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New book McGill in History examines McGill’s past through an unflinching, critical lens

by Eren Atac on

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McGill’s Department of History and Classical Studies hosted a panel discussion on Nov. 6 to commemorate the release of McGill in History, a critical historical study of the university. The book was edited by Brian Lewis, Don Nerbas and Melissa N. Shaw, each of whom spoke on the panel. Several of the book’s contributors also spoke, including Andrea Tone, Tess Elsworthy, and Marlene G. Shore.

McGill in History explores issues embedded in the university’s past, such as slavery and colonialism, inviting readers to reflect on how these systems of power impact higher education from the distant past to the present. The panellists explained their unique contributions to the text and how the core topics discussed by the book reflect a reckoning with the unethical power structures that shaped McGill.

The event began with words from Lewis, a professor in McGill’s Department of History. He explained the book’s goals and emphasized the need to unflinchingly confront McGill’s oppressive history head-on. 

“We thought that there was a need […] for a rigorous scholarly investigation of McGill’s history by experts in the field, one that would range broadly, thematically and chronologically, that would place McGill in historical context, that would be fully alive to slavery and Indigenous issues, and that would serve as a fitting and lasting contribution from McGill’s Department of History and Classical Studies,” Lewis said.

Nerbas, McGill associate professor and Chair in Canadian-Scottish Studies, then explained the reasoning behind the book’s chronological structure and historiographical approach.

“In a lot of ways, McGill’s history is very much a big history that appears already in a lot of aspects of Canadian history,” Nerbas stated. “There was an attempt to integrate [its] institutional history into the broader history of Canada, Quebec, Montreal, and, in fact, the British Empire [….] So, the book is chronologically organized. It’s not a comprehensive history of the institution, but rather, it is based upon snapshots of particular topics that, in many ways, are decided based upon existing expertise.”

The next panellist to speak was Shaw, assistant professor in McGill’s Department of History and Classical Studies. She elaborated on the book’s approach to interactions between different histories, and reflections readers can glean from the work.  

“[History] fosters dialogue and showcases the creative work that can emerge when historians examine and discuss the different levels at which history is analyzed and communicated,” Shaw said. “By tracing interactions between specific micro-histories and broader macro-histories, it prompts readers to consider how local experiences, shaped by those connected to McGill and influenced by its historical roots, politics, and procedures, relate to larger historical processes.”

The statements from the three editors were followed by comments from some of the book’s contributors. Tone, another professor of History, explained that her contribution focused on the McGill Department of Psychiatry’s involvement with the CIA and its MK-ULTRA program. Elsworthy, a graduate student at McGill’s School of Information Studies, wrote her section on the university banning Japanese students from attending during World War II. Finally, Shore, professor emerita at York University’s Department of History, explained her contribution’s focus on McGill and Canada’s enduring lack of support for the humanities and social sciences.

The event concluded with a brief Q&A segment in which Nerbas explained how he would like to see the text accessed in the future.

“I think that the book hopefully could be used in the classroom,” Nerbas said. “I think in terms of actually introducing students to history, the university itself provides a really exciting subject, one that is nearby and one that actually is connected to a really fascinating and, as I mentioned, big history.”

A previous version of this article stated that Tess Elsworthy was a graduate student in McGill’s Department of History and Classical Studies, when in fact, she is a graduate student at McGill’s School of Information Studies. Furthermore, a previous version of this article did not specify that Marlene G. Shore is a professor emerita at York University. Moreover, a previous version of this article attributed the concluding quote to Brian Lewis, when in fact, it was Don Nerbas who spoke these words. The Tribune regrets these errors.

Editorial, Opinion

The student empire strikes back

by The Tribune Editorial Board on

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Between Nov. 7 and 14, 28 departments will hold general assemblies (GAs) to vote on strike motions in support of Palestine for the week of Nov. 17. As of Nov. 10, three of the 28 passed a motion to strike. The motions, although independently submitted to each faculty, share four central demands. They call on McGill to divest from its holdings in companies complicit in Israel’s ongoing genocide and apartheid in occupied Palestine; disclose its financial holdings; drop disciplinary charges—such as injunctions—against students involved in popular organizing, political advocacy, and demonstrations; and end any research or financial partnerships involving organizations or individual donors that perpetuate or benefit from the sale of weapons or military technology. 

Departmental strikes represent an institutionally mandated and unified channel to hold the McGill administration responsible for its complicity in Israel’s genocide in Gaza. 

Though the university has yet to divest, McGill cannot remain obstinate forever if pressure from its students and faculty continues. Striking may feel futile, and the effort to do so exhausting, but as a student body, our commitment to action must persist. In this war of attrition, the question is whether sustained student pressure can outlast institutional intransigence—whether we can make the status quo more costly to maintain than to change.

