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Editorial, Opinion

Winter 2024 SSMU Executive Endorsements 

by The Tribune Editorial Board on

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The Tribune’s editorial board presents its endorsements of the candidates for the 2024-2025 Students’ Society of McGill University (SSMU) executive team. Editors researched and communicated with each candidate before leading an editorial board discussion on the candidate’s qualifications and vision for their prospective role. Editors with conflicts of interest abstained from discussing, writing, and editing relevant reviews.

The Tribune would like to acknowledge that no candidates have come forward for the President or Vice-President (VP) Finance positions and that there is only competition for two of the seven executive positions. Having a full and strong executive team is vital going into the 2024-2025 academic year, and the lack of applicants is deeply troubling for our student democracy. The Tribune encourages SSMU to continue its outreach to find qualified and passionate candidates and students to engage in the democratic process.

VP Student Life 

Chloé Muñoz

Muñoz, who was VP Environment of New Residence Hall and VP Internal of the Environmental Residence Council from 2022-2023, vows to maintain and strengthen SSMU services if elected. She feels that having permanent, non-student positions in certain, critical services—such as those dealing with mental health—is important to avoid the loss of institutional memory as students come and go. She plans to meet with clubs, independent student groups, and services frequently to hear their concerns and help them run as smoothly and efficiently as possible. She also has a few community-building initiatives planned: Muñoz wants to increase the number of third spaces around campus, as she believes they are crucial for fostering a stronger sense of community and collaboration among students, and intends to hold community mixers to bring people together and increase engagement with SSMU. Finally, she has a strong grasp of campus, city, and provincial politics. If elected, she would advocate against the provincial government’s tuition hikes and for the Policy Against Genocide in Palestine, which was passed during the Fall 2023 SSMU Referendum but has been challenged by both McGill and B’nai Brith.

Avin Ahmadi

If elected, Ahmadi—who has experience as Inter-Residence Council’s Solin Hall representative—plans to centre her work around student feedback to ensure that SSMU is working for all of its constituents. To this end, she would focus on improving the quality of SSMU services—which she thinks many students are dissatisfied with—starting by conducting a survey of students’ experiences to see what is most needed. She plans to work on improving the McGill App to make it better customized to students’ needs, which, in turn, she hopes would help SSMU members gain a better understanding of the Society’s work and increase students’ engagement with SSMU. Additionally, she would work to make Activities Night less daunting for students by creating an interactive map to help attendees navigate the tables. Finally, Ahmadi would carry on the current VP Student Life’s practice of holding frequent office hours to hear student feedback and create new anonymous channels through which students could communicate any concerns with SSMU executives.

Endorsement: Yes to Chloé Muñoz

The Tribune endorses Muñoz for VP Student Life because of her dedication to anti-oppressive work and fostering community, as well as her understanding of the importance of maintaining SSMU services that are key for students’ mental and physical health and well-being in the face of budget cuts and tuition hikes. While her platform is strong, we encourage Muñoz to create more specific plans for tackling the crisis of mental health at McGill beyond supporting services and working to foster community. Despite The Tribune’s endorsement of Muñoz, Ahmadi deserves praise for her platform, specifically for her ideas on how to centre student feedback and increase engagement with SSMU.

VP Sustainability and Operations

Meg Baltes

Baltes is a third-year science student wanting to continue Hassanatou Koulibaly’s work of revitalizing the University Centre in the role of VP Operations and Sustainability. She plans on attracting more students into the space by adding other vendors to the basement space alongside Gerts. Baltes also hopes to enhance SSMU’s sustainability commitments by incorporating McGill’s Sustainable Events Certification into the society’s event planning structure and by improving waste management practices. She is committed to facilitating improved communication with students by reaching out to clubs at the beginning of each term to ensure students know the VP, their role, and the support they offer.

Endorsement: Yes to Meg Baltes

Given the difficulties that come with advocating for sustainability within bureaucratic institutions on campus, her experience working around these challenges as Sustainability Projects Fund ambassador at  McGill will serve her well in the role. Her focus on achieving concrete goals and improving transparency with students are also key to more effective work by SSMU. However, since Baltes is a full-time honours student, fulfilling the responsibilities of an executive position will be a challenge. The Tribune hopes her courseload, as well as her focus on efficiency, do not lead her to neglect parts of the portfolio. 

VP External

Hugo-Victor Solomon

Solomon’s campaign is centred around social justice, transparency, and accountability within SSMU and Montreal, with an intersectional lens informing his approach to these three pillars. In his campaign, Solomon has stressed the need to build structural support for movements across campus, including Palestinian- and Indigenous-led movements, student protests against tuition hikes, and unions. His own experience includes community activism with Black Lives Matter, anti-gun-violence protests, activism for LGBTQ+ rights, and anti-apartheid movement work. For Francophone Affairs, he plans to advocate for the multitude of multiracial francophone students within the specific context of Quebec, which also animates his desire to uphold Quebec’s long history of concrete political activism. He wishes to bridge dialogue between the administration and organizers on campus, while also bridging solidarity with Milton Parc community organizations such as Mobilizing for Milton-Parc and the Quebec Public Interest Research Group at McGill. 

Michal Ekiert

In the role of VP External, first-year law student Ekiert wants to increase government lobbying and legal policy action while continuing to support social movements on campus. From his time sitting on the SSMU committee on legal action against tuition hikes and volunteering at the Legal Information Clinic at McGill, Ekiert has experience working in legal advocacy both in and outside of the student union. Maintaining greater transparency by providing a newsletter to keep students informed on his work is key to his platform, as well as being a more active presence in committee meetings under his portfolio. Ekiert commits to streamlining communication between SSMU and the network of NGOs working on housing and food insecurity in Montreal to support students. He also hopes to foster strong community ties with Milton Parc by engaging and supporting all residents, including the unhoused community.

Endorsement: Yes to Hugo-Victor Solomon

The Tribune endorses Solomon’s campaign for VP External. Solomon’s decolonial approach to campus politics gave him the edge. For example, Solomon has emphasized his focus on community engagement shaped by deep listening and developing a “cognitive and spiritual” understanding of solidarity with the Kanien’kehá:ka Kahnistensera (Mohawk Mothers) and committing to the hunger strikers and academic divestment in response to McGill’s opposition to the Policy against Genocide in Palestine. Ekiert’s overall lack of concrete goals in the role hinders his commitment to supporting student activism and providing greater transparency. Furthermore, Ekiert’s choice to not explicitly stand in support of the Policy against Genocide in Palestine and the Mohawk Mothers in his platform undermines his claim of being committed to anti-oppressive work. With his careful understanding of activism and administration required in the role, Solomon is poised to carry on the work of past VPs and build on transparency, accountability, and human rights endeavours on campus. 

