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Editorial, Opinion

Calls for Indigenous justice cannot end with Kimberly R. Murray’s mandate

by The Tribune Editorial Board on

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In December 2024, Kimberly R. Murray, Canada’s Independent Special Interlocutor for Missing Children and Unmarked Graves and Burial Sites associated with Residential Schools, reached the end of her mandate, concluding a term that had started in June 2022. Her work in this role culminated in a Final Report, presented in October 2024 at the seventh National Gathering on Unmarked Burials, in which she outlined several actionable obligations that Canada’s government and other public institutions have to Indigenous Peoples. Despite the far-reaching and positive impact of Murray’s work under the Special Interlocutor role, the Canadian government has made the conscious decision to neither extend her term nor identify a successor.

Beyond the research Murray conducted to inform this report, her mandate with the Office of the Special Interlocutor (OSI) also involved serving as an impartial third-party mediator in court cases relating to residential schools and unmarked graves. Murray’s role in such cases was to fact-check and to intervene if other parties made derogatory comments about Indigenous peoples, offering a platform through which survivors could be properly represented in legal matters without the fear of being shut down or ridiculed.

Alongside her work in the courtroom, Murray fought against misinformed and denialist myths surrounding residential schools. A lack of conversation on Canada’s history of Indigenous harm allows the Canadian government to avoid accountability and maintain the status quo without internal reform efforts. As such, Murray dedicated significant portions of her time in the Interlocutor role to emphasizing the government’s obligation to reflect, take accountability, and offer reparations to the families of missing Indigenous children.

The Canadian government’s highly intentional decision to neither appoint a replacement to the Interlocutor role nor renew Murray’s mandate will have repercussions on the trust-based relationships established between Indigenous Peoples; the legal frameworks that Murray worked hard to establish will be jeopardized. This failure to fill Murray’s role also suggests that the government considers its work on Indigenous justice to have concluded with Murray’s term. This places the reality of residential schools in a temporal framework that is untrue to the deep and persistent impact of colonialism in Canada. Given the ways in which Indigenous Canadians remain systemically affected—in sectors from foster care systems to healthcare—by these histories of oppression, Canada must not allow their investigations into residential schools to end with Murray’s term.

Standing beside the Canadian government’s clear choice to not extend the Interlocutor mandate, their choice not to implement the report’s obligations speaks to a broader truth that Canada has failed to treat Indigenous justice as an active battle. When the National Advisory Committee of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC)—of which Murray served as Executive Director—similarly collected testimonies from Indigenous Canadians and outlined their own recommendations in 2015, the Canadian government remained completely inactive. Funding organizations like TRC and the OSI to collect data and compile actionable suggestions is a convenient front the government can hide behind to claim it is doing its due diligence. Such behaviour begs the question of whether a government founded in past and present colonial oppression will ever meaningfully support long-lasting anticolonial change.

Such failure to take productive and respectful action in reconciling the sustained colonial realities faced by Canada’s Indigenous populations is not limited to the government; other public institutions, like universities, have been similarly passive. Murray’s report outlined universities’ responsibility to fill their curricula with resources to address myths of denialism, an obligation that McGill could begin to tackle through the establishment of a full Indigenous Studies Program. Without this program, the burden of education on Indigenous histories, cultures, and identities has fallen on the student at the cost of widespread awareness. 

Beyond these internal curricular obligations, Murray also made frequent reference to McGill’s New Vic Project and associated legal battle with the Kanien’kehá:ka Kahnistensera (Mohawk Mothers). Without an Interlocutor to ensure meaningful, considerate dialogue, it is increasingly crucial that McGill approach relations with the Mohawk Mothers in a manner dictated by respect and attentiveness. McGill must commit to recognizing the neo-colonial violence that is taking place on the New Vic site in accordance with the demands of the Mohawk Mothers. It is the university’s responsibility to move beyond bandaid solutions towards long-term justice.

Science & Technology

Zooming in on the streets of Montreal

by Samathar Senso on

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Streets play a vital role in our day-to-day life, and their layout can affect everything from physical health to social connections and mental well-being. Well-designed streets that prioritize pedestrian safety and offer accessible, active transport options support encourage a healthier lifestyle. However, these thoughtful design features aren’t always equitably distributed across neighbourhoods. 

A recent paper published in the journal Case Studies on Transport Policy studied the quality of streets across Montreal, considering socioeconomic factors like neighbourhood income and population. The research team, which includes Hisham Negm, a doctoral student at McGill’s School of Urban Planning, examined various neighbourhoods around Montreal to conduct their study.

“The goal of the research was to understand how streets are designed differently in Montreal, and if the socioeconomic characteristics of the neighbourhood impact how streets are designed,” Negm said in an interview with The Tribune. 

To conduct this study, Negm and his team first categorized Montreal neighbourhoods according to two key factors: Population density and income. This allowed them to select and compare streets of similar population density but different income levels to study if income level was a factor affecting the quality of street design. The team focused on microscale street elements—small-scale features relating to the physical condition of the street that can have a disproportionate impact on road users. Microscale street elements that positively impact street users, such as well-maintained sidewalks, greenery, and traffic calming measures, were used to assign a quality score for each street based on how many of these features were present. 

