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Student Life

Active days with McGill’s Movement Crew

by Josephine Wang on

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It has been just over one year since much of the world entered COVID-19-related lockdown measures. This confinement has considerably reduced levels of physical activity, with medical experts raising concerns about the long-term public health consequences of increasing sedentary behaviour. The pandemic has also made finding internship opportunities—especially interactive and in-person jobs—difficult for many students.

In response to these concerns, two kinesiology students launched the McGill Movement Crew. The initiative connects kinesiology students with non-kinesiology students, facilitating a trainer-trainee relationship wherein kinesiology students develop exercise programs tailored to the needs of their fellow students. 

In an interview with The McGill Tribune, creators of The McGill Movement Crew Ioana Gheta and Thalia Krauth-Ibarz, both U2 Kinesiology, discussed how the initiative came to life and its benefits on kinesiology and non-kinesiology students alike. 

“When COVID started, a lot of [kinesiology] students were looking for volunteer and internship opportunities [and] obviously a lot of things were closed and unavailable,” Gheta said. “On the other hand, we had students in situations where gyms were closed [and they] could not do gym sports or intramurals. We decided to create this platform to bridge the gap between these two groups.”

The process is personalized to the needs of the individual seeking an exercise plan. Krauth-Ibarz explained how the mutually beneficial exchange works. 

“[We first give] a couple of questionnaires asking [non-kin students] about their exercise experiences, habits, and goals, and pair them up with kin students,” Krauth-Ibarz said. “From there, they meet with the participants [virtually] and create personalized workouts for them for the duration of the semester.”

Students who share similar exercise goals can commit to the same exercise program together by signing up as a group and receiving supervision from the same kinesiology student. Kinesiology students who lack the confidence to deliver exercise plans on their own have the option of creating plans in teams. 

“We get a feeling of [a student’s] motivation, goals, and what they are striving towards and then give them a workout for a short period,” Gheta said. “We do have essential checkups to see what’s working and what’s not [and] how [the participants] feels [….] It’s all done in a step-by-step process, and the progression is monitored.”

For kinesiology students, applied work experiences like these are invaluable. Internships are regarded as ways to try out potential career paths and obtain real-life work experience, but the pandemic has limited these opportunities. The McGill Movement Crew offers kinesiology students a chance to develop skills by applying their knowledge to create programs. 

“There is also a step […] called the Kin huddle [where we] get some advice on the workout programs before we administer them, since we’re students and still learning,” Krauth-Ibarz said. “We also tried to make sure that [kinesiology] students have resources and can ask professional [kinesiologists] who have been working for a long time. If there is a specific question we feel we cannot answer […], we have two kin professors with us that we are able to ask questions to and are always there to help.”

Gheta and Krauth-Ibarz have long-term plans for the McGill Movement Crew. Whether or not the pandemic lockdown persists, the duo plans on maintaining the initiative. 

“We hope to get into the gym with our participants [next semester, but] if we can’t go to school, we will deliver in the same way we are now,” Krauth-Ibarz said. “We would love for [kinesiology] students to have that hands-on experience, and get that face-to-face interaction […] but also COVID has given us a really great base for times when that can’t happen [….] It’s given us a lot of great things we’re going to keep.”

Student Life

‘Queering the Map’ redefines queer space

by Wendy Zhao on

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Created by multidisciplinary designer Lucas LaRochelle in 2017, Queering the Map (QtM) is a community-based mapping project that allows users to plot their queer experiences over a digital map. QtM seeks to redefine the boundaries of queer spaces: Its millennial pink design portrays a world where queer collectivity forms itself through the sharing of diverse queer realities. Although the initiative launched in Montreal, QtM has expanded to host over 128,000 stories of 2SLGBTQIA+ existence internationally. 

LaRochelle was inspired by the site of one their own formative queer experiences—a crooked tree in Parc Jeanne-Mance—to start QtM. While a tree is not a typical “queer space,” it nevertheless became marked with personal queer significance for LaRochelle. 

While more universal queer spaces like Montreal’s Gay Village are crucial sites of refuge for the 2SLGBTQIA+ community, QtM recognizes their limited ability to encompass the diversity of sites that queerness manifest. According to LaRochelle, one of the project’s goals is to expand the boundaries of queer experience. 