VP University Affairs

Abe Berglas*

Berglas has demonstrated a good grasp of McGill’s various governance structures and procedures, which is critical for anyone hoping to take up the VP University Affairs position. They list improving accessibility, holding McGill accountable for reports of discrimination, and ensuring that McGill committees are transparent about the state of equity and student rights as some of the key tenets of their campaign. In addition, if elected they would aim to strengthen the student caucus to the Senate by making sure all student senators are well informed, understand the structures at play at McGill, and ask hard-hitting questions. They would also push McGill to implement the recommendations from SSMU’s Accessibility and Accommodations on Campus report. Finally, Berglas, who is currently the Recording Secretary of the SSMUnion, would push SSMU to ratify the SSMUnion Collective Agreement if elected. 

*Berglas declined an interview with The Tribune, so we were unable to ask them questions and evaluate all aspects of their campaign.

Endorsement: No to Abe Berglas

Despite Berglas’ clear understanding of the structures through which they would be responsible for advocating for students in the VP University Affairs position, The Tribune does not endorse them due to their lack of specific emphasis on combatting racism, colonialism, and a myriad of other oppressive forces. It is imperative that the VP University Affairs does anti-racist and decolonial work—for example by taking a strong stance on the Mohawk Mother’s ongoing legal battle with McGill and on the Policy Against Genocide in Palestine—and that they make these issues a cornerstone of their campaign. If elected, we encourage Berglas to ensure that all students are being advocated for and supported.

VP Internal

Zeena Zahidah

Zahidah’s campaign focuses primarily on building strong first-year engagement through a new buddy program, as well as more inclusive representation for Francophone students on SSMU committees and an overall commitment to building a more diverse, inclusive community. She cites her varied experiences to support this commitment, including an internship for a 30-day film festival focusing on the themes of life, death, and oppression in the Middle East, and her experience delivering over 10,000 iftar meals to vulnerable sectors in Amman during Ramadan with her family. Zahidah plans to start a SSMU TikTok to increase student engagement with their representatives and believes fostering more collaborative opportunities with students and alumni will strengthen alumni connections. 

Endorsement: Yes to Zeena Zahidah

While a little inexperienced in student affairs and management, Zahidah’s experience organizing a wide variety of different events is encouraging. Her proposals and plans for accomplishing them are highly ambitious and a step in the right direction for campus life. The Tribune appreciates her commitment to diversity and inclusivity of the distinct groups on campus, and therefore endorses her candidacy and different proposals.

Editorial, Opinion

Winter 2024 SSMU Referendum Endorsements 

by The Tribune Editorial Board on

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The Tribune’s Editorial Board presents its endorsements for the Students’ Society of McGill University (SSMU) Winter 2024 referendum questions. Editors researched and discussed the questions before voting on each endorsement. These endorsements reflect a majority vote of the editorial board, with editors who have conflicts of interest abstaining from pertinent questions.

SSMU Membership Fee Increase – Yes

The Tribune endorses a “Yes” vote for the SSMU Base Fee increase. This increase to the non-opt-outable fee would go toward the salaries of unionized SSMU employees and leave space in the existing operating budget to cover other operational costs. SSMU’s Base Fee has not seen an increase since 2019, despite the Society having vastly expanded its operations since then. SSMU offers students services that the university fails to provide, such as a Health and Dental Insurance Plan and an Eating Disorder Clinic. These services are crucial, and the employees responsible for running them deserve fair and equitable compensation. While the fee increase failed last semester—in part due to the lack of a well-run “Yes” campaign by SSMU—it is vital that SSMUnion employees earn higher wages in line with the current cost of living. Despite our endorsement of this increase, we encourage SSMU to be transparent about its finances and use its budget responsibly, especially as the $27.11 increase would be felt by students in a time marked by soaring costs of living.

Queer Equity Support Fee Increase – Yes

Queer Improvement and Partnership Solidarity provides critical support to queer, non-binary, and marginalized students, primarily those in need of financial support for food, rent, and medical emergencies. The Tribune endorses a “Yes” vote for the Queer Equity Support Fee Increase of $1.32, as it will continue to support grassroots research and students alike. This non-opt-outable fee is vital to ensure the safety and well-being of queer students in precarious situations.

SSMU WALKSAFE Fee Increase – Yes

If passed, the non-opt-outable Safety Network Fee would increase from $7.01 to $7.15—money that would go toward SSMU’s WALKSAFE program. WALKSAFE is a program that allows individuals to request a volunteer buddy to walk them from point A to point B at night. This increase would help the program keep up with inflation and ensure that volunteers are still able to receive benefits such as food and gift cards for their labour. Without the increase, WALKSAFE would be forced to scale back its operations. Because of the importance of WALKSAFE as a confidential and easy-to-use safety service and the small nature of the increase, The Tribune endorses a “Yes” vote.

Referral Services Fee Increase – Yes

The Referral Services Fee increase of $1.25 would bring the total opt-outable fee to $7.28 per semester. This increase would go toward funding the Union for Gender Empowerment (UGE), which does vital advocacy work and offers free or pay-what-you-can gender-affirming gear, menstrual products, and more. Without this fee increase, the UGE is projected to be in a deficit. Due to the critical nature of the UGE’s work, especially in the face of regressive policy against trans and non-binary rights nationwide, The Tribune wholeheartedly endorses this fee increase.

Reinstatement of First-Year Fee – No

The Tribune does not endorse the reinstatement of the First-Year Fee. Although the proposed, opt-outable fee is relatively minor, at $0.50, the First Year Council has not sufficiently demonstrated that this money will be going towards important outreach for first-year students. The budget for the 2022-23 academic year included $450 for “Executive Quarter Zips” and a total of $11,000 for student giveaways. While the proposed budget includes a reallocation of funds, our concerns from last semester, when the same fee failed to pass, have not been addressed. The First Year Council should direct more resources towards ensuring first years are well-informed about their mental health resources, know their student rights, and become more involved with campus democracy and advocacy. 

Black Students’ Network Service Fee Increase – Yes

The Tribune endorses a “Yes” vote for the Black Students’ Network (BSN) Service Fee increase. This would increase the opt-outable fee from $1 to $2 per semester for full-time students and would help BSN implement and execute many parts of the Action Plan to Address Anti-Black Racism “to their full and deserved capacity.” BSN’s political campaigns, social events, and outreach efforts work to transform the university and offer Black students at McGill and around Montreal a community. The fee increase will be crucial to sustaining BSN’s important work, especially as the administrative Action Plan only goes through 2025.