Negm explained that examining streets at the microscale level allows researchers to look beyond common, but simplistic, metrics like the width of a street or its connectivity to other roads.

“[It’s not about] a bird’s-eye view of the street,” Negm said. “[It’s about] looking at the details—the elements that make the street what it is for the people who use it.”

To gather data, the team used MAPS-Mini, an adapted version of Microscale Audit of Pedestrian Streetscapes (MAPS), a street imaging tool that focuses on the microscale features that affect pedestrians and cyclists. They also relied on Google Maps and in-person observations to assess the presence of these features.

The study revealed two key differences between the streets of higher and lower-income neighbourhoods. 

“First, streets in lower-income neighbourhoods tended to be of less quality [according to] the MAPS-Mini tool, and second, street assessments done by Google Street View were less reliable than those done on-site for those streets,” Negm explained.

This means that, in Montreal, income level does appear to impact the quality of street design, with lower-income areas generally having fewer of the features that contribute to a safer and more enjoyable street experience. 

While the study focused on comparing street features, it did not explore how these differences in design affect residents’ well-being. 

“We didn’t study how [these built environment features] impact residents directly, but we know that these features vary across different income levels,” Negm said.

Addressing these disparities doesn’t necessarily require a complete overhaul of street designs. In the short term, targeted improvements to the specific features lacking in lower-income areas—repairing broken sidewalks or adding more green space—could have a significant positive impact with a relatively small budget and short construction times. 

Negm emphasized the importance of directing resources to the areas where they’re needed most. 

“If you can spend a little money to make a huge impact, that’s where the resources should go,” Negm said. “For example, if you have a sidewalk that is broken, fix it, and consider expanding it to improve the overall quality of the street.” As Canada continues to urbanize, with over 80 per cent of Canadians living in cities today, well-designed city streets are more important than ever. Ensuring that neighbourhoods—regardless of income level—have streets that prioritize safety, health, and social interaction is key to improving the quality of urban life for all citizens.

McGill, News

Student activism for weapons divestment persists following ceasefire between Hamas and Israel

by Kaitlyn Schramm on

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On Jan. 19, Israel and Hamas began the first six-week phase of the ceasefire in Gaza including a hostage release deal. The first phase is meant to entail Israeli military withdrawal and the allowance of Palestinian refugees back into Gaza alongside humanitarian aid into the strip. Hamas will also release 33 hostages in the first phase, dispersed across the six-week period, and Israel will release 1,900 Palestinian prisoners. 

This ceasefire deal has brought a tentative end to Israel’s 15-month siege on Gaza which killed at least 45,000 civilians, wounded over 100,000, and destroyed 90 per cent of the housing units in Gaza. Al Jazeera reports that 1,706 Israelis were also killed throughout the period. 

Negotiations for the next phases are slated to begin on the 16th day following the commencement of the second phase. While the second and third phases are anticipated to continue the release of hostages and further Gaza’s rebuild, some worry the ceasefire may not persist beyond the first phase of the deal. 

In light of the ceasefire, student activists at McGill are continuing to demand the university cut ties with companies involved with funding Israel through weapons manufacturing.  

Students for Palestine’s Resistance and Honour (SPHR) at McGill, alongside Engineers for Palestine at McGill, launched an email campaign demanding the removal of weapons companies complicit in the genocide in Palestine from the McGill TechFair, which will be held Jan. 29 and Jan. 30. Companies like MDA Space, Galvion, and Cisco have aided Israel in the engineering of weapons and surveillance technology used in the genocide. 

“We will keep holding McGill accountable for its complicity in the genocide of Palestinians and ongoing complicity in the settler-colonial Zionist project,” a representative from SPHR at McGill wrote to The Tribune. 

On Jan. 22, SPHR at McGill hosted a fundraising poster sale, donating proceeds to La Fondation Canado-Palestinienne du Québec’s Emergency Gaza program.

Independent Jewish Voices (IJV) McGill also reaffirmed its commitment to anti-Zionism following the ceasefire, emphasizing that it still aims to hold McGill accountable for its continued financial involvement with companies complicit with Israel’s genocide of Palestinians. 

“As a group, we want to keep trying to educate people about the ongoing history of this conflict, continue to build progressive Jewish community with anti-imperialist values, and protest the ongoing complicity our universities and governments have in the forced displacement and mass murder of the Palestinian people,” an IJV representative wrote to The Tribune. 

IJV also spoke to the importance of critiquing McGill’s colonial actions. The organization noted that McGill removed a Great White Pine sapling planted by a group of Kanien’keha:ka women last November as an example, demanding McGill commit to anticolonial efforts beyond divestment. 

“Our administration has spent the last 15 months bankrolling an active genocide, and that responsibility does not disappear with a ceasefire, it can only be addressed through divestment,”  IJV wrote. 

In a written statement to The Tribune, McGill’s Media Relations Office (MRO) explained that the university’s Board of Governors Committee on Sustainability and Social Responsibility (CSSR) has committed to assessing its investments in companies manufacturing weapons. The committee has yet to present its findings to the Board. In December, the CSSR did not recommend McGill divest from companies with ties to  Israel’s siege on Gaza on the grounds that such actions did not constitute social injury. In regard to its academic ties with Israeli institutions, the MRO echoed President and Vice-Chancellor Deep Saini’s remarks from February 2023.

