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Prof Profiles, Science & Technology

Meet your prof: Loydie Jerome-Majewska

by Amy Gelfand on

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From uncovering the genes that cause birth defects to serving as Chair of the Board of Directors of the Canadian Black Scientists Network, Professor Loydie Jerome-Majewska has been a catalyst for change across fields. She serves as a professor in McGill’s Department of Pediatrics and senior scientist at the Research Institute of the McGill University Health Centre. Jerome-Majewska sat down with The Tribune to shine light on her work in developmental biology and her efforts to advance equity and representation in the field.

Since the start of her academic journey at Wesleyan University, Jerome-Majewska has approached science with curiosity and an open mind. As an undergraduate pursuing an honours degree in biology, she gained hands-on laboratory experience working with her advisor, Laura Grabel, a professor in the Department of Biology.

“She was this amazing researcher who had children of her own, who danced after work, I mean, she just did it all,” Jerome-Majewska said. “And I thought that was just awesome. And so, I applied for graduate school.”

Jerome-Majewska continued her studies in graduate school at Columbia University’s medical campus in New York City.

“I worked with another amazing woman, [Virginia] Papaioannou,” referencing her graduate advisor and a prominent developmental biologist. “[She] was making a genetic mutation in mice using embryonic stem cells. It was brand new. Had never been done. I’ve just been fortunate to have really good advisors, and she also had children, whilst doing amazing science, she was just an amazing person.”

Combined with her postdoctoral work at the Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Institute with Elizabeth H. Lacy as her postdoctoral advisor—one of the women who started the whole molecular biology techniques in mice—Jerome-Majewska’s academic journey laid the foundation for her current research. Currently, she focuses on developmental disorders, using mouse models to predict how gene mutations could affect human patients.

“Now I’m interested in researching babies with congenital malformation at the time of birth, who have malformations when they’re born because things went wrong during embryogenesis.”

With a person-first approach to science, Jerome-Majewska emphasizes the importance of setting priorities to maintain balanced academic excellence, which, for her, meant stepping down from teaching to focus on her research.

“I enjoyed my teaching. I met some awesome undergrads, but you have to do it well. I’m doing a lot of other things too. I can’t do it all. You can never do it all,” she said.

Nevertheless, while the field of developmental biology continues to flourish, Jerome-Majewska notes that inclusive representation remains a challenge.

“I think there are things that impede how far we’ve moved into not just my field, but in science in general, because I don’t think everybody interested or excited who can contribute has been able to participate and contribute,” Jerome-Majewska said. “I think humans have huge potential, and if we could have all of the different people participate, we’d be so much further. Yeah, so in that way, I think that’s too bad for all of our field […], if everybody’s doing the same thing, we’re not gonna get anywhere.”

This recognition of social barriers inspired her involvement with the Black Canadian Scientists Network, which, with over a thousand members, creates space for representation and collaboration in science and is currently focused on the GenCARE project.

“We’ve been able to get part of the Genome Canada grant to sequence the genomes of people of African ancestry, looking at diseases that impact the population negatively.”

Looking toward the future, Jerome-Majewska emphasizes the importance of building a more inclusive genetic research landscape for the future generation of researchers.

“I think, for the GenCARE project, I’m super excited, because, as a Black woman, I know that precision medicine is coming, and if we don’t have the DNA from people that look like me, it’s not gonna work. And I can do something about it, I have the skills. So, it’s a no-brainer.”

Student Life

Single? Here’s how to make the most of Valentine’s Day

by Gregor McCall on

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For some, Feb. 14 marks a time to celebrate Cupid and his eternal casting of divine arrows into the souls of kindred lovers for time immemorial. For others, it’s a corporate-manufactured holiday fabricated solely to sell greeting cards and pompous kitsch. Yet, even subscribing to the latter set of beliefs makes it no easier to witness the never-ending songs of lovebirds basking in displays of romantic affection. It’s true—couples have it easy on Valentine’s Day. But why should they get all the fun? The Tribune has gathered everything you need to know to enjoy Valentine’s Day while flaunting the bachelor(ette) life.

Old School Mile-End Dance Party at Bar le Ritz

What better way is there to shake off the mid-winter single blues than dancing late into the night? Step back into the Mile-End golden age of hipster moustaches and indie sleaze at Bar le Ritz’s one-of-a-kind Valentine’s Day event. Dress to the nines in your best vintage attire, and prepare to get sweaty as you bust out your best moves on the dance floor. What’s more, dancing has been demonstrated to reduce stress and increase serotonin levels—a perfect remedy to leave any winter slump and boost your mental health. Who knows, maybe you’ll even meet that special someone you’ve been waiting your whole, albeit short, romantic life for. 