Strikes at the departmental level are a testament to the incredible breadth of the pro-Palestine movement on campus and the diversity of contexts within which mobilization can emerge and prosper. By organizing within their own departments—rather than through Students’ Society of McGill University (SSMU) as in April’s and October’s centralized strikes—students and faculty show the movement is not confined to one demographic. It is a movement not only driven by students learning about politics and global conflict, but also by those studying computer science and physics alike. In breaking the stereotypes of political participation, everyone in the McGill community is implicated. Therefore, those who choose not to participate must confront their complicity. 

Due to its smaller scale, activism at the departmental level creates and sustains the interpersonal relationships necessary for successful mobilization much more effectively than under a single centralized organizational body, such as SSMU. 

Departments have the choice between hard-picket and soft-picket striking strategies, as well as the date and time of their respective strikes. Allotting agency to each department means that their subsequent strikes are rooted in an intrinsic motivation, as opposed to an externally imposed framework for activism. 

Meanwhile, disseminating action across dozens of departments and across a number of days disarms the administration’s ability to stifle the pro-Palestine movement in any one fell swoop. This structure nullifies McGill’s characteristic tactic for disabling centralized strike efforts, such as its severance of its memorandum of agreement with SSMU. With no single legal mechanism to delegitimize all striking departments, the administration will struggle to maintain its controlling grip that aims to vilify student activism. 

On a symbolic level, the widespread will to strike from students and faculty alike demonstrates a marked shift in campus attitudes towards pro-Palestine activism—and towards solidarity between activists. These strike motions follow hot on the heels of the historic resolution from the McGill Association of University Teachers’ landslide vote to endorse the academic and cultural boycott of Israel, demonstrating a new solidarity between faculty and students, and the universality of support for Palestine. 

If we don’t cede, the administration will have to—and participation is the first and most important step. The Religious Studies GA already failed to meet its department’s low quorum. Attend your departmental GA, petition if your department has not yet approved one, bring your friends with you, hold classmates and professors accountable, and use your vote. Striking is effective and only gains momentum as time goes on. 

McGill’s administration has remained stubborn and unyielding, and shown strong endurance in waiting for protests to tire. When striking feels pointless, and when we—as students and faculty—feel the fatigue of two years of our activism remaining unheard and repressed, we must remind ourselves that those in power count on the burnout of the activists that hold them accountable. We must not give them that satisfaction.  

Commentary, Opinion

The true cost of daylight saving: Gaining an hour, losing our rhythm

by Jamie Xie on

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As we trade our jack-o-lanterns for winter coats, a new yuletide tradition takes over. With the first snow rapidly approaching and the air already crisp with season’s greetings, it must be that festive time of the year: Daylight saving time (DST). Across the country, people collectively forget to adjust their clocks, gaining or losing an hour of sleep in the process. While the clocks might change in perfect synchronicity, our bodies rarely follow suit. Twice a year, we contort our schedules in the name of societal efficiency. Twice a year, we see a devastating spike in automotive accidents. Daylight savings is a demonstration of prioritizing productivity over our natural circadian rhythm. 

Daylight savings was formally adopted by Canada in 1918 during World War I as a wartime fuel-saving measure. Its origins, then, are not rooted in agrarian rhythms or the popular supporting farmers’ myth but in the logistical production demands of war and industry. Humanity has existed for millennia without it, and we can continue to exist without it now. It is always worth having skepticism towards any practice that emerged as a temporary instrument to support imperial violence.

Studies have largely disproven the central justification for DST—that shifting the clocks saves energy. Research consistently shows reductions of less than 0.5 per cent, and in some cases—such as Kansas (1997) and Indiana (2011)—energy use actually increased. The persistence of DST reveals less about efficiency than it does about society’s fixation on extraction—the cultural urge to squeeze more work from every hour at the lowest cost. This is not just about sleep or convenience. In fact, it’s antithetical to it; the core issue rests in how capitalism teaches us to view ourselves as machines in need of optimization, instead of humans necessitating patience and rest. 

DST does not apply everywhere: In Nunavik—the northern third of Quebec—Makivvik, the Inuit representative organization, surveyed the region and has decided to end the practice in 2026, citing that the system no longer reflects local realities. A 2024 Quebec justice ministry survey showed that 91 per cent of the 214,000 respondents opposed DST and nearly three-quarters of them supported staying on daylight time year-round. There remains a desire among the Nunavimmiut to adopt a system of time authentic to northern life, rather than be dictated by a capitalistic-centred Western framework. 

Nature does not ask flowers to bloom in winter, or bears to wake before the thaw. Yet it is mankind alone that is convinced of its Promethean entitlement to steal daylight that’s not hours. Indigenous concepts of time are ecological, embedded in land and aligned with cycles of rest and renewal. Colonial frameworks of time impose the belief that humans dominate nature and are entitled to override natural rhythms. This perspective privileges only the wage-earning nine-to-five worker. When profit dictates time, it dictates whose work is valued. Careworkers and homemakers—disproportionately women—and those in shift-based service fields who labour year-round beyond the constraints of daylight hours, receive no temporal accommodations. This disparity is not a mere oversight: It reflects a broader cultural conviction that wage employment is inherently more worthy of economic recognition and validation while caregiving is not.  

