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Sports

It will all workout: Exercising in a cramped student apartment

by Adam Burton, Maya Mau, Sarah Farnand on

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As gyms around the world closed in March to limit the spread of the COVID-19, bodybuilders and casual gym-goers alike were forced to recreate fitness centres in their homes. Though some Montreal gyms reopened in June, many people still do not feel safe returning. For some, this means adapting their workout routines from an expansive space with professional equipment to a bedroom with a yoga mat. Here’s how some McGill students have continued exercising in their apartments throughout quarantine.

HIIT Workouts

Tabata—a form of High Intensity Interval Training (HIIT) that alternates 20 seconds of work and 10 seconds of rest—provides a balance between rigour and recovery that makes it great for casual fitness enthusiasts and competitive athletes alike. Tabata routines cycle through many different exercises, allowing people to build strength while also working on endurance. Designed to be accessible to anyone with a yoga mat and water bottle, hundreds of tabata workouts are available for free online.

Dance Workouts

Staying fit during quarantine can seem impossible, and for those who do not enjoy exercise, being in quarantine is a great excuse to skip working out. Dance music routines, however, are a fantastic alternative for those who want to work out to good music, but are unmotivated by traditional exercises. Online personalities like YouTuber MadFit post weekly dance workouts featuring various popular artists. The workouts range from five to 30 minutes, and demonstrate dance moves that can turn a dance party into a full cardio workout. Don’t let quarantine keep you stationary: Get up and get dancing.

Gymnastics Rings

Have you ever watched Olympic gymnasts performing their routines on the rings and thought to yourself, “I bet I can do that?” Unfortunately, you probably can’t, but you can buy a set of rings and straps at a fairly reasonable price and start practising. Rings bring versatility and mobility to your workouts; you can set them up on anything from a pullup bar to a tree in the park. According to self-proclaimed fitness gurus on YouTube, ring workouts can leave you feeling drained. You’ll see quick progress, and best of all: Your friends, family, and random strangers in the park will be in awe of your new-found gymnastic abilities. 

Yoga

Yoga studios have started to reopen at limited capacity, but many may choose not to return to enclosed spaces they once frequented before the pandemic. Yoga offers a range of physical and mental exercises that allows one to focus on breathing, flexibility, and strength. Whether you’re practicing yoga as a solitary morning de-stresser, a virtual online session, or outside in a socially-distanced class, yoga is a great way to stay active and grounded during tumultuous times.

Biking

Biking is usually an outdoor sport, but as winter closes in, that stops being an option for Montreal cyclists. Fortunately, with a few quick modifications and a stationary stand, you can still get a good spin in. Previously, this may have been a boring and sweaty endeavor, but apps like Zwift allows you to ride virtually with other users, making the experience much more engaging and competitive. The app lets you ride anywhere in the world through your TV screen, and even with professional cyclists.

Hockey, Sports

Last ones standing: NHL final four predictions

by Sam Wendel on

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As the NHL resumes in the bubble cities of Edmonton and Toronto, eight teams are vying for semifinal spots, and it’s anyone’s guess which team will go all the way. Hockey is notorious for its upsets, and with all teams coming off of a four-month hiatus, it is more likely than ever that the unpredictable happens. Here are The McGill Tribune’s predictions for the “Final Four” teams most likely to make the conference finals in the 2020 NHL Playoffs.

Boston Bruins

Fresh off a Stanley Cup Finals appearance last season, the Boston Bruins are a strong defensive team at the top of their division. Having acquired two versatile pieces in Ondřej Kaše and Nick Ritchie, this is a hard team to beat. They have the depth of some of the best wingers in the game and present their opponents with a tough defensive strategy. They are as safe a bet as any for the Final Four.

Washington Capitals 

This pick is more dubious; however, the Caps still have Ovechkin. While he is aging, he is still a star player in the league, having scored 89 and 87 points in each of the past two seasons respectively. The Caps also have a healthy T.J. Oshie, who was instrumental in their 2018 Stanley Cup victory. Moreover, the team has more than enough offensive depth, and their first string defence is supreme, including stalwarts John Carlson and Dmitri Orlov. The second and third string defence was lacking early in the season, but the addition of Brenden Dillon seems to have made them a more cohesive unit. The only major risk factor is goalkeeping. Ilya Samsonov is injured, forcing Brandon Holtby to be the team’s main netminder. His save percentage of .897 this season leaves significant room for improvement. 

