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Recipes, Student Life

Love-themed recipes to celebrate Valentine’s Day

by Auxane Bussac on

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With Valentine’s Day right around the corner, we are about to be constantly surrounded by love. This holiday is about celebrating romance and what is more romantic than sharing a nice home-made dinner? So, The Tribune has gathered a selection of recipes to create a complete love-themed meal. 

For amateurs of artsy drinks: Raspberry Crush 

Want to replace the usual wine glass or the basic soda with something more? This tasty pink cocktail—or mocktail—is your answer!

Ingredients (for one drink): 

  • 10 raspberries 
  • 15 mL of lemon juice
  • 1 tsp of sugar
  • 1 shot of vodka (optional)
  • 4 ice cubes
  • Soda water 

Steps: 

  1. In a glass, add the raspberries, lemon juice, and sugar.
  2. Mash until it becomes a purée.
  3. Add a shot of vodka (optional).
  4. Add the ice cubes.
  5. Cover the glass and shake it until the ingredients blend.
  6. Pour the blended mixture into your prettiest cocktail glass through a strainer.
  7. Transfer the ice cubes and fill up the glass with soda water.

For the ardent romantics: Heart-Shaped Pizza

Offer your heart to your valentine with this delicious heart-shaped pizza. This classic is quick and easy to prepare, but definitely not overrated.

Ingredients: 

Steps:

  1. Preheat the oven to 450° F (230° C). 
  2. Grab a ball of pizza dough and put it on baking paper.
  3. Flatten the dough first into a circle. If the dough doesn’t hold its shape, let it sit for a few minutes and then try again.
  4. Once the dough is flat, pinch and pull the bottom of the circle to form a point which will be the tip of the heart.
  5. Take a finger to the top middle of the circle and push down toward the center of the pizza. You can use a knife to facilitate this step. Then shape the pizza until it looks like the kind of heart you like best.
  6. Add the tomato sauce, cheese, and other toppings you chose. 
  7. Start checking at eight minutes. Let it sit in the oven until the crust is as crispy as desired.

For sugar lovers: Red Velvet Brownies 

What better way to end this Valentine’s Day meal than with a succulent red velvet brownie? Its soft texture and sweet taste will make you fall in love all over again.  

Ingredients:

  • 1 ¼ cup of all-purpose flour 
  • 3 tbsp of cocoa powder 
  • 1 tbsp of cornstarch or cornflour
  • ¼ tsp of salt
  • ¾ cup of unsalted butter, melted and cooled slightly
  • 1 ¼ cup of granulated sugar
  • 2 large eggs (room temperature)
  • 1 tsp of vanilla extract 
  • 1 tbsp of red food colouring gel or liquid (choose the amount depending on the colour you want to obtain)
  • 1 tsp of white vinegar 
  • 1 cup of white chocolate chips

Steps:

  1. Preheat the oven to 350° F (180° C) and line a pan (preferably 8×8 inch/20×20 cm) with parchment paper so that there is an overhang around the edges. Or lightly grease the pan.
  2. In a bowl, mix together the flour, cocoa, cornstarch, and salt. Set it aside.
  3. In a separate bowl, whisk together the melted butter and the sugar until you no longer see the butter sitting on top of the sugar.
  4. Add the eggs, the red food colouring, vanilla extract, and vinegar until it is smooth and you no longer see pieces of egg.
  5. Gently stir the flour mixture into the wet ingredients by hand. Stop mixing when you no longer see lumps of dry ingredients.
  6. Stir in the chocolate chips.
  7. Pour the batter into the prepared pan and bake for 28-32 minutes or until an inserted knife or toothpick comes out (almost) clean.
  8. Cool the brownies in the pan until the pan is no longer warm to the touch.
  9. Finally, lift the brownies out of the pan using the overhang of the parchment paper. You can slice them in any shape you want, but hearts are cute and efficient.

These recipes were adapted from Alessandra’s Raspberry Crush, Kitchen Treaty’s Heart-shaped pizza, and Just So Tasty’s Red Velvet Brownies.

Science & Technology

What’s the matter with antimatter?

by Ella Paulin on

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Since the mid-1970s, the Standard Model of particle physics has, as the name suggests, served as the standard theory for what fundamental particles exist in the universe, and how they interact with each other. While a mountain of experimental evidence from the last 50 years supports the model, there are a couple of major phenomena that it doesn’t account for. 

Among them, one of the biggest unexplained issues is called the “matter-antimatter asymmetry problem,” or put simply, why we live in a world dominated by matter. 

Chloé Malbrunot, an adjunct professor in McGill’s physics department and a research scientist at TRIUMF, recently co-authored a paper published in Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society A, which outlines several of the newest experimental methods to push the boundaries of precision measurement and dig deeper into this puzzle. 

Before looking at the experimental methods they discuss, it’ll help to define two key terms, “antimatter” and “CPT symmetry.” 

To understand what antimatter is, we first need to look at what components make up “normal” matter. Inside each atom of matter, there are electrons, neutrons, and protons. Electrons are considered “fundamental particles,” meaning that they can’t be split up into any smaller parts. Neutrons and protons, on the other hand, are composites made up of fundamental particles called quarks. 

In the Standard Model, each fundamental particle has a corresponding antiparticle, which is essentially the same particle but with the opposite charge. For example, electrons, which have a negative charge, have corresponding antiparticles called positrons, which are positively charged. The same goes for quarks and the other types of fundamental particles. 

Here’s the catch: When antimatter and matter come into contact, they annihilate each other instantly, destroying themselves and producing a burst of energy.

As Malbrunot explained, the Standard Model predicts that during the Big Bang, roughly equal amounts of antimatter and matter should have been created. Under the Standard Model, matter and antimatter should have annihilated themselves, leaving a universe full of radiation, with no matter or antimatter. Instead, some of the matter survived, leaving the universe as we know it today, with none of the “primordial” antimatter—antimatter atoms remaining from the Big Bag—left. 

“For me, this is almost the most intriguing question,” Malbrunot said in an interview with The Tribune. “I mean, there are a lot of big questions, like ‘what is dark energy?’ and ‘what is dark matter?’ but matter-antimatter asymmetry—if things had been going the way the Standard Model says, we would just not be here. We would just be a world of photons.”

