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The long arm of the law

by Kennedy McKee-Braide on

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This November, Montrealers will head to the polls to vote for the next mayor of the city––and perhaps the future of its police. This year more than ever, a key issue on the ballot will be the role and budget of the Service de Police de la Ville de Montréal (SPVM). 

Global protests against police brutality that erupted in the summer of 2020 following the murder of George Floyd, a Black man murdered by police in Minneapolis, sparked renewed calls for a re-evaluation of the current state of policing. Increasingly, these calls have shifted from demands for reform to demands for defunding––and even demands to do away with policing altogether. According to a poll conducted in July 2020, approximately 51 per cent of Canadians support defunding the police––redirecting funds from the police to social services. 

Montreal’s first official police department and predecessor to the SPVM, the the Montréal Police Department––a predecessor to the SPVM––was established in 1865. However, various forms of policing have existed since the city’s founding in 1843, from small citizen militias to ensembles of nighttime watchmen. 

Policing has its roots to slavery and settler colonialism, explained Ted Rutland, an associate professor at Concordia University and urban social and cultural geographer who studies urban issues in Montreal, including policing. Rutland likened early policing in Montreal to slave patrols in the United States, noting how white people were essentially “tasked with scrutinizing and reporting” racialized people.

“In Montreal, […] it was basically the job of all white people to surveil Black and Indigenous people, who were not on plantations,” Rutland said. “There were no plantations in Canada. [Instead], they were doing unpaid chores for wealthy Montrealers and so they were walking around the city, going to the market.”

Early laws in Montreal were also key in dispossessing Kanienʼkehá꞉ka (Mohawk) people of land and setting up rules and practices that limited their right to exist freely in the city. 

“There were a bunch of laws around alcohol that were specifically targeting Indigenous people in order to ensure that they were not in public spaces,” Rutland said. “The law was also used to move Indigenous people off the island in the mid-1700s to the point where for a long time there were not a lot of Indigenous people in Montreal. Even now I think there is a way in which white settlers see Indigenous people as new arrivals in the city and maybe think that this is not where they are supposed to be.”

Toward the late 1960s and early 1970s, Black people began to experience much higher rates of police surveillance and violence. 

Football, Sports

Redbirds clinch win in home opener against Sherbrooke Vert et Or

by Adam Burton, Sarah Farnand, Madison McLauchlan, Shafaq Nami on

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On Sept. 4, the McGill Redbirds (1–1) defeated the Sherbrooke University Vert et Or (1–1) in their first home game of the season. For the first time in 693 days, over one thousand spectators—1,628, to be exact—filled Percival Molson Memorial Stadium to witness an exciting return to varsity football.

Both teams came out with strong defensive presences in the first quarter, stopping each other in their tracks and never making it farther than a few downs before punting. McGill ended the scoreless streak with suffocating defence in Sherbrooke’s endzone, leading to a safety and a 1–0 score with 1:21 left in the first quarter. 

The second quarter brought more action, with several convincing offensive drives, before quarterback Dimitrios Sinodinos beamed a bullet pass to wide receiver Mathieu Soucy in the back right corner of the endzone. After a successful field goal attempt, McGill led 8–0 with 6:38 remaining in the first half. Sherbrooke quarterback Anthony Robichaud, however, promptly retaliated with a 53-yard-arcing throw to wide receiver Kevin Morin, and, after a successful 2-point conversion, McGill and Sherbrooke were tied with 4:48 left in the quarter. Both teams managed a field goal in the following minutes, leaving fans on a razor’s edge heading into the second half.

McGill came out guns blazing in the opening moments of the second half, but was quickly halted in what would be the worst of a string of 11 injuries throughout the game. Second-year wide receiver Dhandre Weekes suffered a severe lower body injury that had him carted away to an ambulance. The game was stopped for the next 45 minutes as both teams waited for another ambulance to assume its post. 

“A lot of guys look up to and respect [Dhandre],” Sinodinos said when asked about his teammate’s injury. “He is a really emotional player and brings so much energy to practice. He wants it so bad. To see a guy like him go down really sucks, but we came out to play for him and we got the win for him.”