Our belief in rationality and human dominion convinces us that we are exempt from nature’s call. Capitalism gives us the exceptionalist illusion that we can outsmart nature. This is a cultural arrogance that has been bred into us and exists at the heart of so much historic violence, evident in the ecological destruction and displacement of communities caused by colonial and industrial expansion. Daylight saving time asks us to forgo being human for one calendar hour. It’s the authoritarian, Fordist industrialism that invites us to consider how willing we are, as a society, to neglect our biology. Beware the Ides of March—it is the great hubris of man to conjure up a 25-hour day that brings the world from dawn to dusk just one hour earlier.

Features

Rethinking drinking

by Gregor McCall on

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Drinking culture on campus

//Cheers//, //Santé//, //Salud//, //Sláinte//, //Prost//, //Kanpai//, //Skål//, //Geonbae//. No matter the language, you know what it means—it can be a call for celebration, a verbalization of excitement over an accomplishment, an honorific bestowed in anticipation of something good yet to happen, or purely a declarative, announcing that the weekend’s approach quickens. The chant of this sacred phrase is no stranger to our lives on campus. Week in and week out, the halls that breathe life into this short verbiage teem with crowds of students as Gerts Bar, Bar des Arts (BdA), Blues Pub, and 4 à 7 come alive. It matters not whether you yourself partake in a weekly dose of giggle water, or prefer to abstain from such activities—nearly everyone can feel and notice the pull of the drinking culture which haunts McGill’s campus. 

It seems naive, however, to suppose that the drinking culture fostered on campus //simply exists//—that it spawned spontaneously, was created //ex nihilo//, or emerged from the masses of stressed-out students without cause or intention. This is not to say that social drinking is an abnormal phenomenon; the creation and consumption of alcohol stretches across the annals of human history. Dating back to 7000 BCE, the use of alcohol is common in thousands of cultures. However, this does not mean that McGill’s proud little bars, tightly packed into basements of lecture halls and university buildings, are as innocent as they appear. The Bard’s eternal wisdom may prove useful: Something indeed might be rotten in Denmark. 

What exactly is it about these spaces that attracts McGillians in sweaty, hungry, thirsty, and sociable droves? What are the forces which make these spaces and events paramount in the social sphere? 

For many, the reason for drinking-centred spaces’ preeminence in the campus social markets is that they draw a large attendance. In an interview with //The Tribune//, Anette Nowakowski, U3 Science, explained that community is a key reason she enjoys BdA. “Way more people are here [at BdA]. You can meet people, new people from many different places, different faculties. It’s a great way to socialize, too.” 

Indeed, it’s harder to name campus hotspots more conducive to interfaculty exchange and fraternization than our local watering holes. Many think of alcohol as a kind of social drug: One that reduces inhibitions and gets you out on the dance floor, endowing you with the courage to talk to that special someone you haven’t been able to take your eye off. As a suppressant, alcohol achieves its effect by altering the balance of inhibitory and excitatory neurotransmission. Short-term alcohol use increases certain inhibitory neurotransmitters—making our memories foggy and moods swing—and suppresses others, proffering excitatory effects and its famed euphemism of ‘liquid courage.’ 

Other BdA attendants’ experiences seemed to attest to such biological mechanics. Leah Dube, U3 Arts, told //The Tribune//, “After a solid hour, I’d say everyone is very friendly.” When asked if she thought alcohol might play a role in this, Dube continued, “I would say that could definitely be true.”

Nowakowski followed this sentiment, “Usually, the people, like the crowd, [have] good vibes. I don’t know how [else] to explain it. It’s like [they’re all] friends, and [have] good vibes [between them].”

Still, the social dynamics at play seem to motivate attendance as well. Many have known the pains of waiting in excruciatingly long lines for campus bars on the first and last days of ‘the season.’ Others have hoped for admittance when the venues feature special events, only to be met with the cruel reality of exorbitant wait times. 

Dube noted, “[Long lines] could have one of two effects. It could be that it is more exclusive, and it adds to the ‘wanting to get in,’ and you’re more willing to spend more time in line. Other times, it can lead to giving up before you even try.” She clarified, “If [someone is] on the fence, they’re not getting in.”

Pricing, too, certainly contributes to the appeal of campus bars. At most faculty bars, students can purchase a beer at a quarter of the price a local Montreal bar would charge. “I think part of the ‘BdA Thursday’ [that] is important [is that] the cheap drinks make it so you don’t spend that much money on alcohol. It’s a nice addition to the whole experience,” Nowakowski added. 