In a Simone de Beauvoir Institute event on digital queer space on March 10, LaRochelle discussed QtM’s story and objectives. 

“Queering the Map aims to move away from thinking queer space as fixed and towards an approach to queer place-making that is rooted in action [and] as something that is responsive and in flux,” LaRocehelle said. “A queer approach to space understands that we cannot be queer in any fixed sense, but rather that we are doing queer through acts of resistance.” 

Unearthing sites of queer history and feeling, QtM broadens the territories in which the 2SLGBTQIA+ community find kinship and express themselves. LaRochelle explained how the map combats the transient nature of queer experiences by preserving them on a public map. 

“A fleeting glance of queer recognition, a T-shot in a library bathroom, an MSN conversation with an anonymous online lover, […] these moments are themselves places of refuge,” LaRochelle said. “They become sites that, through the act of archiving and circulating through the public space of Queering the Map, might be inhabited and reanimated by others who come into contact with them.”

However, QtM’s establishment as a safe space for queer expression is an important component of the site. In 2018, a pro-Donald Trump bot deployed malicious messages throughout the site; a community of volunteer coders worked quickly to edit the site in a GitHub repository. 

In response to the attack, LaRochelle established a moderation system to ensure that each QtM submission is checked by volunteer readers for spam, hate speech, or breaches of anonymity. 

Preserving anonymity is integral to the site’s status as a space inclusive of diverse queer experiences. LaRochelle explained how the website’s anonymity allows for freer expression: Those who have not come out as queer can contribute, as latent hopes and desires can emerge. 

“By rendering all users as anonymous informants, legitimacy becomes a flexible and free-floating term, holding space for the space of fantasies and fabulations that also populate the map, orienting us away from what is and towards what could be,” LaRochelle said. 

QtM’s rejection of fixity extends to its user experience. With no search bar or algorithmic method of organization, users can traverse the map and encounter queer voices by chance. In the digital realm of QtM, LaRochelle explained, queer individuals are given the privilege of being lost among the crowd, rather than targeted or singled out. 

“In following the path taken by those who have refused to follow the directions, I get lost and feel found in collectivity,” LaRochelle said.

McGill, News

HSA webinar explores historical interconnections of race, religion, and resistance

by Charlotte Power on

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The McGill History Students’ Association (HSA) and the McGill Office of Religious and Spiritual Life (MORSL) hosted a panel on March 18 that explored the interconnections between faith, race, and recent racial justice movements. The webinar was moderated by HSA Vice-President (VP) Academic and U4 Arts student Ffion Hughes, and featured talks from Wendell Adjetey, a professor in the Department of History, and Rawda Baharun, B.A. ‘20. In their remarks, both Adjetey and Baharun drew connections between historical Black resistance and Islamic movements, as well as contemporary resistance movements.  

During her time as a McGill student, Baharun was the president of the McGill Black Students’ Network (BSN) and the vice-president of the Muslim Students’ Association (MSA). Baharun began her presentation by discussing Islamic History and theological and historical figures relevant to the faith. She noted in her speech how the Islamic religion often offered resistance for enslaved peoples during the trans-Atlantic slave trade. 

“One of the reasons why religion acts as a powerful mode of resistance is because it asserts and instills a sense of personhood and humanity,” Baharun said. “Black Muslim slaves were forced to leave their spirituality behind [….] Islam instilled this Manhood or humanness in these slaves.” 

Baharun detailed the intersectionality of Black Hijabi hair politics, highlighting how, for some Black Hijabi women, wearing a hijab acts as a symbol of individuality and resistance to patriarchal control. 

“The idea of the hijab in its essence is a challenge toward the male gaze,” Baharun said. “By creating a dynamic where you cannot see something that people are accustomed to seeing, it kind of flips the gaze on its head. Veiled Black Muslim women’s terrain is unique because of the specific intersection of Blackness, womanness, Muslimness […] and what those identities mean within the wider scope of social currents […] associated with those identities.” 

