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Sports, Tennis

Carlos Alcaraz makes history at the Australian Open

by Ivanna Zhang on

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With an emotional collapse on the court and an overwhelming eruption from the Melbourne crowd, world number one Carlos Alcaraz became the youngest man to complete a career Grand Slam at only 22 years old. In just over three hours, the Spaniard defeated 38-year-old Novak Djokovic of Serbia, who was undefeated in 10 previous Australian Open finals.

The Australian Open, held from mid-January to early February at Melbourne Park, is the first of the four annual Grand Slam tournaments. Expectations were high leading up to the first major tennis tournament of the year, despite the event’s notably slow start. 

The tournament accelerated on the men’s semifinal night, starting with the longest semifinal match in the Australian Open’s history. In five hours and 27 minutes, Alcaraz beat Germany’s Alexander Zverev to secure a place in the final. For Alcaraz, landing a place in the final meant he was one step closer to achieving a career Gram Slam—winning all four major tournaments (Australian Open, French Open, Wimbledon, and the U.S. Open). 

Despite winning the first two sets in the semifinal matchup, Alcaraz suffered cramps in his right groin, which allowed Zverev to tie the match—the first men’s match of this tournament to go to a deciding set in the Rod Laver Arena. Even though Zverev led for the majority of the set, the Spaniard won the last two crucial games and secured a spot in the final. 

Another nail-biting final followed suit, and the night was far from over. The second men’s semifinal welcomed Djokovic and Italy’s Jannik Sinner. Sinner aimed to defend his title as last year’s winner of the Australian tournament. Across the net was Djokovic, hoping to get his 25th Grand Slam title and set the record for the most in men’s tennis. The match started with Sinner dominating, winning the first set in 38 minutes. However, the tide shifted in the second set. Djokovic established a lead early and held on to it to tie the match one-all. 

After struggling physically in the third set, Djokovic emerged in the fourth with freshness and concentration. The Serbian took the upper hand by using his serves to win crucial points and hitting groundstrokes with incredible accuracy and depth. The night finished just after 1:30 a.m. with Djokovic setting up a 10th meeting with Alcaraz on Feb. 1.

Before the men’s final, the women’s singles final took centre stage on Jan. 31. Aryna Sabalenka, the world number one and last year’s finalist, took on world number three Elena Rybakina. Sabalenka did not drop a set this entire tournament, and she was in top form coming into the final. 

Striking the ball with overwhelming power, Rybakina established a lead quickly. However, Sabalenka’s continuous and persistent efforts paid off in the second set. In the deciding set, Sabalenka built on her momentum to achieve a three-game lead, but it proved to be short-lived. Rybakina rallied, levelling the score and winning the crucial games to secure the championship.

As Rybakina lifted her trophy, attention turned to the men’s singles finals. The night saw two records on the line, but only one could get broken: The youngest male player to complete a career Grand Slam, or the most Grand Slams ever won. Djokovic continued his top form, claiming the first set with authority. Still, the 22-year-old refused to back down. With Djokovic’s inability to keep up the high level throughout the match, the Spaniard quickly turned the tide against the seasoned veteran, winning the next three sets. 

After a missed long forehand by Djokovic, Alcaraz dropped to the court while the crowd rose to their feet. Alcaraz has now joined a group of only nine male tennis legends who have completed a career Grand Slam—including his opponent Novak Djokovic, his fellow Spaniard Rafael Nadal, and the legendary Rod Laver. And he did it all at only 22.

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Features

The road to reckoning

by Nell Pollak on

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On the afternoon of April 2019, Joseph-Christopher Luamba was driving to Collège Montmorency for a study session when a police cruiser coming from the opposite direction turned around to pull him over. After running checks, the officer let him go without issuing a ticket. In the 18 months following his driver’s licence issuance, Luamba was stopped more than ten times. Each time, he was let go without so much as a fine. Luamba’s experience is not an anomaly, but a view into a broader pattern of how ‘random’ traffic stops operate for Black motorists in Quebec when a law allows police to stop drivers without cause, without criteria, and without accountability.

On Jan. 19 and Jan. 20 of this year, the Supreme Court of Canada (SCC) heard arguments for //Luamba v. Quebec//. Should the Supreme Court rule against Quebec, it could set a precedent with broader consequences for other provinces that employ similar traffic stop regulations. Currently, random or arbitrary stops are permissible in all other provinces, which continue to operate under the 1990 Supreme Court precedent set in //R. v. Ladouceur//. 

Two lower courts have already ruled these stops unconstitutional. Quebec Superior Court Justice Michel Yergeau ruled in October 2022 that Article 636 of Quebec’s Highway Safety Code—the provision authorizing random traffic stops—violates sections seven, nine, and 15 of The Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, which guarantee liberty, security, protection against arbitrary detention, and equality rights. The Quebec Court of Appeal unanimously upheld that decision in //Attorney General of Quebec v. Luamba// in October 2024. Given the Court of Appeals decision that the negative impacts of random stops on the Black community outweigh the benefits to the public of letting them continue, random traffic stops have been suspended in Quebec since April 2025.