Next, let’s take a look at CPT (charge, parity, and time) symmetry. The Standard Model says that if charge, parity, and time are all reversed, then the laws of physics should continue to function just the same as we predict they will now. Originally, physicists believed that P (parity) symmetry was true on its own. 

“It’s a bit more complex than this, but pretty much if you look at the physics through a mirror, you would expect the same result,” Malbrunot explained. “And that was believed to be true for a very long time, until it was discovered that it’s actually not true at all and it’s maximally violated in weak decays.”

Subsequently, physicists added C, meaning that if both charge and parity were reversed, symmetry would hold. This principle is called “CP symmetry.” As it turns out, this principle doesn’t hold in all cases, and accordingly, the Standard Model incorporates a small amount of CP violation.

Finally, T was added, forming the CPT symmetry principle found in frameworks like Quantum Field Theory. 

“If you add time-reversal symmetry, so basically, if you rewind the time, then Quantum Field Theory is very, very strong in saying that CPT in the Standard Model should be conserved,” Malbrunot said. “And to date, there’s been no measurements that contradict this.”

Understanding CP and CPT symmetry is key to the matter-antimatter asymmetry puzzle because if there are violations of CP and CPT symmetry, it essentially means that matter and antimatter obey slightly different laws of physics. These differences could help to explain the discrepancy between matter and antimatter, or, in the case of CPT symmetry, point the way toward entirely new models of particle physics.

In fact, as CP violation is observed, this is one of the most promising explanations for the matter-antimatter puzzle. However, the CP violation observed so far is miniscule compared to the apparent discrepancy between matter and antimatter.

“The level of CP violation that we measure in the Standard Model is just not enough to account for this by nine orders of magnitude,” Malbrunot explained. “So, we are looking for more CP violations. Maybe there are processes that we did not take into account that are violating CP and that could explain how the universe developed into a matter-dominated world.”

 A promising place to find some CP violation would be in observing something called an “electric dipole moment” (EDM) of a fundamental particle like an electron. In simple terms, an EDM is the separation between a positive and negative electrical charge in an atom. While an occurrence of this in an elementary particle would violate CP symmetry, and thus be surprising under the Standard Model, there are several new physics scenarios that allow it. Given this, the observation of an EDM of a fundamental particle would provide evidence for new sources of CP violation, as predicted by some theories of physics that go beyond the Standard Model. 

Experimentally, physicists have been searching for these EDMs using long-lived radioactive atoms like thorium and fhafnium. In the paper, the authors outline an emerging field using large, short-lived radioactive atoms instead. This is more difficult because the atoms have to be specially produced in radioactive ion beam facilities, such as the Isotope Separator and Accelerator facility at TRIUMF, but it offers several advantages. One of these advantages is that larger atoms are potentially useable, since the larger radioactive atoms tend to have shorter half-lives. These larger atoms produce more energy when undergoing an EDM, making it easier to measure. 

Another new approach is to “freeze” the atoms into a solid matrix before attempting to measure an EDM. While the above experiments used atoms in a gas state, the denser solid would allow observation of more atoms at once, meaning it would be possible to get more sensitive measurements. 

All of these experimental methods are targeted at proving the existence of more CP violation than the Standard Model incorporates, but the paper also outlines the latest approaches attempting to test CPT symmetry. 

To test CPT symmetry, one method is to measure the fundamental properties of matter particles, and compare them with their corresponding antiparticles. As the CPT theorem implies that matter and antimatter should behave exactly the same, any discrepancy observed between their fundamental properties would be evidence against the theory, and indicates that we need a new theoretical framework.

An ideal candidate for this is hydrogen, as antihydrogen is the only anti-atom that physicists can produce so far, and even this is very difficult. Hydrogen is also ideal because researchers have measured its properties using spectral imaging with extreme precision. 

“This is one of the most precisely known transitions in nature,” Malbrunot explained. “So if we could measure antihydrogen with the same precision, then we would have an extremely precise test of CPT.”

With that in mind, most experiments in this field are aimed at achieving the highest possible precision, which involves creating atoms that are extremely cold and slow, allowing us to measure them with higher accuracy. 

Once we have produced antihydrogen atoms that are cold enough—for example, using laser cooling—scientists hope to build on the precision by developing something called a fountain. 

“Basically, you launch your particles, and so through gravity, they will slow down until at one point, they even stop and then come back down,” Malbrunot explained. 

This combines the precision gained from using cold and slow atoms with the fact that they travel through the interaction region multiple times, as they rise and fall. 

While fountains have been made for other atomic substances, hydrogen and antihydrogen are very difficult to cool to the necessary temperatures. However, recent research on cooling these atoms has proved promising, leading to the possibility of using these techniques in the future. If this was achieved, it would allow for spectral measurements of extremely high precision in antihydrogen. 

Using the best techniques currently available, all of the measurements that researchers have observed in antihydrogen match those of hydrogen. However, new experiments are being developed to get even higher precision, with the hope that somewhere deep in the decimal places, there is actually a miniscule difference between them.

“That’s currently the fate all the precision Standard Model tests,” Malbrunot said. “Basically, [our measurements] agree with the Standard Model, and so the only thing you can do is go to higher precision and hope that somewhere, something will crack and you will find where our new physics is.”

Science & Technology

Demystifying the mysterious fast radio bursts

by Eliza Wang on

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On Feb. 7, 2024, the Trottier Space Institute hosted a public lecture on the mystery of Fast Radio Bursts (FRBs), fleeting blasts of cosmic energy that can outshine an entire galaxy, but only for a few milliseconds. They invited Duncan Lorimer, professor of Physics and Astronomy and Associate Dean for External Research Development at the Eberly College of Arts and Sciences at West Virginia University. He, along with his colleagues Maura McLaughlin and Matthew Bailes, first discovered FRBs in 2007. Thanks to this discovery, Lorimer’s team received the Shaw Prize in Astronomy in 2023.