Come out and play, McGill certainly did; just a few minutes after the delay, Soucy completed his second touchdown off a 39-yard high-arcing throw from Sinodinos. Second-year kicker Antoine Couture furthered the Redbirds’ lead to 21–11 with a field goal, six seconds before the end of the third quarter. 

The Vert et Or made an admirable run at McGill’s lead in the fourth quarter, but the Redbird defence ultimately stopped them in their tracks, allowing only one more touchdown with 54 seconds left in the game. The crowd erupted into cheers of celebration as McGill emerged victorious, with a final score of 21–18.

Despite the strong first showing, Soucy believes he and his team still have room to improve. 

“We did good, not great,” Soucy said. “We could have put up more points and we have a couple of things to fix up but in the end, we got the W.”

Head coach Ronald Hilaire agreed with Soucy, but was pleased with the players’ performance in the second half. 

“I felt that we bounced back from a lacklustre first half from our team,” Hilaire wrote in an email to The McGill Tribune. “At halftime, we regrouped, got our bearings, and came to play in the second half. I was proud of our team for responding that way. We need to be able to maintain [our] level of play notwithstanding the opponent we face.” 

Moment of the Game:

Quarterback Dimitrios Sinodinos lofted a 39-yard touchdown pass to wide receiver Mathieu Soucy to take a 18–11 lead with 9:20 left in the third quarter.

Quotable

“It feels so nice to be back playing for a crowd. We have been waiting for this moment for a long time. We have been working hard, with Zoom calls, and training camp so it definitely feels good to be back on the field.” — Fifth year Mathieu Soucy on the return from the two-year hiatus from RSEQ sports.

Stat Corner
Running back Elijah Woods led McGill’s running efforts, rushing 70 yards over the course of the game.

McGill, News, SSMU

Students and professors stage protest, demand vaccine mandate and a safer campus

by Sabrina Nelson on

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Members of the Students’ Society of McGill University (SSMU) protested outside the James Administration building Sept. 1, calling for a safe and accessible return to campus. The common area outside was decorated with SSMU banners and posters that displayed slogans, with one asking whether McGill wanted its bicentennial to be remembered as one where students did not feel safe on campus. SSMU and McGill staff demanded that McGill implement a vaccine mandate, make accommodations for both international and immunocompromised students, and include student consultation in decisions concerning COVID-19. 

SSMU vice-president (VP) of university affairs Claire Downie expressed her satisfaction with the demonstration, and argued that better accommodations for students is crucial. 

“Everyone has different needs to feel safe on campus,” Downie said in an interview with The McGill Tribune. “Right now, McGill has not provided any accommodation for its international students who are stuck abroad, or immunocompromised students who cannot be safely on campus.”

According to Downie, SSMU’s efforts to address these concerns to the administration at the end of last spring were unsuccessful.

“We have been trying to communicate with the university for several months on this issue,” Downie said. “We spoke in June or May with Fabrice Lebeau and Chris Buddle and we were just told to look at the positive, ‘the vaccine rollout is going so well, everything is going to be normal and fine. ’ But in reality that is not the case.”

Emily Black, U4 Arts and a participant at the protest, expressed concern about being back on campus as an immunocompromised person.

“McGill has suggested that students in such extraordinary situations should take a year off,” Black said. “If I were to do that, because I am on student aid, I would lose all my funding and would probably not be able to come back [to McGill].”

McGill’s response to student and faculty concerns has been to remind everyone of health and safety measures, including procedural mask requirements, distancing in non-classroom environments, contact tracing, and optimizing ventilation.

Downie explained that every Canadian university that has implemented a vaccine mandate has given students a buffer time of six weeks to get vaccinated or apply for a human rights exemption. 

“A vaccine mandate never means that everyone has to be vaccinated or that you will be kicked off if you are not,” Downie said. “You might have to be tested three times a week in order to be on campus, whereas a vaccinated student will be exempt from that.” 

McGill Faculty of Law professor Richard Gold argued that the university’s decision to not impose a vaccine mandate is discriminatory against vulnerable members of the community. 

“Our view is that McGill is in breach of its obligations under article 10 of the Quebec Charter of Human Rights and Freedoms by having adopted a policy that discriminates against disabled and pregnant [people], and those who live in families where individuals are at risk,” Gold said.