Next to speak was Adjetey, who researches civil rights and the post-Reconstruction United States. Much of Adjetey’s work focusses on the creation of a Pan-African North America, a topic that he touched on during his presentation. When examining the relationship between spirituality and religion in Africa, Adjetey stressed the importance that African spirituality and traditions had during the trans-Atlantic slave trade. He noted how Indigenous spiritual systems helped foster collective resistance among the enslaved.  

“Despite these crimes against African peoples, which were genocidal in nature, spanning over 1,000 years and continuing, enslaved Africans and their descendants managed to retain aspects of their spiritual systems wherever they landed,” Adjetey said. “Not only did enslaved Africans believe that their deities helped them cross the middle [Atlantic] passage, but that the deities also helped them mount daring resistance against their enslavers.” 

Hughes discussed how religion and religious practices have served as a crucial form of spiritual guidance for marginalized peoples throughout history. Hughes explained to The McGill Tribune that she hopes the event will impact the way McGill students perceive social movements. 

“The speakers opened our eyes to the complex intersectional links between race, faith, and liberatory movements, a dynamic that is too often overlooked,” Hughes said. “Spirituality can offer an important basis for racial justice activism within and beyond the faith community. Hopefully, events like this will help make students more aware of the diverse ways that race and religions can intersect, both in history and in the present day.”

 

Student Life

Spotlight on McGill’s women alumni

by Lucy Keller on

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To celebrate Women’s History Month, The McGill Tribune has compiled a list of inspiring female alumni to acknowledge the work of our predecessors. While the list is far from complete, all the women included below have left a significant mark within their field and continue to inspire current students in their journeys. 

Rosemary Brown (BA ‘55) 

Born in Kingston, Jamaica, Rosemary Brown immigrated to Canada in 1951 to pursue a Bachelor of Arts in social work at McGill. After completing her undergraduate degree at McGill and her master’s at the University of British Columbia, Brown became involved in activism and helped found the British Columbia Association for the Advancement of Coloured People and Voice of Women. In 1972, Brown became the first Black woman to hold public office as a member of the British Columbia Legislature. Even after her retirement from politics in 1988, she dedicated her career to anti-racism and women’s rights, serving as the CEO of MATCH International Women’s Fund and promoting social, economic, and political advancement for women internationally. 

Paula Ann Cox (BA ‘80) 

After graduating from McGill with a political science degree in 1980 and returning to her hometown in  Bermuda, Paula Ann Cox began an impressive political career. In 2010, after serving in Bermudan Parliament for 14 years and winning the title of “the most effective politician” in the Best of Bermuda Gold Awards three times, Cox became the leader of the Bermuda Progressive Labour Party and was eventually appointed premier of Bermuda. After serving as the Premier for two years, she continued her activism as a lawyer. In 2014, Cox was appointed Commander of the Order of the British Empire in recognition of her years of service. 

Sheliah Martin (Bachelor of Common Law ‘81)

Born and raised in Montreal, Supreme Court Justice Sheliah Martin earned a Bachelor of Civil Law and a Bachelor of Common Law from McGill University in 1981. She then attained a Master of Laws and Doctorate of Juridical Science at the University of Alberta and University of Toronto, respectively. When she was called to the bar in Alberta, she used the word “person” instead of “man” in her oath, defying the gendered norm. After an impressive 30-year career in law, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau appointed Martin to the Supreme Court of Canada in December 2017. 

Dr. Joanne Liu (M.D.,C.M. ‘91, IMHL ‘14)

After earning a M.D.,C.M. (Medicinæ Doctorem et Chirurgiæ Magistrum) degree at McGill, Dr. Joanne Liu completed pediatric specialty training at Université de Montréal, subspecialty training in pediatric emergency care at New York University, and an International Masters for Health Leadership at McGill’s Desautels Faculty of Management. After spending 20 years in a variety of roles at Médecins Sans Frontière (MSF), she was elected internal president. During her time at MSF, Liu provided medical support to vulnerable communities across the world, including Malian refugees in Mauritania after the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake, and Haitians during the cholera outbreak. Liu also developed one of the first programs in the Democratic Republic of Congo to offer comprehensive medical care for survivors of sexual violence. In 2015, Time Magazine named her one of the 100 Most Influential People after she spearheaded an effective response to the Ebola crisis in West Africa. 

