Latest News

News, SSMU

Queer McGill, SSMU, and UGE form coalition against proposed Bill 2

by Ghazal Azizi on

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Content warning: transphobia

On Jan. 29 of this year, a Quebec Superior Court ruling declared six provisions of the province’s Civil Code unconstitutional and discriminatory against the 2SLGBTQIA+ community. In response to an order by Quebec Superior Court judge Gregory Moore, Justice Minister Simon Jolin-Barrette proposed Bill 2 at the Quebec National Assembly on Oct. 21. Though the bill was intended to revise the Civil Code’s sections on 2SLGBTQIA+ issues in accordance with the Superior Court ruling, Bill 2 has been widely criticized for being regressive and has thus been tabled while awaiting public consultation.

Three McGill groups—the Students’ Society of McGill University (SSMU), Queer McGill, and the Union for Gender Empowerment (UGE)—have formed a coalition under the leadership of Queer McGill’s Trans Working Group to advocate against the bill.

The McGill Coalition Against Bill 2 opposes the distinction between sex and gender on legal documents that Bill 2 would implement, as it will automatically “out” individuals whose gender identity differs from their sex assigned at birth. The coalition also objects to the bill’s proposal to require surgery to change their sex on their birth certificate, because it creates pressures to undergo a sterilizing procedure and assumes that sex defines gender identity. The coalition also protests a section of the bill that would designate a male or female sex to intersex newborns, heightening the risk of surgical intervention on infants.

Arwyn Regimbal, U1 Social Work and a member of the coalition, feels that Bill 2 is a misguided response to the Superior Court ruling that provoked it. 

“Reading the judgement and comparing it to the bill, you can see that there was some intention to negate rights,” Regimbal said in an interview with The McGill Tribune. “[Bill 2] interprets the judgement in such a narrow way that on the surface it technically complies with it but when it comes to the spirit of what is being done, it’s quite regressive and actively harmful.”

Cal Pease, U3 Science and resource coordinator for Queer McGill, explained that the coalition intends to fight Bill 2 through a three-pronged program that raises awareness, provides resources to those affected by it, and demands changes be made. The coalition has also been advocating for a wider condemnation of sections 23, 24, 26, 30, 33, 41, 42, 43, and 247 of the bill, including putting pressure on the McGill administration to issue a statement. 

“We call on McGill to publicly denounce these sections of the bill and [to] take a more active stance against transphobia,” said Pease in an interview with the Tribune. “I think a lot of the advocacy on campus is coming from a grassroot perspective, which is wonderful, but it would be good to have that reflected in the administration as well and [to] have [their] support.”

Yara Coussa, U3 Arts and arts representative to SSMU, echoed Pease’s frustration with McGill’s silence. Coussa believes that McGill’s inaction demonstrates compliance with transphobia.

“No statement, no message of support,” Coussa said in an interview with the Tribune. “Even if [McGill] did not want to be overtly political, they could have sent out a message of support for trans people. That has not been done.”

Despite the absence of a comment on the bill or statement of support from McGill, the coalition is committed to providing resources for the transgender, intersex, non-binary, and other gender-diverse communities on campus. 

“We have been coming up with various resources and putting them together on a website,” Pease said. “Arwyn made a flow chart about changing your name and sex in Quebec for people who are interested in doing that now, in case the bill takes effect. We are also trying to direct people to the resources that already exist on campus like Queer McGill and UGE.”

If you would benefit from support at this challenging time, please note that the following resources are available to assist you:

Trans Lifeline: 877-330-6366

Keep.meSafe (24/7 access to licensed counsellors available to all McGill students.)

Peer Support Centre at McGill

More at McGill Students Against Bill2

Arts & Entertainment, Poetry

A modern approach to long-form poetry readings

by Louis Lussier-Piette on

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Content Warning: Mention of suicide

On Nov. 26, Concordia professors Jason Camlot and John Emil Vincent held a reading of their new poetry books, Vlarf and Bitter in the Belly, respectively. Hosted by English literature professor Katherine McLoed at Concordia’s 4th Space, the long-form reading was inspired by literary events held in the 1960s at Concordia—then called Sir George Williams University. At the time, authors would read their entire book in front of an audience, often starting in the late evening and going on into the night. Although not quite as ambitious in duration, the event offered its attendees two hours of poetry without pause. To accommodate a wider audience, the university also broadcasted the readings on Zoom and YouTube. 