Now, Quebec’s Attorney General and Minister of Justice, Simon Jolin-Barrette, is asking the Supreme Court to overturn those rulings, arguing that police need this power to ensure road safety. Interveners, including the Canadian Association of Chiefs of Police (CACP) and Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD), have joined in support, arguing that random mobile stops are more effective at catching impaired drivers than stationary checkpoints. But this framing pits road safety against civil rights, as though protecting one requires sacrificing the other, creating a false binary that obscures what is actually at stake: Whether a discretionary police power that has been proven to enable racial profiling can be justified under the Charter.

//When ‘random’ stops are anything but//

Quebec officials and supporters of their case in //Luamba// describe these as ‘random’ traffic stops—but the data tells a different story. When police are free to stop any driver for any reason—or no reason at all—the pattern remains consistent: Black and Indigenous drivers are stopped at rates vastly disproportionate to their share of the population. What Quebec calls discretion, the evidence establishes as discrimination.

Since 2022, Quebec police forces have begun collecting race‑based data on who they stop, but many have been reluctant to publish the results—a reticence that speaks volumes about what those numbers are likely to show. Data from Laval, Quebec’s third-largest city, showed that Black people were subjected to 19.7 per cent of police stops despite comprising only 8.9 per cent of the population. In Montreal, a 2019 report spanning data from 2014-2017 found Black people were approximately 4.2 times more likely to be stopped by the Service de police de la Ville de Montréal than white people, and Indigenous people 4.6 times more likely. 

Harini Sivalingam, director of the equality program at the Canadian Civil Liberties Association, stressed that there is nothing neutral about how this power operates.

“I want to be clear, there’s nothing random about these stops,” Sivalingam said in an interview with //The Tribune//. “We’re not talking about a structured program to check sobriety. What we’re talking about is a police power that just enables anyone, at any time, anywhere to be subjected to what we feel is an unconstitutional stop by police.”

The harm, she stressed, runs far deeper than momentary inconvenience. At trial, Black individuals described the psychological toll of being stopped over and over again—persistent sleep loss, reluctance to leave home, anxiety, and a deep erosion of trust in a police force that targets, rather than protects, their communities. Luamba himself testified that whenever he sees a police cruiser, he instinctively prepares to pull over.

“The harm doesn’t stop at the roadside,” Sivalingam explained. “It doesn’t stop before or after. The harm is ongoing—the anticipation, the fear and the anxiety of being pulled over is very real.” 

Sivalingam also pointed to how young Black children are taught from early ages how to interact with police to protect themselves. These conversations, as a routine part of the Black experience in Canada, are themselves an indictment of the practice of ‘random’ stops—and a reminder that what’s at issue in //Luamba// is not just how police interact with drivers, but how the law structures everyday life for entire communities. Instead of building confidence in public safety, these traffic stops under Article 636 continuously undermine it.

//A manufactured safety dichotomy//

Quebec’s defence centres on grounds similar to those the Supreme Court accepted in 1990: Police need discretionary powers to keep roads safe, ignoring three decades of evidence on racial profiling that it has accumulated since. MADD has warned that striking down Article 636 could lead to increased injuries and death related to alcohol and drug-impaired driving. The CACP justifies random stops as an essential tool for promoting compliance with traffic regulations.

This framing, however, diverts attention from what the evidentiary record actually shows. In 2024, Quebec’s Superior Court, upheld by the Court of Appeal, found that the Attorney General failed to adduce evidence that random, suspicionless traffic stops improve highway safety, inadequately demonstrating a rational connection between this power and the government’s stated safety objectives. 

According to Solomon McKenzie, counsel to the Canadian Association of Black Lawyers in //Luamba//, the expert record in the case is unequivocal. 

“There’s been extensive expert evidence led in the case of Luamba,” McKenzie said in an interview with //The Tribune//. “All of whom have shown that this kind of unfocused, unstructured, and randomized stop of individuals is not effective policing. It does not result in reducing traffic infractions.”

Conspicuously, the rulings do not affect structured, program‑based roadside checkpoints, such as sobriety roadblocks, whose legality is expressly preserved in //Luamba// and which police can still use under designated road‑safety programs.

“I think what’s important is to recognize that you can have programs that reduce impaired driving that don’t result in this arbitrary power that enables racial profiling,” Sivalingam said. 

The safety argument also obscures a crucial legal distinction: The difference between legitimate police discretion and arbitrary power. Lorne Foster, professor and director of York University‘s Institute for Social Research, has studied this intersection for over a decade.

“I do accept that discretion is necessary for officers to handle complex situations,” Foster explained in an interview with //The Tribune//. “But when you use discretion, it can also be influenced by implicit biases, and that can lead to racialized stereotypes.” 

The difference lies in accountability, he says. “An example of arbitrary use of police power is when there’s no evidence-based monitoring, no standards, no transparency, and no civilian oversight.”

Article 636 provides none of these safeguards. It grants police unconstrained authority to stop any driver without cause, without criteria, and without review—precisely the conditions under which bias flourishes. This is not discretion exercised within limits; it is arbitrary power without accountability.

