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McGill Athletics’ varsity program restructuring: Student-athletes’ perspectives

by Clara Smyrski, Zain Ahmed on

For over a year, rumours have circulated that McGill Athletics is evaluating its varsity teams with the intention of making cuts to the varsity program. This year, that rumour was confirmed. Fourth-year Women’s Rugby player and Varsity Council member Annette Yu shared in an interview with The Tribune that McGill Athletics has communicated with select Varsity Representatives that a ‘restructuring’ of the varsity program is underway, having started this in September. McGill Athletics will also consider 12 to 15 of McGill’s club teams that are petitioning to gain varsity status, rethinking which teams at the university deserve to wear the varsity ‘M.’ 

According to Yu, McGill Athletics shared that factors such as a team’s performance, recruitment, funding, alumni support, facilities, eligibility, medical services, and transportation will determine whether they gain, maintain, or lose varsity status. The review is set to be completed on Dec. 1. 

This week, The Tribune sat down with athletes from various varsity and club teams to learn about how McGill Athletics’ restructuring may affect them.

Varsity Women’s Rugby 

Martlets Rugby players Kate Murphy, U2 Science, Olivia Ford, U3 Arts, Yu, U3 Arts, and Captain Raurie Moffat, U4 Education, shared that in a 2024 meeting with McGill Athletics, the team was given an ultimatum: Win games in the 2025 season, or get cut. Moffat explained Martlets Rugby seemed “set up to fail,” when asked to prove their program growth without the resources to do so. 

Because the team plays in the Réseau du sport étudiant du Québec (RSEQ) and U SPORTS leagues, they are ineligible to compete without varsity status. Furthermore, with greater team fees and administrative duties under club status, the players expect that if Women’s Rugby gets cut from the varsity roster, a formal team will cease to exist at McGill. 

Every player spoke to the team’s positive impact. Yu emphasized the sense of community it gave her in her first year, and Ford said that if McGill did not have a team, she would have been deterred from attending McGill. 

Moffat explained how the team’s potential cancellation is detrimental to future women in sport at McGill. 

“I got my five years, but I think about how I don’t get to give back to the girls who are coming after me,” she stated. “There’s so many girls […] that are so talented. [….] It’s not fair to us, and it’s not fair to the players who are going to come after us.”

Varsity Field Hockey

On behalf of the Martlets Field Hockey team, Assistant Captain Grace Hodges, U3 Arts, explained how the team losing status would not end their competition, as they can still compete in the Ontario University Athletics league, but may be detrimental regardless.

“It would be another round of us just feeling frustrated, neglected, and like we’re not actually given a chance to succeed,” Hodges explained in an interview with The Tribune.

Having faced coaching turmoil, budgeting obstacles, and logistical challenges—such as daily early morning practices, long travel weekends, and self-organized accommodation on the road—there is a sense of a disproportionate lack of support for the Field Hockey team, even with its varsity status and with recent donations to the women’s varsity program at McGill. 

“There’s not been a peep about how [those donations are] being allocated,” Hodges stated. “It’s honestly a very confusing and very opaque process.”

Varsity Golf

Varsity Golf team Captain Camden Purboo, U3 Arts, expressed his appreciation that McGill Athletics made the restructuring transparent with Varsity Council after a year of rumours. 

Purboo noted McGill Athletics’ contributions during recruitment are crucial for the competitiveness of the Men’s and Women’s Golf program. The team is self-funded through donations, which helps their case for the restructuring, as they are a lesser burden on McGill Athletics’ budgetary constraints. 

Purboo spoke on how the varsity program’s designation as club-level would hinder the team’s community feel. 

“Whether your team gets cut or not, it’s tough because the varsity teams are pretty close,” he expressed. “When you go to the gym, it’s nice to see the other varsity teams there. I think it’s going to be tough on any team that is restricted in that sense. Hopefully Golf can pull through this.” 

As hard as it may be on varsity teams, this restructuring poses a unique opportunity for McGill’s club teams. The Tribune sat down with club teams to discuss their aspirations to break into the varsity scene.

