the implementation of the ideas,” Bessam said. “Because we took a lot of time just asking ourselves, what could help the community and not only the hackathon [….] So when we came up with the Duolingo hand sign idea, it was really great.”

In addition to first, second, and third place prizes, hackers compete for a variety of awards from sponsors, as well as superlative prizes such as “Best Useless Hack.” According to Yun, something that makes McHacks unique is that it caters to participants of multiple skill levels, including beginners. Yun explained that superlative prizes play a role in keeping the competition engaging for beginner programmers.

“I think it’s much more encouraging to have all these different prizes, because you don’t necessarily have to have the best product and the most innovative idea,” Yun said. “You can still have lots of fun and get rewarded for the time that you put into all of [your] work.”

Enkai Liu and Jason He won the “Best Design” superlative award for their project Rizzmo, an application that allows users to explore a coral reef to learn more about the ecosystem. For Liu and He, first time McHacks competitors and Grade 11 students from Waterloo, Ontario, a highlight of the event was the opportunity to speak to McHacks mentors—volunteers who circulate and offer assistance to Hackers during the competition. 

“I think for us, the mentors were emotional support,” Liu told The Tribune after closing ceremonies. 

Team members Annaliese Bissel, U1 ArtSci, and Guan Xi Liu, U1 Science, acknowledged the stressful nature of the competition, but also spoke to a feeling of camaraderie that comes from the experience. 

“For me, I think it’s actually just being able to be part of a large community of people trying to work towards the same thing,” Liu said in an interview with The Tribune.

“Yeah, all the RedBull on the table and the chargers everywhere, it’s like the same as an exam season,” Bissel added. “You know, we’re just among all the other people in Redpath at 12 a.m.” 

The same sentiment was echoed by the team of Mohammad Shaheer Bilal, U4 Engineering, and Filip Snítil, U2 Science, and Daniel Blackburn, U1 Engineering. Like many teams, at the time of their interview with The Tribune they were encountering issues getting their project up and running. Despite their setbacks, the team expressed that they enjoyed the event and learned from the experience—encapsulating an attitude that many hackers shared over the course of this long, eventful weekend.

“We’re probably not going to win, because we haven’t figured it out by now,” Snítil said. “And nothing works. But it’s fine. It’s a good experience. I had way too much caffeine.”

Arts & Entertainment, Film and TV

The Oscars 2.0

by Anya Brown on

More in Arts & Entertainment:

The Oscars Remixed

Since the Oscar nominations were announced last Tuesday, an enormous amount of articles have been written about the snubs, surprises, and everything in between. And while it may be interesting and worthwhile to debate the artistic merits of films such as Past Lives or The Zone of Interest, both of which deservedly received some love at the nominations, it is equally important to celebrate the aspects of movies that the Academy shamefully neglects.

Best Performance by an Actor on a Press Tour: Ryan Gosling in Barbie

It is high time we honour the effort actors put into press tours. They have to spend weeks answering the same questions in two-minute interviews, fighting exhaustion as they play ridiculous games and give the same answers all day. Yet no actor in recent memory has so thoroughly committed to the ridiculousness of this process as Ryan Gosling has for Barbie. While the Academy recognized him in the Best Supporting Actor category for his masterfully comedic performance in the film itself, they would be remiss to let his star turn on the press junket go unacknowledged. Therefore, the award for Best Performance by an Actor on a Press Tour should go to Ryan Gosling. Throughout the year, Gosling blessed us with different versions of his hit song “I’m Just Ken,” telling us all the things Ken can’t live without (his horse-patterned fur coat and his rollerblades) and just being generally hilarious. Gosling’s commitment to the bit has made him the perfect honoree for this new category. 

Most Aesthetically Pleasing Movie: Saltburn

When visual-based social media platforms (Pinterest and TikTok) reign supreme, the aesthetic pleasure of a movie has become increasingly important. This year, Saltburn was the movie that captured the internet’s imagination. How exactly this bizarre movie about obsession and class reached the TikTok audience is unclear. However, I have found myself wanting to spend my summer at my rich friend’s English estate. In these trying times, wouldn’t everything be better if it were done while spending your time blissfully unaware of everything happening in the outside world while traipsing around your well-manicured lawns? Saltburn is the obvious choice for the Most Aesthetically Pleasing Movie.