//The ‘Bad Apples’ Defence//

Quebec’s attorney general has argued that the problem lies not with the law itself but with individual officers who conduct “illegal interceptions” based on prejudice. The logic follows that the power to randomly stop is neutral—racial profiling results from its sporadic—not systemic—misuse.

But this distinction collapses under scrutiny. Racial profiling often operates implicitly. Without objective criteria governing who gets stopped, without data collection, and without oversight, there is no way to identify when a stop is discriminatory and when it is not. The law provides no mechanism to detect its own abuse.

“When Quebec claims stops are exercised without regard to race while refusing to collect or publish comprehensive race-based data, they’re just disabusing the public with their ignorance,” Foster said. “You have to somehow monitor that. You have to have an empirical, evidence-based tool to ensure that that is the case.” 

His point is simple: A government that does not collect adequate race-based data cannot credibly insist that race plays no role in how a power is used.

“By permitting unfettered discretion, the law makes it impossible to distinguish between its permissible operation and its unconstitutional abuse, so that racial profiling remains both pervasive and legally invisible,” Sabrina Shillingford, who represented the Black Legal Action Centre before the Supreme Court, said in an interview with //The Tribune//.

This is precisely why the ‘bad apples’ defence fails. As McKenzie put it in an interview with //The Tribune//: “The full phrase is a bad apple spoils the bunch. The literal phrase in English is that if you let bad actors fester inside a system, they ultimately corrupt the entire system.”

//What’s at Stake//

Quebec is asking the Supreme Court to accept that the speculative benefits of random stops outweigh their documented injustices. 

“The evidence that we do have shows that Black people are being disproportionately stopped and are suffering actual harms. At a certain point, it starts to prioritize the hypothetical safety of some versus the very real safety of Black individuals who are being targeted,” Shillingford said in an interview with //The Tribune//.

The implications extend beyond traffic stops. The justice system functions as a race-making institution—one that actively constructs and reinforces racial categories through its operations. When Black drivers are stopped at rates far exceeding their share of the population, they are disproportionately exposed to criminalization. This produces statistics showing higher rates of criminal involvement—statistics that then get cited to justify the very policing practices that produced them. 

The SCC striking down Article 636 would not, on its own, dismantle this cycle. But upholding it would constitutionally entrench one of its key mechanisms—signalling that police powers enabling racial profiling can survive Charter scrutiny so long as governments invoke road safety.  It would effectively ratify the false safety‑versus‑rights binary Quebec has cultivated, treating the mental‑health harms, the erosion of trust, and the everyday fear described by Black drivers as an acceptable price of doing public safety. 

“This isn’t a hard case,” Sivalingam said. “It’s very clear-cut. The law disproportionately harms racialized people, undermines equality, and doesn’t enhance public safety. It can’t be justified.”

For Black drivers like Luamba, this case is not about an abstract balance between rights and safety. It is about whether the law will continue to sanction a power that has taught them to brace every time a cruiser appears in the rear‑view mirror, to teach their children how to manage encounters with law enforcement that are treated as inevitable, and to live with the ongoing anxiety that those encounters can happen at any moment, without cause. The SCC cannot undo the years in which ‘random’ stops have normalized that reflex for Black communities. But it can start by refusing to continue constitutionally underwriting it.

News, The Tribune Explains

The Tribune Explains: The Health Statutes Amendment Act

by Josette Chandler on

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In December 2024, the Legislative Assembly of Alberta passed the Health Statutes Amendment Act, officially known as Bill 26. This act restricts minors’ access to gender-affirming care (GAC), including prescriptions for puberty blockers and hormone therapy. In response, Egale Canada and Skipping Stone initiated litigation against the Government of Alberta over the constitutionality of Bill 26. In June 2025, the Court of King’s Bench of Alberta granted an injunction, effectively pausing Bill 26’s enactment.

In November 2025, the government introduced Bill 9, which used the notwithstanding clause to override the Charter of Rights and Freedoms. The injunction was ultimately removed in December 2025. Since then, Trans Rights YEG has created a petition to be brought into the House of Commons. The Tribune outlines how Bill 26 affects trans youth disproportionately, explaining how the petition may reverse the proposed legislation.

What is Bill 26?

Bill 26 is an Alberta law that amends the Provincial Health Agencies Act as well as the Health Professions Act by introducing regulations for new and existing provincial health organizations. 

Celeste Trianon, an activist in Montreal known for her documentation and tracking of anti-trans legislation, considers this law unconstitutional. In a written response to The Tribune, she stated how Bill 26 signals to trans youth that they are second-class citizens in Alberta, and that they do not have the same rights to care as other Albertans.

“It’s simple, they’re constitutionally protected rights!” Trianon wrote in relation to GAC. “This includes the right to life, liberty, and security of the person, to be exempt from cruel and unusual treatment, and to be treated equally under the law. This also includes, for trans youth themselves, to be treated under the principle of the ‘best interests of the child,’ the governing principle of family law across Canada.”

