There’s a famous scene in Forrest Gump when Forrest, who has spent all day in his sleepy Alabama home staring into a void, dons his cap, springs out of his rocking chair, and for no particular reason, starts running. Forrest runs first to the end of the road, then to the[Read More…]
Articles by Pascal Hogue
‘Sisters, Dreams and Variations’ brings a gust of Icelandic artistry
There’s a reason why Neil Armstrong decided to spend part of his summer in 1967 salmon-fishing in Iceland—the place doesn’t feel like it belongs on Earth. Iceland is a territory of pure grit, where volcanoes constantly spew white smoke and purple hues of Alaska lupine pepper the landscape. When I[Read More…]
MMFA’s post-impressionist exhibit leaves mixed impressions
From July 4 to Nov. 15, the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts (MMFA) is showcasing—in person—its most extensive exhibit on the post-impressionists yet, Paris in the Days of Post-Impressionism: Signac and the Indépendants. The exhibit boasts an impressive, sweeping collection of over 500 works from France’s leading post-impressionists, spanning Paris’[Read More…]
Dozens gather at Palais de Justice de Montréal to protest against recent PEQ reform
Approximately 50 people gathered by the steps of the Palais de Justice de Montréal on Sept. 12 to protest the recent reform of the Québec Experience Program (PEQ). The small but vocal crowd cheered speakers on while remaining socially distant. The protest was organized by the activist group Le[Read More…]
Hundreds of protestors demand the defunding of Montreal police
Over 200 people marched through the streets of Montreal on Aug. 29, calling for the defunding of the Service de police de la Ville de Montreal (SPVM) in a protest organized by the Montreal wing of the BIPOC Liberation Collective. The recent police shooting of Jacob Blake, an unarmed Black[Read More…]
Anonymous Instagram pages highlight student experiences with discrimination at McGill
As recent Black Lives Matter (BLM) protests against police brutality have ignited a global reckoning with racism, new McGill-related Instagram pages are platforming anonymous Black, Indigenous, and people of colour (BIPOC) students’ experiences with discrimination at the university. Untold McGill and Black At McGill have highlighted disturbing instances of racism[Read More…]
Socialist Fightback holds discussion on the role of women in revolutions
Socialist Fightback at Concordia and McGill and Socialist Fightback Students held a meeting on March 12 in the Leacock building to commemorate International Women’s Week. Speakers discussed the role of working-class women in sparking mass protests and revolutionary movements in countries around the world. Attendees stressed the ongoing struggles that[Read More…]
Bar des Arts faces persistent administrative roadblocks in re-opening attempts
While construction projects across campus have disrupted the activities and plans of student clubs and associations, the Arts Undergraduate Society’s (AUS) Arts Lounge, home of the Bar des Arts (BdA), has been hit particularly hard. Normally McGill’s busiest student bar, BdA has been forced out of its space in the[Read More…]
Hundreds demonstrate at Prime Minister’s office against the RCMP
Over 300 people packed the entrance of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s Papineau constituency office to protest against the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) who invaded northern British Columbia’s (BC) Wet’suwet’en territory. Gathered in foot-deep snow on Feb. 10, Indigenous youth and allies chanted and held signs demanding that the RCMP[Read More…]
Indigenous communities demonstrate against pipeline expansion in BC
Around 150 activists and citizens of Kanesatake gathered by the steps of Montreal’s Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) offices in Westmount on Feb. 2 to demonstrate against pipeline expansion projects in northern British Columbia’s (BC) Wet’suwet’en Nation. The demonstration started early in the morning in Kanesatake territory as a rolling[Read More…]
Docuseries ‘Chile in Revolt’ presents the human narratives of civil resistance
The banging of pots, pans, and wooden kitchen spoons together might not seem like a particularly defiant or political image. Yet for Chileans, this action—known as cacerolazo—has been emblematic of decades of struggle and civil resistance against oppressive regimes in the country. It is also the thread that brings together[Read More…]
Socialist Fightback groups denounce possibility of international war
Nearly 60 people filled a room in Concordia University’s School of Community and Public Affairs on Jan. 23 to discuss the recent escalation of tensions between the US and Iran. Students and activists advocated for a cessation of violence in the region and debated possible socialist alternatives for both countries[Read More…]
DriveSafe extending services to Kahnawake Mohawk territory
As of the beginning of the Winter 2020 semester, Students’ Society of McGill University’s (SSMU) DriveSafe has extended its services to the Mohawk territory of Kahnawake, south of the island of Montreal. The initiative, set up in collaboration with SSMU Indigenous Affairs and in consultation with Mohawk students at McGill,[Read More…]
McGill students stand in solidarity with Wet’suwet’en Clans
The Students’ Society of McGill University (SSMU) Indigenous Affairs Committee and the Indigenous Student Alliance of McGill hosted a response to the Wet’suwet’en call for solidarity against a pipeline project. On Jan. 9, students gathered at the Y-intersection to support hereditary chiefs and the Unis’tot’en and Gidimt’en camps protesting Coastal[Read More…]
Hillel trip controversy dominates SSMU Council
The Students’ Society of McGill University (SSMU) convened for their last Legislative Council meeting of the Fall 2019 semester on Nov. 28. Councillors debated issues including new climate justice policies and changes to finance regulations, but much of the meeting was focused on Hillel Montreal’s all-expenses-paid trips to Israel, which[Read More…]
Lecture on Alberta energy demystifies fears of western alienation
The 2019 Canadian federal election might have highlighted a political divide between Alberta and the rest of Canada on issues like the environment and energy; however, as visiting Eakin Fellow Melanee Thomas noted in a lecture at the Faculty Club on Nov. 21, Albertans are not that different from other[Read More…]
Hundreds join walkout for fossil fuel divestment
Gathered around the snowy steps of the McGill Community Square on Nov. 12, over 200 students and faculty took part in a walkout calling for the university to divest from fossil fuels. The protest was co-organized by Divest McGill, Greenpeace McGill, and Climate Justice Action McGill (C-JAM). Protestors chanted and[Read More…]
“Save Our Samosas” protest draws crowd of six
Six students gathered to protest McGill’s samosa ban in front of Roddick Gates on Nov. 4. The Facebook group ‘Save Our Samosas’ organized the protest and received over 1,200 likes on their page as of press time, with 600 students expressing interest in attending the event. While most of those[Read More…]
Pulitzer Prize-winning biographer gives lecture on Gorbachev
Pulitzer Prize-winning author and renowned political science professor at Amherst College Bill Taubman gave a lecture on the life of Soviet Union (USSR) leader Mikhail Gorbachev to a packed audience of McGill students and professors on Nov. 1. Drawing from his 2017 biography, Taubman presented the head of state as[Read More…]