Club Ultimate 

McGill’s Ultimate program consists of four teams—Women’s A and B teams, and Open A and B teams—comprising a 100-person roster. Captain of the women’s team and co-president of the Ultimate Team Maia List, U3 Science, said that around 200 people tried out for the team this year, showcasing the clear interest in the sport. The team won the Canadian University Ultimate Championships from Oct. 17-19. 

List shared that Ultimate is self-refereed, fostering a unique trust in sport worthy of celebration. 

“McGill [Ultimate] is now doing so well. It would mean so much to our team and to the sport of Ultimate to have [the team] be recognized by [McGill] as an important sport,” List explained.

Club Cheerleading 

Ariane Alarco, U4 Science, said the McGill Cheerleading team is part of the RSEQ circuit and fully self-funded, with athletes paying their own fees. Yet, cheerleaders are pushing for recognition on the varsity level. 

“We […] started the team back up in 2021, so we’re not very competitive with other schools,” Alarco explained. “[We have] limited access to equipment, […] training facilities, and subsidised coaching.” 

Alarco detailed the team’s priorities of giving women athletes a chance to take their athletic careers in a different direction at university by trying out a new, popular sport. 

“We have a lot of girls that come into the program with a history of gymnastics, and this team would allow them to try a different sport, if given the resources,” she stated. 

Club Tennis

Emile Labrunie, U4 Engineering, is captain of McGill’s Club Tennis team, which he reports has been restricted by its club status. Although the club team has had podium success in the Tennis Quebec league, only varsity teams are allowed to travel to nationals, regardless of their season records. 

Labrunie says the most important part of being a varsity team would be recognition and media attention. Being posted on McGill Athletics’ Instagram account would spread awareness of the men’s and women’s Tennis teams’ existence, which would be a positive change from the current environment in which “you have to be passionate about tennis to know McGill has a Tennis team.” 

Labrunie shared that the McGill Tennis coaches—who are volunteers—have been “tenacious” with their petition to make the club a varsity sport. They email McGill Athletics every month—a reminder of their success and drive to represent McGill more formally. 

Labrunie said that being a varsity team would also introduce players to a more connected community than club sports, which rarely hold inter-sport events. 

“I feel like every varsity athlete knows each other. They go to each other’s matches, they have a ceremony at the end of the year for awards,” Labrunie pointed out. “[We are] kind of being left out, and we don’t even know why. We have the level, we have the structure, we have the professionalism, we have everything to be varsity. The only thing missing is the title.”

Ultimately, each team interviewed expressed a desire for more transparency, clearer communication, more institutional support, and stronger recognition throughout the process of McGill Athletics’ restructuring. 

Despite differing positions within the McGill Athletics’ program, athletes voiced a desire for fairness and community amidst the cuts. With a Town Hall update meeting scheduled for early November, student-athletes across the board hope the discussion will shed more light on McGill Athletics’ decision-making process and provide reassurance that their commitment, performance, and passion will be valued when shaping the future of sport at McGill.

Sports Editor and co-author of this piece Clara Smyrski is captain of the McGill Women’s Field Hockey team. She was not involved in the writing, editing, or publication of the ‘Field Hockey’ section of this article.

Science & Technology

There are not plenty more fish in the river: A story on endangered Quebec fish

by Antoine Larocque on

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Copper redhorses, a kind of freshwater fish, are the only vertebrates found exclusively in Quebec. However, their population is declining. Recent evidence suggests that the ‘recruitment’—a measure similar to birth rate—has dropped in the past few years.

Hugo Marchand, a postdoctoral researcher in Jessica Head’s ecotoxicology laboratory at McGill’s Department of Natural Resource Sciences, recently collaborated on a paper examining the threats facing young copper redhorses.

Copper redhorses have only two spawning sites, and both are in the Richelieu River. Since most of the watershed is occupied by agricultural land, the researchers hypothesized that pesticide runoff contributes to the mortality of young fish.