On Aug. 29, the Office of the Provost and vice-president (Academic) sent an internal memo to faculty deans, which a CBC reporter shared to Twitter, that stated that fear of campus safety and concern about relatives who might be at risk to possible exposure to COVID-19, were not valid reasons for an instructor to teach remotely. 

Gold argued McGill could, and should, implement a vaccine mandate as well as stricter requirements.

“We have asked McGill for months to explain the legal basis of its claim otherwise and it has refused to answer,” Gold said. “Provost Jutras at the University of Montreal concluded that the university could bring in a requirement if it decided to do so. McGill is in no different situation. In short, there is little doubt that McGill could, but refuses to, implement a proof of vaccination requirement.” 

The McGill Tribune reached out to the McGill administration for a comment on the demands for a vaccine mandate and did not receive a response.

Arts & Entertainment, Film and TV

‘Haiti Trahie’ and ‘Invasion’ reveal the imperialist truths behind a facade of Canadian benevolence

by Alex Jonas on

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The evening of Sept. 2 was chilly, but the back alley of the Milton Park Housing Co-op was hot with the buzz of political activism. Gathering for a viewing of Elaine Briere’s Haiti Trahie and Franklin Lopez’s Invasion put on by Cinema Politica Concordia, viewers and concerned citizens ate pizza, drank coffee, and listened to Burning Cop Car. 

Both documentaries explore Canada’s role in the systemic racial and imperial oppression of people of colour within, and beyond, the Canadian border. In Haiti Trahie, Marie Dimanche, a Haitian activist, founder of Solidarité Québec-Haïti, and the French-English translator of the film, examines how Canada, France, the U.S., and the United Nations actively worked to undermine Haiti’s success as a democracy. Dimanche explained how external forces condemned Haiti to poverty, violence, and social strife by pressuring the government to adopt neo-liberal policies and privatize essential services—as well as instigating a coup d’etat and exiling the democratically elected Jean Bertrand to Africa. 

“There was a veil of secrecy,” Dimanche said. “The Canadian people were kept deliberately ignorant of [their] government’s role in undermining Haitian democracy.”

Meanwhile, well-respected non-governmental organizations defended the Canadian government’s actions, promoting the paternalist picture of “white saviours” intervening in the affairs of a nation deemed incapable of handling its own. 

“It’s not that [the Haitians] do not know how to govern [themselves], it’s that [the Canadian government does not] let them govern,” Dimanche said in a Q&A panel after the presentation of the films.

In a similar exploration of Canadian imperialism, Invasion documents the Canadian government’s egregious violation of the Wet’suwet’en nation’s sovereignty for the sake of the Pacific Trail pipeline. The film follows Freda Huston, a Wet’suwet’en activist, tribal chief, and Unist’ot’en spokesperson, as she resists the pipeline swallowing up her people’s territory and contends for the sanctity of the waters that her people rely upon.

“We have already said ‘no’ to these projects and that no pipelines will come on our territory,” Huston said, rejecting bottled water and tobacco offered by a Chevron representative. “No thanks, we have got clean water right there […] and that is plastic that adds to the landfills.”

After the film’s screenings, guest speaker Renel Exentus, a Haitian-Canadian activist and member of the REHMONCO, detailed how the great powers of the international community resist Haitian prosperity as those powers value profit over all else and feel entitled to Haiti’s workforce and resources. When they face resistance, they push back mercilessly. 

Together, the films encapsulate the clear pattern of imperial entitlement at the core of Canada’s foreign and domestic policies. Through emotional narration, horror-stricken interviewees, and disturbing visuals of destruction and violence, both Haiti Trahie and Invasion demonstrate the extent to which the history of our own country is saturated in oppressive ethnocentrism that we must never forget, and never forgive.

Cinema Politica will screen Haiti Trahie and Invasion again on Sept. 18 at 18:00. 

Arts & Entertainment, Books

Ceilidh Michelle’s ‘Vagabond’ depicts hitchhiking’s joys and tears

by Lowell Wolfe on

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It takes days to travel by bus from Montreal to Sacramento, California, and even longer to hitchhike and squat along the state’s coastal highway—the famous California State Route 1. Montreal-based author Ceilidh Michelle’s new novel Vagabond condenses such a quest into just over 200 pages through a series of creative non-fiction vignettes. Vagabond takes readers into the vibrant, yet sometimes unpleasant, adventures that a younger Michelle experiences while wayfaring along the West Coast. Functioning somewhat like a memoir, the stories she tells are genuine and honest, for better or for worse. 