John Emil Vincent is a poet and a professor of creative writing at Concordia University. Bitter in the Belly is his most personal poetry book to date, navigating one of his best friends’ suicide in a way that mixes tragedy with absurdity. The many laughs and gasps of the audience throughout his readings attested to Vincent’s skills as an orator and as a writer. 

When he approached the subject of his best friend’s premature death, the audience’s gaze remained fixed on the stage, captivated by the candour of his words. His poem “Your Essay on Black Box,” titled after an essay written by his friend before his death, is an homage to their friendship.

“There are no expressions the world takes in change until change has passed until the moment relaxes,” Vincent read. “And the world touches its face gingerly.”

Jason Camlot took a different approach than his fellow professor. Poet, English professor, and research chair in literature and sound studies at Concordia, Camlot brought his scholarly research on 19th-century literature into his book Vlarf, a modern approach to the Victorian poetry canon.

Before he started his reading, Camlot asked the audience a question that was on everyone’s mind: What exactly is vlarf?

“Wikipedia explains that vlarf poetry was an avant-garde poetry movement of the early 21st century,” Camlot said. “One of their central methods was to mine the internet with odd search terms, then distill the results into often hilarious and sometimes disturbing poems, plays, and other tasks.”

Inspired by this modernist trend, Camlot uses techniques such as erasure, bout-rimé, and mimesis to reimagine the works of John Stuart Mill, John Ruskin, and other Victorian thinkers.

The work that inspired the cover of Vlarf, and one of the longest poems in the book, is titled “Fudge in Entropy,” a meditative monologue spoken from the voice of a guinea pig, inspired by the works of Robert Browning. The audience laughed as Camlot took on the role of the guinea pig, which narrates its life under the care of its poet-owner. With an absurd tone, the piece explores poetry’s current role in the artistic community. Camlot kept this light-hearted poem for the very end of the event, a perfect conclusion of the two-hour long celebration of poetry. 

“His poems once were too crowded, now that had to stop,” Camlot read in the guinea pig’s voice, followed by chuckles from the audience. “The painter would make it stop. The overcrowding in his poems was not fatal to people, or to other creatures.”

The next poetry event at Concordia’s 4th space will be held on Dec. 1, with readings from poets Caroline Bergvall, Kaie Kellough, and Oana Avasilichioaei.

Off the Board, Opinion

The price of popularity

by Jinny Moon on

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In late September, my mom and I were chatting during one of our routine Facetime calls. An avid TV-watcher, she excitedly asked me if I had heard of Squid Game. The show had just come out, and my mom binged the series in a matter of days. As the semester was soon heading into full swing, I brushed off her rave reviews and told myself that I would get to the show eventually. To my surprise, the Netflix Original quickly became a household name. Companies scrambled to photoshop their logos onto screencaps of dalgona as folks on the internet recreated the candy themselves, the same treat that my parents and their classmates would buy from street vendors outside of their elementary schools. If they successfully popped out the shape in the centre of the candy, vendors would reward them with another one for free. My parents shared these stories as my mom made dalgona for us at home. We’d gather around to watch her stir up sugar and a flick of baking soda with a wooden chopstick. The mixture puffed up in our beaten-up dalgona ladle, one of few things we brought over from Korea when my family immigrated. 

Growing up in Canada in the mid-late 2000s, many of my peers didn’t know where South Korea was, or that the country even existed at all. Mentions of East Asia in popular media were few and far between, and what little did exist usually glossed over Korea entirely. As kids got older and their senses of humour more “edgy,” talking about being from Korea did eventually garner some recognition—albeit, often in the form of tired, unfunny comments about North Korean dictators. Nevertheless, I was always proud of my heritage, and I longed for the people around me to see what made my home country so special.

In the last decade, I seem to have gotten what I so badly wished for as a kid—and then some. Korean music, film, and television have recently exploded in popularity, their presence becoming unignorable to unsuspecting Western audiences. Squid Game broke viewership records for Netflix. Although I think the Oscars are an elitist, white-male-infested Hollywood echo chamber, I couldn’t help but hold back tears when Bong Joon-Ho’s Parasite became the first foreign-language film to win Best Picture. Of course, I can’t go without mentioning Korean boy band BTS, who became the first Asian act to win Artist of the Year at the American Music Awards. 