“Pesticides, which are often applied during or just before the breeding season, are washed off in the river every time there is heavy rain,” Marchand said in an interview with The Tribune.

In a previous study, the researchers exposed fish embryos to two treatments: River water and laboratory water. Embryos raised in river water had a 15 per cent lower survival rate during their first two weeks of life, which is significant given that copper redhorses typically have a lifespan of up to 30 years.

In the team’s most recent study, they collected daily water samples from the two spawning sites and from two tributaries—rivers that join a larger river rather than flowing directly to the ocean—to determine whether the pesticide concentration during the breeding season could explain the low recruitment rate. The researchers used an additional long-term sampling method to assess how contaminant levels change over time.

The laboratory analyses revealed a cocktail of contaminants in the Richelieu River.

“There are obviously a lot of pesticides,” Marchand noted. “There are also a lot of pharmaceutical and personal care products because [the Richelieu River watershed] is also an inhabited area. Even though the wastewater is filtered, filtration is not the best, and the [wastewater treatment] plants in the area are known to overflow.”

Some pesticide concentrations exceeded the water quality guideline thresholds set by the Canadian Council of Ministers of the Environment. The researchers even detected chemicals that were banned around 30 years ago, showing how persistent these compounds are in the environment.

Marchand emphasized the need for ongoing water monitoring to track changes in the river’s chemical composition. New pesticides and new regulations can influence what compounds are found in the river, and so can natural changes in river flow from year to year, both factors that contribute to the river’s contamination.

Beyond assessing water quality, the team tested the toxicity of four individual pesticides on early-life-stage fish. None of them had an impact on survival.

“It does not mean that these pesticides in the [river] mixture are not causing the effect, but individually, we cannot pinpoint which one caused the effect that we observe [in the river],” Marchand said.

Moreover, contaminants may have indirect effects on copper redhorses.

“Even though we measured the effects [of pesticides] on the fish, we did not measure the effects on their food,” Marchand said. “[Their food] is all invertebrates, which are most likely going to be much more vulnerable to pesticides.”

Moving forward, Marchand aims to establish the lowest concentrations of river contaminants that induce changes in gene expression in young fish, thereby helping policymakers set more precise safety thresholds.

He also expressed concern about the expansion of the Contrecœur Port Terminal. If the Major Projects Office, established by Mark Carney to accelerate the approval of major projects in Canada, approves the construction project, it will inevitably destroy aquatic vegetation beds—the habitat of copper redhorses. Although the Species at Risk Act prohibits the destruction of an endangered species’ habitat, the Major Projects Office may still propel the project forward. The Canadian Parks and Wilderness Society has launched a petition opposing the project. To protect copper redhorses, the organization COVABAR is raising awareness in communities along the watershed. Marchand also recommends vegetating the riverbanks, restoring natural riverbanks to improve water quality, and implementing agricultural practices that reduce pesticide use. Through a combination of conservation strategies, the currently endangered copper redhorse may persist for generations to come.

McGill, News

Alum Kai Cheng Thom speaks at McGill’s annual Queer History Month keynote 

by Kaitlyn Schramm on

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Attendees shed tears of queer solidarity on the evening of Oct. 22 as author and somatics teacher, Kai Cheng Thom, addressed McGill during the university’s annual keynote speech for Queer History Month. The event, ‘Remembering Resilience: Embodying the Queer Legacies in Uncertain Times,’ opened with a land acknowledgement appreciating the night’s rain and emphasizing that humans are not superior to the land they inhabit. 

Tynan Jarrett, director of the Equity Team in McGill’s Office of the Provost and Executive Vice-President Academic, then introduced Thom as his previous student at McGill, briefly describing Thom’s activities on campus before commenting on the importance of Queer History Month. 

“Queer History Month is more than a celebration. It is a call to honour the lives, struggles, and triumphs [of] those who came before, to connect our struggle to theirs, and to move forward stronger,” Jarrett noted. 

Director of McGill’s School of Social Work, Nicole Ives, continued the introduction, outlining Thom’s impressive accomplishments since graduating from McGill. 