Consequences of alcohol use

Although the accessibility and allure of campus drinking culture make it so appealing, the use and misuse of alcohol can facilitate unsafe environments. A 2016 study found that alcohol use may be correlated with increased sexual risk behaviours among university students, such as unprotected sex, which increases the likelihood of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) and sexually transmitted infection (STI) transmission. A 2015 study also demonstrated that increased alcohol use and misuse among university students are correlated and frequently co-occur with instances of sexual assault. While alcohol is never a cause nor excuse for sexual assault, it is undeniable that it plays a role in facilitating environments where such crimes occur. Because many believe the consumption of alcohol will naturally lead them to irrational, frenzied, and crazed behaviour, it may function to give bad-faith actors an ‘excuse’ to commit these acts. This, combined with alcohol’s hampering of higher-order cognitive processing, inhibition of motor functions, and altered social dynamics amongst peers, increases the likelihood of sexual violence. 

Moreover, increased alcohol use can lead to both short-term and long-term health issues. Binge drinking—reaching a blood alcohol concentration of 0.08 per cent, roughly five drinks for men or four for women within two hours—raises the risks of ‘blackouts’ and alcohol overdoses. Patterned binge drinking is also associated with immunocompromisation, damage to the pancreas and liver, and other chronic diseases. As a known Group-1 carcinogen, alcohol also poses a risk for cancer development. For people under 25, consumption can impair long-term brain development by causing a decline in grey matter and hindering white matter growth.

Thus, we arrive now at an impasse. Drinking-centred events clearly have something to offer: Fun, socialization, relaxation, and catharsis at quite an affordable cost. In fact, it seems that faculty bars like BdA, by maintaining affordable prices, effectively democratize the social atmospheres of their higher-end counterparts. At the same time, however, the patterned (over)consumption of alcohol has very clear potential dangers—some possibly fatal. 

What are we to do? Can these two truths be reconciled with one another?

Toward a solution

At such a junction, it can be tempting to point fingers—at individuals, for the act of drinking itself, or at groups like faculty bars, for the promotion of this kind of culture. Neither, however, seems to cut through to the heart of the problem. 

Blaming individuals does little to find a solution. At best, it serves as a passive-aggressive reprimand to encourage healthier habits; at worst, it risks alienating those who may silently struggle with addiction, assigning them liability for a disease difficult to mitigate. Having a dry campus will not necessarily solve the problem. In Quebec, where virtually every student can legally drink off campus, a prohibition would likely have little effect in discouraging drinking as a whole. Furthermore, while drinking culture may seem highly saturated on campus, data suggest that this may not accurately reflect big-picture drinking trends amongst young adults. 

Furthermore, in an interview with //The Tribune//, Professor Dennis Wendt, director of Cultural and Indigenous Research in Counselling Psychology at McGill, who researches substance and alcohol use, emphasized a decline in drinking habits among young people.

“If you look at the data, and I don’t know if it applies to McGill, but in general, young people are drinking less [….] Drinking is down in society, and further, there is now, more recently, a narrative about drinking that is more cautious than it used to be,” he said.

Recent statistics echo this sentiment. A 2023 Statistics Canada survey found that 67 per cent of Canadians aged 18 to 22 reported not having consumed alcohol in the seven days prior to the survey—a higher percentage than other age groups studied. Likewise, only 8 per cent had reported drinking seven or more alcoholic beverages in the last seven days, a percentage nearly twice as low as other age groups. In the same year, a survey conducted by Gallup found that even among Americans aged 18 to 34 who drink regularly, the percentage of those who reported having consumed an alcoholic beverage in the past seven days fell from 67 per cent in 2001 to 61 per cent. Writ large: Regular drinking habits in young people are waning. 

Professor Wendt continued, remarking that in his classroom, more and more young people seem to recognize both the hazardous effects of alcohol on health and that the idea that moderate drinking poses no health risks is a myth.

“I know that when I talk about these things in my classes, sometimes I’ll say, ‘How many of you have heard that drinking some red wine is good for heart health?’ And a lot of people raise their hands,” he said. “[Then] I say, well, how many people have heard that alcohol is a known carcinogen? [….] When I started doing that about eight years ago, hardly anyone raised their hand, but today, most students do. So that is a shift in awareness.”

Given the data, a campus drinking culture does not seem to be founded on a particular drinking problem with young adults as a whole. Why, then, does drinking culture appear to be so sedimented at McGill? Why does it seem to create a gravitational pull in the social sphere, sucking after-class life deeper and deeper into it? The answer may be far simpler than what fantasy imagines. 

Campus drinking culture announces itself everywhere. Posts on social media, of course, are the fastest way this culture is communicated. But what about subtler forms of advertisement? Posters in the bathrooms of the basement of McConnell Engineering—coincidentally next door to Blues Pub—promote breweries and non-alcoholic Budweiser. Umbrellas at Open Air Pub on Lower Field flaunt beer and hard seltzer logos, signalling that one ought to purchase a drink. Across campus, the same message is delivered, made impossible to ignore. 

Drinking culture is so present, persuasive, and forceful at McGill because it is //hyper-visible//. 

In my conversation with Professor Wendt, he stressed that this is not an accident. 


“There is [the beer, wine, and spirits] industry here [on campus] that is very interested in you all drinking [….] And I would hope that more college students have a critical eye towards that, just as they do towards all kinds of things.”