“McGill will not unilaterally sever its research and academic ties with Israeli institutions,” the MRO wrote. “Moreover, McGill will not interfere with the academic freedom of individual members of the university community to engage or partner with an institution simply because of where it is located. To do so would be wholly opposed to our institutional principles.”

Students from other universities in Montreal are also demanding change. A representative of SPHR Concordia stated that students will continue to push for divestment regardless of the ceasefire. 

“The demands to cut ties with five weapons companies partnerships (Lockheed Martin, CAE, Pratt & Whitney, Bombardier, Airbus) in addition to completely divesting from blood money remains,” the SPHR Concordia representative wrote to The Tribune. “Concordia’s responsibility is to not fund this occupation and listen to its students who clearly haven’t given up on divestment.” 

Arts & Entertainment, Books

Mothers, daughters, and the spaces in between

by Isobel Bray on

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Hanna Stoltenberg’s debut novel Near Distance is a quiet look at a mother and daughter occupied by different concerns. Karin, the mother, is worried she is losing her youth, and Helene, the daughter, is worried she’s turning out like her mother. They struggle to bridge this emotional gap between them; things go unsaid, old wounds resurface, and tensions flare over a spilled cup of coffee. Yet through all of this, Stoltenberg captures the authenticity of their relationship, showing how they often fall back into a familiar, comfortable rhythm.

Published in Norwegian as Nada in 2019, Stoltenberg’s exploration of complex relationships through understated but descriptive prose has established her as an author to watch. Now, thanks to the efforts of translator Wendy H. Gabrielsen, English-speaking readers can also enjoy the novel.

The story follows Karin, a woman in her fifties working at a jewelry store in her hometown of Oslo. She spends her days socializing with men she meets online and rarely speaks to her daughter Helene. But when Helene discovers her husband is having an affair, she invites Karin on a weekend trip to London. During the trip, we see Helene navigating both her mother’s presence and this new betrayal.

On the surface, nothing much happens in this book, but with a closer look, you can see the intertwining of two lives shaped by love and unspoken tensions. The novel is an intensely character-driven tale about what it means to be a woman and a mother and how these two identities interact. Yet, despite the lack of obvious plot action, from the beginning, Karin and Helene’s relationship feels off; the reader is immediately aware of past hurts without Stoltenberg needing to spell them out. 

At first, Helene inviting Karin to London seems strange given their rocky relationship. Throughout the trip, Stoltenberg reveals how they know each other the way only a mother and daughter could while simultaneously feeling like strangers. She manages to create tension at every moment, even in simple scenes of dress shopping or going out for a drink.

Throughout the novel, the present narrative is balanced with flashbacks of Karin’s life. We witness her efforts to raise Helene and the evolution of their relationship over time. Karin finds a family with Helene and her father Erik but slowly loses it. Stoltenberg’s choice to alternate between timelines adds depth to the otherwise plot-light narrative, revealing enough to immerse readers in the unique mother-daughter bond without over-explanation. The understated nature of the novel allows readers to draw their own conclusions about the characters and their choices.

Karin never knows where she stands with Helene. She is a spectator in her daughter’s life, seeing her grow into a responsible adult from a distance. Since the novel is told entirely from Karin’s perspective, the reader is similarly kept an arm’s length away from Helene, learning about her only through Karin’s observations. 

The brevity of this novel works in its favour. The concise vignettes of Karin’s life are focused and never drag the pace. The minimalist narrative is engaging, even for those who prefer more plot-driven stories. This is also thanks to the tangible, well-written characters who feel authentic and relatable. Some details may seem extraneous at first glance, but when put together, they form a complete characterization of the two characters. Their idiosyncrasies are part of what makes the characters feel so real. They are ordinary people with flaws and strengths, just like the readers who come to know them.

It’s not just Stoltenberg’s keen observations of Karin and Helene that make her writing so striking. Even side characters—passersby, old acquaintances, and fleeting figures—are rendered with the same attention to seemingly mundane detail, making them come alive on the page. Her style and nuanced way of capturing the relationships between people, both within and outside Karin and Helene’s relationship, recalls the practice of observing strangers on the street. You’re reminded that every individual life is as complex and unknowable as your own.
Near Distance was published on Jan. 14 and is now available for purchase.

Features

Beyond the Bottle: Craft Beer and Community in Quebec

by Eliza Lee on

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Exploring passion, community engagement, and sustainability in microbreweries

When I first moved to the Plateau, I started to encounter craft beer in what felt like every store I went to. Microbreweries are very visible in the neighbourhood. You can find their fare all over the place: Beside the register on coffeeshop counters, through the windows of Lejeune & Frères on Duluth, piled high in dépanneurs. I remember the first time that I visited the Intermarché on Mont-Royal; I was surprised to turn the corner of the store’s final, narrow aisle and find a wall of brightly-coloured cans staring back at me.