“[Kai] is [an] award-winning writer, performer, and creative arts facilitator, whose work delves deeply into the themes of revolutionary love, transformative justice, spirituality, and healing from collective trauma,” Ives said. “I know I speak for my colleagues who are here from the School of Social Work, and I speak for myself, saying how thankful we are that she is here to share her vision for how we can transform society into a more socially just and humanist world.” 

As Ives concluded the introduction, Thom approached the stage and shared a hug with Ives before addressing the crowd. She began with a prayer centring love: “Love that heals, love that speaks, love that tells the truth, the whole truth, the ugly truth, nothing but the truth, love that sees it all and yet keeps moving anyway.” 

Shortly thereafter, Thom admitted her complicated relationship with McGill while offering gratitude for the opportunity to speak at the university. She described the mix of emotions she feels as a trans woman and as a changemaker who has evolved from admiring veteran activists to //becoming// one of those veteran activists, despite few corresponding societal improvements for the trans community. 

Demonstrating her expertise, Thom then led a short somatic practice, instructing the group to find their length, find their width, and find their depth physically within their bodies. She then encouraged attendees to take a moment, breathe, and orient themselves within what they have been noticing about their social landscape. She concluded the somatic practice, with many participants crying silent tears and loud cries of relief, before continuing to speak on resilience and resistance for queer activists. 

“The resilient edge of resistance is a term that comes to us from somatic trauma therapy. It refers to the ability to feel stress and even distress, while remaining grounded, centred, connected, crucially connected,” she described. “And my offer to you about this term resilience, […] is that it can be about resistance having more emotion, actually having more sensation, more feeling, but not in a way that fragments, that leaves us feeling despair, […] [but] in a way that leaves us feeling more connected […] to ourselves. Resilience is not about toughness or being superior to others, and I believe that the great mothers of queer and trans history knew this.” 

As her speech concluded, Thom spoke to the feeling of hopelessness common to lifelong activists who fail to see results from their advocacy, quoting Ursula K. Le Guin, who stated that when living under capitalism, its power seems unescapable. But, Le Guin said, so did the divine right of kings. Thom urged the crowd to remember that human power goes both ways: Any human system can be resisted and changed by human beings. And for human beings to stand strong under pressure and see the change they want to make, she emphasized, they must work together. 

“Love survives, love revives, love redeems, love forgives,” she finished.

Editorial, Opinion

McGill must get on the right track and prioritize accessibility—not anti-unionism

by The Tribune Editorial Board on

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This October, employees of the Société de transport de Montréal (STM) filed strike notices that will disrupt bus and metro services throughout November. The Syndicat du transport de Montréal-CSN, which represents maintenance workers, has pledged to strike from Oct. 31 to Nov. 28. The Syndicat des chauffeurs, opérateurs, et employés des services connexes (SCFP 1983)—representing drivers and operators—also plans to strike, instead on Nov. 1, 15, and 16. Their decisions to strike follow over 100 failed negotiation efforts between the unions and the STM, in which the employees sought a 25 per cent wage increase and compensation for the hours they spend on tasks adjacent to their primary responsibilities, such as moving from station to station.

This strike, critical for livable pay and fair working conditions for STM employees, will bear an impact on individuals across Montreal, including McGill students, faculty, and staff. As such, it is crucial that McGill, and other public institutions whose communities rely on public transit, prioritize supporting the strike by offering reasonable accommodations for those impacted—not demonizing the strike as an inconvenience. 

This will mark the third and fourth strikes by STM unions this year, following a two-week strike in September and an earlier strike in June. Yet, the prospects of achieving improved pay structures seem low; the STM has communicated a plan to cut over 300 jobs to offset its severe budget deficit, a fiscal antithesis to the wage increases its unions are demanding. 