Korean pop music is a gateway to Korean culture for many, and I can see why the genre is booming outside of Korea. For starters, the K-pop industry knows how to make a catchy song. Artistically, K-pop visuals and choreography never fail to be fun and masterfully produced. The rise of K-pop has also brought insufferable “stans” and “Koreaboos,” whose fancam Twitter replies are at best cringe-inducing, and at worst outright disrespectful. 

The fetishization of Korean idols and culture is also a huge issue in fan communities. Extreme examples include British influencer Oli London, who has undergone 18 surgical procedures to look “more Korean.” London attributes their cosmetic alterations to “loving Korean culture.” They call Jimin of BTS their ultimate idol, and hope that “having his eyes” will “make Jimin proud”—the statement makes me want to gouge my own eyes out. Oli London’s use of the neopronouns “Kor/Ean” may just be a poor excuse for a publicity stunt, but their words still negatively impact Korean people and invalidate trans communities everywhere. 

Cultural appropriation also lies in the little things. I’ve seen far too many fans of Korean dramas and K-pop call their favourite male celebrities “oppa.” The Korean honorific is used by female-identifying people to refer to older male family members and significant others. It’s a given that both parties should have a close enough relationship with each other and mutually agree on the term’s usage. I can’t imagine that these unspoken rules are fulfilled when referring to performers on a computer screen.

Am I glad that Korean artists, filmmakers, and creatives are getting the international recognition they deserve? Of course. Am I glad that culture vultures and overzealous stans cherry-pick from the Korean experience and act like authorities on a culture they can choose to wear as an accessory? Of course not. Sometimes I wish Korean media never made its way to the spotlight, no matter how deserving it may be. 

McGill, News

Suzanne Fortier reflects on McGill’s future and lessons learned from COVID-19

by Madison Edward-Wright & Juliet Morrison on

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As the Fall 2021 semester and McGill’s bicentennial year comes to a close, the McGill administration has started envisioning plans for the university’s academic, ecological, and structural future. From opening a new Office for Mediation and Reporting, to assessing McGill’s Strategic Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion Plan and the Anti-Black Racism Action Plan, to adapting to a world changed by COVID-19, the administration is beginning to implement several changes. 

McGill principal and vice-chancellor Suzanne Fortier reflected on these changes in a round table interview with campus media on Nov. 24. Fortier feels that updating plans and creating new offices are the first steps toward a more equitable and globally in-tuned university.

“Next calendar year, we are [entering] a third century of our institution, so it is a great time for us to think about the future,” Fortier said. “We celebrate with the full knowledge that not all of our 200 [years of] history were great [….] As we think about our third century, it is also [about] how do we learn from our past.”

Fortier listed reducing the university’s environmental impact and carbon footprint as a key objective in the coming decades, citing McGill’s commitments to reach net-zero by 2040,  switch energy systems from gas and oil to electric, and adopt a decarbonization policy.

“We have a huge problem right now, which is climate change and the planet,” Fortier said. “We need to evolve to be terra sapiens.”

The term “terra sapiens” refers to the evolution of human action toward a more environmentally aware collective consciousness. Some students, however, like Samuel Helguero, 3L and Divest McGill organizer, feel Fortier’s words do not mark a transition to a greener and cleaner campus.

“Suzanne Fortier remains perhaps the most ardent opponent to divestment across all of Canadian universities,” Helguero wrote in an email to The McGill Tribune. “To see her attempt to brand the school as ecological is only ironic.”

Another topic Fortier touched on was the recent letter sent by Christopher Manfredi, McGill provost and vice-principal (Academic), to the Office de consultation publique de Montréal (OCPM), which subsequently published it on their website. In the letter, Manfredi explained that McGill would be open to participating in the investigation of unmarked Indigenous graves at the Royal Vic site. Fortier cautioned that McGill cannot embark on the investigation alone. 

“[McGill] cannot do anything by itself,” Fortier said. “The site does not belong to us, it belongs to the government of Quebec and to the McGill University Health Centre, what people call the Glen [….] It is unlikely that we would find [graves], but we are not totally discrediting the suspicion […], and we will do our work with the technologies that allow you to see if there are unmarked graves.” 