Mariame Kaba (BA ‘92) 

A self-described activist, organizer, and curator, Mariame Kaba has made her mark on the world since she graduated with a sociology degree in 1992. Kaba’s work focusses on ending gender and race-based violence, dismantling the prison-industrial-complex, prioritizing transformative justice, and supporting youth leadership development. She has founded, co-founded, and directed several grassroots organizations in Chicago and New York City including Project NIA, the Chicago Freedom School, and the Chicago Taskforce on Violence against Girls and Young Women, among others. Since the first ‘Black Grad’ ceremony at McGill in 2019, the Mariame Kaba Prize in Leadership & Community Service, which includes a minimum of $1,000, has recognized a student for their commitment to community service. 

Student Life

‘Raising Spirits’ game uncovers 1950s McGill student life

by Wendy Zhao on

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While the McGill community remains geographically fragmented, the McGill Library’s alternate reality game Raising Spirits: A Timely Diversion invites students to converge virtually on campus sites and experience them anew. Featuring artifacts drawn from McGill’s library archives, the game resurrects marginalized figures from the university’s past and narrates their stories across space and time. The project seeks to give players a sense of shared identity rooted in this year’s online learning format. On March 18, the McGill Library released the third instalment of Raising Spirits, which highlights McGill student life in the 1950s. 

Paul Davarsi, BA ‘95, educator and creative director of Raising Spirits, described the game’s objectives in a panel discussion on its creation.

“We approached it with a […] spirit of trying to bring students from around the world who would not be on campus […] and give them a sense of place,” Davarsi said. 

To preserve the fun of discovery for new players, Nathalie Cooke, associate dean of McGill Library and the game’s producer, was hesitant to give spoilers. The games are designed to surprise players, revealing the histories of characters obscured from McGill’s past while taking students to campus spots such as Roddick Gates and various McGill libraries.

Raising Spirits is a collaborative project between archivists, graphic designers, librarians, and programmers that draws on McGill’s archives to create multimedia puzzles throughout its narratives. As players hunt for clues in digital space, they are given the experience of investigating library collections themselves.

The first installation of the game was released on Aug. 27 for Frosh activities, but it has since drawn interest from a wider audience beyond first-year students. Cooke expressed the team’s surprise at the game’s popularity in an interview with The McGill Tribune.  

“Graduate students loved it,” Cooke said. “Grown-ups loved it. Journalists and teachers were curious. Other librarians tried it. People who have never played digital games before tried it.”

The upcoming installation will allow players to explore student life in the 1950s through a trivia game hosted by Marty the Martlet.   

“We’ve got stories that people have never heard about, different kinds of students and graduates that people have never heard about, unusual professors from different generations and places,” Cooke said. “It’s going to be a real surprise for people who know the history of McGill as just William Osler, James McGill, and William Dawson.”

Aeron MacHattie, an archivist on the narrative design team, spoke to the game’s creators’ goal of spotlighting McGill’s marginalized histories. 

“Because archival reflections reflect the people in power, often these collections are very white-centred,” MacHattie said in a panel discussion. “So other histories […] of Black, Indigenous, queer, or working-class people aren’t as visible,” 

The third installation’s more recent scope grants living historical characters agency over the representation of their histories by allowing them to be collaborators themselves. McGill’s first Black Carnival queen Beryl Rapier––then Beryl Dickinson-Dash––for instance, is featured in the upcoming edition to describe campus experience in her time. 

Raising Spirits is centred around the theme of disruptions: The first two installations featured Amy Redpath Roddick, a McGill benefactor whose family was the subject of an unsolved Canadian murder mystery in the early 20th century, and Maude Abbott, a medical librarian who was denied entry McGill into McGill’s medical school in 1899 because of her gender.

Hannah Deskin, a collaborator on the narrative design team, described the autonomy that the game provides players. 

“We wanted to create a narrative that allowed students to feel like they were ridding the campus of a mysterious scourge or disruption,” Deskin said. “We hoped that putting the fate of the campus in their hands would allow them a sense of efficacy in a moment when many feel rather powerless.”