Treat yourself

Going on a Valentine’s Day date need not be the purview of couples alone. Sometimes, the best date is one you take yourself on. The Montreal restaurant scene offers a wide range of Valentine’s Day date options, many of which feature special prix-fixe tasting menus. While getting a reservation as a couple can be a strenuous, expensive, and onerous ordeal, it is immensely easier to do so as a solo diner. Take advantage of only needing to pay for one plate, and treat yourself to a well-earned and delicious meal that would make anyone’s partner jealous. If reservations aren’t your thing, don’t fret—try restaurants like the Plateau’s Yokato Yokabai or Pointe-St.-Charles’ Bar Milky Way, which operate on a first-come, first-served basis. Even if there’s a line, you’ll likely be seated much quicker than if you were with a group. 

A spa day with a discount

Fight the blistering cold with hot steam and relaxing thermal pools at one of Montreal’s many spas, which offer an enticing student discount. At Spa Centrale Parc and Spa Ovarium, you’ll be able to trade in your Student-ID for a 15 per cent discount from Monday to Thursday. At Espace Nomad, students are eligible for 20 per cent off all treatments on Thursday evenings, while at Spa Carre St-Louis, students enjoy a $20 CAD discount from Monday to Thursday. Though you won’t be able to redeem such discounts on Valentine’s Day itself, a spa day makes the perfect gift to yourself. Take your mind off the holiday pageantry with a day filled with mindfulness and tranquillity.

Host a singles-only romance extravaganza

Whether it’s When Harry Met Sally or Heated Rivalry, hosting a romance-filled movie night with friends is one of the best ways to feel the love sans lover. To enhance the experience, make celebratory treats like chocolate-covered strawberries or The Tribune’s very own ‘Cupid’s Chocolate Lava Cake.’ You could even shake things up with a lovey-dovey cocktail like a Between the Sheets, Naked & Famous, or Very Sexy Martini. Either way, spending the day with those who care the most for you //is// the purpose of the holiday. After all, according to Plato, love between true friends is the highest form of connection we can experience, one that unites souls together for eternity. 


Being single on Valentine’s Day isn’t something to dread in the least. Take care of yourself, and you’ll be able to get some tender love and care with no scrubs to ruin it. And if it’s any consolation, all that time spent spreading amour only got Saint Valentine decapitated. Maybe the pessimists really do have it right.

Off the Board, Opinion

An ode to emails and the archival nature of the inbox

by Moyọ Alabi on

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I have often felt as though the diction and formalities of texting culture—or lack thereof—should emulate that of email correspondence. Emails preserve a level of linguistic intentionality that contemporary messaging platforms have largely flattened.

My affinity for emails began rather early. At the age of nine or ten, my school provided each student with a personalized institutional-domain Gmail address. As a child without a phone, this ‘brand-new’ mode of communication became my lifeline. 

This early exposure positioned email as more than a communicative tool; it became a formative space through which I learned the rhythms and nuances of written exchange. Email correspondence required a new level of intention, and through repeated engagement, I came to understand this attentiveness as intrinsic to the act of communication itself.

Electronic mail, as a hybrid epistolary form, preserves the intimacy and kinship of letter-writing whilst adapting correspondence to modern temporality, thereby sustaining the kind of relational exchange fundamental to human flourishing. 

As I grew up, my inbox became intertwined with moments of personal and academic development. It was through this electronic correspondence that I learned of scholastic achievements, opportunities, and acknowledgements that continue to shape my being. Beyond these moments, email also functioned as a consistent means of interaction, facilitating friendships in my adolescent years and professional relationships later on.

The Aristotelian notion of human flourishing, or eudaimonia, indicates that to live well is to participate in rational activity enacted through reflection, deliberation, and the sustained cultivation of virtue. Such activities unfold temporally and require the gradual shaping of one’s ethical and intellectual character through collective discourse. One comes to know one’s own reasoning through encounters with others and being respected within shared intellectual life.

Central to this is philia, a form of friendship rooted in mutual recognition and ongoing participation in one another’s intellectual and virtuous becoming. Aristotle positions such friendship as necessary to life itself because human beings do not actualize their capacities in isolation. Within this companionship, one’s thinking is both a sacred and social affair. 

To live well, then, requires communicative companionship. The sharing of reflections, deliberations, and affirmations in sustained intellectual discourse becomes constitutive of the flourishing life insofar as it situates rational activity within lived relational practice. 