The novel follows a 21-year-old Michelle narrating her journey, starting with her departure from an unhealthy relationship in Montreal to Vancouver, after which travels down south to the United States to pursue her dreams. All the while, Michelle reflects on the sights and scenery, transforming the physical distance she travels into a mental expedition of self-growth. 

In an interview with The McGill Tribune, Michelle spoke about the multiple journeys encapsulated in Vagabond.

“The only difficult part [about writing the book] was trying to stay true to the emotion of each experience,” Michelle said. “I did not want to make anything too melodramatic or overwrought. I really wanted to try and capture things as they [happened]. Some of it is embarrassing, and some of it seems silly to me […] but it’s what happened, and I wanted to stay true to it.”

Michelle meets new friends along every step of her journey, such as the banjo-playing, train-hopping Half-Peach who becomes Michelle’s close companion, as well as individuals worn down by living without homes. Michelle’s encounters with promiscuous drug addicts and unsavoury street bullies paint a somber depiction of living unhoused, reminding readers that her journey is nowhere near as cushioned as that of a university student’s gap year. 

“An undercurrent […] in my writing is affordable housing,” Michelle said. “Home is so important, and it is so essential to feeling human and having dignity.”

Released on Sept. 4 under Douglas & McIntyre, Vagabond is Michelle’s second book. The author’s first title, Butterflies, Zebras, Moonbeams, published through Palimpsest Press in 2020, was shortlisted for 2020’s Hugh McLennan Prize for Fiction. While she was busy pursuing her master of science degree in creative writing at the University of Edinburgh and writing other creative projects, Michelle felt an urge to distill her memories into something more concrete, which led to the spontaneous creation of Vagabond. 

“I had written a very rough account of what had happened, as it happened, so I already had all of this archival writing to draw from,” Michelle said. “I had [another] project that I was working on with [my agent], and I basically cheated on that prototype and wrote Vagabond instead.” 

Michelle’s narrative takes readers to exciting destinations, whether they be the sometimes-comical streets of Slab City, California’s famous squatter community, or the interior landscapes of a young, curious woman as she learns about herself and the world—each place complete with its own beauty and pain. 

Fans can look forward to Michelle’s upcoming appearances at the Winnipeg International Writers’ Festival Thin Air in September and Junction Reads in January. 

Album Reviews, Arts & Entertainment, Music

Homeshake’s new album ‘Under the Weather’ is a musical rendering of distress and isolation

by Louis Lussier-Piette on

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Homeshake, also known as Peter Sagar, is a Montreal-born and Toronto-based artist known for his mellow sound and poignant lyricism. Under the Weather, his fifth studio album, is a 12-track confession of depression and isolation. Although Sagar wrote the morose album in 2019 after mental health struggles secluded him from the world, its release is timely in the context of a prolonged pandemic. 

“People will probably think that I made Under the Weather during or about COVID-19,” Sagar said. “I was just already living my life that way.” 

Sagar’s lyrics of personal distress are widely relatable. Each track explores a different aspect of depression with lyrics so honest they could be from the artist’s diary. The project’s hazy sound resonates like the fogginess of an anxious brain. Overall, the album is delicate and mellow, with passing songs melting into one another in the same slow, honeyed tempo.

“Oftentimes when you are in a dark place, you are supposed to journal, and that helps release the pressure,” Sagar said. “For me, it always found its way into the music.”

However, such repetition also becomes the album’s main flaw. While some songs rise above the album’s homogenous nature, such as “Passenger Seat” and “Tenterhooks,” others become buried underneath the stronger tracks. “Feel Better” and “Careless,” for example, fail to depart from each track’s formulaic make-up. Still, the album’s consistency does bring a sense of comfort and familiarity, with the melancholia of the album serving as the perfect remedy for the beginning-of-class blues. While the imitative tracklist prevents the album from reaching its full potential, Under the Weather is definitely worth a listen for its empathetically brooding tone.