In the field of astronomy, researchers observe the universe with a multitude of telescopes that detect light activity well beyond the visible spectrum perceptible by the human eye. Lorimer, for example, uses radio telescopes to detect and transform radio waves, a type of radiation that has the longest wavelength on the spectrum, into signals available for analysis. 

Lorimer’s research on FRBs, which has been his focus for over 17 years, is part of a trend toward transient astronomy—the study of astronomical phenomena that exhibit a limited duration. 

“[This is] when we talk about […] the universe changing on time scales of seconds or minutes, whereas traditionally we think about the universe just being ephemeral, remaining unchanged,” Lorimer said in the lecture. 

According to Lorimer, he initially set off his work looking for pulsars, the spinning relics of large, fatally compressed stars after a supernova implosion. Along with many other radio astronomers, he was surveying for radio pulsars—a rapid pulsating signal picked up only by radio telescopes. 

Subsequently, something strange happened: In an archival search of pulsar surveys, the researchers found an unexpected burst of energy from a 1.4-GHz survey of the Magellanic Clouds, recorded on Aug. 24, 2001, by the 64-metre diameter Parkes Radio Telescope, one of the largest single-dish radio telescopes in the southern hemisphere. The burst was unlike any consistent frequency they had collected. What’s more, after an additional 90 hours of observation, no further bursts occurred. 

“We took account of the fact that the telescope was only seeing a small part of the sky, then extrapolated and said that hundreds of these events would be going off every day,” Lorimer said. “So, what we were basically saying was that there is a new class of [energy] sources that are out there in the cosmos, of which we’ve only found one.” 

Based on the calculations Lorimer and his team performed, it is unlikely that this energy burst originated from inside the Milky Way. 

“We came up to a staggering conclusion that this source was about three billion light years away, and we didn’t see a galaxy when we looked at that position in the sky,” Lorimer explained.

Fast forward to the year 2016, researchers finally found the first repeating source, a significant breakthrough moment since the initial discovery. 

“Up until that point, we’d never seen one go off more than once. This source was suddenly starting to have these outbursts where we can see multiple pulses,” Lorimer said. “It wasn’t something like a gigantic explosion; it was something that was building up over time and then releasing energy before starting again.”

With time, the research team was able to obtain a direct distance measurement of these FRBs. The calculated distance was approximately 2.3 billion light years away, providing strong confirmation that the sources of FRBs are indeed situated beyond the Milky Way.

FRBs show amazing promise as probes of the large-scale structure of the universe and provide a new window into the population of compact objects located at vast distances. 

“Through FRBs, we can start to carry out radio observations, sampling the electron content along gigantic lines of sight across the universe in a way that simply wasn’t possible in the past,” Lorimer concluded.

Science & Technology

Melting permafrost in arctic ponds: An unfolding factor for climate change

by Yejin Lee on

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Climate change is a concept that we perceive as both intimately close and somewhat distant. We notice its effect through warmer winters and the sweltering heat of summer, but we easily get lost when trying to find tangible actions we can take to slow it down. 

Peter Douglas, an assistant professor in McGill’s Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences, and his team recently published a research paper on greenhouse gas emissions from tundra ponds in northern Canada, aiming to understand one of the most important environmental processes for predicting future climate shifts. 

The study focuses on small ponds in the arctic that are formed by the thawing of permafrost—a permanently frozen layer under Earth’s surface. These ponds are known for emitting greenhouse gases like carbon dioxide (CO2) and methane (CH4), but the specific sources of these gases remain poorly understood. 

The researchers investigated how erosion caused by thawing permafrost, especially at the edges of these ponds, influences greenhouse gas emissions. This cycle of thawing, erosion, and emission may form a positive feedback loop for climate warming, although this has yet to be studied thoroughly. 

One of the Quebec research centres for Northern Studies’ (Centre d’études nordiques, CEN) field stations located in Nunavut served as the main source of data for the study. The ice-rich conditions in Nunavut, coupled with ongoing climate change, demonstrates the increased thermokarst activity—the process of ground ice melting and leading to the collapse of solid land. This is consequently followed by a transfer of organic matter such as CO2 and CH4. 

While permafrost is technically defined to be soil that remains frozen year-round, climate change is causing it to thaw. The arctic is warming about four times faster than the rest of the Earth, thus any feedback loop in the arctic is accelerated, making it easier to measure and evaluate.

“As the glacier covering the soil melts, the land sinks, thus the change in the natural aquatic environment is inevitable,” Douglas explained in an interview with The Tribune. 

The research findings suggest that when the shores of these ponds erode, it introduces more organic matter into the water by feeding microorganisms that produce greenhouse gases. This process also destabilizes the shoreline and contributes to the murkiness of the water. These changes create conditions that increase the emissions of greenhouse gases from these ponds. In the study, ponds with over 40 per cent of soil eroded along their shores showed emission rates four times higher than those with stable shores. 

Furthermore, some of the carbon stocks contributing to greenhouse gas emissions are older and come from terrestrial sources. This suggests that as permafrost continues to thaw, older carbon stocks may become increasingly significant contributors to greenhouse gas emissions.

“The continued erosion eases the carbon dioxide that had stayed locked under the ice to get released,” said Douglas. 

Using his expertise in isotope geochemistry, Douglas analyzed the isotopic data of production and distribution of CO2 and CH4 from the studied ponds. “Unfortunately the results had a high degree of uncertainties, but the investigation may benefit from validation with larger datasets or additional tracers,” Douglas said. 

In Canada, over 40 per cent of land is occupied by permafrost, making this research critical to understand how Canadian land will affect global climate change. According to Douglas, the next step is further investigation on other tundra ponds from different regions to deduce whether a linkage to previous research can be found. 

Although only a handful of tundra ponds have been studied thus far, the researchers plan on upscaling the research using mapping technology and satellite data to ultimately draw “the global picture” while integrating both micro- and macro-scale investigation. 

McGill, News

Divest McGill celebrates BoG’s divestment from CU200 after over a decade of activism

by Fabienne de Cartier on

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On Feb. 8, students, faculty, and alumni joined Divest McGill in the Arts Building to celebrate the McGill Board of Governors’ (BoG) decision to divest from all direct holdings in Carbon Underground 200 (CU 200) fossil fuel companies by 2025. Divest McGill deliberately held the celebration in the Arts Building, where the organization had held an 11-day occupation just two years earlier, to call attention to the years of student activism that led to the BoG’s decision.