It becomes difficult not to situate email within this relational structure. The exchange of drafts and written feedback sustains a form of intellectual companionship across distance. One participates in another’s thought process; one’s own thinking is received and built upon. Through such correspondence, thought becomes a joint venture. Where letters historically carried friendship across geographies, email preserves this epistolary nature within a temporality adapted to contemporary life.

The significance of the email does not lie simply in its ability to sustain intellectual companionship; it also permits one’s voice to circulate in its authored form. One writes oneself into presence, without needing to worry about an incoming message interrupting the cadence of thought before it has been completed: The email is composed in full before it is sent. There is something especially resonant in encountering one’s voice intact, given how often Black articulation has been historically mediated by white third parties. But with emails, diction remains one’s own. Cadence remains one’s own. Online correspondence is entangled with autonomous self-authorship. 

To look back on these threads is to encounter evidence of one’s becoming. Words once offered outward return and bear witness to intellectual growth, kinship, and authored presence across time. The inbox comes to function as a personal archive assembled unintentionally through the quiet accumulation of correspondence, preserving one’s exchanges and accomplishments.

If the medium through which we communicate shapes the emotional and relational experience it carries, then email’s hybrid form produces a communicative intimacy distinct from both handwritten letters and instantaneous direct-messaging. Emails are the beautiful halfway point, the love child of letters merged with direct messages and texts. They inherit the intentionality and reflective nature of handwritten missives whilst retaining the immediacy of digital delivery.

I fail to understand why one would deny oneself the opportunity to participate in this form of communication through the vessel of online mail. What a beautiful way to adapt to the times whilst still respecting the sacred passion of epistolary tradition. 

Commentary, Opinion

In exercising institutional restraint, McGill protects only itself

by Sofia Lay on

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This past November, McGill’s Advisory Panel on Campus Expression (APCE) delivered a report on the state of academic freedom and expression at the university. The report recommended that McGill exercise “institutional restraint” and refrain from responding publicly to controversial geopolitical issues in order to preserve academic freedom. This policy encourages McGill to prioritize its reputation over critical advocacy, neglecting global responsibility under the pretense of protecting free thought.

Following the report’s publication, President and Vice Chancellor Deep Saini issued an enthusiastic statement affirming the APCE’s recommendations on campus expression. However, the report’s call for political neutrality undercuts McGill’s stated commitments to responsibility and global engagement. By extricating itself from political discourse, McGill forfeits its power to catalyze meaningful community discussion. 

Just last week, in light of the brutalization of Iranian protestors, McGill released an email directing students to mental health resources. Strikingly, this email was sent only to students on McGill records as Iranian passport holders and did not include a clear condemnation of the Iranian government’s actions. This message exemplifies McGill’s reticence to speak publicly on issues with global reach and disturbing human rights implications. 

While the university is eager to embrace its reputation as a globally-renowned institution, it engages selectively with the world around it, prioritizing its own reputation over advocacy. Because McGill’s priorities are not transparently reflected in its mission statements, the university’s decision to implement institutional restraint rings particularly dissonant. 

In its report, the APCE draws a false contrast between academic freedom and institutional positions, weaponizing this manufactured dichotomy to justify McGill’s silence on geopolitical issues. The report does not offer a clear definition of academic freedom, but merely describes the concept as “associational to freedom of expression” and bound by “the standards of scholarly research and inquiry.” The APCE’s intentional vagueness in defining academic freedom obscures the fact that official university stances and academic freedom are not inherently at odds with one another. Arguably, academic freedom is epitomized when educational authority figures can simultaneously espouse opinions and encourage community dissent. It is dangerous to conflate neutrality with equity and tolerance, as such practices vilify the expression of opinions. Additionally, if academic freedom extends only so far as “scholarly standards,” then opinions, institutional or otherwise, are protected only when they reinforce McGill’s pre-existing party lines.

This outcome—where the McGill administration’s biases are preached as nonpartisan and student voices are made political—is at clear odds with the APCE’s overarching goal of maintaining a vibrant academic and intellectual culture at McGill. 

The APCE advocates that McGill assume a neutral stance on all geopolitical issues. However, maintaining neutrality is a position in and of itself. In today’s polarized climate, acknowledging facts can be perceived as a political act. Institutional restraint enables McGill to refrain from affirming vital truths as suits the university’s agenda. In its report, McGill repeatedly refused to acknowledge genocide in Gaza, instead referring to the conflict as the “Israel-Gaza War.” Although intergovernmental organizations and NGO’s, including the UN, have repeatedly stated that the Israeli government’s actions align with the definition of genocide, in its report, the APCE employs misleading alternative terminology that downplays the conflict’s severity. 