Research Briefs, Science & Technology

Using AI to save lives

by Madison Mclauchlan on

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Content warning: Mention of suicide and suicidal ideation.

Young people aged 18-29 reported some of the highest rates of depression and anxiety during the COVID-19 pandemic. Even before the social isolation wrought by the pandemic, rates of suicidal ideation among college-aged individuals were troubling: In a 2019 sample survey of 55,000 students, more than 10 per cent reported contemplating suicide in the 12 months prior. 

University students are especially vulnerable to mental health struggles. When they do not have access to appropriate services or support systems, fragile mental health can spiral into self-harm or suicidal tendencies. To prevent such tragedies, identifying primary risk factors for suicidal behaviour is paramount. 

Researchers at McGill and the University of Bordeaux are on their way to doing just that, using machine learning. A new study, published in Scientific Reports, aimed to develop an algorithm to identify factors associated with suicidal thoughts and behaviours. 

The longitudinal study used data from more than 5,000 students in France from 2013-2019, collecting information ranging from lifestyle habits, to sociodemographics, to mental health symptoms. The algorithm then made data-driven predictions, which were compared to the follow-up questionnaires about suicidal thoughts and behaviours. 

Marie Navarro, a PhD student at the University of Bordeaux, performed the statistical analysis for the study. In an interview with The McGill Tribune, Navarro explained the team’s reasons for using machine learning to find predictors. 

“With more classical methods like regression models, you cannot study a lot of factors,  [maximum] twenty, but otherwise, it is complicated,” Navarro said. “With AI, and especially machine learning, we used random forests, [which is] a good algorithm because you can include a lot of factors in your model simultaneously.” 

Random forest algorithms are a type of supervised machine learning typically used to predict outcomes from data patterns—like the future behaviour of a stock, for example. The novelty of machine learning in this context is twofold: Not only does it allow researchers to sift through large amounts of data at once, but it also accounts for the interactions between factors, giving the algorithm better predictive power. 

Indeed, suicidal behaviours do not result from a single, isolated factor; it is often a combination of circumstances. The study found that academic stress and depressive symptoms were top factors for those who identified as women, while self-esteem was one of the most important predictors of suicide risk across gender lines. 

“Some sociodemographic factors, like sex, are already well established as risk factors for suicidal thoughts and behaviours,” Navarro said. “For example, broadly speaking, girls are more likely to report suicidal ideation and even attempts, but more deaths by suicide are reported in boys.” 

Massimiliano Orri, a postdoctoral researcher at McGill and co-author of the paper, believes that universities can benefit from this behavioural data to improve suicide prevention efforts. 

“Universities are uniquely situated to identify youths that need mental health support and help them to have access to care,” Orri wrote in an email to the Tribune. “Today, the wealth of data available and the computational advances such as artificial intelligence provide us with new eyes to identify those youths using simple screening tools that can be easily developed and implemented on a massive scale.” 

The findings suggest that short assessments, perhaps through online, university-administered questionnaires, could reach a broader swath of students who may be hesitant to reach out for help. 

Despite the promising results, Navarro stressed that their work is only a stepping stone to the ultimate goal of harm reduction. 

“This study needs to be replicated and confirmed in other studies, a very important point for research in general, before any application in real life,” Navarro said. “If they are, maybe this kind of analysis can open an interesting target for prevention in the future.” 

If future studies confirm that artificial intelligence techniques like this one are an effective way of identifying at-risk individuals, then this research could result in more powerful screening tools and more lives being saved.

News, PGSS, SSMU

McGill Governance 101

by Madison Edward-Wright on

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STUDENTS’ SOCIETY OF MCGILL UNIVERSITY (SSMU)

What it does:

SSMU represents all undergraduate student interests and rights in the McGill Senate. SSMU consists of four bodies—General Assembly and Referenda, Board of Directors, Legislative Council, and Executive Council—and is led by seven elected executives, including the president, vice-president (VP), VP internal, VP external, VP student life, VP finance, and VP university affairs. SSMU, specifically the student life portfolio, also plays a large role in student life by organizing events like Activities Night and by running the undergraduate student bar Gerts. 