Legal Information Clinic Fee Renewal – Yes

The Tribune strongly endorses a “Yes” vote to renew the non-opt-outable Legal Information Clinic fee at $4.50 per semester. The Legal Information Clinic at McGill (LICM) is vital to supporting the McGill and Montreal community with accessible and affordable legal services. The LICM assists over 250 McGill students per year, more than half of whom are undergraduates. The LICM offers free legal information and student advocacy services to all SSMU members. They offer support for students facing accusations of disciplinary offences under McGill’s Policy Against Sexual Violence and the Policy on Harassment and Discrimination, informal dispute resolution and grievance cases, and grade appeals. Without the LICM, many students will have significantly more difficulty finding affordable legal representation in disciplinary and other internal proceedings against the University. As well, the LICM provides vital services to students dealing with the complex landscape of housing and employment law in Quebec. A majority “No” vote would result in the closure of the LICM. As a result, The Tribune  strongly endorses a “Yes” vote to keep this crucial resource alive.

Legal Information Clinic Fee Increase – Yes

The Tribune endorses a “Yes” vote for the non-opt outable Legal Information Clinic Fee Increase from $4.50 to $5.91 per semester as it is necessary for the LICM to continue to provide its services. The LICM suffers from chronic underfunding because it has not seen a student fee increase since 2014. As a result, the LICM has been running a budgetary deficit for the past two fiscal years. If the fee is not increased, the LICM will be forced to reduce or eliminate many of its services, including terminating its Student Advocacy services. 

Club Fee Increase – Yes, with reservations

If this increase passes, the opt-outable Club Fee will go from $4.57 to $5.44. The Club Fee is vital, as evidenced by the fact that it supported over 80 club initiatives over the past school year. While The Tribune recognizes the need for funding club events and supports clubs receiving necessary funds, we are concerned about the lack of transparency regarding how SSMU members’ money is being put to use. Although SSMU has reported that they put “stricter regulations” on funding applications, the reality is that blowing through over $130,000 between September 2023 and February 2024 calls into question SSMU’s fiscal practices. We hope that if the fee increase garners a “Yes” vote, SSMU will, in turn, offer more transparency regarding these financial matters. 

Campus Life Fee Renewal – Yes

The Campus Life Fee finances academic, social, and athletic projects, events, and initiatives happening on or around McGill’s downtown campus. Despite stricter funding regulations, approximately 88 per cent of the 2023-2024 fund had been distributed by Feb. 15, demonstrating a clear demand from student organizations for the fund. As such,  The Tribune endorses the renewal of the opt-outable fee at $2.00 and $1.00 per semester for full-time students and part-time students, respectively.

Campus Life Fee Increase – Yes, with reservations

The proposed increase to the Campus Life Fee would bring costs to $2.83 per semester for full-time students and $1.41 per semester for part-time students. Notably, the Campus Life Fee has remained the same since 2019 despite ballooning demand with the return to in-person events following the easing of pandemic restrictions. As such, The Tribune recognizes that the fee’s current rate does not amass sufficient funds to meet demand. However, limited financial records from the 2022-23 academic year make it difficult to verify the exact number of applications approved. If the fee increase is approved, it is imperative that SSMU improve its financial recordkeeping and increase transparency to repair trust with its constituents.  

Student Academic Support Services Fee Increase – Yes

The Student Academic Support Services fee increase would see the fee rise from $0.93 to $1.50 per semester. This increase would go toward SSMU’s MiniCourses, a program that strives to make education and extracurriculars more accessible by offering workshops on topics such as drawing, American Sign Language, and bird watching. Student Academic Support Services has not seen a fee increase since 2019 and has been running a deficit for the past two years. The Tribune endorses a “Yes” vote, as many students attend MiniCourses and the fee is opt-outable, meaning those who do not wish to support the program can choose not to pay the fee.

Arab Student Network Fee Increase – Yes

Despite the Arab Student Network (ASN) continuing to grow in numbers, the fee has not increased since it was established in 2018. As a result, the ASN cannot keep up with demand or inflation, leading to services such as Arabic classes only being offered at the beginner level and lower print quality of the ASN journals. With an opt-outable fee increase of only $0.50, The Tribune strongly endorses a “Yes” vote for the ASN Fee Increase as it will go towards supporting the ASN’s role as a vital cultural community for McGill students. 

Library Improvement Fund Fee Renewal – Yes, with reservations

While The Tribune supports endeavours to improve the library spaces that students frequent, the failure to consult the library improvement commissioner and lack of clarity on what the fee renewal would go towards results in an endorsement of “Yes, with reservations.” The fee is an opt-outable $8.50 for full-time students and $4.25 for part-time students per semester. If not renewed, 24-hour access during the exam period, and other library support may diminish with the reduced number of student staff. Moving forward, more clarity is necessary on what library improvements will be funded by this fee. 

keep.meSAFE Fee Renewal – Yes

keep.meSAFE provides unlimited round-the-clock mental health services by connecting students to a licensed counsellor via phone or text. It also allows students to book in-person counselling appointments with minimal wait times. Given the Wellness Hub’s chronic understaffing issues and difficulties accessing services through the provincial healthcare system, keep.meSAFE offers a vital resource to students struggling with their mental health. As such, The Tribune strongly supports the renewal of this non-opt-outable fee of $2.75 per semester. 

Creation of Student Rights Fee and Fund – Yes

The Tribune endorses a “Yes” vote on the creation of this $0.25 per semester opt-outable fee, which will pay for SSMU Students Rights staff and fund initiatives that raise awareness of students’ rights, on and off campus.  Proposed in part to separate funding for student rights initiatives from the base SSMU Membership fee, the Students Rights Fee guarantees the availability of funds for these purposes, which, given SSMU’s current operational deficit and history of fiscal irresponsibility, seems to be a prudent step towards ensuring students are well-informed of their rights. However, it is crucial that the events and research funded by the Student Rights Fee go beyond “raising awareness” and work to mobilize students towards collective action against the tuition hikes threatening the accessibility of education in Quebec. 

Nomination of Auditor for 2024 Fiscal Year – Yes

The Tribune strongly endorses the Nomination of BDO Canada LLP as the Auditor for the Society during the 2024 Fiscal Year. Given SSMU’s ongoing financial difficulties, it is a necessity that an auditor be appointed to evaluate SSMU’s finances. As well, the auditor must submit their report to all SSMU members and it will be publicly available on SSMU’s website. This is a vital aspect of SSMU’s financial transparency. 

MustBus Opt-Outable Fee Increase – Yes

MustBus is an independent, student-run co-op bus service that makes travel for students accessible and affordable. Examples of destinations include New York, Toronto, and Quebec City and demand for their services is clear, as tickets often sell out within minutes. The Tribune endorses a  “Yes” vote to increase the opt-outable MustBus fee by $3—from $2 to $5—as it will allow the co-op to run more trips and meet demand. Students who do not wish to support the bus service or can not afford the raise can opt-out of the fee.

Student-initiated question: Student Support Fee – No

Student Support is a for-profit company that offers a bundle of services—Calm, ProWritingAid, udemy, Nimbus Learning, and Aaptiv—to students for an opt-outable $9.70 fee. Despite the utility of these services, The Tribune does not endorse this fee. This position follows the SSMU’s Legislative Council decision to sever ties with Student Support in February 2023.