It can be easy to see craft beer as just another can on the shelf, but I wanted to go a step further and explore the possibilities microbreweries might open up for reorganizing our society. In an increasingly atomized world where large companies dominate over small businesses, how might microbreweries present other ways of relating to workers, communities, and the environment?

Crafting “The Good Stuff”

L’Association des microbrasseries du Québec (AMBQ) is an organization that aims to support the work and represent the shared interests of member microbreweries to the government. Éric Grypinich, a project manager at AMBQ, explained in an interview with //The Tribune// that an important feature that sets microbreweries apart from larger ones is the sense of passion that brewers bring to their product. Grypinich believes that this passion not only enhances the beer itself, but also serves to better connect breweries to their workers and customers.

“The passion is felt in the quality of the beer, in the way that we talk about beer, and how we engage about people,” Grypinich said. “You go to a brewery, you go see the brewers. They’re always proud of their product. They’re always talking about beer, and […] relating to people [….] Because we’re not into mass marketing, so our best marketing is how we get in touch with people.”

For Vice Presidents of McGill Brewing Club Haley Janvrin, U4 Engineering, and Laura Hebert, U5 Engineering, the intention that goes into craft beer is a key takeaway from their time with the club. The group brews small batches of fermented drinks like beer, wine, and kombucha and regularly partners with microbreweries in Montreal for events. Most recently, the club participated in Saveurs de Génie, a competition at l’École de technologie supérieure where students create a recipe and collaborate with a local microbrewery to brew it. The McGill club’s brew—made in partnership with Benelux—will soon be available for purchase in the brewery’s location on Sherbrooke. 

Janvrin and Hebert told //The Tribune// that getting the chance to learn about how to achieve certain flavours through the brewing process is a highlight of working with microbreweries. In this way, the craft-beer-tasting experience stands in contrast to beer consumption at many other student events, where the priority is often drinking large quantities of brew for cheap. 

“I think we’ve come out of it with a much better understanding of not only the work that goes into beer, but how what you do really changes the flavour of it, and how it creates this kind of experience of tasting beer, as opposed to, say, binge drinking,” Hebert said. “I think it’s given me more of an appreciation for the beverage, and also an appreciation for the [microbrewery] community.”

“If the craft beer drinkers saw someone chugging a craft beer, they’d be like, ‘Oh my God, what are you doing?’” Janvrin said later on. “‘You’re wasting the good stuff.’” 

“It’s a lifestyle”

The sense of community Janvrin and Hebert discuss is something that Anne Claude Thivierge, a sales representative and event coordinator at Microbrasseries COOP, emphasized in an interview with //The Tribune//. Microbrasseries Coop is an association that supports cooperatively owned microbreweries in Quebec. The group is a part of Réseau COOP, a larger network that promotes cooperatively-owned businesses (coops) and offers resources to help create them. 

As Thivierge pointed out, microbreweries frequently collaborate to organize events and brew beers together. Many also source local produce for brews or for food at restaurants attached to their breweries. She noted that having a cooperative structure further connects a brewery to the local community in several ways: Sharing decision-making power amongst workers, providing livable wages, and allowing employees to reinvest their earnings in other local businesses. Thivierge stressed that supporting the community is a crucial value for coops.

“It’s not only beer, it’s what beer is made with, and it’s how the profit or the wealth generated can provide salaries, and it also make other local businesses benefit from the dynamism that it brings to a community,” Thivierge said. “It’s not just alcohol.”

For small communities, breweries do not only draw local residents together, but they also bring visitors to the area. Crowds of visitors come to St. Tite each summer for Festival Western, but Thivierge believes that local breweries such as À la Fût can also bolster the community economically throughout the rest of the year. 

“It’s amazing to see that the breweries sort of have replaced the church, where everybody would gather and meet one another,” Thivierge said. “Breweries have this role as well in smaller communities in this gathering of people.”

These appeals to the local community can also affirm their authenticity to consumers. Daphne Demetry, an associate professor in McGill’s Faculty of Management who studies organizational authenticity, explained in an email to //The Tribune// that authenticity hinges on the notion that “an organization’s claims align […] with what they are actually doing.” Demetry also confirmed that appealing to a sense of local identity is a “major” way many businesses earn this attribution from consumers. 

“Terroir and wine is a classic example,” Demetry wrote. “The idea is that a product gains some sort of ‘essence’ from a location.” 

According to Grypinich, it’s this sense of community and love of brewing that motivates people to continue working in the industry, despite the increasingly crowded beer market in Quebec; in 2002, there were just 33 breweries in the province. In 2024, there were 332.

“Unfortunately, there’s no money [in the market] [….] but there’s some friendship. There’s a way of building your life and having satisfaction towards brewing nice product, the community that supports you, your family, your friends,” Grypinich said. “It’s a lifestyle, basically.”

Many microbreweries reflect the same community-oriented values, though not all follow the coop business model. Thivierge went on to explain that one of the mandates of the Réseau Coop is to promote coops as a viable business model, not just as an “alternative” model chosen by few businesses and often overlooked at business schools. 

“[The coop model] goes well with values that [microbreweries] already have,” Thivierge said. “They just don’t know that there is a structure that would allow them to be [consistent] in their business structure.”