The solution to the problem a strong drinking culture imposes is not so simple and clear-cut. Besides potential ineffectiveness, blatant prohibition might produce the opposite effect, encouraging more frequent binge-drinking in environments less safe than what the campus provides. At the same time, it is important to remember that the activities we participate in do not exist in vacuums. There are real risks and potential for harm when such a culture becomes excessive. Companies and executives, too, have much larger stakes in our activities than many would imagine at first blush. Assessing and balancing all of these values is paramount if we wish to reduce harm without succumbing to a kind of moralism that seeks to enforce a strict prohibition on substance use outright and demonize those who participate in it. 

What we can do

In light of these issues, it is imperative to raise the visibility and awareness of non-drinking-centred after-class events. Advertising events that offer fun, socialization, and relief from stress without the variable of alcohol allows individuals to better choose how they wish to spend their time. Simultaneously, promoting these events not specifically as non-drinking alternatives but as enjoyable in and of themselves will help decenter drinking as the ‘norm.’ Moreover, it will broaden the extent of people who can participate in such forms of socialization, no longer excluding those groups that drinking events necessarily do, such as those who cannot drink for religious, health, or other reasons. 

Campus drinking culture is neither the devil in disguise nor a sufficient scapegoat onto which we can project all problems. However, this does not imply that it is always innocent. In any case, it is important to be cognizant and aware of how we socialize with one another within a strong drinking culture and the risks contained therein. 

Editorial, Opinion

Medical workers say care can’t be quantified—and McGill must uphold that

by The Tribune Editorial Board on

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On Oct. 25, François Legault and the Coalition Avenir Québec (CAQ) government called a special session to expedite the passage of Bill 2. The bill was pushed through the National Assembly just after 4:00 a.m., despite widespread opposition from doctors, medical students, and healthcare unions. 

Bill 2 will overhaul how physicians are paid, linking their income to performance indicators, such as the number of patients treated and classifications of the patients’ ‘vulnerability.’ Instead of incentivizing high-quality patient interactions, clinical teaching, or medical research, this bill rewards what is easily measurable and superficially ‘efficient.’ The legislation also grants inspectors the power to enter medical offices and access patient records without warning, and threatens doctors who protest these stipulations with fines ranging from $20,000 CAD per day for individuals to $500,000 CAD per day for professional groups or associations. By attaching these daily fines to any form of dissent regarding this harmful legislation, the CAQ has turned doctors’ public protest—a right protected under the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms—into a punishable offence. This level of jurisdiction over medical professionals is deeply undemocratic; it redefines healthcare labour as a matter of bureaucratic control rather than public service. 

Bill 2 is not healthcare reform. By forcing a market-driven model of care onto Quebec’s already lacklustre and overburdened public healthcare system, the bill acts as a coercive attempt to prevent medical professionals from providing safe and equitable care to the province’s population.

Contrary to the narrative the CAQ pushes, Bill 2 will not improve care. Under pressure to meet its appointment quotas, doctors will be forced to rush appointments and provide less personalized and empathetic care. The Fédération des médecins omnipraticiens du Québec (FMOQ) warned that under this legislation, patients will only be allowed to raise one concern per medical appointment. For those living with chronic illness or conjunctional conditions, this structure makes comprehensive diagnosis nearly impossible. 

Reducing healthcare to mere statistics will only widen existing systemic inequalities in Quebec’s healthcare system. Research consistently shows that racialized patients—especially Indigenous and Black individuals—and women face disproportionate levels of medical neglect. A 2024 Statistics Canada report found that one in four Indigenous people experience discrimination from healthcare professionals, with two-thirds of those individuals stating their concerns were ignored or dismissed. Similarly, a recent study in Montreal found that Black patients experience similar patterns of bias: Participants reported their symptoms were often downplayed or attributed to non-medical causes. Women face similar medical oversight: 93 per cent of women have reported feeling dismissed or ignored when seeking medical care. Women’s pain is more likely to be described as ‘emotional’ rather than physical, and medical research continues to underrepresent women’s bodies and symptoms. 

Bill 2’s damage extends beyond patients: Over 100 doctors have already applied to transfer their practice to other provinces such as New Brunswick and Ontario, leaving those who remain in Quebec with heavier caseloads and probable burnout. For medical students and residents, the policy foreshadows a future where time spent teaching, researching, and listening to patients is not only undervalued, but explicitly penalized. What the government calls efficiency is, in practice, the systematic deterioration of the healthcare system. 

McGill’s Faculty of Medicine, top-ranked nationwide, stands at the centre of Quebec’s healthcare system. Its graduates staff hospitals across the province, and its research defines public health policy. Yet as Bill 2 changes the very structure of its system, the university has remained silent, offering no acknowledgement of how this legislation threatens its students and the province’s medical future. Fallout from Bill 106, the counterpart to Bill 2, has already delayed the graduation of nearly 1,000 Quebec medical students after clinical teaching was halted province-wide. 