Best Use of Music in Film: “Dog Days are Over” by Florence and the Machine in Guardians of the Galaxy: Vol 3

The Oscars have the Best Original Song category, but the use of well-known music in film is equally as important. While original songs can play a very important role in films, sometimes the use of songs we already know and love is what makes a scene even more impactful. Recently, Aftersun turned “Under Pressure” by Queen and David Bowie into a song addressing the desperation and loneliness many people feel compelled to hide. 

Similarly, in Almost Famous, Elton John’s “Tiny Dancer” becomes an anthem of friendship and youth. This year, the honour of Best Use of Music in Film should go to Guardians of the Galaxy: Vol 3, which uses Florence & the Machine’s “Dog Days are Over” during the final scene. Since 2015, we have spent time with the Guardians, and we have grown to love them. Ending the series the same way it starts, with a dance scene, is the perfect conclusion to this beloved trilogy. While watching the scene, we reflect on the journey we’ve gone on with these characters, and all I want to do is join them in their dance. 

On Mar. 10, I’m sure we will all enjoy watching Oscar-bait movies such as Oppenheimer and Poor Things receive their flowers from the Academy. But we should also recognize aspects of movies that award shows do not recognize. Would Barbie have been as successful without Ryan Gosling’s incredible press tour? Maybe—but he certainly helped and also made my summer more entertaining. Wouldn’t our year have been less interesting without movies like Saltburn and Guardians of the Galaxy: Vol 3? Almost definitely. It’s time we honour the sillier, but still important, aspects of filmmaking.

News, SSMU

SSMU Legislative Council debates fee increase referendum questions

by Ella Paulin on

More in News:

The Students’ Society of McGill University (SSMU) convened for its second Legislative Council meeting of the year on Thursday, Feb. 1. The meeting discussed motions regarding fee increase referendum questions in the Winter 2024 referendum cycle. 

Deputy Speaker Sierra Fallis began by announcing that a motion regarding approval of the Student Nutrition Accessibility Club (SNAC) funding application and the rules for the 2024 Winter General Assembly—set to occur on Feb. 5— were approved over email. She also shared the Executive Nomination Kit and the SSMU Referendum Nomination Kit for the Winter 2024 SSMU executive elections.

Vice President (VP) Finance Amina Kudrati-Plummer spoke in support of a motion regarding a referendum question to increase the SSMU membership fee by $27.11 per semester for full-time students in the Faculties of Arts, Architecture, Education, Engineering, Music, Management, Nursing, Physical and Occupational Therapy, Science, and Arts and Science and by $29.92 per semester for those in the Faculties of Law, Dentistry, and Medicine. While a referendum question to increase the fee failed to pass last semester, Kudrati-Plummer emphasized that the increase was necessary in order to fund a pay raise for SSMUnion workers and that SSMU would need to reduce operations if the fee increase was not approved. The motion passed with 70 per cent of the vote. 

Following this, Gender and Sexuality Commissioner Gillian Smith discussed the motion regarding a referendum question to increase the Queer Equity Support fee by $1.32 per student per semester. Smith advocated for the motion, highlighting that this bursary gave critical support to students in need. 

“Ninety-five per cent of this fee goes to emergency bursary funding for queer students,” Smith said. “This is a response to the reality that queer people on our campus need financial support and experience severe financial barriers to being a student here.”

This motion was passed after a brief question-and-answer period. 

First-Year Council Representative Rajan Duncan then spoke in support of a motion regarding a referendum question to create a First Year $0.50 opt-outable fee to support the First-Year Council. While the motion failed to pass last semester, Duncan emphasized the vitality of the council in supporting first-year McGill students.

“We really do need this fee for the First-Year Council to be able to host events and plan giveaways and to create outreach for the first-year community,” Duncan said.

In response to a question from Kudrati-Plummer regarding an apparent jump of over $1,500 in the planned 2024-2025 First-Year Council budget from the existing budget, the motion was tabled until the council could clarify. 

Motions regarding referendum questions on fee increases for WALKSAFE, the Union for Gender Empowerment (UGE), and the Black Students’ Network (BSN) were also passed after minimal discussion. 

VP External Liam Gaither then gave a report on External Affairs, in which he highlighted action taking place on campus in response to planned tuition hikes from the Quebec government. His report noted that over 10,000 students are striking across McGill and Concordia, pointing out that the majority of those students were from Concordia. He also encouraged department executives to reach out if they were interested in taking action, and he announced a new SSMU Legislative Council working group focused on combating the tuition hikes. 