At the same time, Thivierge stressed a distinction between microbreweries and what she calls “fake craft breweries.” These businesses owned by large beer companies are designed to appeal to the values that craft beer espouses despite their lack of commitment to community, such as by brewing products outside of Quebec. 

“The small craft breweries always try to educate the consumer, to say, ‘Well, it’s not only about drinking a good IPA. It’s about a beer that also brings wealth to a community that is respectful of sustainable development and that has care for the people that make the product.’”

Sustainable Brewing

Thivierge noted that among the microbreweries Brasseries Coop represents, environmental efforts can differ depending on their unique needs. Les Grands Bois, located in Saint-Casimir, limited the brewery’s transportation emissions by increasing their warehouse space. La Chasse Pint in L’Anse-Saint-Jean uses heat produced by the compressor during the brewing process to warm the brewery during winter, diverting this heat from the building during the summer. 

Breweries also share strategies for common sustainability dilemmas. One example concerns how breweries dispose of cleaning chemicals that may harm the environment if sent directly down the drain.

“One thing that they share a lot is, ‘What do you do to make your water with chemicals easier on the environment in the city water installation?’” Thivierge said. “There are ways to [dispose of] less chemicals, either by using them more than once, or by neutralizing the chemicals before putting it back into the environment.”

For Grypinich, a commitment to sustainability is a key way that microbreweries distinguish themselves from larger breweries. While the latter simply seek to stay within government parameters, Grypinich believes microbreweries take more active steps to minimize their environmental footprint. Among the AMBQ’s sustainability efforts is an initiative which allows microbreweries to use 500-millilitre reusable glass bottles instead of aluminum cans, cutting down emissions. 

“We have internal committees that are really working on the process and helping all the microbreweries to be better,” Grypinich said. “There are many gestures that you could do to lower your emissions, even though you’re smaller [….] It’s about willingness to make a difference.”

This is not to say that microbreweries are idyllic, communal fantasy lands where people can escape the realities of neoliberal life. Microbreweries cannot fix our world’s growing wealth disparity or solve climate change. However, in prioritizing local engagement and sustainability, they normalize alternative ways of doing business that foreground responsibility and prioritize care for workers, the community, and the environment. These values even go hand-in-hand with business models based on collective ownership, which stand in stark contrast to the nested subsidiaries you might find with big beer companies. Considering this, perhaps we can look to microbreweries for ways to move towards broader, more just social and economic arrangements. 

The work of craft breweries, then, is not just visible on the shelves of coffeeshops, grocery stores, and depanneurs—it’s in the streets.

Editorial, Opinion

Healthcare for all? Not if you’re 2SLGBTQIA+ at McGill.

by The Tribune Editorial Board on

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A recent study revealed that discomfort among Quebec youth regarding friendships with 2SLGBTQIA+ individuals has doubled since 2017, highlighting an alarming rise in anti-2SLGBTQIA+ attitudes in the province. A broader, growing shift toward conservatism has fueled this surge in intolerance and serves as a threat to the safety of 2SLGBTQIA+ people. Homophobic microaggressions and casual transphobia are increasingly common, often perpetuated by online “alpha male” content creators and their “anti-woke” rhetoric. The corresponding resurgence of traditionalism, a trend rooted in modern economic instability and nostalgia for the rigid norms of the past, scapegoats 2SLGBTQIA+ individuals and makes meaningful discourse on their rights—in Quebec and abroad—taboo. 

At McGill, the growing momentum of conservatism and anti-2SLGBTQIA+ attitudes has coincided dangerously with the temporary leave of Dr. Hashana Perera, who is reportedly the only doctor at McGill’s Student Wellness Hub (SWH) willing to provide Hormone Replacement Therapy (HRT). HRT is a critical form of care that allows individuals to align their physical selves with their gender identity. Perera has also identified gaps in support for transgender students at the university, making her presence crucial to the well-being of 2SLGBTQIA+ individuals. In her absence, students seeking HRT face referral to the Hygea endocrinology clinic, where wait times can be up to a year long.

The fact that gender-affirming care at McGill relies on a single doctor is particularly egregious, as it creates a precarious system where a single practitioner’s leave disrupts access for the entire student body. Furthermore, even when such staff are available, McGill’s health insurance policy requires 2SLGBTQIA+ students to jump through unnecessary hoops to access care for treatments, even outside of HRT. For example, diagnosed gender dysphoria is a prerequisite for most gender-affirming care, but few doctors are willing to provide this diagnosis. 

The lack of urgency and support, compounded by an overloaded SWH, forces competition for appointments, exacerbating financial strain and hindering students’ ability to engage fully with their communities. Even once students are finally able to access treatments, the costs—including those of repeated HRT or gender-affirming surgery—are not fully covered by insurance.

The fragility of the gender-affirming healthcare system reflects a lack of institutional commitment to equity and inclusion. To truly serve its 2SLGBTQIA+ students, McGill must do more than vocalize its support; it must listen to organizations advocating for gender-affirming care and invest in training more practitioners, expanding healthcare access, and addressing systemic barriers across the board. The university must enforce protections against transphobia, deadnaming, and discrimination to create an environment where all students feel supported.