The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic has forced many institutions, such as McGill and large corporations, to reevaluate the way day-to-day affairs are run. A takeaway for McGill’s governing bodies—the Board of Governors and Senate—as Fortier explained, has been to trust in those who have been educated and trained to handle unforeseen situations and events like a global pandemic. 

In an interview with the Tribune, U2 Arts student Mata Bocoum described a lack of engagement with key issues such as climate change and technological advancement on McGill’s campus, and felt that the administration could do more to acknowledge campus organizations that focus on those topics. 

“I am not someone who is very engaged in extracurricular activities […] so maybe that is why I do not see any promotion for making changes with the climate […] or technological innovation,” Bocoum said in an interview with the Tribune. “But, I feel like [clubs] are not promoted enough. [Activist groups] should be a focus for promotion because they are very important in the new era, but they are not talked about enough.”

Editorial, Opinion

Valuing equality over equity stunts science

by The McGill Tribune Editorial Board on

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On Nov. 24, The //National Post//’s Michael Higgins wrote an exclusive article titled “Minority professor denied grants because he hires on merit: ‘People are afraid to think.’” The article documents McGill chemistry professor Patanjali Kambhampati’s refusal to take part in equity, diversity, and inclusion (EDI) hiring practices. Instead, Kambhampati wrote that he would hire the “most qualified people” in the EDI section of his application for a $450,000 grant from the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC). In the //Post//’s article, he also decried that EDI and “woke culture” kill innovation, harm science, and disrupt society. Though Kambhampati’s stance on meritocracy is understandable, his choice to tank his own application for media attention speaks volumes about his commitment to science’s progress. While EDI hiring and practices alone are insufficient to dismantle systemic racism in scientific research, they are nonetheless essential; scientific innovation only improves when those at its forefront reflect the diversity of society. 

EDI hiring exists because institutions often filter out those who do not fit the old mould of the scientist archetype, such as women, people of colour, and lower-income individuals. Kambhampati’s racial colour-blindness shows the problem of individuals thinking that they alone can transcend systems of oppression. Institutions, for instance, can still perpetuate systemic racism even without overt racists within them. Valuing merit and skills is not mutually exclusive to EDI: Equitable hiring and practices allow everyone to have a fair shot in academia, not just those who fit individual professors’ subjective and flawed opinions.

Kambhampati spoke up to critique governmental agencies’ increasing implementation of EDI principles. EDI, though, is not some new dangerous revolution––it is about accessibility, which is far more compatible with enhancing current research methods. Kambhampati’s choice shows that he is willing to sacrifice scientific progress in favour of maintaining the status quo. His equality-over-equity approach continues to ostracize historically excluded groups from science. NSERC and the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada’s EDI sections ask to proactively, intentionally, and carefully consider science’s blindspots when composing a team. Though Kambhampati commits himself to helping students of all backgrounds, his overwhelming desire to avoid discriminating against white men is suspect when EDI neither attacks them nor stops them from otherwise having myriad societal benefits. As Kambhampati suggests, EDI is not without its problems, like virtue-signalling. But these problems are not enough to dismiss it entirely—and so publicly.

Science does not and cannot exist in a social vacuum: Social issues affect science, and science affects social issues. Consider how science was, on one hand, manipulated to justify racial distinctions, colonialism, and the rigid gender binary, and on the other, the method used to disprove these myths. Consider also the eurocentric grounds for measuring systems like the body mass index (BMI), which has led to inadequate treatment toward people from other parts of the world. Clearly, science research has a cultural problem, one that prioritizes the interests of white, cisgender, straight, non-disabled men. 

It is researchers like Kambhampati who weaponize their “minority professor” identity and their own experiences of racism to rationalize their ideologies at the expense of minorities. Newspapers like the //National Post// and white commentators harp on exceptional cases like Kambhampati to dismiss equity initiatives, foregrounding a single racialized person’s experience to justify anti-woke rhetoric. Though Kambhampati fears self-censorship and “wokeism,” the more salient question is whether untenured faculty, graduate, and undergraduate students of colour could speak out to the same degree as a tenured professor who can arbitrarily sink potential funding.


Science principles itself on objectivity, but subjectively excluding people undermines the scientific method. Without fear, McGill’s Faculty of Science must follow McGill’s equitable hiring practices and stop their professors from stifling equitable science for cultural and academic capital.