Finally, there were two reports from SSMU subcommittees. For the Gender and Sexuality Advocacy Committee, Smith noted that the committee distributes $3,000 in direct funding to queer students in need at each of their bimonthly meetings. For the First Year Council, First-Year Councillor Rajan Duncan explained that planning was underway for a McGill’s Got Talent first-year talent show, a Power Hour with various engineering student associations, and a continuation of their popular therapy dog program.  

During the question period, VP Student Life Nadia Dakdouki and Kudrati-Plummer requested that members of the Legislative Council reach out to them with any questions or concerns regarding the SSMU General Fee Increase Motion. 

“If you have concerns please bring them to me. I really want to make sure with this motion that people feel more comfortable,” said Kudrati-Plummer. “I know there were a lot of concerns about the last one regarding transparency and I tried to make sure that this motion is as transparent as possible.”

Moment of the Meeting:

In response to concerns from Gaither regarding low usage of WALKSAFE’s services among students, Arts Councillor Keith Andre Baybayon noted that his experience as a floor fellow taught him the importance of the service for ensuring that students have an option for returning home safely after dark. 

Soundbite:

“Every two weeks when I distribute these funds, I hear about how this fund saves their lives, this fund buys their groceries, this fund paid for their rent when they’re being kicked out by their parents.” — Smith, explaining the necessity for an increase to the Queer Equity Support fee.

Out on the Town, Student Life

Parlez-vous français?: Improving your French in the McGill bubble

by Dante Ventulieri and Lily Cason on

More in Out on the Town:

For many McGill students, brushing up on their French is on their never-ending to-do list. Or maybe you’re a prospective McGill student worried about Quebec’s plan to have 80 per cent of non-Francophone students speak an intermediate level of French. Either way, learning French is a great way to feel more comfortable in the city, improve your resume, and become more connected to the broader Montreal community. Here are some tips for easy and low-cost ways to improve your French listening and speaking skills. 

Tip 1: Taking a French class

Preserving and increasing the use of the French language in Quebec has been the goal of the provincial government for decades. While it’s often taken to an almost–laughable-if-it-weren’t-so–tragic level, it means that there are plenty of cheap and subsidized ways to learn or improve your French. Both the Quebec government and McGill offer many resources for those looking for courses. For graduate students, the Post-Graduate Students’ Society (PGSS) offers classes for different levels of French proficiency. And apps such as Duolingo and Memrise offer free self-guided lessons.

Tip 2: Taking a class in French

Going to yoga, a pottery class, or a museum tour in French is a great way to learn by listening. Even if you don’t catch everything, your ears will get more accustomed to the language, and you’ll soon realize that your vocabulary and comprehension have expanded. The great thing about taking a class is that you can always ask the instructor to repeat themself or slow down if you’re missing too much. Maybe just don’t take a first aid class or something else where it’s life-or-death if you misunderstand. 

Tip 3: Exploring Montreal, and Quebec

Practicing your French in the McGill Bubble can be difficult as many workers and residents are bilingual and will often switch to English when they hear your non-francophone accent. Certain parts of Montreal are more French than others. Neighbourhoods like Rosemont la Petite-Patrie, Pointe-aux-Trembles, Villeray, and Anjou could be good options to flex your French while seeing some new sights. If you’re feeling more adventurous, day trips to Trois-Rivières, Saint-Sauveur, or Drummondville are an even more immersive option. 

Tip 4: Joining conversational groups for practice

Both McGill and Montreal are home to many clubs and organizations geared toward helping people improve their French, which is great for those who want to practise speaking in a judgment-free environment. Conversation groups are often grouped roughly by level so that you are sufficiently challenged. Dedicating an hour or two a week to only speaking French will improve your accent, make practicing less nerve-wracking, and expand your vocabulary. 

Tip 5: Finding French-speaking friends 

Learning French through natural conversation helps build confidence and pick up on nitty-gritty details Duo won’t tell you about. An ad on Facebook Marketplace could work (although it might give off a strange vibe), but just finding some Francophones in your classes or wandering over to UQAM will do the trick as well. Let them know that you’re trying to learn French and ask them to speak a bit with you; you’ll be fluent in Franglais in no time. 

Tip 6: Watching TV in French

There are two ways of going about this: You could either find French-language shows and movies, or you could use the French dubs on your favourite shows. Both methods are valid, it just depends on whether you prefer being put off by something like Brooklyn-99 dubbed in French or the less inclusive Quebecois version, Escouade-99. 