What does Bill 26 do?

Under this bill, minors in Alberta cannot access GAC, including puberty blockers, Hormone Replacement Therapy (HRT), and gender-affirming surgeries. Trianon insists the ban does long-lasting damage to the minors affected. 

“These bans do not protect [trans youth]. Countless instances of research and the Alberta Court of King’s Bench have held that such bans create irreparable harm—up to and including suicide. And in many cases, these consequences are lifelong, both physical and psychological,” Trianon wrote.

According to a study by the Trevor Project, an organization founded in 1998 to aid 2SLGBTQIA+ youth, anti-trans legislation—like that limiting access to GAC—increases suicide rates in trans and non-binary youth by 72 per cent. HRT has been found to decrease suicidality by over 67 per cent, showing this form of GAC to be crucial to supporting trans youth—a demographic where close to 49 per cent experience suicidal ideation.

What will the petition do?

With their petition, Trans Rights YEG is attempting to stop the continued implementation of Bill 26. The petition has already reached its goal of 500 signatures, but is still continuing to accept signatures until it is brought before the House of Commons. If successful, it will ensure trans youth in Alberta have access to GAC once again. Anyone who is a resident in Canada can sign the petition. 

Trianon joined Trans Rights YEG in support of this petition. She insists that the passing of this petition is essential to stopping Bill 26’s drastic negative effects. 

“Kids will die. Families will be split apart. People will suffer. And the consequences will be unquantifiable,” Trianon said. “Few times do governments decide to actively destroy the lives of a few people, but the consequences will certainly be intergenerational.”

Editorial, Opinion

Canada would rather spend millions than confront systemic anti-Black racism

by The Tribune Editorial Board on

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In 2020, the Black Class Action Secretariat (BCAS), a non-profit organization dedicated to addressing systemic discrimination against workers across Canada’s public institutions, filed Thompson et al. vs Canada, a federal class action representing 45,000 Black Canadians. The lawsuit seeks to address systemic anti-Black racism in the Public Service of Canada, namely discrimination in the hiring and promotion of Black employees. 

After five years of litigation, the Federal Court denied certification of the class action in March 2025. Despite publicly acknowledging the pervasive nature of anti-Black discrimination in the Public Service and settling class actions with other groups in the same sector, the Canadian federal government has refused to recognize the legitimacy of the lawsuit’s claims and has spent over $15 million CAD targeting the BCAS aggressive legal injunctions.

By financing the obstruction of Black public servants from legal channels instead of taking concrete, institutional action against systemic racism, the Government of Canada has once again revealed that its commitment to fighting anti-Black discrimination is superficial and perfunctory. The Canadian federal government’s continued prioritization of public statements over effective policy only leads to further entrenchment of structural racism in the public sector—a pattern mirrored by institutions across the country, including McGill. 

Black employees are chronically underrepresented in the Public Service, making up less than two per cent of managerial positions and often being hired in lower-level administrative categories. In the criminal justice system, where Black people are disproportionately targeted through over-policing and incarceration, representation is crucial. A lack of diversity and Black leadership within the Department of Justice and the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) shapes outcomes for Black Canadians and further ingrains bias into already discriminatory systems. 

To address these gaps, the BCAS lawsuit has demanded several tangible action items: Equitable representation, an external reporting mechanism for harassment and misconduct, financial compensation, and a Black Equity Commission to coordinate recommendations. Injuries amount to $2.5 billion CAD, with the BCAS also requesting that funds be allocated for punitive damages to deter future discrimination. 

The Federal Court justified rejecting the lawsuit’s certification by asserting that its claims  could risk over-expenditure, despite the government comfortably investing $15,024,452 CAD in legal dues to fight the BCAS. This funding could have been transformative if directed toward the action items identified by the BCAS, or if employed to tackle anti-Black racism in other institutions across Canada, such as the healthcare, education, housing, and child welfare systems. The federal government’s message is clear: Canada would rather invest in silencing legal claims than taking genuine steps to confront anti-Black racism.

Crucially, the lawsuit also demands amending the Employment Equity Act to create a separate category for Black employees distinct from the ‘visible minority’ designation, a term used to identify groups eligible for equity measures. This strategy of demarcation erases complex differences in experiences between racialized groups in Canada, instead choosing to define ‘visible minorities’ in the negative, as “persons other than Indigenous people who are non-Caucasian in race or non-white in colour”—a framing that positions whiteness as the default against which everyone else is defined. By homogenizing all racialized groups into a single umbrella category, this approach neglects how systemic racism targets Black Canadians through distinct mechanisms that lead to disparate inequities.

This pattern of neglect for comprehensive reckoning is not confined to the federal government. Bound by the Employment Equity Act, McGill’s own policies are too shaped by the presence of the ‘visible minority’ designation and its accompanying negligence, with McGill’s commitment to reconciling its history of racism and slavery remaining superficial. Reporting and faculty testimonies continue to document severe underrepresentation of Black professors, hostile workplace environments, systemic discrimination against Black faculty, exclusion from senior leadership, and an over-reliance on Black labour to drive anti-racism efforts. 