Colorado Avalanche

The Avalanche were just two points behind the St. Louis Blues when play stopped due to the COVID-19 pandemic. At the same time they faced a slew of injuries that stopped them from putting their best roster on the ice. Most of their players have since recovered, leaving only Nathan Mackinnon and Colin Wilson on the injured list. Cale Makar, an integral part of the Avalanche defence and contender for the Calder trophy, will be returning after spending much of the season injured. Additionally, Phillip Grubauer is an exceptional goalie, and the Avalanche’s offence is phenomenal. Playing together as a team, they are quick on the break, and have proven themselves capable sharpshooters. The return of Makar and Samuel Girard has made their defence one of the best in the league. It also doesn’t hurt that the Avalanche are a young and hungry team—it’s hard to prove statistically, but pure willpower and grit may carry the team all the way to a Stanley Cup victory.

Vegas Golden Knights 

The return of Mark Stone, Max Pacioretty, and Alex Tuch has improved the Golden Knights’ championship chances. Both Pacioretty and Stone lead the Knights in points, and their return makes their starting line-up one of the best in hockey. They were already 15–5–2 under the helm of Coach Peter DeBoer, but now he and his new staff have had time to get to know the players and implement his system: Getting defencemen more involved in the offensive game. Before DeBoer arrived, the defence had 1.63 points per game; they now average 2.41. This translates to heavy and consistent offensive pressure, and in playoff hockey, that’s enough to win those extra-critical games. Not only do they have one of the best netminders in Marc-André Fleury, but they also have a strong backup in Robin Lehner, making for one of the best goalie tandems in hockey. All this, coupled with a stingy defence and some sharpshooters on the wings, makes for a true Stanley Cup contender.

Student Life

Reshaping public commemorations in Montreal

by Erika Mackenzie on

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This summer’s series of Black Lives Matter protests around the globe have sparked greater awareness of colonial legacies that persist in public spaces. Recent petitions calling for the removal of the James McGill statue and the Sir John A. MacDonald monument, and a name change of the Lionel-Groulx subway station have forced Montrealers to reconsider these celebrated figures and their history of upholding racist beliefs and practices. 

The university honours its founder, James McGill, in many respects on campus. From the Le James Bookstore to the James Administration Building and his statue near the Roddick Gates, his image is omnipresent at the university— however, any acknowledgement of his participation in slavery is absent. 

According to Dr. Charmaine Nelson, former professor in the Department of Art History and Communications Studies, James McGill owned between five to seven slaves, at a time when it was rare for Montrealers to own more than two, and represented other white community members in the sale of slaves in Montreal. 

The success of the #ChangeTheName campaign has demonstrated that collective movements are effective tools to drive change on campus. McGill students are now using petitions to force the university to reconsider the legacy of its founder, James McGill. Hannah Wallace, U0 Education at McGill, created a petition demanding that the administration remove the statue of James McGill and acknowledge his racist past. 

Beyond campus grounds, Montrealers are taking action by demanding that monuments of racist historical figures be removed from public spaces. Isobel Walker, the creator of the petition to remove the Sir John A. MacDonald statue, explained how recent protests have led us to rethink the meaning of these monuments. 

“While some have had the privilege of simply observing this monument and not actively questioning its racist roots, for many it has always stood as a monument to white supremacy,” Walker said. “I think recent events have shifted the focus of many Canadians towards the latter.” 

Timothy Stanley, a professor in the Department of Education at the University of Ottawa, argued that MacDonald’s biographers often justify his racism against people of Chinese and Mongolose descent and Indigenous Peoples as a product of the time. Stanley noted that other members of the Parliament of Canada, who were in office at the same time, strongly opposed MacDonald’s discriminatory policies.

Walker is optimistic that the recent public awareness in the history of monuments will result in progress towards racial justice. 