Raising Spirits itself records the present moment for the McGill community. For future players, the games will evidence current feelings of isolation and the need for some simple, light-hearted fun. 

Sports

In conversation with Dick Pound

by Adam Burton on

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Richard Pound is by far one of McGill’s most notable student-athlete alumni. During his time at McGill, Pound earned a bachelor’s degree in commerce and graduated on the Dean’s list, won the Canadian swimming freestyle championship four times, placed sixth representing team Canada at the 1960 Rome Olympics, and took home one gold, two silver, and one bronze medal at the 1962 British Empire and Commonwealth Games. Since his graduation in 1962, Pound has served as vice-president of the International Olympic Committee and founded the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA). As the former president of WADA, Pound has clashed with notable organizations, such as the NHL, the Russian Olympic Team, and even individuals, including Lance Armstrong, over their unlawful use of performance-enhancing drugs. 

From his experiences as an Olympic athlete and through his work with anti-doping organizations, Pound strongly believes in ensuring a competitive but level playing field for all athletes. 

“It was important for me to do whatever I could to help the next generation enjoy the fun that I had as an athlete,” Pound said in an interview with The McGill Tribune.

Since Pound’s days as a collegiate athlete, the world of competition has only intensified, with an expansion of collegiate and professional sports on an international level. The development track for student athletes has only become more fraught with complications. 

“I would say that there’s a lot more money in the system now,” Pound said. “That means that you can actually carry on competing until you’re well into your thirties [….]  Back when I was doing it, when you finished McGill, you had to go to work.”

The World Anti-Doping Agency has made major progress in the fight against large-scale doping since its founding in 1999. High-profile cases, like the mass doping by the Russian Olympic team in the 2018 Winter Olympics and doping by professional cyclists in the early 2000s, resulted in independent investigations that confirmed their use of performance-enhancing drugs. The former ensued in Russia being banned from the next two Olympic games. Despite these strides toward fairness in sport, Pound emphasized that there is still much work to be done.

“People have asked me, ‘When do you declare that you’ve won the fight against doping in sport?’” Pound said. “The answer to that is, you can’t change human nature. There are always going to be people out there that do not care [about] what they promised. They do not care what the rules are. But if you can get 99.9 per cent of the athletes not to do it because it’s dangerous, and because you are breaking a promise you’ve made to your fellow competitors, [you will] be doing [it] right.”

Following his years spent trail-blazing the fight against doping, Pound remained in Montreal, where he worked as a tax attorney and authored several books that reflect his time as president of the World Anti-Doping Agency. 

When ruminating on his storied life, Pound attributes much of his work ethic to his time spent as a student athlete at McGill. 

“[Being a student-athlete] rounds out your academic progress and certainly teaches you to manage your time better,” Pound said. “I went through almost my entire first year at McGill at the age of 16. I was totally immature, socially and all that kind of stuff, but […] I could compete and learn from folks that were all older than I was.”

Pound believes strongly in pursuing what is right—a value he was taught from a young age. 

“A lesson I remember from school was, ‘if it’s wrong, it’s wrong, even if everybody’s doing it. If it’s right, it’s right, even if nobody’s doing it.’”

McGill, News

Student Wellness Hub plans to offer hybrid in-person and virtual services in Fall 2021

by Madison Edward-Wright on

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Since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic in March 2020, McGill’s Student Wellness Hub has adapted its services to an online format. With in-person learning halted for the year, counselling appointments have been held remotely and wellness activities—such as art nights and behavioural therapy sessions—are being conducted via Zoom. The McGill Tribune looked into how the Wellness Hub is preparing to transition back to in-person services. 

Between November and December 2020, Student Rights Researcher and Advocacy Commissioner (SRRAC) Adrienne Tessier surveyed 393 students on their experiences during the pandemic to inform the SSMU on how to address student needs in the coming semester. While results of this study are ongoing, Tessier and Students’ Society of McGill University (SSMU) Vice-President (VP) University Affairs (UA) Brooklyn Frizzle shared some preliminary results with The McGill Tribune. Approximately 85 per cent of respondees experienced “Zoom fatigue” from online learning and another 85 per cent of students reported burnout. 