The BCAS has since appealed the Federal Court’s refusal to certify their class action. The Canadian government, its courts, and institutions like McGill are now confronted with a choice: Continue to rely on empty gestures, or take meaningful action toward fighting anti-Black racism. Institutions must disaggregate ‘visible minority’ data, institute binding hiring and promotion commitments for Black workers and faculty, and create independent mechanisms for reporting anti-Black discrimination. Not statements, not mere recognition, not diversion and distraction—radical, systemic change.

Commentary, Opinion

Race-blind justice isn’t justice at all

by Ellen Lurie on

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In July 2025, Frank Paris, a 52-year-old Black man raised in Montreal, was sentenced to three years in prison after pleading guilty to trafficking cannabis and hash. However, with the help of his lawyer, who submitted a report outlining Paris’s experiences with systemic racism, the judge reduced his sentence from 35 to 24 months. 

This style of report is known as an Impact of Race and Culture Assessment (IRCA). IRCAs offer a tactic for criminal justice professionals to inform judges of the effect of systemic discrimination on the offender, their life experiences, and, therefore, their experiences with the justice system. IRCAs are employed at the sentencing stage of trials and are often used to advocate for reduced sentences or alternatives to incarceration.

IRCAs represent a critical, anti-racist method to address the overrepresentation of Black individuals in the carceral system. By providing an opportunity for judges to reevaluate overly punitive sentences, courts are able to achieve justice outcomes that avoid further entrenching systemic racism in courts and prisons.

Paris’s case was the first time in Quebec that a judge had used an IRCA when determining a sentence for a Black offender. Paris’s IRCA outlined his experiences with systemic and interpersonal racism in Nova Scotia, where he spent most of his summers as a child. Nova Scotia is often referred to as ‘the deep south of Canada,’ home to the highest rate of hate crimes across the country and site of the destruction of Africville. The report also outlined several incidents in which Paris had faced overt racial discrimination, including a time when he was detained in a holding cell for immigrants despite being a Canadian citizen. Without an IRCA, the judge’s verdict would have neglected how these experiences shaped Paris’s relationship with the justice system. 

Since 2021, the Government of Canada has offered substantial funding to support the implementation of IRCAs across the country, with these funds earmarked for training legal professionals who prepare IRCAs, professional development courses, and provincial costs associated with IRCAs. 

However, in 2025, Quebec turned down federal funding for IRCAs, as Christopher Skeete, Quebec Minister Responsible for the Fight Against Racism, argued that IRCAs contradict a key aim of anti-racism: Equality under the law. According to Skeete, using race as a criterion by which to evaluate and determine justice outcomes is, in itself, an act of racism.

Yet Skeete’s analysis flattens the true purpose of policies like IRCAs: Not equality, not equity, but justice—collectively challenging the underlying social structures, power dynamics, and institutional practices that perpetuate injustice. 

Affirmative action measures are instrumental in correcting systemic biases against marginalized groups. IRCAs do not represent the undue targeting of a racial minority. Instead, they facilitate the necessary and legitimate uplifting of Black Canadians, a group that colonial forces and the Government of Canada have systemically disadvantaged through over 200 years of slavery, decades of immigration restrictions, formal segregation in education, and still today, racism in the workplace, housing discrimination, overrepresentation in the criminal justice system, and police profiling. 

Offering resources or making policy determinations based on ‘equality’ in a system that is inherently unequal merely maintains the systemically discriminatory status quo. Only through anti-racist, justice-based protocols can true equality within institutions like the criminal justice system be realized.

Yet denialist myths surrounding systemic racism in Quebec are disturbingly common. Quebec Premier François Legault has repeatedly asserted that systemic racism does not exist. The myth of Canadian exceptionalism still persists, under which it is asserted that Canada is a utopian, ‘raceless’ society that has escaped the rise of populism and white nationalism by virtue of its unique, multicultural nature. The Canadian census continues to manipulate and erase the concept of race from its surveys, leading not to a more equal society but to a shortage of the data necessary to inform its reconfiguration.
The use of an IRCA in Paris’s case has been subject to widespread backlash, including an incredibly hateful piece by La Presse columnist Patrick Lagacé, who called it “de la bullshit pour jus.” Yet these critics are not defending fairness; they are defending a status quo where systemic racism persists unchallenged. A justice system that refuses to see race is not neutral—it’s just more efficient at reproducing injustice.

McGill, Montreal, News, Recap

Recap: Montreal’s housing crisis becomes increasing cause for concern among residents

by Eimaan Ahmed on

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In July 2025, the Coalition Avenir Québec (CAQ) agreed to a project proposal that permits cohabitation in social housing, allowing unhoused individuals to live with a roommate. However, as of January 2026, this proposal has not yet been implemented. 

In response, Québec Solidaire called out the CAQ on Jan. 18 for its inaction on the issue. They cited the CAQ’s inefficiency in fulfilling its commitments to provide housing solutions to counter the shelter crisis. 

