Stakes too high to legalize student association opt-outs Quebec university students Laurent Proulx and Miguael Bergeron are challenging provincial legislation that mandates that every student in Quebec must be part of a student association, arguing that the current law infringes on students’ right to association. If Proulx and Bergeron are[Read More…]
Editorial
Forging a better future for frosh
Over the past several weeks, revelations of chants involving rape and sex with minors at St. Mary’s University in Nova Scotia, and the University of British Columbia, have shone another critical light on university ‘frosh’ events—often understood as an opportunity for students to indulge in a multi-day bacchanal before classes begin.
PQ overstepping its bounds with ban on religious symbols
Last Wednesday, Sept. 4, the Parti Québécois (PQ) marked its one-year anniversary of minority governance. Over the past year the government has had various troubles, including, most prominently for this editorial board, the party’s complete duplicity on university tuition, first freezing tuition increases and then enacting harsh budget cuts. However, it seems as if the PQ has found itself a distraction from the year’s political missteps.
To improve campus climate, dialogue and transparency key for Fortier
This month marks the beginning of a new era at McGill. After a 10-year term under Heather Munroe-Blum—punctuated at times by conflict with portions of the university community—Suzanne Fortier, most recently of the National Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC), will take over as Principal and Vice-Chancellor of the university.
The important things are the ones we do together
In February, McGill announced that it will be joining the edX Consortium, an initiative founded by Harvard University and Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) which has been a pioneer of massive open online courses (MOOCs). Amidst the varied responses to this news, a notable issue that this brings to the[Read More…]
No easy answer in dealing with budget cuts
Last week, Principal Heather Munroe-Blum unveiled the first round of McGill’s efforts to cut $46 million worth of expenditures in reaction to the recent budget cuts imposed by the government of Quebec. In an email to the McGill community, she highlighted that salaries and benefits make up more than 75[Read More…]
Communication problems underlie the Leacock space debate
For context, please read “Proposed Leacock reconfiguration incites controversy.” The Mar. 18 Town Hall regarding a proposed reallocation of space in the Leacock building played out in a scene that’s become increasingly familiar—both students and faculty turned up to voice their opposition to a proposal from the administration. The[Read More…]
This election matters, and every vote counts
This week, as you are bombarded by emails and Facebook invitations to vote in the SSMU executive elections, you may come up with a number of excuses for why you can’t, or don’t want to vote. Some of these might be legitimate, but if you say that it takes too long, that you just don’t care, or that SSMU doesn’t matter, you are sadly misinformed.
Fortier’s appointment a reflection of McGill’s values
Last week, the Board of Governors’ (BoG) announcement that Dr. Suzanne Fortier has been selected as the next Principal and Vice-Chancellor of McGill was accompanied by a flurry of press releases, interviews, and profiles introducing her to the McGill community. There were a few points about her that stood out[Read More…]
The story behind the story
How do you measure a year? Maybe you do it in days, or maybe, like every other student at McGill, in the number of all-nighters left before the first day of summer vacation begins. The Tribune does it in words; 832,000 of them. Each week, the 20 editors of the[Read More…]