Tip 7: Putting French as a default language

Changing the default language of your devices is a great trial-by-fire method of learning French. It’s the equivalent of a bridge troll who will only let you pass if you ask in French. Need to turn off your flashlight after accidentally turning it on in the middle of class? Try looking quickly for the “lampe de poche.” You’re going out for the night but your phone is only at 8 per cent? You better find the “économiseur de pile.” 

McGill, Montreal, News

McGill, Concordia students go on a three-day strike against proposed tuition increases

by Caroline Sun and Helen Griffiths-Barnhart on

More in McGill:

From Jan. 31 to Feb. 2, the Students’ Society of McGill University (SSMU) and Concordia Student Union (CSU) led a student strike against the Quebec government’s tuition hikes first proposed in October 2023. On Nov. 29, the provincial government announced that Canadian students from outside of Quebec will have to pay an additional 33 per cent in tuition fees, backing down on their initial plan to raise fees by nearly 50 per cent, and international students will have to pay around $20,000 starting next academic year. In response, the universities’ student unions organized three days worth of activities to inform students about the strike and encourage more to join the collective movement.

McGill departmental students’ associations called General Assemblies (GAs) in the weeks leading up to the strike to vote upon a strike mandate. The Religious Studies Undergraduate Society (RSUS), the McGill Undergraduate Geography Society (MUGS), and the Student Association of Sustainability, Science and Society (SASSS) reached quorum and a consensus concerning a strike mandate during meetings from Jan. 23 to 29. 

In an interview with The Tribune, Emily MacDougall, U3 Arts and Vice President (VP) External of the RSUS, stated that the association’s members voted unanimously on the motion to strike against tuition increases at the GA.

“Especially for smaller departments like the School of Religious Studies, it leaves us in a very precarious position,” MacDougall explained. “[Members of the McGill administration] haven’t promised any sort of safeguards for the smaller departments [….] In the process of intense financial problems, our school could literally either be closed; it could be absorbed into a different school; we could have intense layoffs; we could lose funding for some of our incredible work that we do here.”

Emma Reddy, U3 Arts and co-president of MUGS, explained that MUGS held their GA just three days before the strike began. Reddy noted that this affected the impact and reach of the strike within McGill’s student body.

“I think that because a lot of McGill students did not know how big the Concordia strike was […] it kind of just felt like we were going to be alone,” Reddy explained. “So I think that it spread some fear. Maybe people had a bit of trepidation.”

Fred Azeredo, U3 Arts and VP Finance of RSUS, expressed his disappointment at McGill students’ reaction to the strike.

“What I think just stuns me is the amount of apathy that we’ve been getting from the student body as a whole,” Azeredo said.  “I went to the […] Blue Fall protest last semester and the turnout was not great. There are a lot more Concordia people, there’s a lot more Concordia people striking. There’s so much apathy from the McGill student body. So many departments did not vote to strike, and that disappoints me.”

SSMU VP External Liam Gaither noted that although he wished that more of the large student societies at McGill had mobilized for this strike, he was still very pleased with the turnout.

“It was really amazing to be in a room when a general assembly is going down for the first time ever for some of these departmental associations. All three of them had no bylaws about general assemblies and so the executive took it upon themselves to design bylaws that were in line with others,” Gaither stated in an interview with The Tribune.

Gaither believes that McGill students do not have the same educational and institutional resources when it comes to organizing a protest or striking compared to Concordia students. Even as he is working to supply students with a “toolbox” of resources, he noted the importance of making students aware of those resources available to them.

“I think overall, what is lacking at McGill is that sense of political education, or [it] being available somewhere on campus,” Gaither said. “It seems at Concordia, it’s very palpable, it’s in the air. And there are a lot of workshops and things always going down on campus [….] I think that, as we continue to improve larger goals, we can actually expand this [movement].”

According to Global News, approximately 11,000 students at Concordia were on strike from Wednesday to Friday. In total, there were twelve student associations on strike. 

In the CSU lounge, a station was created by students who organized a schedule of picketing for different classes across faculties. One of the organizers, Alesia Chyme—a third-year Arts student and president of the UPA—expressed her awe at the number of Concordia students who mobilized for this strike in an interview with The Tribune. 

