Thrifting emerged in the late 19th and early 20th centuries as a response to industrialization and urbanization. Today, many characterize it as one of the easiest counterweights to overconsumption. Long before sustainable fashion became a buzz phrase, secondhand stores and donation networks formed a parallel clothing economy—part necessity, part community[Read More…]
Search Results for author "Defne Feyzioglu"
Nunavik’s disproportionately high suicide rate reveals colonialism’s continued impact on mental health
Content warning: Mentions of suicide Feb. 2 to Feb. 8 marked Quebec’s Suicide Prevention Week. The province entered the awareness week with a statistic that sounds like a clear public health win: The suicide rate has dropped to 11.9 per 100,000 people, making it the lowest observed since 1981. However,[Read More…]
Quebec’s winter crossings are a policy outcome, not a one-time crisis
January, colloquially known as the month of new beginnings. Planners for the calendar year fill the bookshelves, wellness advice on how to ‘improve’ flood TikTok and Instagram For-You-Pages, and even McGill sends out communications encouraging students to return to campus with better habits and a renewed zest for academia and[Read More…]
Without redistributing power, repatriation of artifacts remains incomplete
Reconciliation should not come with an invoice. The Vatican’s decision to return 62 Indigenous artifacts to Canada is being described as a “concrete sign of dialogue, respect and fraternity.” Yet when the Catholic Church maintains control over the timing, framing, and logistics of the return, even forcing Indigenous communities to[Read More…]
The poppy ban gets neutrality wrong
Everything is political—but not everything should be policed. This is the tension that sits at the heart of a recent decision in Nova Scotia, in which the judiciary ruled that court staff must seek the presiding judge’s permission to wear the Remembrance Day poppy, terming it a ‘symbol of support’[Read More…]
Housing is urgent; disclosure should be too
There is no debate that Montreal is experiencing a housing crisis. It is also equally evident that Chinatown’s remaining infrastructural heritage is scarce and essential to the preservation of Chinese culture in Montreal. Those two facts should be mutually exclusive, but right now, municipal lawmakers are threatening to turn Chinatown[Read More…]
New scoping review maps Indigenous harm reduction, barriers, and gaps
Indigenous Peoples across North America and Oceania experience higher rates of drug-related harm than other populations. These harms are shaped both by the historical and ongoing impacts of settler colonialism. While Indigenous Peoples in these regions are often willing to access health services that reduce the risks of drug use,[Read More…]
Safety and speech aren’t either/or
Hate-fuelled harassment deserves a firm legal answer. But Canada’s Bill C-9—also known as the Combating Hate Act—risks the criminalization of non-obstructive protests near community institutions, serving more as a tool to stifle political protest than to combat hate. As currently drafted, Bill C-9 would establish new intimidation and obstruction offences[Read More…]
Senate removes Professor Roberts from CSD and debates Code of Student Conduct
The McGill Senate convened on Sept. 17 for its first meeting of the academic year. Central topics of discussion were the Nominating Committee’s decision to remove Professor William Clare Roberts from the Committee on Student Discipline (CSD) because of a post Roberts made on X, and proposed revisions to the[Read More…]
When democracy is detained, Türkiye’s youth stand alone
Some mornings begin with coffee; others begin with the news that a friend from high school is in jail. As an international student, life abroad feels like a dream—until reality hits and helplessness kicks in. Students, journalists, and lawyers are behind bars—and so is Ekrem Imamoglu, Türkiye’s strongest opposition leader.[Read More…]