The STM serves over 1.7 million riders daily, many of whom take the metro out of necessity. Low-income Montrealers who cannot afford a car or alternative transit options will be particularly at risk if the metro shuts down, alongside commuters, senior citizens, and workers with precarious employment circumstances or irregular working hours. Furthermore, given that the strike measures extend to the closure of metro stations themselves, unhoused populations who rely on stations as a respite during the colder months will be forced into life-threatening conditions.

The McGill community too relies on the services the STM offers: Approximately 50 per cent of students and faculty and 70 per cent of staff use public transit or shuttle bus options to access campus. When strikes disrupt service, students face long waits or are forced to opt for more costly, less sustainable alternatives. Yet when the STM unions went on strike just a month ago, the McGill administration’s only response was a brief memo directing students to consult the STM website and anticipate longer commute times, encouraging faculty to “be flexible” with students who may be impacted—without providing any tangible guidance or institutional support. 

Nowhere in the memo did McGill set standardized expectations for professors and students navigating the strike. Administrators did not mandate classes go online or be recorded, resulting in a confusing mix of responses and varying degrees of flexibility. As a result, the burden of reliable support for the McGill community amidst STM closures fell on Students’ Society of McGill University services such as DriveSafe, while the McGill administration absolved itself of all responsibility to ensure campus accessibility. 

Furthermore, the communication memo lacked any information regarding why the strike was taking place, effectively encouraging the McGill student body to redirect their frustration towards strikers. McGill has an extensive history of suppressing labour movements on campus, most recently during the 2024 strikes hosted by its Faculty of Law, during which administrators dragged out negotiations and insulted students who supported the striking faculty members. McGill must abandon its provocation of anti-union sentiment and blame-shifting among community members, and instead prioritize accessibility during all strikes, STM, faculty union, or otherwise. 

McGill must standardize a university-wide response to STM closures, complete with genuine, effective accommodations that do not shift responsibility to the discretion of faculty. Without a cohesive, integrated response, community members are left disadvantaged and resentful of critical union activity, while the union’s efforts themselves are vilified. Students too must hold in high regard the rights of striking workers and avoid viewing metro closures as an inconvenience rather than a rightful protest tactic. 

STM employees have a right to strike; McGill has an obligation to support union activity and accommodate its affected students, faculty, and staff.

Research Briefs, Science & Technology

Stop-and-go: How male and female hockey players move differently

by James Levitsky on

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Hockey is a key component of Canadian culture, as it is our national sport and a great source of joy and pride. Whether played competitively, in gym class, or just for fun on a frozen lake, hockey unites players across the country. Yet despite its importance to many across various ages and identities, variances in the mechanics of skating between males and females remain largely understudied.

Female participation in ice hockey has been increasing steadily, with a 34 per cent increase in registered players from 2007 to 2018, according to the International Ice Hockey Federation. While there is ample research on male player movements, female players remain underrepresented in the scientific literature, despite fundamental anatomical differences that impact the way they move, play, and train.

Shawn Robbin, associate professor in the school of Physical and Occupational Therapy, leads a lab working to develop this knowledge base, diving into the science of movement in ice hockey and exploring how equipment and player traits influence performance on the ice. The lab partners with Bauer Hockey and uses federal funding to help athletes move efficiently and reduce their risk of injury, with McGill students playing a key role in the research.

In a recent paper published in the International Journal of Performance Analysis in Sport, Robbins explored the kinematic differences between male and female athletes who participated in a stop-and-go task.

McGill varsity hockey players were asked to perform traditional hockey stops, then take a few strides in the opposite direction at different speeds. The researchers then used motion capture technology to study how males and females differ in stop and start movements on the ice. The researchers found that females tend to stay more upright relative to their starting position, while males get much lower to the ice when they stop.

“We found that male players tend to lower themselves faster and have more flexion in their hip and knee joints, which helps them absorb and explode out of stops,” Robbins said in an interview with The Tribune.

Another study found that female ice hockey players reported proportionately more soft tissue injuries, strains, and sprains, while males experienced more fractures. 

Although sex-specific injury types were not the focus of this study, Robbins noted that several factors contribute to differences between sexes. However, it is difficult to parse exactly how much each factor contributes. 