Yet, McGill doesn’t stray from all political conviction. In 2022, the Provost issued a statement denouncing Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and expressing “shock and sorrow” over the conflict. Herein lies just one example of how the concept of neutrality can be selectively applied to uphold some truths while obscuring those deemed “too controversial” for public endorsement. In many critical instances, McGill, a school that prides itself on promoting the “dissemination of knowledge,” chooses to remain silent and protect its reputation. 

The APCE cited community outrage regarding previous university-issued geopolitical statements as a pretense for the necessity of institutional restraint. The report stated that, on an individual level, many faculty and staff members felt discouraged from voicing their opinions on political issues because they fear being negatively misinterpreted. Thus, the students are burdened with the responsibility to foster a campus environment that promotes constructive conversation and institution-level dialogue over ‘cancel culture,’ whereas professors—hired with a duty to protect academic freedom and promote discourse—are absolved of this duty. 

The APCE portrays institutional restraint as promoting academic freedom, drawing a false contrast between the declaration of political views and the protection of free thought. Yet, in today’s polarized social climate, even the truth has become politicized. Truth is imperative to freedom, both academic and otherwise. McGill would be wise to remember this.

McGill, Montreal, News

Professor Annie Bunting explores gender-based violence in Africa

by Josette Chandler on

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On Wednesday, Feb. 4,  Annie Bunting, professor of Law and Society at York University, hosted a discussion at the McGill Faculty of Law’s Centre for Human Rights and Legal Pluralism (CHRLP) entitled “Knowledge production and gender justice in post-conflict Africa” at New Chancellor Day Hall. 

Bunting opened the presentation with a background on her past work in international feminist law, including her role as the Chair of International Gender Justice at York University. 

“I started as a Boulton fellow here at McGill back in another century, which is such an amazing program,” Bunting said. “I am really glad to be engaging with all of you, especially at the Centre for Human Rights and Legal Pluralism because the [work done here] fits really nicely with my own.”

Bunting then explained her experience working on the Conjugal Slavery and War Project from 2015 to 2020, a project that documented cases of forced marriage during times of conflict to establish a system of reparations for survivors of gender-based violence. 

“The coalition was monitoring international criminal tribunals and their prosecution of gender crimes, starting with the international criminal tribunal for Rwanda,” Bunting said. “The special court for Sierra Leone in 2008 found forced marriage to be its own heading of a crime against humanity. This was the impetus for this further research project.”

Bunting then shifted her focus to the Kinshasa Declaration, made at a Survivor’s Hearing on reparations during November 2021 in Kinshasa, the capital of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. To help create this document, Bunting assembled survivors and non-governmental organizations (NGOs), and secured financial backing from 12 African countries. 

Bunting emphasized the number and diversity of goals presented during the hearing, explaining how she, the survivors, and the NGOs involved in the creation of the declaration came to the hearing with different outcomes in mind. 

“I’m interested in the tracking of these crimes against humanity, especially forced marriage,” Bunting said. “You have survivors [who] are very concerned about school fees for their children, about medical fees, about reintegration. So, you have really quite disparate goals for this event.” 

The event then transitioned to an open discussion, during which McGill Law Professor René Provost explained how language barriers impacted the drafting of the declaration. 

“One of the challenges we encounter is that the vocabulary used to talk about sexual relations in some African languages tends to be metaphorical, which posed enormous challenges when we convert that to the language of international or criminal law,” Provost said.

Next, McGill research fellow and Board of Displaced Internationals member Yana Liubymova spoke on the connection between sexual violence and conflict through her experiences with the war in Ukraine. 

“Unfortunately, we have numbers and numbers of survivor cases, and unfortunately, the statistics are growing. But, we improved our legislation and have a special program for survivors,” Liubymova said. “The displacement process is absolutely linked with the survivors of sexual violence in war.”

Bunting concluded by emphasizing the need for a focus that expands beyond individual survivor narratives, tackling the systemic issues themselves that enable gender-based violence.  

“I don’t want to leave the impression that we should overly rely on survivor testimonies or individual harm, because I think that can limit our thinking to not engage in substantive and structural redress. And that’s not an easy thing, right? It’s not easy to talk about what structural change looks like,” Bunting said. “These individual narratives exist within this broader communal push for recognition and reparations and for substantive change.”

Commentary, Opinion

Legault’s gone—Bill 21 should be too

by Amélie Marquet on

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Since his 2018 inauguration, Coalition Avenir Quebec (CAQ) leader and Quebec premier François Legault has prioritized secularization and the protection of Quebec’s francophone identity. His resignation in January 2026 has left the province in political uncertainty, particularly regarding Bill 21, which prohibits certain public servants—including police officers, judges, and teachers—from wearing religious symbols at work. 