“It’s awesome to see how many students are mobilizing, especially [compared to] our strike last semester, to see the difference,” Chyme said. “The growth and amount of people that are going to be involved with, now, is astonishing. And like we’ve already hit almost 12,000 students that are striking just at Concordia, which is so powerful.”

As groups were heading in and out of the lounge, other Concordia students set up activities such as legal self-defence and Black radicalism workshops. 

John*, a third-year student in the School of Community and Public Affairs and Community Outreach Coordinator for the GUSS, spoke about the importance of these activities in the creation of generational knowledge within the alumni, current, and future students. 

“There’s a long history of popular education in student movements, sort of like us teaching each other [and] not necessarily having to go to an official institution to get education,” John said. “The idea here is to bring people from different generations of the student movement in Concordia and in Ontario, to be a transmission of knowledge. So that current students involved in organizing can be inspired by previous generations and not repeat the mistakes that they made. They can learn from the things that they did well, they can continue to do and really have a space for sharing.”

Marion Miller, a 2019 Concordia Fine Arts graduate, led an information session on the 2015 student tribunal that deemed some students to have violated Concordia’s Code of Rights and Responsibilities by picketing and disrupting lectures. During the activity, Miller and the attendees discussed the purpose of picketing, the different types of picketing, and the power of picketing.

In an email to The Tribune, McGill Media Relations Officer Frédérique Mazerolle stated that the university “supports the rights of students to exercise their rights in connection with civic engagement in accordance with the Charter of Student rights and applicable laws.”

“The university does not and will not take a position on the cause on which students might decide not to attend classes because of civic engagement from time to time,” Mazerolle added.

According to Gaither, there will be another strike spanning the length of a week in March. He hopes that larger McGill student associations, such as the Arts Undergraduate Society (AUS) and the Science Undergraduate Society (SUS) will join this movement and help to mobilize students. 

“We have to recognize that in 2012 everything was disruptive, and we need to bring back some of that disruption to be able to properly get gains because our power lies in a collective effort.”

The following Concordia student associations were on strike: The Geography Undergraduate Student Society (GUSS), The School of Community and Public Affairs Student Association (SCPASA), The Urban Planning Association (UPA), the Science College Student Association (SCSA), The Concordia Undergraduate Biochemistry, Chemistry & Physics Society (CUBCAPS), The Women’s and Sexuality Studies Student Association (WSSSA), The Concordia Association for Students in English (CASE), Students in History at Concordia (SHAC), The Sociology and Anthropology Student Union (SASU), The Political Science Student Association (PSSA), The Communication Studies Student Association (Coms Guild), The Fine Arts Student Alliance (FASA), The Geography Planning and Environment Graduate Students Association (GeoGrads).

*John’s last name has been left out to preserve his confidentiality.

Features

Canada’s housing crisis has been decades in the making

by Dante Ventulieri on

More in Features:

Housing in Canada is reaching its boiling point; many are struggling, unable to pay their mortgages, and most young people can’t afford one. Housing has become a primary concern among Canadians and is poised to be a dominant issue in the upcoming federal election. No city is immune to the rapidly increasing costs of housing, including Montreal, which was long seen as a renter’s paradise.

But understanding how we ended up in this situation can be unclear and difficult to pinpoint—housing is a complex issue, and there have been successful efforts to exploit this complexity and create scapegoats.

Understanding the history of housing policy and exploring potential solutions reveals that there are multiple steps we need to take to address the crisis and underscore how far behind we are. 

What is the housing crisis?

The term “housing crisis” refers to the disconnect between housing needs and housing availability, resulting in a dearth of affordable and quality shelter. However, it’s not a term without controversy.

David Wachsmuth, an associate professor in the School of Urban Planning at McGill whose research focuses on housing, notes that recent use of the term ignores some important history. 

“It’s important to be clear about what we mean by the housing crisis, because you go back 20 or 30 years, and there was very clearly a huge crisis of housing affordability for people who were not on market incomes. That’s a housing crisis. It isn’t usually called that,” Wachsmuth said in an interview with //The Tribune//.

How did we end up here?

//History of housing policy//

During World War II, Canada was in desperate need of new housing. As thousands flocked to the city as war workers, and veterans returned from overseas, the federal government established the Wartime Housing Limited (WHL) crown corporation. From 1941 to 1949, nearly 50,000 housing units were built, including the iconic strawberry box home.

The WHL became the Central Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC) in 1949, and continued, with varying degrees of success, to provide non-market housing. 