McGill’s Public Health Masters program also plays a critical role in this process in their duty to prepare future healthcare professionals to work inclusively and effectively with diverse populations. Students in this program should be trained not only to provide sensitive care but also to identify and challenge implicit and explicit biases that uniquely impact the health of marginalized communities. Courses on medical racism, transphobia, homophobia, and implicit bias should be core components of the curriculum, even starting at the undergraduate level. Healthcare students must be taught how to engage with patients in vulnerable moments and to advocate for policies that ensure equitable care. This interdisciplinary approach, which combines technical skills with social and ethical considerations, will better equip future healthcare professionals to address the complex needs of 2SLGBTQIA+ individuals.

Gender-affirming care is not a luxury; it is a right that can save lives, allowing students to feel like themselves and succeed in school and beyond. Until the university prioritizes employing more doctors capable of offering gender-affirming care, offering further guidance for accessing this care, and expanding insurance coverage to these treatments and procedures, the SWH will remain an unreliable and inequitable healthcare provider. This moment calls for collective action to address the barriers faced by 2SLGBTQIA+ communities and to counter rising anti-2SLGBTQIA+ biases through education and advocacy. By fostering a healthcare system and campus culture rooted in inclusion, awareness, and solidarity, McGill can combat rising intolerance and, in turn, pioneer meaningful change for its 2SLGBTQIA+ community, and that which extends beyond McGill’s gates.

McGill, News, Private

McGill implements new room booking procedure in wake of controversial speaker

by Ella Paulin on

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Following a five-week pause on room bookings for speaker events, McGill has released an updated procedure for event bookings on campus. The room booking pause was enacted after a talk featuring Mosan Hassan Yousef was moved online in response to a death threat—which came as part of backlash against the talk due to the speaker’s prior Islamophobic comments on social media. The procedure, which went into effect on Jan. 1, involves a new form for room booking requests and codifies the security measures McGill may implement in response to concerns about safety at an event. 

The guidelines centralize the room-booking process, using a single form to book any McGill-administered space. The new process also requires a room booking request to be submitted 10 days in advance, rather than the previous five-day window. The guidelines do not explicitly state that McGill may modify or cancel an event on the basis of its content or the speaker’s past statements, although they do note that “Requestors are responsible for ensuring that their events’ proceedings, speakers, etc., remain in accordance with applicable laws and university policies.”

Students’ Society of McGill University (SSMU) Vice-President (VP) University Affairs Abe Berglas commented on the policy’s lack of language outlining a path to cancel an event based on the past statements of invited speakers or the content of the event in an interview with The Tribune. 

“I think maybe [the policy] is trying to depoliticize the issue, and that’s why it’s framed in terms of security alone and not reasons why people may be protesting a speech,” Berglas said. “I’m […] waiting to see what McGill does in its actions, like what events it tries to cancel or make more difficult to happen, and then what events it facilitates.”

Additionally, the revised room booking procedure states that, in response to security concerns, McGill reserves the right to require organizers to implement ticketing, limit attendance to McGill community members, or relocate to a different room. Should these adjustments fail to resolve the security concerns, McGill also reserves the right to move an event online. 

Although she has not yet had any experience with McGill implementing security measures through this policy, Arts Undergraduate Society VP Internal Sophie Nguyen has used the new booking form and told The Tribune that it has been an improvement so far. 

“It has been smooth sailing this semester,” Nguyen wrote in an email. “There have been a couple of kinks that needed tinkering but otherwise the system seems to be faster and more efficient.”

Despite this, several members of the McGill University Senate have raised criticisms about McGill’s communications around their pause on room bookings this November. In a written statement to The Tribune, the McGill Media Relations Office (MRO) stated that the decision to pause new room bookings was taken seriously and announced in response to the severity of the security concerns, which included reports of a death threat, surrounding the talk featuring Yousef. 

“In the interests of security and stability, notably for students heading into the examination period, a pause was announced […] for five weeks, more than three of which fell in the examination and winter holiday period,” the MRO wrote. “We saw this as the only viable option in the circumstances.”

SSMU Arts Senator Vivian Wright submitted a question at the Jan. 15 McGill Senate meeting alleging that many students interpreted the phrasing of McGill’s initial email announcing the pause in room bookings as including events like final exam review sessions and end-of-semester parties. The university did not clarify until several days later that it was only intended to apply to speaker events. SSMU Arts Senator Anzhu Wei spoke with The Tribune about this confusion. 

“Amongst the student senators and the Senate caucus, we had heard a lot of complaints from different student departments about how this really had a very big negative impact for a lot of their events,” Wei said. “It sounded like this really was a breakdown of communication where the administration either didn’t fully think through the full impact of their decision, or that they just didn’t communicate it effectively.” 

Martlets, Soccer, Sports

Two McGill Women’s Soccer alumni sign with Montreal Roses FC

by Anoushka Oke on

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Montreal Roses FC, one of the inaugural clubs of the newly established Northern Super League (NSL), announced the signings of McGill Women’s Soccer alumni Mara Bouchard (BA ‘24) and Stephanie Hill (MSc ‘24, BSc ‘23) on Jan. 9. 