“Montreal has always prided itself on being a multicultural and open place, and yet the municipal, provincial, and federal government continue to place certain voices, bodies, and values above others,” Walker said. “The fight is not over yet, and I think it is of the utmost importance for individuals to continue showing up for others in hope [for] a better future for all.” 

Many are also demanding the renaming of public spaces. In June, infection control practitioner at the McGill University Health Centre and IR-CUSM Naveed Hussain called for the Lionel-Groulx subway station to be renamed after jazz musician Oscar Peterson. 

Lionel Groulx, who was a proponent of the nationalist movement in Quebec during the silent revolution, also discriminated against Jewish people and anglophones in the province. During World War II, Groulx created a campaign to boycott Jewish-owned shops. 

It is difficult to come to terms with the fact that many commemorated figures have upheld and perpetuated racist attitudes in Canadian society. From protests to petitions, Such social movements can teach us how honouring historical figures without discussing the ways in which their personal prejudices negatively affected certain populations oversimplifies their legacies. These petitions help us consider not only who we are honouring in public spaces, but also what values we are placing on a pedestal. 

Student Life

Community Cooks Co-operative builds resilience and kinship

by Zach Ripka on

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On a hot July evening, the flushed faces, happy chatter, and sound of oil snapping in pans made the Community Cooks Co-operative’s (CCCoop) Zoom session feel almost like a real kitchen. This volunteer group has weekly virtual meetings to catch up, meet new people, and exchange cooking advice, all while preparing a bulk donation of meals for Resilience Montreal, a non-profit day shelter.

CCCoop is a mutual-aid organization that serves a dual role acting as an intermediary between its volunteers and Resilience Montreal while also providing community members a socially distanced way to stay connected.

Located in Cabot Square, Resilience Montreal facilitates a gathering space for Indigenous Peoples, especially Inuit community members. The shelter offers meals, sleeping space, clean laundry, and community support. Resilience Montreal has a standing call for donations of food and essentials, including socks, blankets, and hygiene products.

Tomo Newton, a second-year master’s student in Music at McGill, founded CCCoop in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. 

“A few weeks into quarantine, when everything was really shut down, I was walking on Sherbrooke and seeing the same Indigenous Peoples on the streets, really exposed to everything,” Newton said. “I realized that while my life had stopped […] and I had all the resources I needed to be safe and sheltered, the people that did not have that before still don’t have that.”

According to recent statistics from the Quebec government, there are more than 3,100 people living on the streets of Montreal at any given time. In 2018, Indigenous people made up 0.6 per cent of the city’s population, but 12 per cent of its unhoused people. This mirrors circumstances across Canada, where Indigenous people are four per cent of the overall population, but 28 per cent of the unhoused population.

Since April 2020, CCCoop has coordinated 18 consecutive weekly cooking sessions, each with 10 to 20 volunteer participants. Newton explained that all are welcome to volunteer, and that CCCoop is currently on the lookout for more help.

The McGill Tribune joined a CCCoop cooking session where Newton pointed out that her social circle had actually expanded during the lockdown, as her initiative helped her meet new people.

Although it is still growing, Newton believes that CCCoop is contributing to larger social movements. 

“With all these social movements taking place, we are trying to be a part of them,” Newton said, citing the Black Lives Matter and Indigenous sovereignty movements. “What we’re trying to do is create some sort of bridge between these communities. A lot of [the volunteers] are students [and] a lot of us live in the Plateau, which is pretty far away from Cabot Square where this work is being done.”

Some forms of political action focus on pushing the government to respond to social problems, while other groups organize to address those problems themselves. CCCoop takes the latter approach through mutual aid.

“Pressing for government action is what needs to be done,” Newton said. “I’m not going to say [our work] is the definite solution, but what we’re doing is tending to immediate needs.”

CCCoop volunteer Jeremy Tatar, a third-year McGill doctoral student in Music, shared how volunteering has helped him feel fulfilled during quarantine.

“At a time when people are socially distancing and networks are contracting, it’s so amazing to meet people and work together in this common cause. That’s been a huge benefit for me.”