“It’s a bit more clear, in other sports like soccer, that movement plays a role in injury, especially in female athletes. That’s not as clear in hockey,” Robbins said. “Obviously, there’s other differences as well, in terms of hormone levels [and] muscle strength. I think that biomechanics may have a piece in injuries, […] [and] how players move will have a piece in terms of injury, but it’s [related to] the other factors too.” 

Robbins emphasized that the study requires a collaborative effort. While his role during the experiment was mostly to process and analyze raw data on the computer, McGill students at the lab, such as master’s student Aiden Hallihan, conducted many of the actual tests under professors’ supervision. In other words, successful research requires a dedicated community of scientists, including everyone from undergraduate research assistants to lab directors.

Moving forward, the lab will continue to test new and advanced motion capture systems to expand its research. While this study focused exclusively on elite varsity-level players, their current research is aimed at younger and recreational players. 

“With the data from elite players, [we] can compare it to recreational players and see if there are similar [sex] differences and how [players] can improve their game,” Robbins said.

Overall, Robbins’ research challenges traditional gender bias in sports research. His work advances player development and safety across genders, making the world of hockey research more equitable.

McGill, Montreal, News

$52 million CAD in federal funding fuels hope for Quebec’s anglophone healthcare accessibility

by Sofia Vidinovski on

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On Oct. 15, the Canadian federal government announced a budget increase of $52 million CAD, allocated to anglophone health services in Quebec. The funds will be distributed between McGill University and the Community Health and Social Services Network over the next five years. These institutions will lead execution, with Dialogue McGill heading the project on the university’s behalf. They will prioritize developing research, language training, and resources tailored to the needs of both anglophone and francophone professionals, staff, and students to support their experiences within the healthcare system. The budget increase will also sustain initiatives to recruit and employ bilingual professionals across the province. 

In a written exchange with The Tribune, McGill’s Media Relations Office (MRO) explained how Dialogue McGill will specifically allocate the university’s funding towards building accessible healthcare for anglophones in Quebec.

“Dialogue McGill received a $20.7 million [CAD] grant […] of the $52 million [CAD] that Health Canada allocated,” the MRO wrote. “The money is planned to be useful in supporting initiatives that maintain and build capacity of bilingual health professionals in Quebec’s public sector.” 

The Office also highlighted Dialogue McGill’s missions and the services it provides specifically to McGill students.

“[Dialogue McGill’s] programs include free French- and English-language training, as well as bursaries for students committed to working in the public sector post-graduation and funding for research projects that examine relationships between language, access to health and social services, and health-related outcomes.”

This is not the first time Canada’s federal government has outwardly supported an increase in anglophone healthcare accessibility in Quebec. In 2024, Quebec Health Minister Christian Dubé announced a government directive that would require patients to provide an English-language eligibility certificate to Quebec’s health networks to receive treatment in English. Only when the federal government pressured the Quebec government did Dubé backtrack on the directive.

McGill students who have engaged with Quebec healthcare, especially in the Milton-Parc neighbourhood, have described the experience as strenuous. Amélie Evans, U2 Sciences, outlined her experience as an anglophone patient in a Montreal hospital, highlighting how a language barrier can complicate access to safe healthcare in the province.

“I’ve had moments where language created misunderstandings,” she said in an interview with The Tribune. “For example, during one visit to the hospital, a nurse misunderstood part of what I was explaining about my symptoms because I wasn’t sure how to phrase it correctly in French. It didn’t cause serious harm, but it made me realize how critical it is to have clear communication in healthcare.” 

Furthermore, Evans hopes that this budget increase will aid English-language communication in Quebec’s medical system. 

“I think the first priority [for funding use] should be expanding bilingual training programs and ensuring every major clinic has at least one English-speaking staff member available,” she stated.

To track the funding’s progress, the federal government of Canada will receive annual reports from the project’s leaders on its outcomes. In an interview with The Tribune, Mark Johnson, spokesperson for Health Canada, explained the measurable outcomes and performance indicators that McGill will use to ensure the budget is effectively applied. 