The city’s homeless shelters are increasingly overoccupied, with many unhoused individuals turning to emergency rooms for shelter. In a written statement to The Tribune, Jayne Malenfant, an assistant professor in the Department of Integrated Studies in Education, explained how the government could implement homelessness prevention to offset the number of people in need of housing.

“The proposed project would have been a start but it would have just treated the symptoms of the housing crisis rather than the root causes,” Malenfant said. “The provincial and municipal governments have to start considering and implementing rights-based policies that see a home as a right, and not something that people can be pushed out of for the profit of landlords or rental companies.” 

The homelessness crisis has worsened with rising costs of living, increasing rent prices, and insufficient funding for community groups. In the first quarter of 2025 alone, the average rent for two-bedroom apartments in the metropolitan area increased by 7.7 per cent, making it harder for residents to find affordable housing. 

Eza-Marie Lambert, U1 Arts, reflected on rising housing costs in a statement to The Tribune. 

“The only reason my parents and I are able to live on the first floor of a beautiful triplex in the Plateau is because we rent it at a discounted price from my extended family, who purchased the whole building for under $70,000 [CAD] back in the late sixties,” Lambert said. “To put that number in perspective, purchasing that same building in 2026 would run you well over $2,000,000 [CAD].”

Science & Technology

Inside McGill’s chapter of The National Society of Black Engineers

by José Moro Gutiérrez on

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For many Black engineering students at McGill, finding community can be just as important as academic success. The McGill chapter of the National Society of Black Engineers (NSBE) aims to provide that support through camaraderie, mentorship, and leadership.

One of the students helping lead these efforts is Fatima Janneh, a third-year student in McGill’s Department of Bioengineering, and the current Vice President of NSBE McGill. Janneh has been involved with NSBE since her first year at McGill, but her connection to the organization began even earlier. While still in high school, she attended a summer program at the University of Toronto (UofT) and heard a guest speaker—then president of UofT’s NSBE chapter—talk about how the organization provided networking and professional opportunities. At the time, Janneh was interested in STEM but unsure about pursuing engineering. Seeing Black engineers, particularly women, changed that perspective.

“People of colour, Black people like me, a woman who wears a hijab—I was not seeing that in engineering,” Janneh said in an interview with The Tribune. “Other people in that panel who were also Black inspired me to pursue this career. I was 16 years old at the time. Fast forward a couple of years, and now I am in my first year of university.”

One of NSBE McGill’s most anticipated events is the Black Legacy Dinner, held annually during Black History Month. The event brings together students, professionals, and sponsors from across the Greater Montreal Area to discuss experiences in the professional world as Black individuals. This year’s dinner will take place on Feb. 16, and is themed “Yes We Can”—a reference to former U.S. President Barack Obama. The dinner features up to 100 participants and a panel of speakers from different backgrounds, including engineering, social work, philanthropy, and startups.

Janneh also discussed how NSBE’s internal culture plays a central role in its impact. General meetings include informal discussions about members’ weeks and shared experiences, alongside event and logistic planning, which helps create an environment where members feel comfortable speaking openly.

NSBE McGill collaborates regularly with other Black student organizations at McGill, including the Black Student Network, the African Students Society, and the Caribbean Students Society. These collaborations aim to bring together different Black student communities at McGill through social and cultural events.

NSBE McGill is also connected to other chapters across North America. Each year, members attend the NSBE Convention, which brings together more than 10,000 students. This year’s convention will take place in Baltimore from March 17 to 22. The event offers networking opportunities with major companies and allows students to connect with peers from other chapters. Additionally, NSBE McGill participates in the East Canada Zone conference and was recently named Chapter of the Season for its involvement in student life.

While NSBE McGill has grown since its founding in 2005, Janneh noted that challenges related to representation remain.

“When I walk in a room, not many people will know the feeling of being a Black student. The Black identity can be very different for others [….] There are certain prejudices that people might have in their minds but that they will never voice, though you can still feel them,” Janneh explained. “In the past, NSBE had to struggle with visibility and member count. But now, every single year, I see it grow more.”

Janneh stressed that her presence at McGill is tied to a broader sense of responsibility.

“I am here for more than just my degree. I am here to learn, grow, develop my skills [….] There is a pressure on me to be able to grow. I know my parents came here for us to have a better education, for us to have a better future. I can’t just throw this down the drain.”

To first-year students who may be questioning their place in engineering, Janneh offered one piece of advice: Avoid isolation.

“Just because you do not see representation in your class does not mean you won’t find representation anywhere else. I know it is difficult to go to those events when you don’t know anybody, but reaching out will bring you where you need to go.”

Basketball, Sports

Optimism for Redbirds Basketball

by Will Kennedy on

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McGill’s Men’s Basketball team currently finds itself at the bottom of the Réseau du sport étudiant du Québec (RSEQ) standings. The conference is not a forgiving one, as it boasts two top teams: The Bishop’s University Gaiters, ranked second in the country, and the Université Laval Rouge et Or, who are not far from the top 10. McGill has had a rough go of things with a 2–13 record, but the Redbirds are a better team than their record would suggest, with plenty of hope for the future. 