Commentary, Opinion

Three verdicts, one unjust reality

by Matthew Molinaro on

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Content warning: racism, police violence

In the past several days, three high-profile cases have come to deeply unsatisfying conclusions. Two are American—Kenosha shooter Kyle Rittenhouse was cleared of all charges after he killed two men during a night of unrest following the shooting of Jacob Blake, and the three white men who murdered Ahmaud Arbery, much like a modern-day lynching, were convicted. The other is Canadian, the least known and covered of the three: Pradel Content, a Black man living in Laval won an ethics case against a police officer who shoved him, made racist comments toward him, and then deleted Content’s phone recording of the 2017 incident. Many have raised concerns about Rittenhouse’s proceedings, questioning whether he would have still been found innocent, or even alive, had he been Black. And though Arbery’s mother expressed her relief at the guilty sentence, it, of course, remains unjust that a Black person still cannot move freely through society without fear. The just application of the law cannot save a Black life taken too early. Content’s case reveals an insidious aspect of Canadian anti-Black racism; that is, the constant and unhelpful positive comparison to the United States and the “moderate” bureaucracy that holds onto these cases for years.

The report did not contain a valid reason for why Michael Boutin, the officer who stopped him, would need to check Content’s licence plate. In a statement by the Centre for Research-Action on Race Relations, Content shared that he started recording once he exited his car at a gas station. Noticing that Content was filming him, Boutin proceeded to slap the phone out of his hand, throw him against his car, and handcuff him without informing him of the reason for the arrest. Later reports, including ones that led to the ethics violations, found that Boutin filed a false police report and wrote a ticket that suggested Content was using his phone while driving. During their encounter, Content mentioned he was from Florida, to which Boutin replied that he must be lucky to live in Quebec because in the United States they shoot people “like you.” Since this comment targeted his race, the ethics committee found this to violate their ethics code, amongst five other ethics violations. This comment stings even more considering that George Zimmerman, the man who shot and murdered Trayvon Martin, was acquitted of all charges in Florida. Boutin’s lack of ethical standards reveals the lack of oversight in police systems. It is important to remember that Boutin was not alone at the time—his fellow officer could have easily stopped him. Their choice to stand silent and even erase their actions is in line with Canadian ideals, wherein the propagated culture of politeness and respectability comes at the expense of racialized people and substantive changes to policing. 

It is concerning that Content’s case not only took four years to conclude, but remained relatively unacknowledged beyond local news articles. The ticket Content received was immediately overturned, but this cannot overturn the immense and mostly unchecked power the police wield. Without the gas station footage, these police officers might have continued to roam unaffected; the chances of an ethics board believing a Black man’s word against a police officer’s remains, unfortunately, minimal.. Surely, given the officers’ immediately violent response, far more cases are unreported. At the same time, this should not open up the possibility for cameras to be placed everywhere in public. People should not be surveilled at all times, and the police, who already provide plenty of surveillance in Montreal, must be, at the very least, reformed.

Hearings on Boutin’s possible sanctions are expected to begin next month, meaning now more than ever is the time to speak out and rally against racial profiling and excessive policing. On the municipal level, Canadians should treat politicians, including recently re-elected Mayor Plante, who pander to police with suspicion. If not defunding, ethics, bias, and social responsibility should be considered as important as physical, medical, and shooting certifications at the policing level. Much like Arbery’s case, bare minimum successes of the justice system should not be celebrated as victories.

Ask Ainsley, Student Life

Ask Ainsley: Should I get a part-time job next semester?

by Ainsley on

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Dear Ainsley, 

I’m not sure if I should get a part-time job for next semester. I do want to start building toward financial independence, but I’m worried that an added commitment to schoolwork and extracurriculars will be difficult to manage. A lot of my friends tell me they’re able to balance working part time while taking a full course load. I’m torn—what should I do? 

Sincerely, 

Worked up about Work (WUAW)

Dear WUAW, 

“Work hard, play hard” is a refrain common to the university experience, but how each student interprets it is entirely unique. For many, financial constraints necessitate a part-time job. But if you have a bit of wiggle room, it is important to reflect on your priorities before potentially undertaking more responsibilities. 

Think carefully about your schedule. If you do get a job, is there a chance you’ll be asked to pick up extra shifts? Is your transportation reliable? Do you have courses in person as well as online? How long does your coursework actually take you to complete?