As a public institution, McGill bears responsibility not only to its students, but also to the province it serves. The university must denounce Bill 2, support striking faculty and students, and defend medicine as a public good—not a capitalist performance metric. 

Bill 2 is not an isolated policy; it is part of the CAQ’s broader effort to reframe healthcare in relation to quantitative efficiency, stifling the human relationships that sustain it. To accept this legislation is to acquiesce to the dismantling of public healthcare itself. The future of healthcare in Quebec depends on the CAQ-run medical system electing care over austerity. 

Sports, Swimming

McGill Varsity Swim secures top spot in RSEQ rankings after Cup 2 victory

by Ivanna Zhang on

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McGill Varsity Swim hosted the Réseau du sport étudiant du Québec (RSEQ) University Cup 2 Meet on Oct. 26. Both the Redbirds and Martlets finished first on the leaderboard, earning an impressive total of 1,067 points. The event was the second of four RSEQ cup meets that Quebec universities compete in before the U SPORTS National Championships. 

McGill has solidified itself as a powerhouse in university swimming under Head Coach Peter Carpenter, finishing in the top three nationally in 2025 and winning five consecutive RSEQ championships in the past five years. Their goal this season is to win their sixth RSEQ championship in a row, and place on the Nationals podium in both the men’s and women’s divisions. 

In an interview with The Tribune, Carpenter described how the results and expectations for McGill Swim have changed drastically over the years.

“In my first year, we finished 15th and 13th at Nationals out of 25 teams or so,” Carpenter said. “Now, for the past five years, we’ve had a team in the top three. Last year it was the women, the year before, the men.”

The team’s Cup 2 win reflects their growth and consistency, placing first in 13 of 20 events at the Cup and showcasing the depth of talent that defines McGill’s program. 

Rebecca McGrath, U1 Science student and a first-year swimmer at McGill, claimed gold medals in all four events she competed in and was named women’s Swimmer of the Meet. McGrath sat down with The Tribune to explain the team’s plan going into this meet.

“Our biggest goal was to win all the relays,” McGrath said. “We weren’t able to do that in [our] first meet, but this time we did, which was more rewarding because [it was] a team effort.”

The team’s focus on the relays reflects their approach of valuing collective results over individual achievements. McGill Swim participates in annual retreats and intensive training camps—this year in Barbados—allowing them to set collective goals even in an individually-oriented sport. 

“As an individual sport, everyone tends to think in terms of what they want to achieve,” Carpenter highlighted. “But at the retreat, [swimmers] bring those personal goals to the table and ask, ‘How does this goal contribute to the team?’ The team goals are really an amalgamation of all the individual ones.”

That philosophy extends to McGill Swim’s training, where practices emphasize quality over quantity through event-specific workouts, instead of swimmers simply logging long hours in the pool.

“Volume is one thing, intensity is another,” Carpenter said. “Swimming is a sport that demands time in the water. You can’t replicate training unless you’re actually in the pool.”

The athletes themselves, led by captains Alejandro Giggey and Iris Tinmouth, also take a proactive role in their competition preparation. Despite missing Cup 2 due to injury, Giggey strives to create an optimistic atmosphere by leading team cheers and stretches. In an interview with The Tribune, he described how he has balanced academics with athletics over the years, highlighting how the team puts its members first. 

“Sometimes you will have to miss a practice for a midterm,” Giggy explained. “[Coach Carpenter] is very understanding of that. We are student-athletes, not athlete-students.”

McGill Swim also makes a point of supporting one another academically, often helping each other with schoolwork when needed. That close-knit community is reflective of the strong bonds the swimmers have built over the years. 

In an interview with The Tribune, assistant coach Nikki van Noord, who has been part of the program for nine years—an athlete for six of those years—reflected on her journey from swimmer to coach, and the relationships she formed while on the team.

“It’s really because of [Coach Carpenter] that I decided to take the coaching route,” van Noord said. “It inspires me every day that he’s as passionate as he is.”

“My favourite part is developing long-lasting relationships with the athletes,” Carpenter shared. “Nikki asked me to officiate her wedding this year. She’s marrying another former swimmer on the team.”

The relationships and mentorship built within the program leave a lasting impact on both athletes and coaches.

“The team builds more than just athletes, it builds people,” van Noord emphasized. “I wouldn’t be doing a ninth season at McGill if I didn’t love the team.”

McGill, Montreal, News

SSMU-hosted municipal debate cancelled after protests from audience

by Helene Saleska on

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On Oct. 27, the Students’ Society of McGill University (SSMU) hosted a debate in the University Centre Ballroom between representatives from four Montreal parties that competed in the municipal election: Ensemble Montréal, Futur Montréal, Projet Montréal, and Transition Montréal. Angela Campbell, professor in the Faculty of Law and Interim Deputy Provost of Student Life and Learning, moderated the debate. After significant disruption from protestors in the audience who called for Campbell to listen to their demands for McGill to divest from weapons manufacturers, the organizers decided to cancel the event. 

