The border guard gruffly asked which presidential candidate I supported after I mentioned that I was crossing the US-Canada border to work in the primaries of the US presidential election. When I told him, his eyebrows shot up. Bernie Sanders? The socialist? I have discussed the primaries with many fellow[Read More…]
Tag: politics
Making room for data science in the humanities
The Centre for Social and Cultural Data Science (CSCDS) held their first Data Science Expo on Jan. 21. Among the many speakers presenting on the new and exciting roles that data science will play in the modern world was Aengus Bridgman, a political science PhD candidate at McGill. Bridgman’s lecture[Read More…]
The haphazard world of scientific research funding
Human systems, from medicine and technology to industrial agriculture, are built upon the tools and findings brought forward by scientific achievement. Yet, to practice science in the 21st century, researchers depend upon another cornerstone of modern civilization: Money. The amount of funds required to conduct scientific research is almost incomprehensible.[Read More…]
Lessons from my hometown
I grew up in a trailer park in Upstate New York. Having moved several times throughout my early childhood, I remember moving into the trailer with my mother and brother as an exciting moment: Even though I had to share my bedroom, it was the largest one that I had[Read More…]
Anti-immigrant sentiments hurt Quebec
Following through on campaign promises made by premier François Legault, the Quebec government proposed long touted changes to the Quebec Experience Program (PEQ) on Nov. 1. The PEQ is a provincial program that offers immigrants to Quebec who are studying at an educational institution fast track to permanent residency following[Read More…]
Legal weed is safe weed
On Oct. 29, Quebec’s National Assembly passed Bill 2, which will raise the legal age for Cannabis consumption to 21 on Jan. 1, 2020. This change comes as a result of a major campaign promise made by the Coalition Avenir Québec (CAQ) ahead of last October’s provincial elections, despite Quebec[Read More…]
Cancel political stan culture
I have mixed feelings about the discourse that inevitably surrounds election seasons. Though I enjoy a good Scheer-centric takedown as much as the next person, I find myself unnerved by the surface level engagement on social media where stan culture intermingles with politics. Stan is shorthand for ‘stalker fan’ and[Read More…]
The myth of conservative persecution on university campuses
Campus groups representing the Conservative Party of Canada (CPC), including McGill’s Conservative Association, were criticized by the Canadian Association of University Professors last week for distributing cards encouraging students to vote Conservative “because you can only hear the same left-wing talking points from your professors so many times.” Scheer defended[Read More…]
Missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls deserve justice, not language debates
On June 3, the National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls (MMIWG) released its final report. The volume, which is over 1000 pages long, concludes that Canada’s treatment of Indigenous people amounts to genocide and requires immediate action. Since the findings were released, much of the surrounding[Read More…]
Bill 21 promotes hatred, not secularism
Organized by a collective called “Coalition Inclusion Quebec,” over 400 people took part in the latest of many recent protests against the highly controversial Bill 21 on May 5. Those present at the demonstration linked arms around Montreal’s courthouse to demonstrate their opposition to the bill. Introduced by the Coalition[Read More…]