Anywhere between 10 to 20 hours per week, adjusted to fit your specific timetable, should allow you to complete academic work while also getting enough rest. Working a part-time job can help you network, refine your time management skills, or even practice speaking French or English if applicable. The decision is ultimately up to you, but remember that life is made up of checks and balances. Stretching yourself too thin in effort to accomplish everything will inevitably lead you to falter, so compromise is essential. 

Don’t feel pressured to take five courses—you can drop down to four. Select your extracurriculars carefully to ensure they align with your personal or professional goals without causing further stress. Does this club boost your CV, but impede on your well-being? Whittle down extraneous commitments to allow yourself time to breathe. Look at a calendar and sketch in potential work shifts: Do you have enough availability to properly commit yourself? Most workplaces are collaborative environments; if you have to bail on a shift to study, you’re letting down your team. While academics are, for the most part, solitary in consequence, jobs affect others around you. It’s important to bear all this in mind before dedicating your time.

It is difficult to juggle academics, extracurriculars, and part-time work while still leaving time to rest, but it is still possible. If you find your social life slipping through the cracks, try allocating some time each week to seeing friends or talking with loved ones. Once the hangouts or chats are scheduled, they will gradually stop feeling like—as terrible as it is to say—time wasted. There’s no need to feel guilty for seeking out connection, especially during the transitory and tumultuous time that is university. 

University and productivity culture in general have misled our perceptions toward rest: Too often the definitions of self care—sleep, food, and time with friends—are just the bare minimum required to function. Be sure not to treat self care only as a reward. You don’t deserve rest; you need it. Nothing is more important than your health.

None of this is to say you shouldn’t try your best to reach your goals or succeed academically. Know your limit, and play within it: Be diligent, yet also realistic so that you can sustain your physical and mental health. As most of us are under 25 years of age, our brains are still developing. It’s tempting to fill your plate with responsibilities, but remember that the state of your health will shape your future in the long term just as much as your GPA or that extra resume bullet point. 

Know that if working is a financial necessity, there are resources available to you at McGill that offer support. Consider looking into government and student aid, as well as the Work-Study program, which connects students in financial need to jobs on or near campus with flexible schedules. 

I hope you can make a decision that works best for you. 

Sincerely, 

Ainsley

Know Your Athlete, Soccer, Sports

Know Your Athlete: Mara Bouchard

by Adam Menikefs on

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Starting university is a challenging time of transition for all first-year students, both academically and socially. For student athletes, this period is particularly difficult, as they are presented with the additional challenges of meeting teammates, coaches, and staff that will become critical figures in their daily lives.

Mara Bouchard, U1 Arts, is a first-year student on the McGill Martlets soccer team who previously played for Vanier College in Montreal. Despite the barriers that many first-year student athletes face, the midfielder from Granby, Quebec found the adjustment to university life to be smooth and straightforward. 

“As a rookie and first year on the team, I was very much included by the rest of the players and veterans,” Bouchard said in an interview with The McGill Tribune. “I think being from Quebec made it easier to bond with the team, as there are a lot of other members of the squad from this province.”

Bouchard performed well in her rookie season with the Martlets, helping McGill achieve the second best defensive record in the league. Bouchard cited her past experience at the National High Performance Center (CNHP) directed by Soccer Quebec in Montreal as a reason for her success. 

“Soccer-wise, I thought it was a great season for me,” Bouchard said. “I was expecting to do well coming from a strong soccer background and playing at CNHP. Especially for my first year, I ended up in a place that I was happy with.” 

The Martlets had an especially impressive showing this season given the larger share of newcomers to the team. The squad placed third in the RSEQ, finishing the year with a 7–4–3 record. Although the Martlets fell short in the playoff semi-final game against Université Laval, they ended the season on a hot streak, winning their final four of five regular season matches. In Bouchard’s eyes, this late-season push proved the team successfully achieved their goal for the season. 

“The result of the semi-final against Laval was obviously not the one we had hoped for,” Bouchard said. “Our goal [for] the year was to become the most improved team. I think we accomplished and proved our goal to everyone, including ourselves.”

Heading into the Fall 2022 season, Bouchard is optimistic about the team’s future and is looking forward to building on this past year’s momentum.