“McGill University [will report] on the number of health professionals who have both enrolled and completed their language training program, the number of bursaries to recent graduates to retain them in the public system in an underserved region in Quebec, as well as research projects and knowledge products that have been produced and offer new data on [official language minority communities] in health,” Johnson said.

Arts & Entertainment, Film and TV

‘Le Train’ is a dream-filled Quebecois coming-of-age film 

by Siena Torres on

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This October, Festival du Nouveau Cinéma wrapped up its 54th edition, featuring a robust program of 200 films over 12 days. The Montreal-based film festival prides itself on showcasing diverse international features and short films, while spotlighting a strong selection of Canadian films. This edition’s closing film, Le Train, is a mesmerizing debut from renowned Quebecois playwright and actress, Marie Brassard. 

Le Train follows Agathe, a young girl in 1960s Quebec, who dreams of a fantastical world where she is not plagued by severe asthma. As she grows into adolescence, she meets a man who shares her same longing for something more than their reality. Rising stars Thalie Rhainds and Electra Codina Morelli, who play Agathe at various ages, deliver captivating performances that hint at promising careers ahead. The exquisite Larissa Corriveau, who plays Thérèse, Agathe’s eccentric mother, shines in her portrayal of a woman balancing professional life, single motherhood, and creative pursuits. 

In an interview with The Tribune, Brassard reflected on the experience of writing and directing her first feature film, noting how it differs from theatre. She described theatre as ephemeral: An experience that creates unique experiences each time. It lives only in our memories because it takes place in the ‘real’ world with ‘real’ people, as opposed to cinema. 

“Cinema is different. At one point, you have to stop [adding on] for it to exist as an object, and from that moment on, it’s gonna be that. You have to let it go,” Brassard said. “And at the same time, what’s beautiful is that you can look at it again and again, and eventually have a different experience as well, but the thing is that it will persist in time.”

Inspired by her own childhood experiences with asthma in the Quebec suburbs and her coming-of-age in 1970s Montreal, Brassard sought to recreate the feeling of hope she felt at that time, contrary to today’s cynicism and increased isolation. 

“I wanted to make a film that would state that there was a time [in Quebec] where people were dreaming. People were dreaming of a better world, a more equal world,” Brassard said.

As someone who admires the aesthetics of the 1970s, I found the visuals of Agathe’s teenage years a feast for the eyes. Brassard mentioned that she remembers the aftermath of Montreal’s Expo 67, a world’s fair in which there was a liberating spirit in the air, both politically and creatively. Le Train recreates these artistic communities and countercultures that she found in the city, where intellectual and creative thoughts were freely exchanged. 

Brassard grew up listening to the sound of trains running through her town, dreaming of the places they would go. In Le Train, these dreams recur and contrast the rest of the film in their black-and-white stylization, as Agathe tries to figure out both their meaning and the other world that intrigues her. Brassard used these childhood dreams as the starting point of her script.

“I imagined that it was a lumberjack there [by the train], who was cutting trees and protecting our world, and that he was standing at the frontier between us and the world that we don’t know,” Brassard said.

The themes of identity, dreams, and a blend of fantasy run through much of Brassard’s work. 

“There’s something fundamental that is part of you that you cannot escape from. And I think that for me, it is a very thin layer between dream and reality, or between the imagined and reality,” Brassard said. “And somehow, it intersects with [the] science worlds. When we think of quantum realities, where scientists reflect on the possibility of parallel worlds that we cannot perceive.” 

As Le Train rolled its final frames, it left audiences with a resonant message that speaks to both nostalgia and hope, reminding viewers of a time, and perhaps a place, where dreaming of a better world still felt possible.