Over the weekend, the Redbirds played Laval in what was a familiar tale. The McGill team had a strong start to the fourth quarter, bringing the crowd to life. Excitement in the gym peaked after a thunderous dunk from Saransh Padhy who finished with a team-high 18 points, accounting for 60 per cent of the total output from McGill’s five starters. Laval responded with a scoring run of their own, taking a game that was once tied at 55 apiece and quickly building a double-digit lead. Letting close games slip away in the fourth quarter has been an issue all season for the Redbirds, who have lost six times by just 12 points or fewer. In modern basketball, a 12-point swing is fairly minor. 

The Redbirds’ fourth-quarter struggles have not happened in a vacuum. McGill ranks last in points per game amongst the five RSEQ teams, with a measly 68 points. Looking across all of U SPORTS, only three teams in the country average fewer than 70 points on offence. At the same time, McGill surrenders around 80 points per game, which also puts them last in the RSEQ. 

While the Redbirds have not exactly excelled this season when it comes to offensive efficiency, the metrics suggest they should not be a bottom-three offence in the country or the worst in the RSEQ. They sit third on the RSEQ standings for field goal and free throw percentage, while occupying fourth in three-point percentage. Their main issue has been the number of shots taken in comparison to their opponents. This discrepancy is a two-fold issue—the team is turning the ball over roughly four times per game more than opponents, while also being outrebounded by an average of nearly six rebounds per game. No matter how efficient you are, it is a tall task to win with 10 fewer possessions.

Rebounding issues were on full display against Laval, where the Redbirds were outrebounded 48-35 and lost the fourth quarter rebounding matchup by four points. McGill could not keep opposing big men off the glass late in the game, something that both extended Laval’s lead and ran the clock dry. The inability to pull in rebounds also led to several Laval free throws as McGill’s defence scrambled to get stops in the paint. McGill has players who can guard and force missed shots, but what happens before the shot goes up no longer matters with a forgone rebound.

Despite this season’s struggles, there should be plenty of optimism moving forward: It is clear that the Redbirds have plenty of talent and room to grow. Their entire roster has remaining eligibility next season, including the team’s two top scorers, Sean Duff and Padhy. 

Duff has had a strong start at McGill, scoring in double figures in 13 of the 18 games he has played dating back to preseason. Meanwhile, Padhy has truly broken out. Last season, he averaged 7.5 points and 3.9 rebounds; this season, he is up to 13.1 points and 7.3 rebounds per game. Padhy appears to be a safety valve on offence late in possessions, someone whose teammates can trust to make the best of a short shot clock. With so many returning players, Assistant Coach Martin Cassini sees a bright future for the team. 

“I think some of our guys who have been here a couple years will be ready to step into leadership roles,” Cassini said. 

He also highlights this year’s rookies as a bright spot in the team and a reason to be excited about the future.

“Our rookies this year have great work ethic and willingness to improve their game,” Cassini said.

Arts & Entertainment, Exhibition

‘Aunties’ Work: The Power of Care’ spotlights Black matriarchs

by Gretta Iraheta Palacios on

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In many Black communities, ‘auntie’ is not just a family title, but a mark of respect given to women who serve as pillars of their community, regardless of blood ties. They serve as nurturers and mentors to the youth, creating protected spaces where members of their community can dare to dream. Though their labour often goes unacknowledged, its impact is deeply felt by their loved ones. Aunties’ Work: The Power of Care at the McCord Stewart Museum, created by fashion designer and researcher Nadia Bunyan, honours the resilient care networks forged by these matriarchs in Montreal’s Black communities. 

As the founder of Growing A.R.C., a nonprofit that builds community through interaction with material culture and sustainability practices, Bunyan designed the exhibit to embody the core values that guide her work. She made community collaboration central to her creative process, working closely with Montreal’s Black community. Through 21 audio interviews, Bunyan invited members to share their own experiences with their aunties and reflect on the impact of their care. This process gave her a clear understanding of how these figures keep their community united through acts of love and care.

The exhibit’s first section, “Bodies of Care,” features three spotlighted mannequins, each representing a different decade: the ‘70s, ‘80s, and ‘90s. Bunyan explained in a conversation with Alexis Walker, hosted by the museum, that the mannequins and their placement recreate the comfort and safety of entering a room and being greeted by one’s aunties. A lace doily motif decorates the wall behind the mannequins, a detail Bunyan’s interviewees consistently recalled seeing in their aunties’ homes. As a result, the doily motif appears in every section of the exhibit. The mannequin embodying the ‘80s wears a yellow blouse and pants ensemble that once belonged to Bunyan’s mother, adding a personal touch to the installation. 

The “Materialities of Care” section displays borrowed belongings, including garments, books, and CDs, revealing how Black matriarchs influence different facets of life for their loved ones. A touchscreen also allows visitors to gain further insight about the pieces—their source, the stories they tell, and their cultural significance.