“This year, finishing third was certainly a success for the program, particularly given the shortcomings of the recent past,” Bouchard said. “Our objective for next year is to continue to improve and earn a playoff spot once again. Our coaches have done an excellent job so far in my time here, and I know they are going to push us further to properly develop our individual and team play while we all progress toward the ultimate goal of a championship.”

Off the pitch, Bouchard is halfway through her first year as a psychology major. However, Bouchard’s top priority after university is to continue pursuing her love of and passion for the beautiful game.

“After McGill, I definitely want to keep playing soccer,” Bouchard said. “I am hoping I can find a pro contract in Europe somewhere and hopefully play professionally for a few years after I graduate. If this plan does not work, I will use my degree to pursue my goal of becoming a psychologist. I would love to be employed in this field in the future, and am enjoying studying the subject so far here at university.” 

Next August, training camp will build upon the strong bonds forged between players and coaches throughout this season. Bouchard looks to lead the midfield next season amongst a dedicated squad that is poised to improve on this season’s success.  

McGill, Montreal, News

Montrealers, McGill students march in solidarity with Wet’suwet’en land defenders

by Anoushka Oke on

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The Montreal chapter of the activist group Convergence des luttes anticapitalistes (CLAC) hosted a protest in support of Indigenous sovereignty on Nov. 27, marching in front of and around the Montreal office of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP). McGill students and Divest McGill members participated in the demonstration alongside other environmental, Indigenous, and other activist groups.

The primary focus of the protest was a recent escalation of the construction of TransCanada Energy’s Coastal GasLink (CGL) pipeline’s through the unceded territory of the Wet’suwet’en First Nation in British Columbia, which has been ongoing since 2019. The project has garnered much criticism, as it began without the proper consent of Wet’suwet’en, and police have been quick to use force to suppress dissenters, using police dogs, destroying property, and threatening people with rifles. This November, the RCMP invaded resistance camps—like the Coyote Camp—violently arresting activists and journalists. 

Marlene Hale, a land defender from the Small Frog Clan of the Wet’suwet’en nation, spoke at the protest and expressed her frustration with the Canadian government’s seizure and occupation of their land. Hale described how government officials avoided going through the proper channels of Wet’suwet’en leadership for their consent, instead seeking approval from the twenty band councils, who all signed on to the project. Hale brought this up to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau at a town hall in Saint-Hyacinthe, Quebec back in 2019.

“[I asked him,] ‘how do you not know that [for] consent in our nation, you’re supposed to go to the hereditary chiefs?’” Hale said. “They know who’s going to sign, who is the weak link, and who they can get [consent from] to do the work they want for as little as they can [….] The consent was not given by the right land title holder, which is the hereditary chief, Woos. Right now, he is on his own territory fighting [the RCMP] to gain access to his own home.”

The RCMP has confronted Wet’suwet’en land defenders several times over the last couple of years in an attempt to quell resistance to the pipeline. From Nov. 19 to Nov. 20, they had arrested 29 people, including two journalists, in British Columbia; protestors were trying to interfere with the pipeline’s construction in order to protect the land. The latest wave of arrests spurred protests across the country, including the one in Montreal this past Saturday. Eve Saint, the daughter of Wet’suwet’en hereditary Chief Woos, described the RCMP’s treatment of the protesters and journalists who were arrested, including Wet’suwet’en land defender Sleydo’.

“I just gotta give a lot of love to Sleydo’ because she is a mother, she is an Indigenous Wet’suwet’en mother, [and] she is raising her babies on the Yintah, on the land,” Saint said. “And now, these courts have […] criminalized her and [are] trying to keep her from moving freely on her own land, on her own territory.”

Saint herself has been on the frontlines of the fight; she was arrested alongside three others at Gidimt’en Checkpoint on Feb. 7, 2020 while defending Wet’suwet’en land. Saint condemned the violence the RCMP has inflicted on her people over the past week.

“We have elders that are being dragged off the Yintah, that are being denied their medication, and that had to go to the hospital,” Saint said. “This is at the hands of the RCMP. This is how they look at Wet’suwet’en people, this is how they look at Wet’suwet’en women, mothers, matriarchs, hereditary chiefs. They point their guns at us when they want us off that land so they can steal it. It is stolen land. They want us dead.”

After Saint finished speaking, the group marched toward downtown Montreal, followed by police officers who maintained a heavy presence throughout the demonstration.