The future is uncertain for CCCoop, but Newton is not worried. An openness to change has always defined the co-operative, and she expects the strength and creativity of the group to push their work beyond the fall.

“I just found myself with a lot of time on my hands, and this was a way to help out and give back,” Newton said. “Anyone can do this.”

To get involved with the co-operative, visit their Facebook page for more details.

Science & Technology

Satellites: Concerns 2,000 km above the Earth’s surface

by Shafaq Nami on

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Satellites are possibly the most notable example of space technology used in daily life. Portable GPS devices and mobile applications, such as Google Maps, both rely on satellites to ensure commuters arrive at their destination. Telecommunication satellites have connected the world far more than ever before, while meteorological satellites can monitor weather and help us prepare for storms. Now, researchers from a number of disciplines embrace space technology to observe everything from how the Antarctic sea ice is changing to scouting for minerals on the Earth’s surface. 

However, satellite use comes with its own set of difficulties. One of the greatest challenges for satellite technology in the 21st century is space debris. There are approximately 500,000 pieces of debris in addition to 3,000 non-operational satellites orbiting Earth. Some debris are as small as a loose screw or a fleck of paint, but most of these seemingly insignificant pieces travel at speeds of up to 18,000 miles per hour, which is fast enough to damage a satellite or a spacecraft. 

Professor Arun Misra, chair of the Space Committee for the McGill Institute of Aerospace Engineering, has examined the problem of space debris for the past decade. 

“Many satellites, like the [International] Space Station, have to maneuver to get away from the path of the debris, and then to get back to the original orbit after the debris has passed,” Mirsa said in a video interview with The McGill Tribune.

According to Misra, there are two ways of collecting space debris. 

“One [way of collecting debris] is using a tether net which is similar to catching fish,” Misra said. “The net is thrown, wrapped around the debris, and pulled using a removal satellite to a lower or higher altitude. Another approach is to use a space robot like the Canadarm with a manipulator mounted on it to capture the debris.” 

Whereas the tether net method is reserved for smaller debris, large “dead” satellites are usually captured by space robots.

The challenges of space debris removal raises important legal and ethical questions pertaining to which country the debris belongs and who has the responsibility to remove it. 

“Even though there are thousands of unwanted space objects, not a single one has been removed yet because of many political, legal, and economic reasons,”  Misra said.  

In the last decades, space law has become an important topic for not only questions regarding the removal of space debris but also in space exploration, mining, and space colonization. McGill’s Institute of Air and Space Law is one of such research groups that takes a dual focus on the legal and scientific implications of these important questions. 

The expenses of space debris removal are also important to consider. While some dead satellites can be recycled, it is not always economically viable to do so, especially if the satellite has sustained physical damage. Satellites in geostationary orbit, meaning they rotate with the Earth as it turns, are found at extremely high altitudes, making them expensive and more complicated to access with a service vehicle. 

Looking forward, space debris will continue to grow as a problem for satellites until it is entirely removed from orbit. Ignoring the problem puts satellites at risk of losing their functionality and creates further possibilities of debris falling back to Earth and endangering lives. 

Arts & Entertainment, Film and TV

Where do I begin? ‘The Kissing Booth’

by Kaja Surborg on

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When Netflix released The Kissing Booth in May 2018, it appeared to be just another one of the teen rom-coms that the streaming service had become known for. Most Netflix users simply ignored it, and they were right to do so: It’s a terrible movie rife with misogynistic tropes and campy dialogue. The film gets its name from the main characters’ fundraising stall at their school’s fall carnival, because of course, a kissing booth is a very normal and hygienic thing to have at a high school fundraiser. Despite The Kissing Booth being a flaming, toxic wasteland of a movie, Netflix dropped The Kissing Booth 2 on July 24, 2020––a movie that, somehow, managed to be worse than the original. There is a lot to unpack in this franchise–let’s start at the beginning. 

The first movie opened with a fast-paced highlight reel of two best friends’ shared childhood with a voiceover narration from Elle Evans (Joey King), a classically sassy-but-awkward teenage girl about to start her junior year. This introduction scene includes fun facts about Elle and her best friend Lee (Joel Courtney), as well as the significantly less fun fact that Elle’s mother died when Elle was a teenager, which was tossed into the mix with no real follow-up. 

