Since 1924, nations have come together to celebrate athletic excellence every fourth winter. This year, the Olympic Winter Games in Milan and Cortina mark a century of such tradition, setting record viewership just one week in. Amid the exciting celebrations of record-breaking athleticism, competing Olympians can hardly escape the political[Read More…]
Commentary
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 immigration reform has left bright minds behind
Monica Colín Silva and her family moved to Quebec City from Mexico four years ago, during which she obtained a Master’s degree at Université Laval. After completing the program and becoming fluent in French, she felt hopeful for her path to permanent residency in Quebec. In late 2024, the federal[Read More…]
In exercising institutional restraint, McGill protects only itself
This past November, McGill’s Advisory Panel on Campus Expression (APCE) delivered a report on the state of academic freedom and expression at the university. The report recommended that McGill exercise “institutional restraint” and refrain from responding publicly to controversial geopolitical issues in order to preserve academic freedom. This policy encourages[Read More…]
Legault’s gone—Bill 21 should be too
Since his 2018 inauguration, Coalition Avenir Quebec (CAQ) leader and Quebec premier François Legault has prioritized secularization and the protection of Quebec’s francophone identity. His resignation in January 2026 has left the province in political uncertainty, particularly regarding Bill 21, which prohibits certain public servants—including police officers, judges, and teachers—from[Read More…]
“Blue Monday” is nothing more than an exercise in consumption
Every year, the third Monday in January is supposed to be the ‘saddest day of the year.’ With the doldrums of winter in full swing, and no holidays in sight, Blue Monday can be a day of deep isolation—at least, that is what we are told. But the Blue Monday[Read More…]
Race-blind justice isn’t justice at all
In July 2025, Frank Paris, a 52-year-old Black man raised in Montreal, was sentenced to three years in prison after pleading guilty to trafficking cannabis and hash. However, with the help of his lawyer, who submitted a report outlining Paris’s experiences with systemic racism, the judge reduced his sentence from[Read More…]
Without race-based data, racial inequities in youth protection persist
In November 2025, the McGill School of Social Work published a study examining racial disparities in child welfare interventions across Canada, finding that Black children were investigated for maltreatment at 2.27 times the rate of white children. When researchers matched cases with similar clinical and socioeconomic profiles, out-of-home placement rates[Read More…]
Black History Month should go beyond mere acknowledgement
Black History Month in Canada is a celebration of Black people and their cultures, the diversity of Black communities, and the contributions and legacies of Black Canadians throughout the country’s history. However, Black History Month is often viewed purely as commemorative, intended to spotlight Black historical figures for the sake[Read More…]
Safety isn’t one-sided when harm reduction saves lives
McGill University researchers from the Department of Epidemiology, Biostatistics, and Occupational Health recently found that overdose prevention and supervised consumption sites in Toronto were not associated with long-term increases in local crime, with rates remaining stable or even declining over a decade. Yet fear about public safety continues to shape[Read More…]