Lola Milder, U3 Arts, and member of Divest McGill, addressed the attendees in a speech. She highlighted that the decision came after a presentation the organization made to the BoG last fall, where Board members agreed to vote on divestment in December 2023. Following the vote, the BoG decided to adopt eight socially responsible investing (SRI) measures, including divestment from direct holdings in the CU200. 

At the celebration, attendees enjoyed food provided by Midnight Kitchen while sharing stories about their involvement in Divest McGill over the years. David Summerhays, a former Divest McGill member, spoke about his experience campaigning for divestment when he founded the organization in 2012 in an interview with The Tribune.

“I don’t know if I can communicate to you how small we felt when we started. Nobody knew who we were,” Summerhays said. “[When] we knocked on a door, we never knew what they were going to say. [But] the answer kept being, ‘we support you.’”

Harlan Hutt, U2 Arts and President of the Association of McGill University Support Employees (AMUSE), spoke about his experience protesting with Divest McGill against the Royal Bank of Canada (RBC) in 2021 and how it impacted him as a union leader. 

“The protest at RBC […] served as my introduction to student activism at McGill. I was able to connect with so many activists through this one protest, including people I still talk to, and who help inform my decisions as a union leader,” Hutt said. 

Frédérique Mazerolle, a McGill media relations officer, provided The Tribune with a statement by email, stressing that the administration is open to discourse with student groups.

“Through the years, the University has had discussions with members of student clubs such as ESG McGill and the student-run club Divest McGill to discuss our strategy,” Mazerolle wrote. 

Nonetheless, she maintained that the decision to divest was driven by the BoG.

“The decision by McGill’s Board of Directors to divest from carbon-intensive investment […] is a culmination of a carefully considered strategy implemented over the past few years, driven by McGill’s commitment to sustainability and aligning our investments with our values and community concerns,” Mazerolle wrote.

After more than a decade of organizing, many Divest McGill speakers questioned why McGill did not promise to divest before Dec. 2023. Summerhays said that the BoG’s decision reflects years of “snowballing” student activism. 

Milder thinks that although student activism played a role in the decision, the changing political climate was also influential. 

“I believe that if it was profitable for them socially and economically, [McGill] would still be invested. And so I think student organizing is part of what has changed that socio-political context and made [investments in fossil fuels] less feasible,” Milder said. 

Milder also outlined some of Divest McGill’s concerns with the BoG’s SRI initiatives, noting that McGill has yet to commit to divestment from indirect holdings in fossil fuels. Further, she expressed some ambivalence towards the BoG’s commitment to allocate 10 per cent of the McGill Investment Pool (MIP) to investments aligned with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, which include broad objectives such as “end[ing] poverty in all its forms everywhere.” 

“It is strategically vague, and students and faculty and other community members need to stay on McGill’s back to find out what those sustainable development investment goals are,” Milder said. 

Others, including Tamara Ghandour, U2 Science, stated that it is not enough to only divest from fossil fuels and called on McGill to divest from Israeli companies complicit in the war in Gaza. 

“So many issues are intersectional. Palestine is also an environmental issue. Environmental issues are also about violence and militarization and racism,” Ghandour told The Tribune. “There’s still so much divestment to be had.”

Milder echoed Ghandour’s sentiment about standing in solidarity with other student activist groups. 

“As we get to feel a little bit of relief at the beginning of victory, we can also give support to our allies [….] This is a moment for expansion for climate justice organizing at McGill.”

McGill, News, SSMU

SSMU execs discuss deficit spending, bureaucratic inefficiency, and tuition hikes at GA

by Theodore Yohalem Shouse on

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The Students’ Society of McGill University (SSMU) held its biannual General Assembly (GA) in the University Centre Ballroom on Monday, Feb. 5. Around 25 people attended, meaning the meeting failed to meet a quorum of 350. This rendered the meeting merely a consultative forum; votes on motions were thus non-binding. 

SSMU vice presidents (VPs) highlighted their work from the past semester, including the creation of a Senate ad-hoc committee on preferred names, support for progressive activism, the popularity of Gerts Café, and activities night, which, according to VP Student Life Nadia Dakdouki, attracted about 2,200 participants. Deficit spending and bureaucratic inefficiency are key issues facing SSMU. According to VP Finance Amina Kudrati-Plummer, its budget deficit for 2023-24 is over $726,000, nearly $500,000 less than the anticipated deficit.

President Alexandre Ashkir explained that he was trying to tackle bureaucratic inefficiency through his work this semester. Many committees have overlapping functions with similar or identical lines in their mandates. One such line is to “confront historical inequities at the university.” This line appears in the mandate of the Equity Committee, the Gender and Sexuality Advocacy Committee, and the Black Affairs Committee. According to Ashkir, this redundancy means that social justice efforts are spread out instead of being concentrated and effective. Ashkir believes that, as a result, “not much gets done” in confronting historical inequities. Along with reforming SSMU governance and committees, Ashkir wants to increase transparency and accountability to boost democratic participation in SSMU.

“The Accountability Committee has not been functional for the past many years. This, of course, causes a lack of accountability,” Ashkir said.

Tuition hikes were the first item on the docket after the reports from SSMU officers. Several students expressed frustration at SSMU for a lack of transparency and support for the strikes protesting tuition hikes. VP External Liam Gaither defended SSMU, arguing that it has encouraged student associations to strike. 

“It is true that there hasn’t been a lot of transparency around it. But our initial tactic was to just speak directly with association executives who have […] the power to call those general assemblies [….] A couple of days of strik[ing] is not much more than like a symbolic measure, it’s kind of a drop in the bucket. But the idea is to build towards a broader mobilization of (a) more students and (b) for a longer time,” Gaither said.

SSMU’s Legislative Council recently passed a motion to make a special committee to explore the possibility of legal action against the tuition hikes.

The Tribune spoke to attendees after the meeting about the tuition hikes and student strikes. Alejandro Gonzalez, U1 Arts, expressed sympathy for SSMU. 