A major trait of The Kissing Booth is that it is both dangerously and immaturely misogynistic. Elle’s first conversation of the film with her love interest, Noah Flynn (Jacob Elordi), sets this tone:  The conversation boils down to Noah pointing out that Elle’s breasts grew over the summer. This is hardly a promising start to a healthy romantic relationship, but a romantic relationship between the two characters is what the film pursues nonetheless. The power imbalance between Noah and Elle is key to the setup of their relationship, further normalizing predatory relationships to the film’s young audience. Noah is both older and has a reputation for sleeping around, while Elle has never been on a date or kissed anyone, which are among the fun facts offered in the first minutes of the movie. 

Another key scene demonstrating The Kissing Booth’s insanely gross attitudes towards women’s bodies involves Elle’s too-short uniform skirt eliciting a fight between Noah and Tuppen (Josh Eady), after Tuppen gropes Elle. Later, Tuppen apologizes by writing “I’m sorry” on a crumpled piece of paper in detention, then asks Elle on a date. She inexplicably agrees, stating that it was a very nice apology. This scene sends a terrible message to young women about what a real apology is and what personal growth can and should be, as Tuppen never really addressed what he did or the harm he caused. Additionally, in the principal’s office after the fight, Elle says that Tuppen touched her “lady bump,” which is possibly the most disturbing and haunting line in the franchise and one that now likely lives rent-free in viewers’ heads. 

By the time The Kissing Booth progresses in its so-called plot to the beginning of Noah and Elle’s illicit relationship, Noah has shown several more red flags. These include: Telling the boys at their high school not to date Elle, informing Elle that he is interested in her almost exclusively because she is not interested in him, and slamming the hood of a car loudly while yelling at Elle to get in that car. But of course, per the movie’s warped logic, these are just the ways that Noah shows his love for Elle. 

When Netflix realised that the Noah Centineo Industrial Complex (NCIC) they created was becoming too powerful to control, they built another monster to fix their problem. But in funding The Kissing Booth and The Kissing Booth 2, they created a franchise so bewilderingly bad that, instead of defeating the NCIC, it became a parallel beast.

Commentary, Opinion

Is WE “A global force for good?” — An alumni’s perspective

by Jemima Maycock on

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As a nine-year-old, I became committed to ‘doing good’ through my involvement with Little Women for Little Women in Afghanistan, a non-profit organization that helps girls in Afghanistan receive an education. Since then, activism has been a prevalent part of my life. When it came to choosing my university major, the natural next step was to delve into an academic understanding of my passions by studying International Development at McGill. WE, an organization that calls itself a “global force for good,” has played a central role in my activism journey. I went to ‘WE Days,’ joined the ‘Me to We’ club at school, attended ‘Take Action Camp,’ volunteered at their Toronto offices, and, most recently, went on a “Women’s Empowerment” trip to India in 2017. My experiences left me with nothing but admiration for the organization. Prior to beginning my degree, this optimistic outlook largely filtered how I viewed development work.   

While sitting in my first International Development class, however, I learned that being critical of development is a key component of work within the field. It became apparent to me that not only are there negative aspects to international development, but that they should be pointed out and addressed. However, as my class explored the problematic effects of voluntourism, I continued to tell myself that WE Trips were different. 

I had many exceptional experiences with WE and met plenty of people that genuinely wanted to positively impact the world. However, the recent scandal surrounding WE has encouraged me to critically reflect on my trip to India. As participants, we had no educational background in development to contribute, nor did we have any particularly useful skills to provide. The trip instead emphasized creating an experience for us, the customer, rather than on making a sustainable impact for the local communities we were there to help. Although it was a life-changing experience, it would be unethical for me to focus solely on my personal gain and to prioritize my own development over evaluating whether the trip had meaningful effects on the local communities. 