Features

An investigation into the lack of diversity within McGill professors and staff

by Caroline Sun on

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During my time at McGill, the professors I’ve had have been predominantly white. In my first semester at McGill, I did not have any professors of colour. During a class that semester, I remember having a McGill woman of colour professor give us a guest lecture. The feeling I had after the lecture was indescribable. It felt as if I had been waiting for this event for a very long time. 

The realization that most of my professors are white came to me relatively quickly after the start of my university career. Throughout my two years at McGill, I have felt that other students surely shared similar sentiments: A revelation, a breath of fresh air, confusion about why we didn’t see the issue sooner, and a curiosity to delve deeper.

As a political science and sociology student, diversity within the universities’ faculties was often a topic of class discussions. And, as someone deeply interested in understanding the broad patterns that structure people’s lives and affairs on campus, I wanted to hear from McGill professors about their experience working within the faculty. But first, I did some digging to find data on the racial and ethnic makeup of McGill’s professor population.

Stats about diversity in McGill professors

McGill published a Biennial Report on Employment Equity in 2023. In this report, McGill presents data regarding the number of staff members and faculty categories, such as “Indigenous,” “Racialized Persons/Visible Minorities,” and “Ethnic Minorities/First Language Learned.”

According to the report, 45.2 per cent of professors who answered the survey consider themselves as a “racialized person” or a “visible minority.” 3.2 per cent of respondents self-describe as “Indigenous,” and another 3.2 per cent deem themselves to belong in the “ethnic minorities/first language learned” category.

In an email to //The Tribune//, Tynan Jarett, Director of Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion (EDI) in the Office of the Provost and Vice-Principal (Academic), stated that the report follows the definition for ethnic minorities used in the Act Respecting Equal Access to Employment in Public Bodies in Quebec.

“[The category “ethnic minorities”] is designed to be mutually exclusive from the grouping for racialized persons and for Indigenous persons, so in essence it refers to a white person who speaks a language other than French or English among their first languages learned,” wrote Jarett.

These statistics led me to believe that McGill seems to be making decent progress in promoting diversity within its faculty, despite the dismally low number of Indigenous professors and staff. However, the interviews I conducted with professors offered a more layered and comprehensive perspective on the way that McGill and comparable universities need to work to be truly diverse.

For this piece, I emailed 23 professors of various departments and faculties—including some who are no longer teaching at McGill and one who is on sabbatical—to ask whether they would be available to speak to me about their experience teaching at McGill. I got responses from eight and interviewed five of them.

None of the professors I interviewed stated that they had experienced a conflict at McGill, whether with another professor, member of the administration, staff, or student, where they felt that the dispute was rooted in racism. However, professors explained that they believed there were problems with the status quo, including a lack of transparency concerning administrative decisions, the obvious lack of Black professors in their department, or the additional physical and emotional labour that professors of colour carry. Such results suggest a subtle denial of racism within the university’s administration.

Speaking with Professors

The first professor I interviewed, who wished to remain anonymous, expressed that their biggest concern is the lack of representation for people of colour in the administration, which has control over decisions concerning appointing professors to the departmental chair and dean. 

“I call it an old boys’ club. I think the problem is [that] this is really the right way to say how the universities make their own decisions.”

They also stated that he sat on a departmental EDI Committee, where members gave the department suggestions as to how to create a safer and more inclusive working environment within the university for students, professors, and staff. They explained that, because the budget was next to nothing, the committee did not take concrete actions toward their goal, other than selecting some students of colour for awards.

Later, I spoke with Tomoko Ohyama, a Japanese tenure-track assistant professor in the Department of Biology. She was hired in 2017 and is the only woman of colour professor in the department. When asked how she felt about being the only woman of colour professor in biology, she said, “I didn’t think about [it] because, always, that’s the case.” 

She pointed out the discrepancy between the composition of the student body and that of the faculty members at McGill, noting the lack of reflection in terms of gender, race, and ethnicity. To explain this, she hypothesized that the long-term nature of academic appointments means that the recent trends toward diversification in the student body will naturally change the demographics of students in graduate, doctorate, post-doc, and professor positions slowly and incrementally. 

Such thoughts were echoed by Barry Eidlin, associate professor in the Department of Sociology, who stated that he believed the professor population at McGill was predominantly white.

“[McGill’s professor population]’s very white. I mean, academia is pretty white. And McGill’s pretty white [….] I wouldn’t say that McGill is especially white. I think academia is white, and McGill’s not immune from that.”

As a white faculty member of the sociology department, he mentioned that the department had not had a Black faculty member until very recently—specifically in 2022—after McGill established the Action Plan to Address Anti-Black Racism in 2020. 

Also that year, Professor Charmaine Nelson left the university and stated that the university was “not a safe space for people of colour” after her departure. According to her, 0.5 per cent of the university’s faculty was Black when she was teaching at McGill. 

The university developed the Action Plan to Address Anti-Black Racism after numerous groups, including the Black Students’ Network (BSN) and the McGill African Students’ Society, demanded redress against institutionalized forms of anti-Black racism following the murder of George Floyd.

The university set forth several goals for itself, including the hiring of 85 Black tenure-track or tenured professors by 2032, with an interim goal of reaching 40 professors by 2025. According to the university’s website, it has hired a total of 39 Black professors under the purview of this Action Plan as of now. 

Terri Givens, a Black professor in the Department of Political Science and Associate Dean for Equity in the Faculty of Arts, stated in an interview with //The Tribune// that having professors of different racial, ethnic, and gender identities has an impact on the material that is taught in classes. 

“[F]or students, they get excited when [when I teach the course] or they may think differently about a topic. And it’s not just for students [who are] Black and minority or women. It’s about everybody. All my students are learning something different and new when they walk into my classroom because I’m coming at it from a different perspective than the vast majority of their other professors.”

As former Provost Academic Lead and Advisor (PALA) on the Action Plan, Givens explained that having more professors of colour will ensure diversity in the production of knowledge and curriculum. 

“There’s whole bodies of literature that wouldn’t exist if it weren’t for people of colour and women and others who were actually doing that work. And one of the issues, as we’ve developed not just the strategy to address anti-Black racism but also the Indigenous initiatives, is that we have to make sure that our departments are open to the kinds of research that those people are doing.”

Givens also described the invisible emotional labour that she has performed when, for example, speaking to other professors who might not understand the necessity of expanding the curriculum or transforming the way that courses are taught. 

“What’s not so visible is what we’re talking about in terms of the curriculum, and making sure that all the faculty understand what it means to have a diverse McGill, and there’s always pushback. There’s always people who resist and say that, ‘Oh, why can’t we just have everything as the status quo?’ basically. And so that’s a lot of work and it’s a lot of what I call emotional labour.”

To this point, Eidlin added that professors of colour also perform more labour and committee work than their white colleagues, which impacts retention.