A vintage vanity anchors the “Reflections and Continuity of Care” section. The piece sits within a halo of pictures of various aunties, dating from the ‘70s to the present day, creating a sense of being watched over by these nurturing figures. The vanity’s mirror reminds visitors that they, too, are a reflection of the work of aunties and invites them to consider how they can continue the cycle of care for the generations to come.

Lastly, the “Discussions of Care” section features a video projection of a roundtable discussion between some of Bunyan’s interviewees. As one walks through the exhibition, the voices of community aunties and of the people who have directly felt the impact of their care can be heard. In the interview clips, they share their fondest memories with these matriarchal figures. 

Bunyan’s overall work also touches on a social, cultural and political facet of Black communities. While the selected pieces represent symbols associated with aunties, they equally reflect the respectability politics present within the Black community, under which the social scrutiny Black people face manifests in a concern with self-presentation. However, through the love and care that the aunties impart, this deep attention to their appearance shifts into a sense of pride surrounding their identity.

At the end of the exhibition, a private nook offers notebooks and pens for visitors to write down their own reflections on how aunties have shaped their personal lives. Bunyan explained that this section positions itself as a contrast to the ephemerality of art expositions. Through the words on the pages, the experience of the exhibit is immortalized.

Aunties’ Work: The Power of Care runs until April 12, 2026, at the McCord Stewart Museum, located on rue Sherbrooke.

Student Life, Student of the Week

Student of the Week: Aya

by Lulu Calame on

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In February of 2025, following the completion of her honours-level Bachelor’s degree in clinical nutrition in Gaza, Aya was admitted to McGill’s M.Sc. thesis program in Human Nutrition. Now, a year later, she remains trapped in Gaza, unable to provide the necessary biometric data to complete her application. 

Because of limited border crossings in Gaza under Israel’s genocide and the lack of a visa application centre (VAC) in Palestine, Aya was forced to defer her admission to McGill to the Winter 2026 semester, and then again to the Fall 2026 semester. With the former now well underway, she has yet to receive the support she needs to provide her biometrics. This would result in a third deferral, after which she will lose her offer of admission. 

“This opportunity [to attend McGill] represents years of hard work finally being recognized,” Aya said in an interview with The Tribune. 

Aya is one of 130 Palestinian students who have been accepted into Canadian universities but remain barred from travel to begin their studies; 70 of these students, like Aya, are trapped in Gaza even after the ceasefire, while 30 have evacuated to Egypt.

The biometric requirement that holds Aya in Gaza has already been circumvented by a number of countries—including the United Kingdom, France, and Ireland. These countries have all established programs to either evacuate students to Egypt or Jordan to obtain biometrics, or to waive the biometric requirement entirely, with the understanding that students in Gaza face exceptional circumstances and cannot be held to standard visa stipulations. In 2022, under this same logic, Canada—rightfully—waived the biometric requirement for some Ukrainians fleeing Russia’s war in their country. The same support has not been extended to Palestinian students.

“I know students who got scholarships from other countries and [have] been evacuated and started their degrees, but there’s [still] no action [from the] Canadian government to help us get evacuated from Gaza,” Aya said. 

While awaiting political action from the Canadian federal government and Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC), Aya is working full-time as a nutrition officer with an international non-governmental organization (NGO). 

Though the famine has subsided, malnutrition persists in the Gaza Strip as food remains expensive and insufficient—a scarcity created and upheld by Israel’s continued restriction of food supplies into the region. Her days involve supporting malnutrition screening, food distribution, and medical treatment, while her evenings are spent taking independent online courses to supplement her work. 

“Living in Gaza, we continue to struggle under extremely difficult conditions, as there is still severe food insecurity [….] A lot of children and pregnant, lactating women are malnourished. The struggling is still the same,” Aya explained. “Even when food enters Gaza, prices remain extremely high, converted to before the genocide, and most families have no source of income.” 

From Aya’s nutritional perspective, the food in Gaza is not just deficient in quantity, but also in quality. 

“Even what enters Gaza is for commercial use, a lot of snacks, a lot of […] energy drinks,” Aya said. “It’s not high-quality food, [like] vegetables and fruits, to resolve the malnutrition impact in children, in elderly people.”

In Gaza, expertise in clinical nutrition like Aya’s saves lives. By failing to facilitate Aya’s education and research at McGill, the Canadian government and IRCC are denying a lifeline to those in Gaza, where Aya plans to return after her studies. 

“These delays affect far more than one individual future,” Aya said. “When opportunities like these are lost, the impact extends to [the] entire community, as my goal has always been to return and help my community in Gaza.”

For Palestinian scholars in Gaza today, education is not so much a personal undertaking as it is an imperative responsibility to their Palestinian homeland and those who remain in it. 

“That’s why we are looking for this opportunity,” Aya said. “It’s not a choice. It’s mandatory to have a good education.”

The future of Gaza lies in academic expertise capable of rebuilding from the ground up. 

“Supporting our ability to study,” Aya said, referring to all prospective Palestinian students and scholars, “is also an investment in the future recovery and resilience of our community.”

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