Both Bouchard and Hill initially planned to pursue professional soccer following their McGill graduation, either in Europe or elsewhere. However, the announcement of the NSL—as well as the news that one of its teams would be based in Montreal—opened up a new pathway for them.

“[The announcement] hyped me up,” Hill told The Tribune, when asked about her initial reaction to the NSL’s creation. “It gave me hope and made me think about it for real […] would I have gone and played in Europe if not for this league? Probably, but that comes with a lot of secondary and tertiary thought processes. Now that there is a Canadian league, it makes that thought process a little more simple.”

The scouting procedure started while the players were still at McGill, with scouts attending Martlets games since the start of the season. Hill noted that NSL teams have appeared to be very committed to securing university talent, with scouts present at university games both in Canada and internationally.

Bouchard and Hill both expressed their excitement to meet more of their teammates and the Roses staff, especially as both the roster and the staff list continue to evolve. The players’ first few days as Roses included a quick meeting, but at the time of their interview with The Tribune, Bouchard and Hill had otherwise met very few people associated with the team, as their signing was announced a couple of days before the weekend. 

“I’m just excited to see who the Roses are, and to get to become a team and feel like a team,” Hill said.

The Roses currently have a 10-player roster that includes French international Charlotte Bilbault and former SC Freiburg goalkeeper Gabrielle Lambert. NSL teams will kick off their season in April 2025.

As the start of the season approaches, Bouchard shared her hopes for her first professional contract.

“As it’s my first pro contract, I am not putting any expectations on myself, because I don’t know what to expect,” she said. “It’s mostly about bringing this Québecois side of playing at home and bringing these people in [….] creating this strong bond with fans is a main goal for me, in my first season especially.”

Similarly, Hill explained her desire to foster what she described as a “sentiment d’appartenance” (‘sense of belonging’). She aims to bring everything she learned from playing at McGill into her professional career and give it her all this season.

With the establishment of the NSL, Canadian university graduates now have a stronger pathway to professional soccer, reducing the need to move abroad, especially in the early stages of their careers.

“The league in the United States is not really looking at university players here in Canada,” Bouchard said. “[The NSL is] creating this opportunity for people here to have this experience, and then eventually, if you want to, take the step to go [abroad].”

“It was about time to demonstrate just how much talent there is here, and the fact that there is a league has really made that tangible,” Hill added. “The potential of women’s sports, and of us, as soccer players, to reach that higher level, makes it possible.”

There are also several Canadian players in the American National Women’s Soccer League who have returned home to sign for an NSL team—most notably, former Seattle Reign FC player Quinn, who has over 100 caps was part of the gold-winning Canada side during the 2020 Olympics. 

These Canadian players now have the opportunity to represent their home cities and to play in a local setting. Furthermore, soccer fans and players growing up in the country have women’s players to look up to, even beyond the national team.

“When going pro in another country, you are mainly going there for soccer, and not thinking very largely about inspiring people,” Bouchard said. “But with staying here—yes, there is playing, but there is also inspiring the generations under us.”

Album Reviews, Arts & Entertainment, Music

Bad Bunny’s new album fuses Puerto Rican music, culture, and politics

by Beatrice Moen on

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Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Released on Jan. 5th, Bad Bunny’s sixth studio album, DeBÍ TiRAR MáS FOToS (“I Should Have Taken More Photos”), has been celebrated as an “unabashed,” “determined,” “resonant,” and “triumphant” tribute to Puerto Rico. Beyond critical acclaim and chart-topping success—it currently holds the top position on Spotify’s Top Albums Chart—the album is Bad Bunny’s vibrant and impactful testament to loving his home, capturing the spirit of Puerto Rico in every track. 

The album opens with “NUEVAYoL” (the Puerto Rican pronunciation of “New York”), a lively track beginning with a sample of “Un verano en Nueva York,” the 1975 classic by El Gran Combo de Puerto Rico, before layering on an infectious Dembow beat. This fusion of sounds is a defining feature of the album, where traditional Puerto Rican genres like salsa, plena, and jíbaro music are seamlessly interwoven with contemporary reggaeton, Dembow, and hip-hop beats. This artistic ambition and innovation has sparked intergenerational connections, with many TikTok users posting videos of their parents and grandparents reacting to the album, pleasantly surprised that younger artists and audiences are enjoying these sounds. The album also exclusively features Puerto Rican collaborators, including RaiNao, Chuwi, Dei V, Omar Courtz, Los Pleneros de la Cresta, and students from the Escuela Libre de Música Ernesto Ramos Antonini in San Juan, the territory’s capital.

Lyrically, DeBÍ TiRAR MáS FOToS reflects Bad Bunny’s immense pride in Puerto Rico while shedding light on the challenges the region faces. As residents of an unincorporated U.S. territory, Puerto Ricans do not benefit from the same rights as other American citizens. Since “comedian” Tony Hinchcliffe referred to Puerto Rico as a “floating island of garbage” during a Donald Trump rally in October 2024, Bad Bunny’s pride in his island and support for its independence has only strengthened. In “LO QUE LE PASÓ A HAWAii” (“What Happened to Hawaii”), he criticizes the destructive effects of American imperialism on nature, culture, and communities in both Hawaii and Puerto Rico. Despite these challenges, Bad Bunny celebrates his Puerto Rican identity with gratitude and pride, declaring in “LA MuDANZA”: “De aquí nadie me saca, de aquí yo no me muevo” (“No one will take me from here, I’m not moving”). 

