A Quebec think tank recently proposed the idea that Montreal should make public transportation free. The primary goals of the proposal, released by the Instititut de recherche et d’informations socio-economiques (IRIS), are to alleviate traffic and carbon emissions. However, despite its findings, it’s not immediately obvious that making transit free[Read More…]
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The VP External should support student initiatives, not direct them
On Sept. 15, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau visited McGill to inaugurate a new Facebook Artificial Intelligence lab. However important the initiative, Trudeau’s welcome was lukewarm. A group of students, including Students’ Society of McGill University (SSMU) Vice-President (VP) External Connor Spencer, protested the Prime Minister’s visit. The protesters accused Trudeau[Read More…]
Rape culture exists: McGill Rez Project must do more to change attitudes
Over the past two weeks, McGill’s first year residents have been participating in mandatory Rez Project workshops tackling topics such as gender, sexuality, and sexual violence. I attended one of these workshops, and what I found was an audience that completely disregarded the importance of the session. A number of[Read More…]
How students can better support survivors of sexual violence
Sexual violence is pervasive on McGill’s campus—according to the Annual Report on the Policy on Harassment, Sexual Harassment, and Discrimination Prohibited by Law, reports of sexual harassment increased significantly during the 2016-2017 academic year. Worse, many students feel ill-prepared to support a survivor when they disclose their experience of a violent[Read More…]
Navigating “just hooking up”
To my knowledge, I’ve been on one formal date in my life—and I say “formal date” in the movie-and-dinner, Gilmore Girls sense of the word. It was July in Toronto, and I met him at a midtown pub. I was sweaty, because July in Toronto is sweaty, but he told me[Read More…]
Dealing with tragedy thousands of kilometres away
Tupperware containers in hand, two Mexican McGill students implored hundreds of strangers in Leacock 132 to spare some change to support relief efforts in the wake of the Sept. 19 earthquake in Mexico City. Living away from home is not easy, let alone watching tragedy strike from afar. Challenging routine[Read More…]
Community Engagement Day promotes solidarity between McGill and local organizations
On Sept. 28, the Social Equity and Diversity Education Office (SEDE) held the sixth annual Community Engagement Day (CED). Programming took place at various locations across Montreal—including on McGill’s downtown campus—and approximately 30 organizations participated, including the Montreal LGBTQ+ community centre, Radical Accessibility Audit Project (RAAP) Montreal, and Seeing Voices[Read More…]
‘Victims of Socialism’ presentation stirs up controversy on campus
On Sept 25, George Harbison, chief financial officer of Unitek Learning, gave a talk on the “The Victims of Socialism.” The talk was hosted by the Conservative Association (CA) at McGill University in conjunction with The Victims of Communism Memorial Foundation. Though the event title alluded to a discussion of[Read More…]
Ferrier computer lab shut down, speaker resignation announced at AUS legislative council
On Sept. 27, the Arts Undergraduate Society (AUS) Legislative Council met for the second time this year to discuss a handful of topics, including equity training, new study spaces, and a commuter committee. Speaker of Council Jason Barron resigns At the start of the meeting, President Erik Partridge opened with[Read More…]
Consent McGill highlights the existence of sexual assault and how to react to it
Consent McGill has returned for its fourth consecutive year to provide students with education and support on campus sexual violence. Bianca Tétrault, the sexual violence education advisor at the Office for Sexual Violence Response, Support, and Education (O-SVRSE), continues to lead the campaign with O-SVRSE sexual response advisor Émilie Marcotte[Read More…]