The bill was adopted through the notwithstanding clause, which allows the provincial government to override sections of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms and prevents the Supreme Court from challenging Bill 21’s validity for the next five years. With Legault’s departure, Quebec faces a choice: Continue down a path that uses secularism as a pretext for exclusion, or seize this moment of political transition to address what Bill 21 truly represents. Far from being a neutral measure of secularism, Bill 21 functions as a legal tool that legitimizes systemic employment discrimination. Legault’s resignation removes the political figurehead most personally invested in defending this framework, making it both politically feasible and ethically necessary to re-examine whether Quebec’s commitment to secularism must come at the cost of systemic discrimination against religious minorities.

Quebec’s contemporary debates on secularism are rooted in sentiments dating back to the 1940s and 1950s, when the Catholic Church exercised significant influence over social and political life, administering schools, hospitals, and moral norms. The Quiet Revolution of the 1960s marked a decisive effort by Quebecois society to reduce religious influence and assert greater provincial control over public institutions. Although Bill 21 might function as a bulwark to limit religious impact on future governance, such objectives do not require the exclusion of religious minorities from public representation or employment.

The Bill disproportionately targets marginalized groups by banning visible religious symbols or clothing—including the hijab, the kippah, and the dastar. This comes as Islamophobia, xenophobia, and antisemitism are on the rise in Canada: Police-reported hate crimes targeting Muslims increased by 173 per cent from 2020 to 2024, and antisemitic hate crimes increased by 83 per cent from 2021 to 2023.

Compared to other provinces, Quebec has significantly higher levels of Islamophobia than the rest of Canada, with 56 per cent of Quebec residents reporting a negative view of Islam compared to 36 per cent outside of Quebec. This has forced religious minorities into an impossible position: Having to choose between removing required religious symbols, or giving up on a stable, public-sector job. State employment guarantees, on average, stability, security, better salary and retirement benefits. Bill 21, therefore, enforces structural inequality under a false sense of secularism and neutrality.

Furthermore, the bill creates symbolic exclusion, arbitrarily designating who is truly considered to have Quebecois Identity. As teachers, judges, and police officers embody public authority, the exclusion of religious minorities from these professions distances them from the province’s sphere of influence.

Bill 21 not only creates structural inequality in job opportunities but also in social representation. Montreal, the most diverse city in Quebec, reported that the city is approximately 11.9 per cent Muslim, 3.8 per cent Jewish, and 0.9 per cent Sikh in 2021. The bill does more than regulate religious symbols—it insinuates who the government believes belongs in Quebec’s public sector. 

The use of the notwithstanding clause to preemptively override Charter protections further normalizes limiting minority rights and permits the bill to be passed without adherence to the Charter of Rights and Freedoms. The clause’s use signals that minority protection can easily be suspended for political goals, and encourages future restrictions. 

Legault’s resignation offers Quebec’s next government a chance to chart a different course—one that doesn’t require the province to choose between secularism and inclusion.

Behind the Bench, Sports

Conflicting feelings of fandom

by Will Kennedy on

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Never Google the owner of your favourite sports team. It almost never yields results that make you feel good about spending your money on tickets and merchandise, and often leaves you feeling put off altogether. 

Five National Football League (NFL) owners have been named in the latest Jeffrey Epstein file release, with all communications occurring after Epstein’s 2008 conviction for sex offences. Minnesota Vikings owner Zygi Wilf inquired about purchasing a property in Paris from Epstein in 2015. Epstein spoke via email with someone named “Josh” about New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft, who was arrested and charged with two misdemeanour counts of soliciting prostitution in 2019. Epstein alluded to “a past issue with Kraft that may come to light later.” Josh Harris, co-owner of multiple teams, had a multi-year business relationship with Epstein and visited his Manhattan home on at least one occasion in 2014. Meanwhile, New York Giants owner Stephen Tisch crudely discussed multiple girls, including one so-called “Ukrainian girl,” over email with the depraved pedophile. In emails where Tisch asked Epstein to be set up with this “Ukrainian girl,” she was referred to in vulgar language before Tisch followed up with “pro or civilian,” inquiring if she was a prostitute. 

On Jan. 30, Tisch put out a statement saying he “regrets associating” with Epstein and that “we all know now, he was a terrible person”—something Tisch should have known from Epstein’s prior 2008 conviction.