The visual elements accompanying DeBÍ TiRAR MáS FOToS further reinforce its cultural, historical, and political depth. The album cover, which may appear simple at first glance, has evoked profound nostalgia among Latin American and diasporic communities, as seen in yet another viral TikTok trend where users showcase pictures of family or community gatherings centred around these white plastic chairs. The album’s Spotify visuals further extend this theme, featuring animated videos of the sapo concho, a toad native to Puerto Rico that is now endangered. These symbols serve as poignant reminders of the need to protect and cherish the elements that make Puerto Rico so special. Additionally, in the lead-up to the album’s release, Bad Bunny debuted a short film starring legendary Puerto Rican filmmaker Jacobo Morales. The narrative follows Morales as an elderly man reflecting on life in his native country, with the central scene taking place in what was once a local cafe, now replaced by an American chain restaurant. There, the man encounters a cashier who speaks only English and sells “cheeseless quesitos” for $30. When he learns that the establishment doesn’t accept cash, a fellow Puerto Rican steps in to pay for him, before proudly declaring: “¡Seguimos aquí!” (“We’re still here!”). This striking short film serves as a powerful commentary on the realities of gentrification in Puerto Rico, whilst simultaneously celebrating the resilience and solidarity of its people.

DeBÍ TiRAR MáS FOToS fuses music, culture, history, and politics to serve as a touching and lively tribute to all that Bad Bunny’s home island embodies. To produce such a proudly Puerto Rican album at the height of his career is perhaps the artist’s most ambitious decision yet. 

Science & Technology

When a DNA test doesn’t go the way you expected…

by Michelle Yankovsky on

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Imagine taking what appears to be a harmless DNA ancestry test, expecting to uncover more information about your heritage, only to be met with the discovery that your assumed parent is not biologically related to you.

Direct-to-consumer DNA tests—such as those provided by 23AndMe and Ancestry—typically provide three pieces of information: The consumer’s ethnic heritage, an estimation of certain phenotypical characteristics, and a computation of the consumer’s biological relationships to other users within the database. With nearly 30 million people having taken these tests worldwide, it is estimated that nearly one million of them receive a “Not Parent Expected” (NPE) result, accounting for three per cent of all users. 

In a recent publication in the journal BMC Psychiatry, Juliette Careau, a research assistant at the Douglas Research Centre and a recent graduate from McGill’s Master of Science in Mental Health program, investigated the mental health experiences of individuals who received NPE results from their DNA ancestry test.

“This sort of news out of the blue can be very shocking and stressful for participants,” Careau said in an interview with The Tribune. “To them, it was like losing half of themselves; it was like losing half of their family tree.”

Careau also emphasized that this experience is heavily under-researched, leaving people who discover this news with a lack of resources and no established strategy to help navigate this distressing period of time.

“Our goal was to learn more about this topic and how it can affect people, with the hopes of potentially producing resources for this population, as […] there is a lack of appropriate resources,” Careau said.

Careau collected data from 52 participants by conducting in-depth interviews, yielding qualitative data for the study. In 51 cases, participants learned that their assumed father was not their biological father, with the other case being a participant who learned that neither assumed parent was biologically related to them.

The results suggested that there were five overlapping themes at play. First, participants typically describe the experience as an extraordinary shock with a negative impact on their mental health. “I’m trying to figure out who the hell I am,” Participant 41 said in their interview with Careau.

Second, participants reported a severe disruption to their self-identity. 

“Other studies I’ve read found similar results in terms of the feelings of grief experienced by self-identity loss,” Careau said.

Next, it was commonly reported that the NPE news often ruptured relations with the mother specifically. This impact was often more damaging in cases where the participant was revealed to have been conceived through an affair. 

“Often in psychological studies, we see that we tend to blame our mother more than our father for different life events [in general],” Careau noted.

The fourth theme was that participants often sought social support through friends, spouses, or online groups through platforms like Facebook. 

“These groups were typically very useful for them, as it was very helpful to share their experiences and [be] validated by others,” Careau explained.

Lastly, a common theme across participants was seeking out mental health professionals. Interestingly, the study’s findings showed that not all participants found this support helpful.

“Some people did consult with mental health professionals [….] The experience with these professionals was a big mix,” Careau said. “[Participants said] they were not appropriately trained for the specificities of their situation.”

Careau stressed the importance of establishing future implications and guidelines for this population, with her research group working towards developing resources for clinicians to use in these specific situations.

While NPE results may appear to be a rare occurrence, they nevertheless affect one million people globally. Moving forward, examining the impacts that this type of news can have on genealogical test-takers through a more quantitative approach may help to establish better resources for those dealing with the aftermath of taking a ‘harmless’ DNA ancestry test.

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