SSMU Vice President (VP) External Seraphina Crema-Black, who organized the SSMU event, offered introductory remarks. 

“Student democracy, and democracy in general, is really important. It’s something that we strive for at the SSMU,” she said. 

Campbell then gave a land acknowledgement and began her introductory speech. She commented on the importance of engaging students in local democracy. 

“This afternoon’s debate is an incredible opportunity for candidates to present themselves to the McGill student community, and to engage recommendations that matter the most to you as students,” she stated. “With over 200,000 post-secondary students here in Montreal, it’s essential that [student] voices are heard and reflected in the decisions that shape our city.” 

During her statement, a student in the audience stood up and addressed Campbell, asking her to speak directly to the pro-Palestine protestors demanding divestment from genocide at McGill. 

“How dare you sit on stage and plan to represent student democracy, while you continue to repress the demands of the student protesters calling for divestment from genocide?” they asked. “After two years of the genocide, you’re responsible for suspending pro-Palestine groups like [Students for Palestine’s Honour and Resistance] and pursuing legal action against your own students.” 

The student’s remarks were followed by yelling from the crowd. Campbell responded that she “would be happy to discuss this further [with the protestors] after the debate.” 

After the audience member finished speaking, Campbell began to explain the structure of the debate, which would begin with opening statements, followed by three pre-prepared questions for the candidates in English, and three questions in French. Another protestor from the audience then stood up to address Campbell, expressing that disciplinary action against pro-Palestine protestors is undemocratic.

Again, Campbell offered to speak with protestors in another room to allow the debate to continue. She then introduced Danso, the candidate from Transition Montréal for City Council from the district Peter-McGill. Danso began their speech by expressing solidarity with the protestors, before giving a prepared opening statement. 

“I did witness police violence against protestors firsthand [at McGill],” Danso began. “We have the chance to change Montreal [….] We have seen the police budget increase from $600 to $800 million CAD in just the last five years, and that’s a reaction to the increased protests, which are themselves a reaction to the instability in society [….] Transition Montréal stands for community organizations, social housing, taxing the rich to pay for these things, and building a strong community.”

After this, another protestor from the audience asked Campbell about the termination of McGill’s Memorandum of Agreement with the SSMU, which she announced on behalf of the Board of Governors after the three-day student strike for Palestine in April 2025. The protestor referred to this as a “blatant attack on student democracy.” 

For several minutes, Campbell repeatedly emphasized that this was a forum for the electoral candidates, and that they had a right to speak on the issues of the city for the sake of democracy. Protestors maintained that Campbell should answer their questions in the name of student democracy. 

One protestor then claimed that the SSMU debate was illegitimate because the questions were pre-selected and students in the audience could not ask questions themselves. VP Crema-Black pushed back, explaining that no one had taken advantage of the public online form to submit questions for the candidates, so she had to write all six debate questions. 

After this exchange, Campbell announced that the debate was cancelled. No other candidates spoke. Only Danso and Maryse Bouchard, Projet Montréal City Council candidate for Ville-Marie, stayed afterward to talk with students one-on-one.

A previous version of this article’s headline stated that Angela Campbell cancelled the SSMU-hosted municipal debate after protests from the audience. In fact, SSMU’s executive team decided to cancel the debate, which Campbell simply announced as the debate’s moderator. The Tribune regrets these errors.

Research Briefs, Science & Technology

The cooling power of wetlands: Climate benefits in Canada’s prairies

by José Moro on

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Amid rising global temperatures and intensifying heatwaves, wetlands are among Earth’s essential natural defences. However, Canada’s Prairie Pothole Region (PPR) ecosystems are under threat from decades of drainage and agricultural expansion that have turned much of the landscape into cropland. This shift reduces their capacity to store carbon and regulate the climate, posing serious risks not only to the environment but also to local and regional agricultural economies.

A recent study published in Agricultural and Forest Meteorology details these concerns as it explores how wetland conservation can help mitigate heat stress and support the agricultural environment across the Canadian Prairies. Joyson Ahongshangbam, lead author on the study and postdoctoral researcher in McGill’s Department of Geography at the EcoFlux Lab, explained the motivation behind the research.

“We are working on understanding different ecosystems, especially the wetlands, and other ecosystem services provided by wetlands across different parts of Canada,” Ahongshangbam said in an interview with the Tribune. “We have many study sites in Vancouver, Manitoba, and […] Quebec.” 

The study, conducted in southern Manitoba, explores how different wetland types within the PPR contribute to surface cooling. Researchers dive into how vegetation, water coverage, and surrounding land use influence this effect. By quantifying the temperature regulation potential of these ecosystems, the findings provide insight into how conserving and restoring wetlands can counter the growing heat stress across Canada’s agricultural heartland.