“The problem also lies in a retention question. The faculty of colour gets overburdened with service work. They often will get more students who will come to them for guidance advice, because the McGill student body is pretty diverse. So they sort of seek out these faculty of colour [….] That puts a toll both service-wise and emotionally and [professors of colour] become almost like a shock absorber.”

Speaking with a McGill student

After speaking with many professors, I decided that I also needed to hear a student’s perspective on the same topic. Nkwanzi Banage, a U2 Arts student studying political science and economics, is VP Advocacy of the BSN and works as a member of the Students’ Society of McGill University’s (SSMU) Equity Committee. For her, working to create a better academic environment has been a habit since high school, since a music teacher directing her school’s band wanted to play a song performed by minstrel bands in the United States. After Banage spoke with the teacher, who did not know about the music’s history, the teacher chose another piece for the band to play. 

“[I]t kind of illuminated something in my mind, saying, oh, in academic spaces, you have to advocate for yourself. And you have to sensitize people to these issues. Because sometimes people do things in good faith and just don’t know.”

At the same time as recognizing the effort the university has put in to improve, Banage also mentioned that small incidents such as the one she encountered in high school continue to happen at the university and are reminders of how things still need changing.

“The reality of McGill is that you’re facing these constant battles.”

Next Steps

The goal of this feature was to not only recognize the university’s ongoing need to address persisting inequalities on campus but also to offer a different perspective as to how it could continue its work in representation in faculties. While thinking about the next steps for the university, I spoke with Noelani Arista, an Indigenous associate professor in History and Classical Studies of Hawaiʻi and Director of the Indigenous Studies Program, who said that the category titled “Indigenous” has a tremendous amount of diversity within itself. 

While the Canadian government, which officially recognizes three broad Indigenous categories named “First Nation,” “Inuit,” and “Métis,” this recognition may not foster a space for Indigenous diversity to permeate. Our conversation made me rethink whether the idea of diverse representation is based on a model based on a colonial order. Such an order allows those in power to define what diversity is and what diversity is sufficient.

In addition to rethinking the idea of diversity within universities’ staff and faculty and our Canadian society, I wish to propose some possible steps for McGill to take to promote racial and ethnic inclusion on campus. 

First, as Eidlin and Givens pointed out, professor and student retention levels are a great indicator of how comfortable they are working and studying at McGill. However, to have good levels of retention, the administration must actively work toward improving the experiences of underrepresented groups, increasing the body of faculty of colour, and allowing undergraduate- and graduate-level students to see themselves as fitting within the community. Second, creating more opportunities for professors and students to contribute and provide input in matters of hiring of faculty and positions within the administration, such as chairs and deans. The development of the Action Plan—created after consulting BSN and other groups—was a first step toward this end, but it was flawed in many ways as well. The university must expand its initiative beyond arbitrary timelines, include other systematically disadvantaged groups as well, and think intersectionally. McGill needs a systematic approach to diversifying at all echelons of the university, and the time to build is now.

Editorial, Opinion

A functioning democracy at SSMU depends on student engagement

by The Tribune Editorial Board on

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On Mar. 11, the Students’ Society of McGill University (SSMU) opened voting for their Winter 2024 referendum and 2024 Executive Elections. Three candidates ran unopposed for the vice president (VP) positions of Sustainability and Operations, University Affairs, and Internal, and two outstanding vacancies mark this semester’s ballot: SSMU President and VP Finance. Elections SSMU announced on Mar. 15 that only seven per cent of SSMU members, fewer than half of the votes required to reach the quorum of 15 per cent minimum participation, voted in the first four days—one third of the entire voting period. This lack of engagement is concerning, especially when this referendum will determine whether essential student organizations like the Black Students’ Network, Arab Students’ Network, WALKSAFE, and Queer Equity Support receive necessary fee increases. Moreover, with the Legal Clinic at McGill on the ballot for a fee renewal, the existence of its services is at stake. Overall, McGill students’ apathy toward and lack of trust of SSMU threaten the existence of the already-weakening student union and undermine its vital function of providing student services and platforming students’ voices. To improve its relationship with the student body, SSMU must increase transparency and make significant efforts to productively and visibly engage with SSMU members.

SSMU serves an essential role: It advocates for student causes, facilitates necessary services, and governs student life. As McGill repeatedly fails to properly address student needs, SSMU often steps in to provide important services such as the Menstrual Health Project, Grocery Program, and Health and Dental Plan. SSMU also supports vital initiatives for student rights and against sexual violence. Moreover, executives and student senators are the only student voices on the McGill Senate and the SSMU President sits on the Board of Governors, an appointment-based council with the highest authority over university affairs and McGill’s finances, including the University’s endowment. The Students’ Society also plays a key role in independent activism, tackling food and housing insecurity and racial justice. This year, SSMU employees have accomplished important work with the Concordia Student Union, mobilizing necessary student demonstrations against Quebec’s tuition hikes.

McGill students’ longstanding scepticism toward SSMU continues to grow and the organization restricts its own function by failing to address students’ lack of participation. SSMU’s general assemblies struggle to reach quorum, and only a fraction of students vote in elections. Eighty per cent of voters rejected the SSMU base fee increase while 78.7 per cent of voters supported the Policy Against Genocide in Palestine, indicating that SSMU engagement emerges from students’ dedication to social justice causes and successful campaigning from student activists. 

Students’ hesitancy to participate in our democracy stems from structural issues at SSMU. Budget constraints and vacant positions force SSMU executives and employees to take on extra work, which only increases in situations such as this year’s VP Finance resigning before the Fall semester started. Lawsuits against SSMU redirect its funds from student services to legal fees and compel students to question whether the organization is properly addressing their legal issues. In November, when B’nai Brith backed a McGill student’s attack on the Policy Against Genocide in Palestine in provincial court and delayed its ratification, students protested the lack of transparency and accountability in the SSMU executives’ handling of the legal injunction. SSMU’s opacity remains a clear obstacle. Although executives are bound to confidentiality in many legal and financial proceedings, SSMU consistently fails to keep students informed on what goes on in their executive meetings.

While McGill fights the teaching assistants, and law and education professors in their attempts to organize and negotiate liveable wages and working conditions, SSMU must build structural improvements to better represent and support its members. Encouraging multiple students to run for every position is a necessary step in building a stronger democracy. When SSMU does so and continues organizing and standing for student democracy, even against threats from the McGill administration, it will regain students’ trust. Students also must continue using the levers of SSMU’s democracy and keep raising their concerns through elections, at meetings, and during demonstrations. 

Commentary, Opinion

McGill students need a greater role in their own learning

by Kiran Gill on

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As a graduating student, reading break was an opportunity for me to reflect on my time at McGill. After a few moments of thought, I realized that I could not recall a significant amount of what I had learned in the last four years. This is emblematic not just of my poor memory but of the systemic problem with universities like McGill. Rather than teaching us how to develop our own critical thinking skills, post-secondary institutions venerate the thought of academics. A university education should teach students how to think, instead of what to think. 