It was with the 1973 amendments to the //National Housing Act// that Canada ushered in its most progressive era of housing. It discontinued its urban renewal policies and instead focused on acquiring land for public, affordable, and cooperative housing. Public housing, built both by federal agencies and third-sector non-profit companies, aimed to help both the lower- and middle-class through mixed-income developments and community-based approaches. Throughout the 1960s and ‘70s, an impressive 20-30,000 units of social housing were built each year.

In the mid-1980s, the federal government began rolling back these investments and policies in favour of market-based approaches. This transition led to a significant decrease in the construction of both market and non-market rental units. In 1993, as neoliberalism continued to underpin Canadian politics and policies, Prime Minister Jean Chrétien pulled funding for new social housing and, in 1996, decentralized the responsibility to the provinces.

“There was virtually no longer any federal funding for subsidized housing [….] Responsibility for housing is devolved to the provinces. In general, they kind of devolve it even further down to the municipalities,” Wachsmuth explained. “Now you have cities that just couldn’t possibly keep up with the funding requirements.”

During the 2000s, the effects of neoliberal housing strategies were already apparent, with cities like Vancouver facing record homelessness and a housing supply shortage. Despite this, Prime Minister Stephen Harper refused to directly involve the federal government in housing production. By retreating from the housing sector, the federal government created a patchwork system in which power is scattered, funding is non-existent, and innovation is stalled, allowing the private sector to swoop in and command the housing market. 

//(Over)reliance on the market//

Canada’s housing strategy has always included the market to some extent, but it’s apparent that when policymakers expect the private sector to house everyone, the shortcomings are massive. It’s not an issue unique to Canada: The United Statesand many European countries who have similarly entrusted the market are in the same precarious position.

The market will never meet all housing needs for two reasons: One, housing is expensive, and two, the true value of housing lies in its use as a social and economic tool for the nation. Where there are no direct profits in the sale or rental of the unit, there is no incentive for the market to build.

This is what makes subsidized non-market housing so logical, according to Craig Sauvé, who has represented the Sud-Ouest as a city councillor for over a decade.

“When we can plan around our needs, it’s a good investment in the economy and helps people. It’s going to provide better mental health, stability, and better results in education. I mean, housing is a social determinant of health,” Sauvé explained. “You have to build for the common good.”

//The homeownership monster//

Unravelling this web of issues behind the housing crisis is difficult, in part, because we are dealing with a beast that we helped create. As Wachsmuth points out, Canadians have been sold on homeownership as the strongest means of protecting their wealth.

“There’s a kind of pretty clear preference for ownership housing in Canada. Some of that [is] exogenous, in the sense that it’s not necessarily what’s in people’s hearts, but it’s more like people responding to the incentives of the system,” Wachsmuth explained. “You just can’t borrow money at a cheaper rate than you can get for a mortgage. For most people, it’s the cheapest money they could ever get in their life.”

Any politician who is perceived as threatening those civilian investments, by calling for housing values to drop to an affordable level, is setting themselves up for an impossible campaign.

“To slowly unwind the fundamental policy fixation on keeping housing prices infinitely high, and infinitely higher is a tough problem,” he emphasized. “It would be very, very hard for any government to run on a platform of effectively dispossessing the middle class of its main source of savings.”

What are the solutions?

//Addressing short-term rentals//

In Canadian cities, every one-percentage-point increase in the share of short-term rentals, like Airbnbs and VRBOs, is linked to a 2.3 per cent increase in rent. Regulating this market is therefore a good place to start, according to Wachsmuth. 

“Cities should crack down on short term rentals. It’s by no means the biggest cause of housing affordability problems, but it’s clearly a cause,” he said. “Within a year if they really prioritize it, any given city could return 1000s of units of rental housing to the long-term market.” 

//Addressing zoning limitations//

On most urban land, only single-family zoning (SFZ) is allowed. SFZ limits parcels from housing anything but a single household, keeping large swathes of the city almost permanently at the lowest possible density. Typically, SFZ accounts for 70 per cent of a city’s land but only 20 per cent of its population. Montreal has historically been relatively successful in limiting SFZ, at only 45 per cent of the city’s land – a makeup that helped Montreal maintain its affordability longer than Vancouver and Toronto.

Efforts to move away from SFZ have been gaining momentum. Vancouver recently adopted a policy allowing up to six units per lot across its territory. 