“SSMU’s doing all it can. I think it’s mostly up to the students now to rise up,” Gonzalez said. 

After the discussion on tuition hikes, SSMU Athletics Councillor Melanie Renaud, U3 Arts, raised the issue of the moratorium on ancillary fees, which is preventing McGill’s athletics and recreation facilities from accessing funding. In 2019, the Legislative Council passed a motion submitted by Divest McGill to freeze ancillary fees until the McGill administration divested from fossil fuel companies, which it has promised to do by 2025. This moratorium is up for renewal in May. Renaud argued that the moratorium blocked fees necessary for McGill Athletics and Recreation to serve students. SSMU views the moratorium as a means of pressuring the administration to divest.

Moment of the meeting: VP Sustainability and Operations Hassanatou Koulibaly presented minicourses offered by SSMU, including birdwatching, twerking, tarot card reading, and podcasting.

Soundbite: “COVID led to significant, significant surpluses [….] We used that additional COVID surplus to add new staff [and] new long-term operations, and we didn’t have the money to back that up [….] so we’re now in a significant deficit.” — VP Finance, Amina Kudrati-Plummer

Montreal, News

The Tribune Explains: Montreal’s drafted nightlife policy

by Esther Forbes on

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In late January, the city of Montreal released a draft of a policy detailing plans designed to revitalize and strengthen Montreal’s nightlife. The policy was submitted to the Commission sur le développement économique et urbain et l’habitation—a committee that deals with urban planning, housing, and economic development in the city—for public consultations beginning on Feb. 13. The city’s Service du développement économique and Service de la culture began working on the policy in 2020 alongside community partners.

What are the policy’s objectives?

The draft policy has several objectives, including preserving residential peace through undisclosed sound diffusion practices and the promotion of cohabitation between businesses and their adjacent neighbourhoods. The policy is also designed to maintain a vibrant nightlife culture by improving workplace conditions. Finally, the policy will offer new business opportunities through the development of welcoming new districts that symbiotically support and benefit from previously established nightlife businesses.

The policy document also states that it is designed to cater to communities and demographics outside of nightlife regulars. For example, section 1.8 of the policy states that it will provide greater mobility for night-time workers through increased hours of public transportation, which many workers use to commute. The city believes that this will raise the appeal of these jobs by making them more accessible. This new policy would include a higher concentration of public services and public spaces open during odd hours intended to provide Montrealers with safe, populated places to be at all hours.

Public participation in drafting the policy


The policy prioritizes addressing the difficult balance between innovation and domestic stability. It includes open-ended questions directed at readers surrounding issues that need to be considered and addressed before the policy can be launched.

In an email to The Tribune, City of Montreal spokesperson Sara-Eve Tremblay emphasized the importance of public participation in the upcoming stages of development and the need to balance the contrasting needs of the Montreal population. Tremblay explained that the city will hold a public consultation about the project on Feb. 13 to allow the public to weigh in on the proposed policy. 

“It will then be possible for everyone to ask questions and make comments during the question period. It will also be possible to give one’s opinion on the Policy on the Réalisons Montréal website, through the suggestion box or by filling out the survey, or simply by submitting a written opinion by e-mail, by mail or in person at the Service du greffe. Finally, all individuals or groups will be able to present their opinion to the commission during the public hearings.” Tremblay wrote.

Following the public consultation period, which will include a meeting and several revisions to the policy, the revised Policy will be presented to elected city representatives on May 13. Tremblay confirmed that the presented policy will then be adjusted as needed and adopted by elected officials before being set in motion.

Shortcomings of the policy

Will Straw, Professor of Urban Media Studies at McGill, wrote in an email to The Tribune that he believed some of Montreal’s biggest difficulties with the policy will be in promoting nightlife culture in the city.

“The biggest obstacle is changing attitudes, entrenched within city government and people’s minds, which say that nightlife is a series of problems to be controlled instead of opportunities to be seized. This involves convincing people that a certain amount of late-night noise and activity comes with living in active parts of the city […] noise complaints have been the greatest obstacle to nightlife in Montreal over the last decade. Fines and shutdowns have led to the closing of many nightlife venues,” Straw explained.

Straw noted that while he approved of the drafted policy at this stage of its development, he was less in favour of the focus on bar culture and, by extent, the sectors where there are more bars.

“I wish the question of nightlife was tied more directly to the problems of unhoused peoples, of people who work in hospitals and factories at night and other ‘night people.’ Still, I think the new proposals are a start and, after decades in which Montreal has bragged about its nightlife but done very little to support it, the night is finally getting some recognition,” Straw wrote.

Features

Ethically sharing Indigenous stories: More than principles, it’s our journalistic responsibility

by Jasjot Grewal on

More in Features:

For the past year and a half, I have reported on the ongoing dispute between the Kanien’kehá:ka Kahnistensera (Mohawk Mothers) and McGill, regarding the university’s New Vic Project site, where concerns have been raised about potential unmarked graves. Beyond simply covering their tireless efforts, I’ve been granted the surreal opportunity to delve into a case embroiled in an information and public relations campaign by McGill. As a non-Indigenous person reporting on Indigenous stories, I grapple with the responsibility that accompanies this role and how mainstream media continues to fall short. 

The Case: From Legal Action to Public Relations  

This case has received extensive coverage from various news outlets throughout the litigation surrounding the New Vic Project site—whether it’s from Indigenous sources such as //Aboriginal Peoples Television Network// and //The Eastern Door//, student journalists, or Canadian mainstream media. 

 As the case has progressed, McGill faces increasing demands to justify its actions, which appeared inconsistent with its commitment to reconciliation and its use of student tuition to fund litigation. Representatives in the McGill Senate brought forward questions from students, compelling the university to provide answers. In response to criticism surrounding this case, McGill engaged in a public relations campaign. This included roundtable discussions with student media outlets and McGill Provost and Executive Vice-President (Academic), Christopher Manfredi, sending 11 emails since July 2023 to all students and faculty to communicate updates. On Dec. 20, 2023, Manfredi emailed students informing them of McGill’s decision to appeal Justice Gregory Moore’s Nov. 20 decision to reinstate the court-appointed archaeological panel and to clarify “salient facts.” 