At the onset of the Fall 2020 semester, appointments with healthcare professionals transitioned online in response to the changing COVID-19 situation in Montreal and relied on virtual platforms like Zoom, Maple, and Dialogue. One-on-one appointments with Wellness Hub counsellors were also hosted virtually through online platforms. Starting in the Fall 2021 semester, the Wellness Hub plans to deliver support through a hybrid system of both virtual and in-person services.

“We look forward to bringing as many services as possible back to campus as soon as public health guidelines permit us to do so,” Media Relations Officer Frédérique Mazerolle said on behalf of McGill University. “In addition to our in-person services, we hope to continue offering virtual supports, as they have been very well received.”

One virtual tool that will remain in the hybrid system is Keep.meSAFE, a free 24/7 online mental health application available through the My SSP website that connects students to counsellors. According to Mazerolle, Keep.meSAFE will continue to be offered during Fall 2021 because of its wide reaching accessibility. Frizzle also noted that Keep.meSAFE has proven to be reliable during the pandemic.

“The pandemic has made healthcare inaccessible to many students […] and Keep.meSAFE ha[s] been useful for […] students abroad,” Frizzle wrote. 

The Wellness Hub staff are currently discussing which services should continue to be offered remotely and which should be held in person. SSMU Mental Health Commissioner Julia Caddy said the Society is advocating for the continuation of online resources, as the survey found them efficient in reducing wait times and expanding accessibility. 

“The biggest initiative moving forward really needs to be about communicating the opportunities available to students both in terms of accessible programming at the [Wellness] Hub [and] unique resources throughout the community,” Caddy said.

As research has shown, students’ mental health has suffered over the past year. Caddy mentioned that during the Winter 2021 semester, the volume of students requesting support at the Wellness Hub was higher than what was manageable. 

“It is no secret that the mental health services at the [Wellness] Hub and in our larger community are being pushed to capacity right now,” Caddy said. “In fact, they already were before the pandemic. We really hope to [raise awareness about] the vast array of health promotion activities, group opportunities, and more that the [Wellness] Hub has to offer.”

In addition to raising awareness about the mental health programs offered by the Wellness Hub, SSMU Mental Health is currently looking into other possible long term solutions to student mental health needs.

“A real solution requires working on a systemic level to create supportive environments in our daily life, to equip individuals and those around them with the skills to manage and respond to mental health [needs],” Caddy said. 

 

McGill, Montreal, News

Monthly Dignity responds to international movements against period poverty

by Maya Watt on

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In Nov. 2017, Chloé Pronovost-Morgan, Med 2, and Julia Coste, BA ‘19, launched Monthly Dignity, a non-profit organization that distributes menstrual hygiene products to unhoused people in Montreal. After founding the initiative, the duo realized that “period poverty” affects many diverse communities, including unhoused people, people living under the poverty line, single mothers, and students. Since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, financial precarity has made it harder to access basic resources on a day-to-day basis, and period poverty has only worsened.

While several countries such as Scotland and New Zealand have recently passed legislation confirming access to period products as a right, Canada has yet to commit to universal access, although it did eliminate taxes on tampons in 2015. The expense of menstrual hygiene products creates obstacles for those of lower socio-economic backgrounds. Pronovost-Morgan questioned why menstrual products are not always accessible in public spaces, when other essential hygiene products are readily available. 

“The accessibility of toilet paper and soap is not a question that we ask ourselves,” Pronovost-Morgan said. “But how awkward would it be if you went into a public space and you did not have toilet paper?” 

A recent global movement has seen a push by several nations to eliminate period inequity. Following in the Scotish government’s footsteps, which passed The Period Products (Free Provision) (Scotland) Bill in Nov. 2020, the New Zealand government announced on February 2021 that the country will be making menstrual products free in schools. Part of New Zealand’s Youth and Wellbeing strategy legally requires local authorities to ensure that those who need menstrual products can obtain them for free. 

“This [legislation] is a completely new way of thinking about it, at least for me,” Pronovost-Morgan said. “When we started out we could not even conceive of a world where this is possible, but of course, we are drawing inspiration from Scotland and New Zealand.”