My major has instilled in me the importance of being critical of “good” work. I say “good,” because a distinction must be made between work that is only good in its intentions and work that holistically generates positive change without introducing harm. The merging of my education and my wanting to ‘do good’ morally compels me to be critical of WE Trips. Through the trips, WE creates a false narrative of what development work looks like by presenting it in a digestible and simplistic package. Some believe that just doing something is better than nothing, but naively accepting WE’s work as ‘good’ allows it to persist by distracting from the fact that a better approach is necessary. 

The increased scrutiny surrounding WE’s work has prompted alumni to reflect on how the organization’s core values of inspiring young people to advocate for social justice have drifted—how the ‘Spirit of WE’ has been clouded over.  Longtime supporters have voiced criticism about WE’s involvement abroad by questioning the usefulness of volunteer work, and WE staff has been calling out oppressive behaviour towards staff members of colour. Still, over the years, WE has played a key role in encouraging many to speak up about social injustice, and it is this ‘Spirit of WE’ which is worth salvaging. WE helped shape me into an activist, but my degree has turned me into an individual capable of the discernment needed to hold the organization accountable.

If I fail to learn from this, to make my own positive contribution to the field, I would not only be betraying the ‘Spirit of WE’—which teaches to not stay silent when injustices occur—but also the field of international development. It has been challenging to criticize an organization that I’ve looked up to for such a long time and for which I believe has the potential to do better. However, being critical of “good” work does not equate to being cynical. Rather, being critical is quite the opposite—it is necessary in development work to build better organizations that can serve communities in less oppressive and more ethical ways. Being critical of “good” work is not something to be afraid of. 

online lab
Science & Technology

Lab classes move online, revamped for distance learning

by Claire Latendresse on

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Laboratory classes have long depended on hands-on teaching, the kind that instructors can no longer provide as the COVID-19 pandemic pushes the Fall semester online. Lab skills, however, remain an essential component of many science degrees, prompting professors to develop creative solutions to ensure that students can continue to learn a variety of skills, both on and off the lab bench.

According to Danielle Vlaho, an academic associate in the Department of Chemistry who is coordinating the switch to online labs, students taking general chemistry will require “take-home” lab kits. The kits will allow students to run experiments over Zoom, under the supervision of teaching assistants. Students will continue to submit lab reports and take online quizzes. 

For some courses, instructors like Vlaho also plan on filming themselves completing lab work to walk students through experimental procedures. 

“We’ll be filming interactive videos in the lab of myself doing the techniques […] so that [students] at least kind of see how techniques are done and what good form looks like,” Vlaho said in an interview with The McGill Tribune. 

Smartphone applications will also be used as a tool to help students perform experiments at home. Applications such as iNaturalist will be used to encourage students in BIOL 111 to take photos of plants and animals in their neighbourhood. 

“We thought we could use these tools for students to connect and to share their observations, but also to discover what kind of biodiversity they have around them,” Léa Blondel, a teaching development fellow in the Department of Biology, said in an interview with the Tribune.

Computational science labs will also be reimagined. On the Office of Science Education’s webpage, professor Giulia Alberini of the Department of Computer Science explains that the practical component of COMP 202 will involve assigning students to breakout rooms on Zoom. There, students are being asked to to collaborate on presentations, peer assessments, and discussions.

For other courses, such as organic chemistry, the transition to digital platforms has proven more difficult, as many of the necessary materials are too expensive or hazardous for students to use at home. Instructors have decided that chemical theory will be taught online during the fall semester, while in-person labs are to be delayed until the winter or summer semesters.

Jean-Marc Gauthier, Director of Undergraduate Chemistry Laboratories, remains confident that the quality of teaching will not be diminished by the transition to online learning.

“You are not losing anything by getting these courses delivered remotely,” said Gauthier. “We made sure that at the end of your academic year, you will have the same preparation and the same outcomes as in a regular semester.”

Some students have voiced concerns about the accessibility of remote courses, which could disadvantage students with disabilities as well as students with limited internet access. Other students are skeptical that the plans for online labs will make up for the loss of an in-person learning experience. 

“I think [holding labs online] is going to really impact the learning experience,” Clara MacMahon, U4 Science, said in an interview with the Tribune. “You learn by doing, especially in labs [….] You need to be ‘good with your hands’ in a lab, which you can’t really improve on in front of a computer.”