Recent Events:

Over the last year, SSMU has focussed its efforts on helping students navigate the COVID-19 pandemic and advocating for student health and safety on campus. On Sept. 1, the Society staged a protest, and over the summer it wrote an open letter, and published a report on the impact of COVID-19 on McGill students. In addition, SSMU has involved itself in social justice movements that extend beyond the Roddick gates, for example, by standing in support and solidarity with survivors of residential schools in Canada in light of the discovery of thousands of unmarked graves of Indigenous children on the grounds of these schools. 

POST GRADUATE STUDENTS’ SOCIETY (PGSS)

What it does:

PGSS is responsible for representing all graduate and postdoctoral students at McGill. Its monthly Council meetings address its policies and committees, and monitor executives’ actions and projects. There are five primary executives elected by McGill postgraduate students, and four PGSS members sit on the McGill Senate. The executives organize regular social and professional events for postgraduates at Thompson House, the PGSS’ headquarters. 

Recent Events:

PGSS has also been campaigning for wage increases for doctoral researchers in McGill’s Faculty of Science and Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, as wages have remained stagnant for over a decade while living expenses and tuition fees have increased.

BOARD OF GOVERNORS (BoG)

What it does:

The BoG is responsible for making all final decisions regarding the university’s financial, academic, and business matters. The BoG has 25 members who vote on policies and two non-voting student representatives, one from SSMU and another from PGSS. Notable members of the BoG include McGill’s Chancellor John McCall MacBain and Principal and Vice-Chancellor Suzanne Fortier. 12 members of the BoG are appointed by other members, while the rest are elected or appointed by different campus organizations such as SSMU, PGSS, and the McGill Alumni Association. Students may only attend the community sessions of BoG meetings. 

Recent Events:

In May 2021, Ehab Lotayef resigned from the BoG due to the Board’s refusal to consider a motion for the display of an equity statement on campus. In May 2021, the BoG approved a revised version of McGill’s Policy on Harassment and Discrimination. 

MCGILL SENATE 

What it does:

The McGill Senate is responsible for overseeing all academic matters at the university, including the courses offered and their curricula. 52 of the 111-member body are elected student senators. The remaining seats are filled by representatives from all other constituencies at the university—like SSMU, PGSS, and BoG—as well as McGill’s chancellor, provost, principal, and the chair of the BoG. Meetings are held once a month and are open to the public, unless they deem a topic confidential. 

Recent Events:
At the final Senate meeting of the 2020/2021 academic year, the Senate approved the Fall 2021 calendar of key academic dates, including the implementation of a Fall reading week. In February 2021, the Senate presented a report on the university’s Policy Against Sexual Violence and its efforts to educate students about sexual violence.

McGill, News, The Tribune Explains

Tribune Explains: Vaccine passports at McGill

by Dima Kiwan on

More in McGill:

As of Sept. 1, accessing non-essential services in Quebec will require a COVID-19 vaccination passport, which is a government proof of full vaccination. While curricular activities at McGill will not require the passport for participation, much of student life will. 

What is the vaccine passport?

The vaccine passport is a Quick Response (QR) code issued by the Quebec government that confirms an individual’s double-vaccination status when scanned via the VaxiCode app. Individuals must present government-issued photo ID and this QR code—either on paper, in PDF format on a mobile device, or on the VaxiCode app—to access non-essential events and services. 

How can students get a vaccine passport?

Fully vaccinated students wishing to obtain a vaccine passport are individually responsible for acquiring this QR code. Those vaccinated in Quebec who have not already received their QR code by email or text can download it online through the Quebec government’s self-service portal.

Those vaccinated internationally or out-of-province must go to a clinic to register their proof of vaccination before downloading their QR code. One can register their out-of-province vaccination either by booking an appointment or by attending a walk-in vaccination clinic, where government-issued photo ID and official proof of vaccination documents are verified. 

The vaccines recognized for the Quebec vaccine passport are Pfizer, Moderna, AstraZeneca/Covishield, and Janssen/Johnson & Johnson; individuals who have received doses of a vaccine excluded from this list can receive an additional dose of an mRNA vaccine in Canada a minimum of 28 days after their last dose. 

How do vaccine passports affect student life?