While Scotland and New Zealand are at the forefront of this movement, in the United States, 30 states still tax menstrual products as luxury items. In Canada, menstrual products are also taxed, but not as luxury items. Organizations like Period Packs and Period Promise have raised awareness in places like Ottawa and Vancouver, but no substantial systemic change regarding menstrual equity has occurred in Canada. 

Brooklyn Frizzle, the Students’ Society of McGill University (SSMU) Vice-President University Affairs, is responsible for the coordination of menstrual hygiene products on campus. Frizzle discussed SSMU’s efforts to alleviate menstrual poverty during the pandemic.

“I can say that the SSMU Menstrual Hygiene Team has really made the best of a bad situation [by] reorienting our services away from our usual buildings and towards donations to community groups and campus services,” Frizzle said.

Plan International Canada claims that the pandemic has exacerbated the issue by highlighting a severe shortage of period products, a sharp rise in prices, and a lack of access to basic information all complicate period management for those already experiencing period poverty. 

Community organizations, such as Montreal women’s shelter Chez Doris, are making similar strides by offering home deliveries for menstrual products. Marina Boulos-Winton, executive director of Chez Doris, claims that donations of menstrual products during the pandemic have not waned. 

“Donations have been strong [and] people have been so generous.” Boulos-Winton said. 

In the past three years since their launch, Pronovost-Morgan said the Monthly Dignity team has faced roadblocks to achieving their goal of universal access to menstrual hygiene products.

“We are limited by funds and partnership arrangements,” Pronovost-Morgan said. “We have gotten to the point where we think the government should step in [because] the problem is much bigger than we thought.”Monthly Dignity plans on expanding its community outreach, and has recently partnered with Project 10, an organization that aims to support the wellbeing 2SLGBTQIA+ youth.

Montreal, News

Montreal Global Day of Climate Action march draws hundreds

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On March 19, the Coalition étudiant pour un virage environnemental et social (CEVES) organized “Manifestation mondiale pour la justice climatique et sociale” (Global protest for climate and social justice). The march was part of Greta Thunberg’s Fridays for Future movement, which unites climate protesters worldwide each Friday to demand government action to achieve carbon neutrality by 2030, and the recognition of Indigenous sovereignty over unceded lands. CEVES, a Quebec student organization, seeks to achieve racial, climate, and immigration justice in Montreal and worldwide.

The march, which saw over 300 people participate, began with a rally in Jean-Mance Park. Attendees gathered to demand carbon neutrality by 2030, the recognition of Indigenous sovereignty in Canada, and the defunding and demilitarization of police forces. 

Activist Janet Pilot from The Racial Justice Collective, a community organization that aims to create a better future for BIPOC youth, spoke about her work with students. Pilot emphasized the need to work collectively as a community to achieve climate and racial justice for the generations to come. She stressed that both the government and individuals have a role in combating systemic racism against Indigenous communities across Canada.

“We want to help our children in the right direction for our next generation,” Pilot said.* “We know that all of the systems are strong. Our government will not address these concerns, especially in the area of the health of our government [….] So, to send our children in the right direction for the next generation, it will take the help of everyone.”

The event focussed on climate and social justice, highlighting the voices of local activists—joined by socialists, communists, and nationalists alike—and their unique perspectives on the necessity for policy changes addressing the climate crisis. Nathalia Garcia, BA ’18, attended the march with Socialist Fightback at Concordia and McGill, an organization that aims to change the current cycles of economic production to pave the way for a sustainable future. Garcia urged that there was a distinct connection between climate change and capitalism.

“We are here to connect the struggle against climate change with the struggle against capitalism,” Garcia said. “I think that there’s a really clear link between everything that is going on with the environment and the way that we produce things. The people who make the decisions about production don’t really care about the environment, oil spills, green energy, or anything about the environment [….] Let’s put production in the hands of people who actually care about the environment and the people who actually feel the effects of the environmental collapse.”

According to Garcia, marches and mass politics play an important role in the fight for climate justice; change will only transpire from a collective force.