In recent communications, McGill administrators have redirected the conversations from the case itself to the narrative surrounding it. Manfredi even expressed concern over the misrepresentation of the New Vic Project.“For the past nearly two years, the [Project] has been frequently mischaracterized in the media and in various information campaigns. Much of what has been written and said about the [New Vic Project] is incomplete or misleading. The moment is opportune to clarify critical details,” Manfredi wrote. 

However, Indigenous students, such as Leah Louttit-Bunker, U3 Arts, believe McGill has “been falsely implying that there are no unmarked graves” on the site at all through these emails. Additionally, according to Louttit-Bunker, McGill has failed to provide the Mohawk Mothers with the same level of transparent communication.

“McGill has easily communicated email updates to all members frequently, but has been failing to communicate transparently with the Mohawk Mothers,” Louttit-Bunker wrote to //The Tribune//. “It is disrespectful to Indigenous sovereignty and counteracts the land acknowledgements the institution gives. I think that the lack of communication and cooperation with the Mohawk Mothers shows a big ethical concern surrounding reporting on Indigenous issues.”

The Mohawk Mothers: The Burden of Misrepresentation

As the public relations campaign progresses, reporting on the case has varied greatly among different media outlets, imposing a significant burden on the Mohawk Mothers to ensure that their views and experiences are accurately represented.

Furthermore, the Mohawk Mothers have felt the weight of misinformation and mischaracterization. In an interview with //The Tribune//, Mohawk Mother Kwetiio expressed that she feels that a burden is placed on her when speaking to reporters about the case, as every word she says has to be well thought out before it is said. Sometimes, her words will be entirely omitted, as news outlets are unable to “fact-check” the Indigenous protocols and references that she makes. 

“In the media, in all actuality, it is up to us to choose wisely what we’re going to say, so that it cannot get manipulated,” she said.

Larger media outlets tend to report on the case based on information provided in press briefings after the hearings. On the other hand, reporters from smaller outlets have closely followed the story, attended every case management hearing, and developed personal connections with the Mohawk Mothers. 

Reilley Bishop-Stall, assistant professor of Canadian Art and Visual Culture at McGill, shared in a written statement to //The Tribune// that she feels that the coverage she has seen on the Mothers has been restricted, without significance given to the extent of history at stake. 

“Reporting on this situation has, in my mind, been limited and, particularly in Montreal, should be getting more attention than it is,” Bishop-Stall wrote. “There is so much more information available and such a rich history of the site that more of the public needs to be made aware of.”

When providing case updates, big media outlets have failed to regard the information that the Mothers and assisted researchers have compiled and made openly available online that shares the incomprehensible abuse that took place at the former Allan Memorial Institute. The Institute was a research and psychiatric centre that allegedly performed psychological experimentation on unconsenting patients between 1943 and 1964. Karonhia’nó:ron, BA ’23, told //The Tribune// that it is very clear to him which outlets actively follow and engage in the story. 

“It’s really interesting seeing the ways that different publications have reported on the Kahnistensera’s court case and the archaeological work happening at the New Vic. It didn’t take me long to recognize which journalists were consistently showing up to the site or the courtroom to document what’s going [on],” Karonhia’nó:ron wrote.

Canadian Mainstream Media 

Along with failing to wholly and extensively report on the Mohawk Mothers, major Canadian media outlets have also shown their shortcomings when it comes to reporting on Indigenous stories. Their lack of consultation with diverse Indigenous voices has stained coverage, resulting in overgeneralizing portrayals of Indigenous peoples as one homogenous group, rather than individuals. 

“I noticed that the media in general, I would say the bigger media outlets, don’t like to, first of all, make Indigenous people seem personable. It seems like they would rather just be a group of like the last four natives left on Earth,” Kwetiio explained. “I noticed that we’re never looked at like we are people. There’s no intimacy whatsoever on it, and the matter is very intimate.” 

Indigenous reporting is riddled with a lack of proper investigative and empathetic journalism. As Kwetiio says, Indigenous people are “portrayed as something of the past.” Furthermore, the tendency of major outlets to only publish Indigenous stories that focus on Indigenous pain and suffering, without any care given to Indigenous life and joy, actually causes further harm to Indigenous people. Karonhia’nó:ron shared that he has been taking a break from consuming media concerning Indigenous issues as it began to weigh down on him. 

“I won’t lie, I’ve been taking a break from my media consumption for the past couple of months—especially as it concerns Indigenous issues. Of course, I follow the stories concerning the Kahnistensera and my community—but in general, I’ve been scared to seek out any kind of news,” Karonhia’nó:ron wrote. “I’m scared I’ll see reporting on the Winnipeg landfill or ground searches at residential schools. Being exposed to those kinds of stories regularly really affected my mental health in the past.”

Moreover, highlighting the theme of reconciliation in every story is counterproductive. This approach reinforces settler-colonial objectives that allow institutions to falsely project validation, suggesting that they are fulfilling their anti-oppression mission, while their actions contradict that discourse.

Indigenous Papers and Student Reporting

These continuous failures from larger media outlets have illustrated the dire need for alternative media sources. //The Eastern Door//, a newspaper based out of Kahnawake, focuses on Indigenous people and their stories beyond community grief by providing a platform for Indigenous tradition and family stories. In 2022, they started an initiative dubbed //Sharing Our Stories// to allow Kanien’kehá:ka (Mohawk) elders to recount their anecdotes, aiming to preserve Kanien’kehá:ka histories and culture. The stories—published in both Mohawk and English—are used as a teaching tool for Mohawk heritage and language. 

In May 2023, //Sharing Our Stories// began operating as a non-profit entity, separate from //The Eastern Door//. Steve Bonspiel, an editor and publisher for //The Eastern Door//, explained the process behind finding stories in an interview with //The Tribune//. He emphasized how after sitting down with an Elder, listening to them share their story, and writing up the piece, it’s critical to ensure that the Elder is comfortable with the written story. 

“They have to see it and agree with what’s on the paper and sign off on it. Sometimes they’re not as comfortable, sometimes they want to hold off on certain stories, and then, of course, you have to get images to go with it, old photos and whatever else. So, altogether, it’s a big process,” Bonspiel explained. 