In a subsequent webinar on Nov. 28, Ellen Gabriel, who is part of the Turtle Clan within the Mohawk nation of Kanehsatà:ke, compared the situation to the Oka crisis that occurred in 1990. At the time, the Sûreté du Québec (SQ) provincial police force violently invaded Kanehsatà:ke land that developers wanted to turn into a golf course. Following SQ raids of Mohawk territory, there was a 78-day standoff as the police faced down Mohawk warriors defending their land. Then-Quebec Premier Robert Bourassa eventually brought in the Canadian military to replace the SQ, and the standoff ended whenMohawk warriors had to surrender.

“The fact that the RCMP are being the root squad for Coastal GasLink as the SQ were for the municipality of Oka and the rich developers means that we haven’t gotten very far in the reconciliation process that Trudeau and others keep talking about,” Gabriel said. “This is not reconciliation. [Indigenous peoples] were here long before Europeans arrived, and we are still being treated, 500-plus years later, as if we are disposable, as if our rights don’t matter.”

McGill, News

McGill holds first in-person convocation since onset of COVID-19 pandemic

by Lily Cason on

More in McGill:

McGill held its Fall 2021 Convocation ceremonies at Place des Arts on Nov. 25 and Nov. 26, marking the first time that convocation has taken place in-person since Fall 2019. There were four separate ceremonies, two on each day, to honour the approximately 700 students who completed undergraduate, graduate, or certificate programs at McGill as of August 2021.

The university announced that the Fall 2021 convocation would be in-person in an Oct. 22 university-wide email sent on behalf of principal and vice-chancellor Suzanne Fortier. In an interview with The McGill Tribune, Sireena Divecha, a member of the Fall 2021 graduating class who earned a degree in materials engineering, recalled waiting anxiously for the news.

“I’m so happy. It’s the first convocation since COVID that’s going to be in-person,” Divecha said. “I’m so glad I made it. All through summer I was hoping, waiting for the email where they said it is going to be in person.”

The university implemented a number of COVID-19 safety measures, such as checking vaccination status and enforcing mask mandates, to protect graduates and guests. Sina Hashemi, a member of the Fall 2021 graduating class who received a certificate in oral and maxillofacial surgery, spoke to the Tribune after the first convocation service. Hashemi expressed gratitude that the university, in his experience, closely adhered to COVID-19 measures. 

“[The ceremony] was very nice,” Hashemi said. “I noticed they took all the precautions, like cleaning the microphone after every speaker. It was really nice to be back and see everybody, all the graduates sitting together with their families and having live music and whatnot.”

Aliia Shakirova, a member of the Fall 2021 graduating class who obtained a master’s degree in atmospheric and oceanic sciences, felt for her friends who only had online ceremonies.

“I had a few friends who graduated last year, and they feel very sad that they don’t have any convocation in person,” Shakirova said. “I am from Russia, and I was doing a Bachelor’s in Moscow and we didn’t have any sort of convocation at all, so that’s like the first experience for me, so I’m very glad.”

Frédérique Mazerolle, a McGill media relations officer, explained in an email to the Tribune that in-person ceremonies are being planned for those who had virtual convocations—the Spring 2020, Fall 2020, and Spring 2021 classes.

“This Fall’s ceremonies only included the Fall 2021 Convocation cohort,” Mazerolle wrote. “However, the University is actively planning the in-person ceremonies our past cohorts so richly deserve, the first of which will take place in Spring 2022. Invitations […] will be sent in the coming months. McGill will continue to take a prudent planning approach that allows us to adapt as the health and well-being of our community remains a top priority.”

In addition to its convocation ceremonies, the university held an online Indigenous Scarf Ceremony on Nov. 22—a tradition it introduced in 2011— to recognize the 91 First Nations, Métis, and Inuit students in the Fall 2021 graduating class. This year’s ceremony involved speeches, live music from Mi’kmaq performer Don Barnaby, and the presentation of specially-designed scarves. In his speech, provost and vice-principal (Academic) Christopher Manfredi commended the graduates for their hard work and reaffirmed the university’s dedication to reconciliation.
“You have many reasons to be proud of yourselves and to feel confident in your abilities,” Manfredi said. “As you embark on your next chapter, know that McGill will continue the important work outlined in our 52 calls to action with the aim of truth and reconciliation with Indigenous communities.”

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