The new federal Housing Accelerator Fund also financially incentivizes cities to upzone areas near transit but whether that is enough is yet to be seen.

Removing parking minimums is another move that’s been gaining momentum, including in Montreal. Without such mandates, developers and cooperatives could use the space for more housing, larger units, or common spaces.

Most importantly, zoning must be malleable and allow for a variety of uses and forms without the lengthy amendment processes. 

//Addressing financialization//

The role of large financial firms in the ownership of rental housing has increased dramatically in recent years. Wachsmuth co-authored a report on the financialization of housing in Montreal, showing that large firms owned four times more rental housing than previously thought.

“These larger financial firms are just very divorced from […] the human element of housing,” he explained. “Areas with more financialized rental housing are where more people were struggling to pay the rent.”

//Following other cities//

Canada should draw inspiration from other cities and countries. For instance, Finland’s ‘housing first’ strategy has been in place since 2007, leading to a substantial reduction in homelessness. It’s a simple premise: Above all else, the first step in helping people is by providing them with secure long-term housing. It has not only been a moral victory but an economic one as well, as providing housing costs less than the Canadian way of policing and managing homelessness. 

Vienna is a model city for housing, as one of the most affordable major cities in Europe, where 60 per cent of residents live in subsidized housing. 

//Building faster//

Speed is key in the housing crisis, according to Avi Friedman, a professor of architecture at McGill, who specializes in affordable housing.

“People do not understand that if you want to build affordable housing, it takes at least four years from the moment you conceive it to the moment you give someone a key,” Friedman explained in an interview with //The Tribune//. “There are a variety of things that we became accustomed to, and we became very spoiled. We want to create buildings that are very complex, where every item is different. And this takes time. And time is money.”

Friedman believes that alternative production methods are one key component.

“We can move far away from the mobile home stigma,” he pointed out. “But you have so many examples of how to produce things much faster with prefabrication. It’s something that we are not doing.”

Other improvements include pre-approved housing plans to simplify and shorten the permit procedure and reduce design costs, an idea recently floated by the federal government.

//Building better density//

Michael Eliason, a Seattle-based architect and founder of the Larch Lab, a “think and do tank” for innovative housing practices, believes that the design of density in North America is deficient, both socially and environmentally.

“The way that we build housing now, it’s basically like these huge hotels. If you’re a family, do you want to live on a floor with 30 to 40 other units where there probably aren’t any other families,” he explained in an interview with //The Tribune//. “It’s just not conducive to a high quality of life.”

Changes are needed in the way we build density, to improve liveability and attractiveness. Building code reformsallowing single-staircase multi-family units are gaining steam as an alternative to the mandatory double-loaded corridor. This change would increase design flexibility and resident comfort by making it easier to build larger apartments on smaller lots, according to Conrad Speckert, a recent McGill Masters of Architecture graduate who has been advocating for the change.

“It’s a matter of design flexibility, and unit layout is the biggest impact,” Speckert said. “There’s a huge impact on how wide the building might end up being and how much light and air you’re able to get into the floor plan.”

What is not the solution?

//Burning bridges//

All levels of government must work together going forward to solve the housing crisis. Calling mayors incompetent will only strain cooperation and demonstrates a lack of understanding of the policy history that has brought us to this point.

//Blaming immigrants//

Immigrants are not to blame for the housing crisis; all levels of government, to various degrees, ignored decades of warning signs. Our population growth rate remains lower than it was in the 1950s, the difference being that we have since created a structure that prevents us from building at a high enough rate to account for our growth.  Now that the issue has reached the mainstream, and people are demanding answers, politicians have begun pointing fingers at vulnerable groups simply seeking a better life. 

Immigration and temporary foreign workers are key in improving the nation’s building capacity and tackling the labour shortage, without whom, meeting housing targets will be unattainable.

//Ignoring structural issues//

The need to be intentional and unequivocal is vital; patchwork solutions and moderate interventions will not help. Without structural change, any efforts to correct the housing crisis will be ineffective and at best, short-lived. Canada must break from the neoliberal vice grip that has held us down, binding us to a notion of “only the government we need” while ignoring “all the government we need.” 

Housing should primarily be regarded as a fundamental human right, integral to social welfare. For too long, the scale has lopsided, treating housing predominantly as an asset designed solely for accumulating wealth. The asset-owning class has kept their neighbourhoods frozen in amber, preventing housing from being built and blocking newcomers. 