“I think protesting and mass action is very important, but it can’t just be random actions here and there,” Garcia said. “There has to be coordination. The labour movement has to get involved as well.”

Hady Anne spoke on behalf of Solidarity Across Borders, a Montreal-based migrant justice network. Anne described his organization’s goals regarding the intersectional fight for migrant and climate justice.

“We demand a strategy for all because we have a duty to act regarding the issues of environment, extraction, forest deterioration, the confiscation of Indigenous lands, but also of migration,” Anne said.*

Anne emphasized the critical link between the environmentally unsustainable policies of developed nations and the influx of migrants as a result of unstable living conditions in their home countries.

“They leave their countries because of the theft,” Anne said. “They leave their countries because there is this capitalism which extracts resources from their countries, which creates wars, and which displaces their people.”

*Note: The quotes from Hady Anne and Janet Pilot have been translated from French by the author.

News, SSMU

Darshan Daryanani claims SSMU presidency in narrowly passed election

by Ella Fitzhugh on

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The 2021-2022 Students’ Society of McGill University (SSMU) executive election polling period closed on March 19 at 5:00 p.m. EST, ringing in Darshan Daryanani, U3 Arts, as the  SSMU President-elect. Daryanani was elected with 1614 the electorate ranking him first on the ballot. The second-place candidate, Jake Reed, U2 Engineering, amassed 935 votes as the first-choice candidate. The election, which saw 3455 out of 22691 undergraduate electors vote, narrowly met the required quorum of 15 per cent.

Students also elected Claire Downie, U3 Arts, to be the next Vice-President (VP) University Affairs (UA)—the only other contested position in the running. Downie surpassed her opponent Neel Soman, U3 Arts, winning 60 per cent of the student vote.

VP Finance Éric Sader, VP Student Life Karla Heisele Cubilla, VP Internal Sarah Paulin and VP External Sacha Delouvrier, will make up the rest of the executive team.

Incoming SSMU President Daryanani’s platform centres on revamping student spaces, introducing student services like a SSMU smartphone application, advocating for marginalized students, and ensuring anti-oppression practices at McGill. Daryanani reflected on his campaign and detailed his goals in a statement to the Tribune.

“It has been an equally challenging and rewarding experience, and I cannot wait to begin the hard work of fulfilling my campaign promises alongside my peers at SSMU,” Daryanani wrote. “Throughout the past four years, I have witnessed the limitless resilience of McGill students. Over the next few months, I hope to consult with key stakeholders to coordinate a seamless transition and discuss plans for the coming term.”

Downie was elected VP University Affairs on her platform to advocate for the continuation of the expanded S/U policy for students, uphold COVID-19 safety guidelines in Fall 2021, and push for greater academic accessibility, especially for students with disabilities. Downie acknowledged the work of her predecessors.

“It felt very special to get to know new people during COVID, where meeting new people has been harder than most years,” Downie wrote. “I feel so lucky to have learned from Madeline and Brooklyn over the past two years [….] I am grateful for everyone who trusted me with this responsibility. I do not take this work lightly.”

Incoming VP Internal Paulin hopes to improve communication between different faculties and increase Francophone representation at McGill. Her platform focusses on ensuring safety during the transition back to in-person learning formats.

“I am so excited to get to work and create a more transparent campus during my time at SSMU,” Paulin wrote. “I hope the legacy I am able to leave is one of increased communication and a more accessible campus for all, particularly [for] first-year and Francophone students [….] My first course of action will be to create a timeline of events that will promote safety on campus while attempting to bring back a semblance of normalcy to campus.”

VP External-elect Delouvrier commended current VP External Ayo Ogunremi’s work and is looking forward to beginning his term.

“I would like to underline the high quality of the work that the incumbent, Ayo Ogunremi, has done,” Delouvrier wrote. “I look forward to advocating for student rights, conducting political affairs, and helping students transition back to in-person learning and activities, whether it is from the SSMU offices or directly on the streets as part of a mobilization effort.”

All but one of the Winter 2021 Referendum questions were passed with a “yes” vote, with 50.4 per cent voting against a proposed increase of the SSMU membership fee. The increased member fee would have gone toward providing hourly wages for student senators and councillors.

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