The team focused on three wetlands: An isolated cropland marsh (CA-EM1), an isolated grassland marsh (CA-EM2), and a restored marsh (CA-EM3). Two additional cropland sites served as reference points: An organic cropland (ORG) and a conventional cropland (CON). Each site differed in size and vegetation type. Researchers used Eddy-covariance technique—a method that measures the exchange of heat and moisture between the land and atmosphere—to compare the sites. 

“[This technique] is a micrometeorological technique using a set of instruments. The gas analyzer measures gas concentration at a very high frequency, […] [and] the anemometer measures wind speed and direction in three dimensions. We apply micrometeorological methods to measure concentrations of gases like CO₂ or methane, with vertical wind speed, to understand how gases move,” Ahongshangbam said. “From this, we calculate how much carbon is going from the ground surface to the atmosphere, or vice versa, estimating annual or multi-year carbon budgets and storage. For energy fluxes, we measure net radiation from the sun and track how it transfers into various energy components. Some energy reflects to the atmosphere, some is stored in the surface or water, and some transfers through evapotranspiration.”

Results showed that wetlands provide daytime cooling, though to varying degrees. CA-EM1 had the strongest effect, averaging 3.0 °C lower temperatures, while CA-EM2 and CA-EM3 showed smaller reductions of 1.4 °C and 1.5 °C, respectively, confirming wetlands in the PPR can lower summer temperatures by up to 3 °C. Wetlands act as natural buffers, cooling the air and reducing crop stress. 

The PPR’s wetlands can help combat the climate crisis. By significantly lowering local temperatures, especially on hot summer days, these ecosystems should be central to Canada’s climate adaptation strategies. Wetland conservation and restoration not only enhances cooling but also contributes to long-term carbon balance and ecosystem stability. The research also emphasizes the need to manage vegetation and hydrology for both climate and agricultural benefits. 

“I hope this paper inspires stronger conservation policies,” Ahongshangbam said. “By expanding our work with remote sensing, we aim to show just how far the cooling power of wetlands can reach, and how vital they are to Canada’s climate future.”

Behind the Bench, Soccer, Sports

European football experiments beyond borders

by Alex Hawes Silva on

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A significant shift has taken place in the world of European football, as the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) has provisionally approved domestic league matches for Lega Serie A and LaLiga to be played outside their home countries. Specifically, UEFA has approved a proposed match between AC Milan and Como 1907 in Perth, Australia, and a planned match between FC Barcelona and Villarreal CF in Miami, U.S. The UEFA emphasized that these decisions were exceptions and should not be viewed as a common occurrence. As leagues like the UEFA explore new revenue streams and aim to reach broader audiences worldwide, the debate of how these international ambitions clash with the interests of domestic supporters intensifies. 

Fans of the games moving overseas argue that these matches represent an inevitable step in soccer’s spread across the globe. Both Serie A and LaLiga have long searched for ways to grow their international audiences, particularly in regions such as North America and Asia, where the Premier League already dominates soccer viewership and sponsorship revenue. 

Organizers say hosting games abroad will strengthen fan engagement, attract new investors, and showcase the quality of their leagues to emerging markets. In Perth, tourism officials have already projected an economic boost from the AC Milan and Como 1907 match set for early February 2026, with thousands of international visitors expected to attend. This worldwide move reframes soccer clubs as a means of global entertainment rather than local institutions.

However, the UEFA’s language of ‘regret’ when discussing the move highlights the enduring tension between their commercial goals and traditional practice. The union approved the matches abroad only after lobbying from the leagues and insisted they be treated as one-off exceptions, not as a new model for competition. Even after approval, some games have already been cancelled; LaLiga scrapped its proposed Miami game due to logistical and stakeholder opposition issues. 

Critics argue that holding league games abroad undermines the fundamental principle that teams play in front of, and for, their home supporters, on home soil. Soccer fan associations have also voiced frustration, arguing these moves centre profit over loyalty. Many fans view this transition as a harsh betrayal, especially if smaller clubs are forced to sacrifice home-field advantage to satisfy international contracts. 

While this move abroad was a surprise, it is not the first proposition of its kind. In 2008, the Premier League proposed a now-abandoned, extra ‘39th game’ to be played overseas; LaLiga’s earlier attempts to play a match in the United States faced legal challenges and public backlash. The persistence of such proposals reflects a larger transformation within global soccer. As broadcasting deals and sponsorships greatly affect scheduling and location, the sport’s traditional boundaries shift with it. Whether these experiments become rare appearances or the first steps toward a globalized domestic season will depend on fan reactions and how far clubs are willing to go in pursuit of global exposure.

As European football reaches beyond its borders, the tension between global opportunity and displeased local fanbases continues to grow. The UEFA’s weary approval displays both acknowledgment of the game’s international appeal and concern over what could be lost for dedicated local fans and communities. For now, the overseas matches in Perth and beyond remain experiments, rather than the norm. Yet as clubs and leagues continue to chase global audiences, the question of whether the world’s most popular sport will expand its horizons or stay loyal to its long-time traditions and communities still looms. 

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