Without changing this paradigm, the problem will only grow over time, widening the wealth gap that has impoverished and exploited Canadians for the benefit of the upper-class.

“It’s going to get even more perverted with our generation, because there will be those in our generation who inherit obscene amounts of wealth and those who don’t,” Speckert explains. “And I think that a policy environment that sets up for nepotism isn’t great.”

Canadian politicians who boast about building an equitable society must ensure coherence between their rhetoric and actions, especially in terms of policy and investment. This requires employing words like compassion and respect, and approaching issues of homelessness with a sense of humanity that recognizes the fundamental need for accessible and quality of shelter. 

Basketball, Martlets, Sports

Martlets basketball suffers another loss against bottom-of-the-pack UQÀM

by Megan Belrose on

More in Basketball:

On Jan. 27, the Martlets’ basketball team (5–7) experienced a disappointing defeat against the UQÀM Citadins (2–8), leaving the Martlets third in the RSEQ conference as they head into the last stretch of the season. 

The game got off to a rough start for the Martlets. The Citadins won the jump ball and got a fast break to the basket, leading them to open the scoring only 10 seconds in. However, McGill quickly responded with a three-pointer scored by forward Seyna Diggs. The Citadins made Love Competition Hall a tough atmosphere for the Martlets, loudly supporting their teammates from the bench. UQÀM continued to dominate in the first quarter, shooting 66.7 per cent from the three-point line, whereas McGill struggled to put points up, shooting a 35.7 field goal percentage. The quarter ended with a score of 12-28 after the Citadins went on an 11-point run. 

The Martlets started the second quarter stronger than the first, with Diggs scoring a three-pointer and just barely avoiding a shot clock violation. Martlets guard Lily Rose Chatila then picked up a shooting foul, but UQÀM failed to score both free throws, and would go on to only shoot 16.7 per cent from the line the entire quarter. Martlets guard Katie Rathwell added her name to the score sheet after making a three-pointer that brought the Martlets within 10 points of the Citadins. Later in the quarter, guard Emma-Jane Scotten found an open lane on offence and scored a layup to bring the Martlets closer, but it was not enough to get the lead. McGill outscored UQÀM 19-13 in the second, but still the quarter ended with a 10 point advantage for UQÀM.  

“We encountered a few unexpected challenges that slightly diverted us from our game plan,” centre Kristy Awikeh said in an interview with The Tribune. “Being on our home court, we anticipated a smoother flow, but unfortunately, some of our shots that usually find their mark just weren’t falling.” 

Diggs opened the scoring again in the second half after nearly a minute of play. McGill started closing the gap to UQÀM after three-pointers and a layup from Scotten and Rathwell brought the score to 43-45. McGill played aggressively, picking up several fouls in the process. However, this was not enough to keep the Citadins at bay, who made several layups and free throws in the last five minutes of the quarter to make the score 47-56. Still, the Martlets ended the quarter well with Scotten making both her free throws after being fouled in the last seconds of play. 

The fourth quarter started well for the Martlets. McGill centre Katerina Stoupas made a contested layup to put the Martlets within seven points of the Citadins. UQÀM started to pull away from McGill as the quarter continued. The game’s rhythm ramped up in the last minutes of the game. Both teams were playing and fouling aggressively. Two UQÀM players fouled out before the game was through. The Martlets implemented a full-court press that the Citadins struggled to break, which led to steals for the Martlets, but it proved to be too little, too late as the game ended 62-71 in the Citadins’ favour. 

Despite the loss, the Martlets showed drive and determination. Their strong effort suggests promise for future games.

“We are really channelling that feeling to get ready and focused on our next four games,” Awikeh said. “These games are super important for us to make it to the playoffs. And personally, I am hungrier than ever for what’s ahead.” 

The Martlets (5–7) will face Laval (10–0) on Feb. 8 at home.

Moment of the game: A successful offensive rebound at the start of the third quarter led to a layup to start the second half off well. 

Quotable: “A lot of my teammates stepped up and brought a lot of energy, both on the court and on the bench which is just as important [….] We have to work on starting our games off better, taking care of the basketball and taking advantage of opportunities where [we] have an advantage to score in transition.”

– Guard Emma-Jane Scotten

Stat corner: The Martlets scored 9-13 of their free throws compared to UQÀM’s 8-16.

1 … 154 155 156 157 158 … 1,363

Read the latest issue

Read the latest issue