While the Epstein files dominate the news, Memphis Grizzlies owner Robert Pera has flown under the radar. On Jan. 29, investigative journalist Pablo Torre shared the findings of an investigation into the former Apple engineer and founder of Ubiquiti Inc., a company that specializes in making user-friendly internet equipment servicing remote areas of the globe. 

One of Ubiquiti’s top customers is the Russian military. The company stopped direct shipments to Russia when sanctions were implemented in 2022, but since then, sales have continued to pass through third parties. The company has not yet released a public statement on Russian combat units obtaining their equipment, but verified videos from the Donbas region clearly show Ubiquiti technology being used to commit war crimes against civilians. 

One Ukrainian military official estimated that 80 per cent of Russian drones use Ubiquiti equipment to relay video feed to command centers. The technology is so important that Russian military units have made Telegram videos begging for public donations in order to purchase more of the equipment. The equipment is small enough that it can be attached to the vests of operators, and, unlike satellite internet, it cannot be disabled by the provider remotely.

Although the company has stopped direct sales to Russia, sanctions experts have told Pablo Torre that pleading ignorance is not a valid legal defence for how Russia obtained their technology. 

This is not the first time Ubiquiti has been involved in a scandal over sanction violations. The company settled for over $500,000 USD in 2014 after it granted exclusive rights to a United Arab Emirates-based distributor to sell Ubiquiti technology to Iran. At the time of the settlement, Ubiquiti allegedly did not have a proper compliance department, and since then has taken no meaningful steps to ensure its technology does not end up in the wrong hands. Western tech illegally ending up in Russian hands is a large part of why the war is still ongoing. At best, Ubiquiti is being negligent; at worst, it is a willing participant in war crimes. 

From a fan perspective, it can be really disheartening to know that supporting your favourite team may directly benefit these owners. It can cause a lot of conflicting feelings and disconnect fans from the team. It often feels like blissful ignorance might be your best option as a fan because major sports owners are rarely in the news for doing good in the world.  Although our individual influence over such matters may appear minuscule, it is crucial that as a whole we pay attention to these issues, as this is the only way we can impose any sense of accountability on owners.

No fan wants to hear that the person who calls the shots for their favourite sports team is connected to a pedophile or is actively fueling wars. For those who want to support their favourite team and be part of something bigger than themselves, it is unfortunate that they may be financially benefiting some truly despicable folks in the process. Sports organizations are a massive part of the communities in which they exist and thus have a duty to properly represent the fans who support them.

Arts & Entertainment, Music

‘Oscar Peterson’: A heart that yearns for liberty

by Loriane Chagnon on

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On a warm summer day in August 1925, Oscar Emmanuel Peterson, one of Canada’s most respected jazz artists, was born. Growing up in the working-class, predominantly Black neighbourhood of Little Burgundy in Montreal, Peterson developed his musical skills alongside his four siblings and with the support of his loving parents. Forced to give up the trumpet after contracting tuberculosis, he chose to focus on the piano and soon developed a musical talent that foreshadowed his bright future. Peterson honed his skills, and with the support of his sister, Daisy, won a nationwide amateur talent competition in Canada and landed his own weekly radio show: Fifteen Minutes Piano Rambling. Soon after, Peterson signed with a record label, and, by 1945, he had released his first two recordings: I Got Rhythm and The Sheik of Araby.

Norman Granz, founder of Verve Records, became Peterson’s agent, allowing his fame to grow internationally. Granz was famous for introducing jazz to broader audiences by taking “jazz out of smoky clubs and putting it in concert halls.” He heard Young Peterson on the radio in a taxicab on his way to the Montreal airport and was immediately struck. After learning that the music was a recording of Peterson at the Alberta Lounge, Granz asked the driver to turn around and take him there so that he could meet him. In the following years, Peterson’s career grew, and he established himself as a household name in the jazz world, working with the likes of Ella Fitzgerald, Chet Baker, Duke Ellington, Billie Holiday, and Louis Armstrong. The last nicknamed him “the man with four hands” for his rapidity and precision when playing.

“The way you play music is a tonal biography of yourself, your thoughts and feelings,” said Peterson. Peterson was a quick and precise artist; he could execute lightning-fast runs, possessed incredible timing, and had a deep understanding of swing. His hands were able to tell many stories, such as that of a lover yearning for his beloved in Blue and Sentimental or of a person who has achieved success at the cost of someone special in I Can’t Get Started.