In 1968, Paulo Freire published Pedagogy of the Oppressed, which remains one of the most poignant critiques of teaching practices. Freire wrote from his perspective as a mass educator who grew up during the Brazilian Revolution. He observed how pedagogy often failed the individuals whom it purported to uplift. The problem with the pedagogy that most of us are exposed to at McGill is that it does not empower us. Instead, institutionalized education tends to follow what Freire calls the “banking model of education,” in which teachers treat students as vessels that need to be filled with knowledge. This involves little participation from students, who leave industrial-style education with a set of socially acceptable values and a stunted sense of critical thinking. The banking model teaches students how to adjust to the world, rather than to be active participants in it. 

From a pedagogical perspective, my education at McGill has been disappointing. The majority of my instruction has revolved around massive lecture halls, droning professors, and an abysmal level of student participation. I was taught how to appease the university system. I cultivate relationships with teaching assistants and curate skimmable essays that cater to their lack of paid working hours. I write essays that placate professors’ perspectives and regurgitate lecture slides for midterms. While the aforementioned skills represent the cultural and social capital necessary to succeed at McGill, they hold little value outside of the Roddick Gates. If the university’s goal is to advance the learning of its students, it is woefully failing.

Clearly, we should be moving away from the banking model. To improve, educational institutions need to examine their purpose and deficiencies. Our schooling system revolves around teachers providing students with information, which creates a dynamic where students view teachers as the vanguard of knowledge. Instead of reinforcing hierarchies, schools should promote diverse perspectives, most importantly from students, because education focused on students has the potential to address inequities. Racialized students in Canada have long participated in an educational system that does not validate their histories and cultures. This is because our schooling system forces students to conform to the dominant white culture—not to mention the harm residential schools and settler colonialism have done in excluding Indigenous forms of learning from institutionalized teaching. Educators dictating the “correct” interpretation or understanding of information inherently invalidates diverse perspectives. Currently, educational institutions reproduce inequities instead of ameliorating them. A better education for all requires everyone to see and hear themselves in their education. 

Within the specific context of McGill, there is potential for progress toward a better pedagogy. One of the easiest changes to implement would be greater student participation in all courses. Instead of delivering didactic lectures, instructors should structure more classes around seminars that encourage diverse student perspectives. In terms of assessment, testing needs to emphasize critical and creative engagement, as opposed to the ability to follow instructions. Most importantly, we need to abolish hierarchies in the classroom, ensuring that no one individual’s opinion is valued over another. The elimination of hierarchies is difficult, but it begins with teachers recognizing students as intellectual equals. My suggestions may appear drastic, but if our learning is as important as McGill claims it is, change is necessary. 

When knowledge is dispensed like candy, it becomes nearly impossible to create  self-reflective and pro-active people. If education is going to change lives, it must be personalized instead of being commercialized, and the best way to do that is through the empowerment of students in their own learning. 

Commentary, Opinion

The Help, Yellowface, and the case against literary gatekeeping

by Yusur Al-Sharqi on

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In the past decade alone, numerous fan-favourite books have gone from receiving public adoration to being utterly despised. Many critics of the best-selling novel The Help, in which a white woman depicts the lives of Black maids, have accused author Kathryn Stockett of perpetuating stereotypes and exploiting anti-Black racism, prompting the question: Who is allowed to tell what story? Chinese author R.F. Kuang thrusts this issue into the spotlight with her latest novel, Yellowface, where she writes from the perspective of a racist white woman, June. June steals her deceased Chinese friend’s manuscript and publishes it as her own, facing criticism and violent hate from readers who accuse her of appropriation. Ironically, Kuang is also writing from a perspective that is not her own—so what is the difference? Is it fair to say that only white authors cannot tell the stories of characters outside their race?

While readers and publishers have debated what constitutes offensive literature, the stories that rise to the top are those that seem to address racism but are actually perpetuating white saviourism. The controversy surrounding The Help, for instance, stems not from the fact that it depicts Black women as domestic workers in the 1960s or from the writing style or entertainment value of the book. The problem is that many readers come to rely on stories like this—white-washed, watered-down depictions of racism—to engage with the greater systemic problem, all the while failing to confront the very real, very aggressive nature of racism. In other words, the problem isn’t white authors telling the stories of racialized individuals; it’s readers’ reliance on white perspectives for relatability, as guide maps for allyship.

The oppression of the maids in The Help—which mirrors the racism and sexism that Black women have faced for centuries and continue to experience today––portrays white people as saviours of Black women. Perhaps if Kathryn Stockett had questioned whether her work truly eased the suffering of the oppressed community she wrote of, her story would have unfolded quite differently. Instead, it merely exploits the oppression of Black women as a means of glorifying nice white characters. These kinds of stories alleviate white guilt by fostering the illusion that pitying racialized people is a form of allyship. They take the very real and deeply devastating experiences of racism and package them as entertainment—as feel-good stories that only feel good for white audiences. 

To say, however, that white writers, or any writer, should refrain from writing about any characters outside of their own identity is absurd. Would it be better for white authors to write only of white characters and neglect diversity entirely? Surely not. Telling white authors that they cannot write these books does not address the underlying issue of why they feel compelled to do so in often offensive ways or why white readers are drawn to these kinds of stories in the first place. It also brings about another issue, as Yellowface author Kuang has discussed, of “pigeonholing” racialized authors, pressuring them to tell the stories of their own oppression and gatekeeping the exploratory nature of storytelling. Clearly, censorship will not solve this complex issue.  

So what is the solution? As some writers propose, perhaps the answer lies not in banning these books or prohibiting white authors from writing about Black characters but in embracing, exploring, and amplifying books by racialized authors, including and especially those which do not centre around oppression. Instead of relying solely on white narrators, who often keep the topic of racism at a “comfortable” level, to engage with non-white stories, readers ought to work against their white fragility and dive deeper into the subject matter outside of fiction. This does not imply that white writers are incapable of portraying racialized characters authentically, nor does it mean that all stories about racialized communities must revolve around their oppression. It simply means that white narrators who wish to write about racism should not be the only source of anti-racism learning that readers rely on because, too often, their depictions do not come close to the reality of systemic oppression. By supporting and advocating for racialized authors, we can actively challenge the existing power structures within the literary world and pave the way for more genuine storytelling.

Off the Board, Opinion

Lessons from the hunt

by Mason Bramadat on

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It was on my first hunt, six years ago, that a bear charged me. I was pretending to be a moose.