Additionally, smaller papers such as //The Eastern Door// often have much more personal connections to the tight-knit communities that they report on. As Bonspiel shared, journalists report on the people that they see around their community, whether it be at the grocery store or the bank. That personal touch allows reporters to carry empathy and care into their reporting. 

Bonspiel also shared that he felt student journalists are in a unique position when it comes to reporting on sensitive stories, as they’re often motivated by a stronger desire to grasp the topics they cover. However, like other non-Indigenous Canadian journalists, they can still face the challenge of not understanding firsthand the Indigenous issues that they cover. 

“Even if you’re a student journalist and try to find as much as possible, not necessarily inherently, not only understanding issues, because that’s a hard thing to do sometimes, but it’s also living the issues,” Bonspiel said. “Living the issues is the hard thing because I can’t impart that on you, that we live with all of these colonial institutions around us, who stole our land, never gave us money, who continue not to give us money, and continue to stonewall things like searching for graves.” 

Improving Practices of Reporting on Indigeneity 

With false depictions, overgeneralizations, a lack of Indigenous individuality, and institutional deceptions, Canadian reporting of Indigenous stories has not met baseline journalistic standards. So, the big question is: How does one go about reporting on Indigenous stories, especially if the reporter is not Indigenous themselves? 

Journalists should start with being well-versed and knowledgeable about the story they’re approaching. That can happen through research, asking for guidance from experts in Indigenous reporting, setting up interviews, and looking beyond mere press releases from the institutions—such as the Royal Canadian Mounted Police and the Office of the Correctional Investigator, Independent Ombuds and Oversight of Federal Corrections in Canada—that actively work against Indigenous people’s interests. 

“I always say you don’t have to know 500 years of history, but you better make damn sure that you know what you’re talking about, whatever the story is,” Bonspiel said. 

Next, journalists must practice empathy, and they must try to grasp and follow Indigenous storytelling. 

“Storytelling really varies from family to family and community to community. Personally, storytelling has been a really important aspect in teaching me things I wouldn’t normally learn in most standard classrooms. There is emotion, lived experience, and gratitude when hearing a story; stories are lessons that never leave you. My dad used to say that I’d learn more during a day spent with him than a day at school,” Louttit-Bunker said. 

Moreover, journalists should have a keen attraction to the truth. As Karonhia’nó:ron explains, the Mohawk word for “news” is “iorì:wase,” which he interprets to mean “the truth going around.” Various media outlets promote different truths, presenting varying lines of evidence, which makes it difficult for readers to navigate the truth. Whether or not the truth serves as a satisfying punch-line for readers, sources and outlets must maintain their duty to report honestly. Additionally, Kwetiio hopes that reporters exercise a level of integrity to fact-check what they’re told, even from an Indigenous person, to ensure that they do not falsely depict an Indigenous community. 

“When I understand that someone non-Indigenous is reporting, I would hope that a certain essence is understood that yes, we’re native and we’re talking […] but it also needs to be investigated what we’re saying before it is printed because that influence is very strong,” Kwetiio said. “We’re in a time when many [Indigenous] people are searching for what their own ways are, and this can be a big influence on them. If they heard that another Indigenous person said something, and it’s put out there, they’re taking it at its word that journalistic integrity is used.”

Producing a factual news piece involves talking to a variety of sources. This is especially important when reporting on Indigenous stories, especially when the media frames one Indigenous person’s perspective as being the sole perspective of all Indigenous people across Canada. 

“This tokenization is very harmful and creates a very black-and-white portrait of Indigenous politics and identities. Even though what I’m saying here is what I hold to be true, I can’t say the same of every Mohawk person, or every Indigenous student at McGill. We’re complex, we disagree—just like everyone else,” Karonhia’nó:ron wrote. 

Most importantly, look at Indigenous stories from a lens beyond suffering. While stories about Indigenous grief deserve to be platformed, Indigenous people, especially Indigenous youth, deserve to share stories that go beyond their suffering and instead centre on themes of inspiration and happiness. 

“If all you grow up hearing is stories about trauma, violence and death, it makes you wonder what your future is going to look like, or if you’ll even have one,” Karonhia’nó:ron explained. 

Kwetiio added to this sentiment, stating that her history goes beyond residential schools. This lens should extend beyond media, and instead, should institutionally expand the Canadian curriculum. Kwetiio has been working alongside various women’s societies across Turtle Island that seek to expand the Canadian education system’s mandate on Indigenous history, with the atrocities of residential schools to be introduced into the curriculum. However, Kwetiio felt that her history was devised from her day-to-day experiences as well. 

“I don’t want residential schools to be my sole history and culture that they learned. I want the land and the people, that these other economic and corporate systems live on, to have to learn what our ways are first. That should be what children are learning,” she said. 

Reporters must learn to report on Indigenous stories with empathy and journalistic standards that involve diverse consultations, fact-checking, and expansive views of what constitutes an Indigenous story. Indigenous reporters must be encouraged, supported, and celebrated. Indigenous stories must be heard, pitched, and platformed.

Reporters must not continue to burden the very communities they purport to uplift. 

Soccer, Sports

Why my heart is behind South Africa’s ‘Bafana Bafana’ in this Africa Cup of Nations

by Sara Escallon Sotomayor on

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Saturday’s quarterfinal victory over Cape Verde was not the first time that South Africa upended expectations in this Africa Cup of Nations. This was not even their first shock of this tournament; earlier they defeated World Cup semi-finalists Morocco en route to the upcoming semifinal against Nigeria on Feb. 7. The “Bafana Bafana,” nicknamed after a popular Zulu saying meaning “the lads,” are defying expectations and making a name for themselves along the way. 

But, these mesmerizing performances are not what makes them truly unique. The South African national team, along with already-eliminated Namibia, is among the few teams whose players are all born in the country they represent. Furthermore, the majority of the squad plays in the South African Premier Division. While African teams such as Morocco and Algeria have found success by embracing their diasporas, there are concerns that relying on foreign-born players is “fast-tracking” success and undermining efforts to grow the African game on the continent.  