He is further remembered for his commitment to racial equality and his defiance of stereotypes, emerging as Canada’s first Black jazz star in the 20th century. He overcame racial prejudice to establish himself as a giant in his field. Further, he was a music educator and humanitarian, receiving many accolades, including eight Grammy Awards, a Praemium Imperiale World Art Award, the UNESCO Music Prize, and 16 honorary doctorates. Notably, a coalition of Black community groups has recently asked for Montreal’s Place des Festivals to be renamed after Oscar Peterson to honour his legacy, which has marked the city’s music scene.

The prolific Peterson released several albums each year and appeared on more than 200 albums by other artists. He is widely considered to be one of the best jazz pianists of all time and remains a cornerstone of the genre. His influence resonates in the works of artists like Laufey, who are reintroducing jazz to younger audiences. 

Peterson’s composition Hymn to Freedom also had a deep impact, becoming pivotal to the Civil Rights Movement of the 1960s. The song calls for a world of unity, dignity, and liberty, with lyrics by Hariette Hamilton. Peterson’s wife, Kelly, is currently translating the composition into various languages, such as French and Cree, to allow individuals from various backgrounds to hear and understand Peterson’s vision for a free and harmonious world. 

Peterson is renowned for his technical mastery, virtuosity, and the warmth with which he played, and he is remembered for his deep love and connection with the art of music.

Research Briefs, Science & Technology

From fauna to flora: The benefits of switching to plant-based protein

by Sarah McDonald on

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Vegetarianism has been on the rise for years; in 2024, 2.3 million Canadians self-identified as vegetarian, a 176 per cent increase from 2015. Several factors contribute to the marked rise, including vegetarianism’s perceived benefits for both individual consumers and the environment. But how beneficial is it really? McGill Professor of Animal Science, Surgio Burgos, and his former PhD student, Olivia Auclair—a postdoctoral researcher at Oxford University’s Environmental Change Institute—worked to determine the benefits of transitioning towards, or entirely to, a vegetarian diet.

“First, we looked at the contribution of important foods, which we call ‘livestock produce products,’ whether that be meat, red meat, white meat, or dairy foods, and the contribution to nutrients,” Burgos said in an interview with The Tribune. “[We] then looked at the environmental impact [of these foods] through greenhouse gas emissions [….] [Then we] put the information that we had gained for Canada in the context of other countries.”

In their recent review paper, Burgos and Auclair aimed to further elucidate the consequences of switching from animal-based protein to plant-based protein, analyzing nutritional, environmental, and health impacts of complete and partial dietary substitutions.

“Basically, we found that there were co-benefits of substituting red and processed meat with plant protein foods across all three of the dimensions that we looked at, so nutrition, environment and also health,” Auclair said in an interview with The Tribune. “So that’s good news, and we saw that for total replacements, where 100 per cent of red and processed meat was substituted. But we also saw, obviously smaller, but similar co-benefits when simulations were partial substitutions, so 50 per cent of red and processed meat.”

Their study found that substituting animal-based protein with plant-based protein sources led to average increases in calcium, iron, fibre, and potassium intake, as well as decreased levels of saturated fats. They, however, noted that their results were highly influenced by governmental policy. 

“For example, in the Netherlands, they don’t supplement [cow] milk with vitamin D, but we do [in Canada], it is mandatory. In the U.S., it is optional. So that vitamin D outcome changes because of [those policies],” Burgos said.

This illustrates the impact of policy on nutritional levels; the nutritional benefits of switching from animal to plant-based products are dependent upon which sources are fortified. Fortifying plant-based protein alternatives is critical to cementing the benefits of transitioning towards a plant-based diet.

Along with vitamin D, vitamin A, calcium, and iodine levels appear to have been particularly dependent on fortification policy.

“So for me, the goal of the study is to inform public policy in dietary guidance [and plant-based alternative fortification],” Burgos said. “Some countries include environmental impact as part of the considerations that they have to guide dietary guidance [….] But food fortification is another aspect of it.”

Another key finding of the study is that substituting meat with plant-based alternatives yields greater benefits than dairy substitutions.

“We’re sort of seeing there’s no clear co-benefits from substituting dairy. You get trade-offs with certain nutrients, you don’t see as big of reductions to diet-related greenhouse gas emissions, and the health gains that we saw in the dairy scenarios were only because of this increase in plant-based foods that accompany the reduction in dairy,” Auclair said. 

The research highlights the importance of choice in dietary substitutions. While the study shows that opting for plant-based alternatives can have positive environmental, nutritional, and health-based impacts, policy plays a huge role in the nutritional benefits of these substitutions. Their findings also reveal that changes don’t need to be extreme to have a real impact; substituting meat with plant-based alternatives, even just once a week, can benefit both your health and the environment.