My dad and I were crossing the Secret River, deep in Yukon Territory’s wilderness, in our motorboat. It was the first evening of the hunt, and we wanted to explore the shore opposite our camp. Stepping onto the sandy bank, we saw a fresh set of moose tracks. I followed Dad’s gaze, quietly learning from his 30 years of experience hunting in this habitat. I noticed willow branches with nibbled ends, trees with their bark rubbed off, tufts of wiry fur stuck on twigs, and giant piles of chocolate-covered-almond-looking droppings—all signs that we were in this elusive species’ territory.

Dad motioned for me to give a call, so I cupped my hands to my mouth and emitted a guttural “oo-uua”, mimicking a bull, or male, moose. Silence fell, just for a second—then, the violent cacophony of a large animal crashing toward us through the woods. My mind raced as I loaded my rifle. If it was a bull—identifiable by its antlers—I planned to bring it down with the perfect shot, just like I had rehearsed in the months leading up to the hunt. We’d bring home enough meat to feed our family for over a year.

But out of the woods, barrelling right at us, came a black bear! Thankfully, it stopped fifteen feet away, but my heart jumped to my mouth as I looked for its next move. I breathed a great sigh of relief when it bolted back into the forest. Dad and I grinned at each other. What an epic start to the hunt!

Only one minute later, I was rushing to load a bullet into the chamber again. A bull moose, onshore just ahead of us! I tucked the rifle into the crook of my shoulder and rested my elbow on the side of the boat. Big mistake. I couldn’t get the moose in my sights because the gunwales rocked too much. “Shoot! Shoot Mase, shoot!” urged Dad’s strained voice. But I couldn’t risk a bad shot that might just wound the animal. I wanted my performance to be perfect. I lifted my elbow and held the rifle freehand. By the time I found my crosshairs, the moose had trotted off into the trees, gone. Maybe our only opportunity for success, and I had failed.

I couldn’t fall asleep that night in our tent, tossing and turning in my embarrassment. Dad’s voice ricocheted around my head, urging me to shoot. Eventually, I drifted off to the sound of wolves howling in the distance.


I carried that feeling downriver for the next three days of our trip. Prowling through the golden autumn forest, every falling leaf sounded like hoofsteps. Around each riverbend, clusters of ancient driftwood appeared in the distance, shining like antlers. Trudging through the river’s maze of sloughs, every mountainous pile of fresh droppings brought a new opportunity to redeem myself.

The fourth evening, Dad called a bull to within 10 feet of us. In the three seconds I took to line up a shot, the moose got spooked and ran. A second chance, gone again.

By some miracle, we saw another bull on our way back to camp. It was 300 yards away, quite the distance, and I was trembling. I whispered “no shot”, and Dad dropped it with two perfectly placed rounds. He smiled, we shook hands, and three days of tension melted from my body. When we got to the moose, we nestled our hands into its warm fur and thanked it for its life. Our family is forever indebted to this animal––it helped nourish and build us. 

Looking back, I realize how great a learning experience the hunt had been. It is easy to put a lot of pressure on yourself when the stakes feel high. And when doing important work, being diligent is essential. I now see the private lessons it offered, which for years after I had been too self-absorbed to understand. When I missed my shots, the hunt asked me to accept my own inexperience with humility. It told me to be patient with myself and to focus on growth instead of perfection. Most importantly, it gave me gratitude for the land’s precious gifts, black bears included.

Arts & Entertainment, Film and TV

2D or not 2D (animation)

by Suzanna Graham on

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In a streaming era saturated with live-action, CGI, and 3D animated films, lately, all I’ve wanted to do is curl up under a blanket and watch a 2D animated movie. The other day, while scrolling through Letterboxd lists, I stumbled upon a movie I had never heard of before: Wolfwalkers. I wasn’t surprised that I hadn’t seen it. It’s a movie from an independent Irish animation studio called Cartoon Saloon, and although nominated for an Academy Award in 2021 for Best Animated Feature, it held onto a niche rarely seen in recent animated feature films: Pure, 2D animation. 

Now don’t come after me. I know that the latest recipient of the Oscar for Best Animated Feature, The Boy and the Heron, is also (technically) 2D animation. Animators indeed created the movie using 2D animation tactics—hand-drawn frames and a vector-based style, to name a few. But, like in other Studio Ghibli films, the directors used computer animation to incorporate specific effects in moving the frames from paper to screen. And that’s not a bad thing. That’s not my point.

My point is that I wanted to watch a movie that is beautiful in its simplicity. I want to watch more movies that don’t try to hide the hand-drawn labour of love that is an animator crafting individual frames to make up seconds of a movie that spans over an hour. I watched Wolfwalkers in a trance, enthralled by the gesture lines of the wolves and the colouring outside of the lines. The film is clearly inspired by Celtic artwork and mythology—exuding a timeless feel that makes the story appear modern despite its 17th-century Irish setting. 2D imbues the movie with magic and whimsy and childhood and so many more things that I don’t believe would have come across in the same way if it was created using 3D animation. It made me feel hopeful. 

2D animation has come a long way since its inception. Most people credit Émile Cohl’s Fantasmagorie (1908) as the first animated “film” or cartoon. It’s rough, sure, but the minute of nearly 700 fluid, hand-drawn frames paved the way for celluloid “cel” animation in Snow White and the Seven Dwarves (1937), where artists drew onto transparent cels that could be laid on top of different backgrounds. These techniques helped develop limited animation, where common actions (think a character walking) could be reused. Each technique development aimed to save money, reduce the amount of individual frames an artist had to produce, and ultimately achieve a more fluid look.

With every technological advancement comes an expectation to conform. It’s true, 3D and CGI have made great progress since their beginnings in the 1960s and ’70s. It’s easier than ever to use 3D rigs to create cohesive images of a character, rather than follow an individual 2D animator’s stylistic guide. And yes, 3D models—specifically thanks to Disney and Pixar—have made it possible to create realistic characteristics with a variety of different hair types, increasing onscreen diversity. But in 2D animation, you know that each animator has put in the time and effort to truly master the character that they aim to produce on film. It is their pen on paper—or stylus on screen, whatever they use—that crafts each face, hair follicle, line, and colour. 
I know a lot of people love 3D animation—I do too. But I encourage people to dive into the beauty of 2D animation and experience it with an open mind. 3D animation might be exciting, but 2D has just as much capability to create flashy and interesting visual stories. Not every movie is like Wolfwalkers with its intentionally rough style. Watch Persepolis for a gorgeous black and white comic style. Or La tortue rouge (The Red Turtle) for a dialogue-free film highlighting lush natural landscapes. 2D animation is capable of being a vessel for diverse art styles—if we only give it a chance.

Artistic Swimming, Sports

Making a splash is no big deal for McGill’s Artistic Swimming team

by Julie Ferreyra on

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On Mar. 12, McGill’s artistic swimming team took the stage for their watershow––the final send-off before the Canadian University Artistic Swimming League (CUASL) National Championship in Winnipeg. 