The list of non-essential activities at McGill that will require the vaccine passport include practising varsity or recreational sports and attending sporting events, concerts, non-curricular academic conferences, and other performances as an audience member. Additionally, students will need the vaccine passport to access fitness centres and common areas in student residences such as TV rooms. Students with vaccine passports will have access to dine-in services while those without passports will only be able to access take-out services.

Students will not need the vaccine passport to access non-curricular or health-related student services, their personal residence rooms, and associated essential common areas such as washrooms, libraries, study hubs, and flex-spaces. 

McGill media relations officer Frédérique Mazerolle wrote to The McGill Tribune about the university’s future plans involving the vaccine passport.

“Our utmost priority has always been the health and safety of our students and staff,” Mazerolle wrote. “McGill has been working with and continues to work with the various government authorities to align with directives, and to adapt our plans and put in place the necessary measures that will ensure the successful return of students and employees to our campuses.”

How is the McGill community reacting to this measure?

The vaccine passport mandate has provoked controversy, both about the limits of government power in a pandemic and about how efficient vaccine passports are at limiting the spread of COVID-19. 

Douglas Farrow, a professor of theology and ethics at McGill, expressed his views on vaccine passports in an open letter published on August 30.

“Students, in my opinion, would be very foolish to trade their rights, liberties, and personal autonomy for ‘protection’ they do not need,” Farrow wrote in an email to the Tribune. “That does not work very well, and that puts their health at risk in a new way.” 

In an email to the Tribune, the Students’ Society of McGill University (SSMU)  President Darshan Daryanani explained that he believes the vaccine passport should be needed to access the over 250 clubs and services at McGill, and the large cultural and fundraising events to prevent further outbreaks and campus lockdowns.

“We are here to support the student activities with tools and resources as best we can,” Daryanani wrote. “While the administration claims that a student without a vaccine will ‘miss out on the full and fun McGill experience,’ at SSMU, we hope to provide alternative events to respect the safety of all.”

Arts & Entertainment, Film and TV

‘Only Murders in the Building’ refreshingly reinvents the classic murder-mystery story

by Suzanna Graham on

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In a city filled with self-absorbed, isolated, and irritating people, it seems reasonable that New Yorkers rarely interact with their neighbours. Yet Hulu’s newest show Only Murders in the Building proves that boredom is a strong motivator for some to investigate the most despised person in their apartment complex. 

Created by John Hoffman and Steve Martin, this “whodunnit” series focusses on the humour of the mystery, rather than the circumstances of the murder—effectively subverting the traditional murder-mystery genre. Set in the Arconia, a luxurious apartment building in New York, three strangers bond over their love forof the same true-crime podcast—based off of the real podcast Serial— and narrated in the comedy by none other than Tina Fey. Comedy legend Steve Martin plays Charles, a lonely former actor who repulses most people he meets, except for Oliver (Martin Short), a washed-up, over-exuberant Broadway director. Mabel (Selena Gomez), a cryptic young woman, rounds out the comedy trio with dry wit and an ostensibly secret backstory that fills the entire subplot of the series. When the motley bunch learn that fellow tenant Tim Kono (Julian Cihi) has died, they decide to investigate with the sole purpose of creating their own true-crime podcast on the mystery, an obvious satire to the rise of true-crime media in popular culture.

Although Only Murders in the Building prefers cheesy flashbacks over any presentation of serious backstory, the ironic melodrama is bizarre and whimsical. The three unorganized and chaotic “detectives” are charming enough that their unrealistic misadventures add to the storyline. Tiny yet powerfully humorous details, such as Oliver’s intimate relationship with his bulldog, are the cherry on top of the cake. 

The show expertly blends themes of loneliness and failure with its more fantastical elements. Each main character experiences strained family ties, financial distress, and trauma, grounding the show in some of the common anxieties of a post-pandemic world. 

By intertwining comedy with the more complex aspects of the human condition, Only Murders in the Building is a refreshingly relatable modern dramedy. Though only the first three of 10 episodes have been released, the rest of the season is sure to include more comedic moments, plot twists, and hopefully, a solved murder mystery. And if not, releasing the trio’s chaotic true-crime podcast would be an acceptable alternative. 

Viewers can watch Only Murders in the Building on Hulu, where a new episode is released every Tuesday.

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