Lab coordinators, however, are taking the opportunity to update and explore new ways of delivering course material. 

“[Now, online,] we’re looking at computational chemistry, rather than experimental chemistry,” Vlaho said. “It’s something that our students are not actually introduced to until much later on in their academic careers.”

Gauthier hopes that lab courses will prove to be a successful experiment in online teaching, even if that means instructors and students have to adapt to this new normal. 

“We’re preparing students to work in science, and experiments and research are about investigating something new,” Gauthier said. “That’s part of the training too. We have a new experiment here. Let’s see if it works as well as we thought.”

Science & Technology

The science of tear gas

by Margaret Wdowiak on

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In an effort to dismantle protests, police departments across the U.S. and Canada, including in Montreal, have taken violent measures to repress civil demonstrations. From rubber bullets to water cannons, police units and municipal governments have been criticized for what many are calling the use of “excessive force” to disperse peaceful protests. The image of a smoking canister of tear gas has become emblematic of police responses to protests.

The use of tear gas on civilian protesters has sparked worldwide outrage, with some government and public health officials calling for its removal from police arsenals. However, other authorities—including top lawmakers in the U.S.—continue to defend its use. 

While the science behind tear gas remains a mystery for advocates on both sides of the dispute, proponents of its use may be surprised to find that tear gas is not a single compound, but is instead used to reference a wide variety of chemical agents.

“Tear gas refers to a range of chemicals that are all lachrymators,” Joe Schwarcz, director of the Office for Science and Society at McGill, said in an interview with The McGill Tribune. “Anything that causes tearing [of the eyes] is a lachrymator.”

There are several types of lachrymators. Until the 1950s, the most commonly used types of tear gases were CN and CS, two gaseous chlorine-based compounds, although neither remain in police arsenals today. According to Schwarcz, that title now rests with the more widely available compound capsaicin, better known as pepper spray.

Pepper spray, which was developed as an animal repellent in the 1960s, was first used by American law enforcement agencies in the 1980s. Despite their variability in terms of potency, toxicity, and chemical makeup, CN, CS, and pepper spray are all functionally similar, targeting the same part of the respiratory tract.

“What all of these substances do is irritate the mucous membranes,” Schwarcz said.

Mucous membranes line various body canals and openings such as the mouth, nose, eyelids, and lungs. The secretions that they produce are the primary form of protection against particulate matter and pathogens, including the chemicals that compose tear gas. 

“The function of the mucous membrane is to protect the body,” Schwarcz said. “So, chemicals [of] the mucous membrane perceive tear gas to be a foreign substance that needs to be eliminated.” 

Excessive irritation of the mucous membrane can cause tearing, coughing, and sneezing. However, the more acute effects of tear gas can also lead to difficulty swallowing, chest tightness, shortness of breath, blurred vision, and feelings of choking. These effects usually last for about 15 to 30 minutes, but can have lasting and permanent damage to the eyes and lungs.

“There are people who have had corneal scarring because of some tear gas and also exacerbation of asthma,” Schwarcz said. “Some people [also] have allergic reactions to the chemicals and that can cause rashes all over the body.”

Blindness, glaucoma, and respiratory failure are other possible long-term effects of tear gas exposure.

The history of tear gas is as long and as fraught with controversy as its appearance on city streets in recent months. The first tear gas compounds were developed during World War 1 as a form of chemical warfare. Following the end of the war, the use of chemical and biological weapons in war was banned by the Geneva Protocol of 1925. By 1993, the United Nations General Assembly finalized the Chemical Weapons Convention, which further limited the use of riot control agents on the battlefield, but included a now-controversial exception which allows law enforcement to use chemical agents for domestic riot control purposes. 

Given tear gas’ complicated past and potent consequences, many have asked why police forces continue to use it today. The answer is simple: Effectiveness.

“If you are exposed to a bit of tear gas […], you want to turn around and get out of there as fast as you can because it is extremely irritating and very painful to the eyes and the nose,” Schwarcz said.

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