Africa has been touted as an “under-valued” market, where European clubs can find stars at a fraction of the cost due to the strong footballing cultures and lack of formal professional infrastructures compared to the European and South American football landscapes—the historical sources of talent in world football. However, the growing presence of European club scouts on the continent does not signal the growth of the game: After all, the careers of George Weah, Jay-Jay Okocha, and Didier Drogba show that Africa has always had incredible footballing talent.

For African countries to achieve success on the international stage, the game needs to grow in Africa. There is a need for new solutions to propel this growth. Instead, the expansion of the European player markets into Africa reflects a hunger to commodify young talent as soon as possible and extract them from their domestic leagues—if they ever had a chance to play in these leagues at all. These opportunities are often life-changing for the players and their families. But the increased centralization of global football on Europe remains detrimental to the development of the African football landscape as a whole.

Every country that has won one or more (men’s) World Cups have been supported by a healthy, established domestic league. Players grow familiar with each other in their own distinct footballing cultures. It is not a coincidence that it has become increasingly difficult for South American countries to compete over the last 20 years (until 2022), despite producing arguably the best players of any continent. Over this time, the European leagues have become even more powerful and flooded with cash, and these same neocolonial dynamics reproduce themselves there. Even Lionel Messi famously joined Barcelona at just 13. 

These dynamics are especially troubling when we consider the long history of European extraction from countries in the Global South. Why wouldn’t these patterns replicate themselves in football? Those who have power have not changed all that much since the wave of African independence. 

The dream for a global landscape where football development is evenly distributed is both compelling and vitally important. Naturally, some leagues will be stronger than others—greatness attracts greatness. However, for African countries to achieve success, their domestic leagues must be worth staying in beyond the age of 18. In South Africa, salaries, player conditions, and football infrastructure are robust enough that players do not need to leave for better compensation in Europe. As billions of fans can attest, the football does not need to be the same quality as the Premier League to be worth watching. 

Nine starters from the team that defeated Cape Verde in penalties play in the South African Premier Division, with eight playing for top-of-the-table Mamelodi Sundowns. The squad exhibits the kind of chemistry expected from players who compete with each other on a daily basis. 

Nigeria has a compelling squad, with riveting stars who play for elite teams in Europe such as Victor Osimhen and Ademola Lookman. Despite this, on Wednesday, my heart and support will be behind South Africa, a team that models the potential of African football propelled by internal growth and investment, rather than centred on the needs of Europe’s “Super Leagues.”

Editorial, Opinion

Abortion access and trans rights are non-negotiables

by The Tribune Editorial Board on

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After decades of financial struggles, Clinic 554, the last private practice to provide surgical abortions in Fredericton, New Brunswick, permanently closed on Jan. 31. With the province refusing to allow Medicare to cover the cost of private clinic procedures, Clinic 554 worked on a pay-what-you-can model that eventually led to its end.

Clinic 554’s services addressed the devastating gap between Canada’s legal provisions for abortion and the reality of limited access for people who need them. Though abortions are legal in Canada, accessibility remains an obstacle for many, especially people outside of urban centres. With the overcrowding crisis in hospitals, our underfunded health care system creates long wait times for anyone who needs an abortion.

Abortion pills such as Mifegymiso, touted as a solution to the problem of limited access to surgical abortions, are expensive and subject to shortages, leading to long wait times that rival those for surgeries. The obstacles to receive an abortion continue to compound as Canadian politicians carve out reproductive and medical justice.

The most significant accessibility barriers emerge from systemic mistreatment and inequity across imposed divisions of race, gender, and class. Anti-abortion movements have long targeted all women’s reproductive rights, but abortions have still always been most available to wealthy, white, cis women who the health care system prioritizes. The Canadian medical system reproduces settler-colonial abuse and medical malpractice toward Indigenous peoples and continually underfunds community-based health organizations. Canadians should not have to leave their town or province to receive an abortion, especially not Indigenous and two-spirit people on whose lands these clinics operate. Similarly, due to the long and continuous history of medical racism toward Black people and people of colour, many communities rightly distrust medical institutions built to exclude them.

Clinic 554’s closure and the erosion of reproductive rights throughout North America indicate the rise of intimate policing of women’s, trans people’s, and nonbinary people’s bodies. The Conservative party leads national polls and, though nominally pro-choice, leader Pierre Poilievre fails to politically align himself with publicly pro-choice party members. The current threats to abortion access in Canada—and the increased threat of a Conservative government—demand a reckoning with how the state denies bodily autonomy to marginalized people in Canada through its laws and institutions.

On Jan. 31–– the last day that the clinic could stay open––Alberta premier Danielle Smith announced new policies preventing trans minors from transitioning and requiring parents to opt their children into education about gender, sex, and sexuality. The Conservative premier spread misinformation about minors transitioning in the name of “protecting” the province’s children. Smith failed to acknowledge that children with transphobic or homophobic parents will be even less safe with legislation in place that harms them. This regressive movement spreads fear about gender, endangers 2SLGBTQIA+ children, and works in tandem with anti-abortion measures to control who gets full citizenship rights in Canada.

Anti-choice activists and legislators failing to provide adequate access to abortions decreases the potential for safe ones. “Pro-life” policies consistently go hand in hand with the limiting of social services for children in marginalized communities and at-risk women, trans people, and queer people. At the institutional level, McGill and other medical schools all but omit abortion education and training from their curriculum. Students—and Canadian citizens generally—must fight to improve abortion education and services to preserve an essential medical service. Canada’s first abortion clinic, the Morgentaler Clinic, opened in Montreal fifty-five years ago—the struggle for reproductive rights must continue in this city. This work begins by recognizing that abortions and bodily autonomy are fundamental human rights. When students have open and vocal conversations about abortion access, birth control, and trans rights and health care, this pushes pro-choice and open-minded legislators to invest in these services. Students have a responsibility not just to pressure McGill to provide better services to students and better training to doctors, but also to advocate for the current services that on-campus organizations such as the Peer Support Centre, Union for Gender Empowerment, the Trans Patient Union at McGill and the Subcommittee on Queer Equity make possible. We must demand continued support for these essential services in the face of efforts to uproot them.

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