Every year, the Quebec Public Interest Research Group (QPIRG) relies on hundreds of thousands of dollars of your money to promote its extreme politics. But fortunately, you have a choice: you can opt out of paying for QPIRG.
You can refuse to fund a group which considers Canada an apartheid state and celebrates “anti-Canada Day.” [Editor’s Note: a testimonial by a member of a QPIRG working group claims on the QPIRG website that Canada is a “system of apartheid.”] You can refuse to fund a group which has supported calls for Hezbollah—terrorists who deliberately target civilians—to be removed from Canada’s list of terrorist organizations. You can refuse to fund a group which urges McGill students to involve themselves in a “militant student movement in Quebec.” These are just a few examples. But in short, you can refuse to fund causes you object to and beliefs you find repugnant.
Established 23 years ago, QPIRG was supposed to conduct research on issues of public concern and undertake appropriate public action. It has failed in that mandate. Rather than promoting causes that the majority of McGill students can support, QPIRG exploits unawareness of the opt-out system to fund its extreme politics. And QPIRG knows this. That’s why they have consistently opposed your right to opt-out, threatening McGill’s administration with legal action to take it away. That’s why last year, a QPIRG board member damaged Opt-Out Campaign materials.
We do not wish to attack the small number of laudable causes that QPIRG has funded. But unfortunately, only QPIRG decides which groups receive your money— and many, if not most, do not fit that description. Though QPIRG claims to pursue “social justice,” its actions and beliefs make a mockery of that term.
We should also be clear that we do not support opting out of fees that positively contribute to student life on campus. We simply encourage students who disagree with QPIRG—in our opinion, the vast if often silent majority at McGill—to take their money back.
Remember: this semester, you have a choice. It takes only a few seconds on Minerva to opt out of funding causes that you object to. So get your money back today.