With 13 routines developed by their seven coaches, the McGill artistic swimming squad has been incredibly successful this season. After dominating the 2023-2024 season opener, the squad made waves at the Eastern championship in Quebec City, with five podium finishes, including one double-podium, and four gold medal performances. 

The evening began with Diana Paparelli’s solo performance to Bruno Mars’ “Leave the door open.” Paparelli, like a few of her teammates, has changed her routine and song choice since the Eastern championships in early Feb., having to develop a brand-new artistic and creative performance in time for the national championships this weekend. Anna Dolgova also had to tweak her soundtrack, censoring her Amy Winehouse medley, as her experienced solo opened to the chorus of “Me & Mr Jones.”

“Personally I had a bad experience with my solo at Easterns, and I just felt that I was not feeling confident in the routine I was performing,” Paparelli explained. “For a solo performance you really have to enjoy swimming your routine to be able to execute it nicely.”

Head Coach Lindsay Duncan took the stage during intermission to expand on the recent changes in the CUASL assessment scheme. CUASL adopted the new international artistic swimming system of notation, which places a stronger emphasis on difficulty than before, raising it to the same importance as the other components considered—artistry and technicality. As such, long-term fans of the sport may have noticed the increased “difficulty” of the routines, which often manifest in increased time spent underwater with feet in the air. 

“Last year we were unfamiliar with the system and it was a challenge for our team,” Paparelli expanded. “However this year we doubled our efforts and made sure to create routines based around the new system, and improved very much.”

The evening ended with the presentation of the three teams’ performances, each more spectacular than the last. The first team to perform their routine was the novice team, composed of six swimmers, and coached by Teagan Rodrigues and Tamar Banon. To the beat of a medley of Black Eyed Peas songs, the athletes delivered an energetic and sassy performance that ended with the swimmers wielding the rock and roll “devil’s horns” hand gestures high above the water surface. 

Team two shared a cohesive and creative routine, despite missing a swimmer. The black and gold swimsuits enhanced the beauty of the harmonious performance to a medley from The Great Gatsby movie soundtrack. The waterfall-like sequences granted the routine a mesmerizing quality.

“[The watershow] gave us an opportunity to showcase [our routines] in front of a crowd [….] It’s a different feeling than when it’s just in practice,” explained experienced duet and team swimmer Ana Gordon in an interview with The Tribune. 

The evening ended with the experienced first team’s routine. The team took the stage as if doing a pre-game ritual, sporting baseball-themed bun-covers, sports jersey–esque swimsuits and headpieces in their gelatin-slicked hair. The sports-themed routine was composed to the tune of a medley of different iconic sports soundtracks. From “Eye of the Tiger” to Fox’s NFL theme song and The Sports Network’s Hockey Night in Canada jingle, the soundtrack enmeshed several iconic sporting sounds, including soundbites from McGill’s own home game crowd and commentary. The performance opened with an acrobatic figure with Catherine McGee propelled by her teammates into a forward tuck.

Soon after the watershow, the team flew to Winnipeg for the national championships. The novice team placed first in the preliminary round. The McGill squad dominated the novice category, earning gold in the team, duet and solo categories. In addition to their first-place duet to the tune of a LMFAO medley, Tara Fitzgerald and Paparelli also earned respectively the fourth and second place for their solos. Paparelli’s consistent performances granted the senior the Trophy for Top Overall Novice Athlete. McGill’s experienced squad also stood out, with team one earning silver, and Kayla Drew’s solo earning bronze. The squad’s performances all contributed to help McGill claim the 2024 Canadian University Artistic Swimming League National Championship title.

Arts & Entertainment, Comedy

Bankruptcy is no laughing matter

by Jordana Curnoe on

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Laughs aren’t enough to save Just for Laughs Comedy Festival from financial troubles. On Mar. 5, the parent company Groupe Juste pour rire inc. released a statement announcing the cancellation of the 2024 Just for Laughs /Juste pour rire (JFL) Comedy Festival in Montreal and Toronto. The company is now seeking creditor protection from bankruptcy. Additionally, the company laid off 75 employees, which comprised about 70 per cent of the company. JFL explained that the combined factors of revenue loss during COVID-19, financial strain from inflation, and the changing media landscape all contributed to their decision to cancel this year’s festival.

JFL gave many Canadian comedians, as well as American counterparts such as Kevin Hart and Jimmy Fallon, their big break by bringing together eager start-up comedians, attentive booking agents, and talent scouts. Canadian comedian and writer Brent Butt explained in an interview with The Canadian Press that the festival provided an opportunity for comedians to get the “right eyeballs” on them. Performing at JFL could quickly provide them with international recognition. As opposed to posting their content online for a less-invested social media fan base, working with the festival events’ live audiences helps comedians improve preparedness in their sets and gives them the chance to improvise. It also exposes performers to an audience that wouldn’t be willing to make the trip to the comedian’s hometown for a smaller event. 

JFL’s sudden closure came with little warning, and many comedians had already wasted months preparing for this non-existent opportunity. Historically, Montreal’s comedy scene as a whole has benefitted from the festival; each summer, the city’s smaller comedy events and local clubs typically welcome an influx of spectators. This year, however, the city’s comedy venues are expecting to see a sharp drop in revenue. JFL is an important part of Montreal’s extensive lineup of summer festivals and its accompanying avid tourism industry. While visitors can purchase tickets for indoor venues, the festival also hosts free outdoor entertainment acts in both English and French. By doing so, JFL makes comedy accessible and exposes the comedian to an even larger crowd.

In general, the Canadian government does not do enough to protect comedians. Federal funding bodies like the Canada Council for the Arts (CCA) do not offer comedy- or improv-specific grants. Instead, comedians are expected to find a way to include their work in a broader art form, such as theatre or literature. Canadian comedians like Howie Mandel end up feeling like they need to move to the U.S. in order to achieve success. Unfortunately, it’s difficult for Canadian comedians to obtain work visas since Canadian media industries were both protected under the North American Free Trade Agreement cultural exemption clause and renewed under the Canada-United States-Mexico Agreement. The clause aims to promote Canadian content and protect it from being taken over by American corporations, but actually makes it harder for our comedians to succeed in other parts of the world. The cancellation of one of the world’s most important comedy festivals, centred around two major Canadian cities, will further weaken the already narrow opportunity for Canadian comedians to succeed. 

It’s crucial for Canada’s comedy sector that JFL returns, even if it operates on a smaller scale. JFL is responsible for starting comedic careers and celebrating prominent comedians. It is Canada’s largest player in the comedy industry, and its removal will damage Montreal’s decorated entertainment industry. While the future of JFL is unsure, not all hope is lost; the statement made by Groupe Juste pour rire inc. ended on an eager note, emphasizing the prospect of reopening the festival in 2025 after financial restructuring. If you are looking for a replacement in the meantime, the Quebecois reality prank show Just for Laughs Gags will continue to run on CBC.

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