“I think, for me, it’s not so much like telling people to eat a specific way, like ‘You should do this dietary pattern, or this dietary pattern,’ it’s really about just making more conscious food choices,” Auclair said. “And like Sergio said, like a few nights a week, integrating [plants], instead of cooking something with red meat, just try a new recipe [….] It’s about those individual choices that you make every day.”

Arts & Entertainment, Books, Mythology

Love of mortals and Olympians alike

by Bianca Sugunasiri on

More in Arts & Entertainment:

Greek mythology has traversed themes of love across eons. Although the stories themselves may have evolved through modern times, their passion, yearning, and grief still ring true today. In honour of Valentine’s Day, The Tribune presents two everlasting love stories to pierce the hearts of all Greek mythology lovers. 

The Story of Patroclus and Achilles — “I would know him in death, at the end of the world,” The Song of Achilles, Madeline Miller

Poised on the edge of Achilles’s impetuous blade, Patroclus was his balancing force. Their story began as boys when Patroclus was banished from Opus after accidentally killing a man in a game of dice. He then travelled to Phthia and resided under the command of King Peleus. There, he became acquainted with Peleus’ son, the famed Achilles. 

Like fire and water, the two became opposing sides of a coin—their fellowship lasting a lifetime. Achilles’s precipitous nature was often soothed by Patroclus’ resolute hand. During the Trojan War, the lovers joined the Greek attack force. Achilles, quick to anger, got into a quarrel with Mycenaean leader Agamemnon and refused to continue leading charges in battle. 

In an ill-fated attempt to bolster the Greek troops after Achilles’s refusal, Patroclus donned his paramour’s armour and rode into battle underneath his lover’s helm. Achilles emerged from his brooding to find his dearest companion slaughtered. 

He contorted with grief, instilling fear even in the gods. Sullying himself with dirt and grime, he tore at his shining golden locks. Half of his heart had been cleaved clean away. He had valued Patroclus above all others and loved him as dearly as his own life. 

Achilles’s anguish recast itself as acidic rage as he turned his attention to Patroclus’s executioner. After killing Prince Hector in single combat, Achilles fastened his corpse to the chariot by its heels and dragged it through the dirt until he returned to the Greek battle camp. He denied his adversary a proper burial as penance for his sin. 

The lovers were reunited in death at Achilles’s request to have his own ashes mixed with Patroclus’s. They rest together, encased in a golden urn. 

The Myth of Eros and Psyche — “For I love and cherish you passionately, whoever you are, as much as my own life,” Metamorphoses, Apuleius

The irresistible Psyche, constantly mistaken for the goddess Aphrodite, lived a lonely life, too beautiful for anyone to approach her. It was as though she was trapped in a case of glass, an ornament at which to marvel but not understand. 

Her revered countenance attracted Aphrodite’s censorious eye, and the goddess became chagrined that a mortal was being worshipped as a god. She commanded her son, Eros, to punish Psyche by compelling her to fall in love with a hideous creature. Eros obediently transformed into a serpentine beast, but as he turned to face Psyche, it was his heart that flooded with love. He bid Zephyr, the west wind, to whisk Psyche to his opulent palace, where she might rest to wait for him. But when Eros came to call upon her, he insisted they embrace only in darkness. He begged her to have faith in their vulnerability even without the security of appearances. 

As the nights passed, Psyche and Eros conjoined in darkness but never beneath the sun of day. Wishing for companionship, Psyche innocently invited her sisters to visit, despite Eros’s warnings of their ill intentions. Tarnished with envy at Psyche’s happiness, her sisters schemed to sow doubt in her faith in Eros; they claimed that if she properly looked, she would see the vile creature that he was. Although Psyche’s hands may have known the shape of her husband’s love, seeds of uncertainty festered in her mind.

As night fell, Psyche waited for Eros to succumb to slumber. She then lit a candle, allowing its glow to flicker across his seraphic features. She became so entranced that she did not see the melting wax dripping onto his lustrous skin. Awake and betrayed, Eros fled, his love scorned by distrust.
Psyche wandered across the countryside looking for her lover, pining for Eros. Cunning and still ensconced with indignation, Aphrodite promised to assist Psyche only after she completed a set of impossible tasks. She completed the first of the two, swift in her earnest intentions. But in the third trial, she finally faltered, falling into an endless sleep. Eros, stricken with pain, appealed despairingly to Zeus. He woke Psyche from her sleep and even granted her immortality so she and Eros might be reunited forever. Their daughter, Hedone, a conjoinment of heart and mind, was born the goddess of pleasure.

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