Student Life

All you think about is how you look

by Maria Hamdaoui on

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Many women are preoccupied with how they look, not because they’re shallow, but because that’s what they’ve been taught to value. From a young age, girls are celebrated as ‘cute’ or ‘pretty’ before they’re praised for being smart or brave. Those comments add up, shaping the belief that their value lies in their appearance rather than their minds and personalities

“I think this pressure tends to affect women more because they’re held to a higher standard by society than men. There are certain clothes men and women can both wear, yet a woman is more likely to get criticized for it,” explained Abby George, U2 Arts, in a written statement to The Tribune. The awareness of how women look starts early, and for many, it never goes away.

“I definitely think there is some kind of ‘look’ for students, mostly to be dressed relatively well and less just whatever you can find in your drawers,” George added. 

Her comment captures a shared understanding: On campus, effort is expected to look effortless. It’s not about dressing up, exactly; it’s more about looking like you belong here. That awareness extends beyond clothing. Small insecurities can become constant background noise.

Sukaina Haider, U1 Science, shared in a written statement to The Tribune that when her skin breaks out, it makes it harder for her to focus on anything else. “[My acne] honestly distracts me from paying attention to a lecture. Not the end of the world, but it does affect me to a certain extent.”

Even something as common as acne can impact a student’s focus. And while it can be inspiring to be surrounded by people who take pride in how they carry themselves, it can also pressure you to do the same, even on days you just want to show up in crocs or sweatpants.

“There is definitely a social media impact, especially in our generation,” Mihade Mastour, U2 Science, shared in an interview with The Tribune. 

That illusion of effortlessness becomes its own kind of work, one that seeps quietly into daily life. You scroll through social media and see a constant stream of ‘must-have’ skincare routines, outfit ideas, the next thing you apparently need to feel complete. Trends circulate so quickly that it’s almost impossible to keep up.

George explained that fleeting viral trends add another layer of stress to self-presentation on campus.

“I feel like these trends definitely do affect students, and probably those at McGill. I find I do see it in certain students—there are actually many that wear sweatpants and sweatshirt combos, but they have the clean girl hair and makeup to make it seem like they did this effortlessly but actually put a lot of care into their outfit.”

Still, students are finding ways to resist these pressures. Girls are distancing themselves from any kind of expectation about how women should dress by remembering that the priority is how they feel in their clothes. Instead of dressing according to trends, they dress for how they feel that day, and choose clothes that make them comfortable, grounded, and able to focus on themselves rather than how they appear. Worrying about your appearance steals time and energy that could be spent chasing ideas and ambitions. The challenge for young women today is to break away from these cycles. 

The truth is that no reflection or appearance defines you the way your mind, your work, and your passions do. Young women at McGill are some of the most creative, capable people, and it would be disheartening to see them feel any sense of insecurity about how they look.

Art, Arts & Entertainment

The hidden merit of McGill’s Visual Arts Collection

by Dylan Hing on

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One thing that everyone can agree on about McGill is that the campus is absolutely stunning. With the beautiful Mount Royal as a backdrop to the varying architectural styles on campus, one only has to stop and look to find beauty here. Often ignored, the many smaller pieces that make up McGill’s Visual Arts Collection (VAC) also possess their own beauty; they bring the university’s distinctive cultures to the forefront.

Scattered around campus, the collection features paintings, photographs, cultural items, and several sculptures that punctuate the university’s green spaces. Since it began collecting art in the 1830s, McGill’s VAC has grown to over 3,500 pieces. With a library of works that large, nothing is forgotten.

I was particularly impressed by the collection’s emphasis on Indigenous art, including the minimalist nature pieces by the late Benjamin Chee Chee displayed on McConnell Engineering’s first floor. His work Afternoon Flight, depicting geese in motion, uses simple strokes and minimal colour to create a striking image that seems both ancient and contemporary.

As demonstrated by Chee Chee’s piece, the collection’s contemporary pieces highlight diverse perspectives that reach beyond European-style portraits and settings. 

For example, on Macdonald Harrington’s first floor, I stumbled across a photograph by Yann Arthus-Bertrand; it’s an overhead shot of a Dogon village near the town of Bandiagara in Mali. It presents the town from the perspective of an outsider, inviting the viewer to learn more about the Dogon people and their way of life from an angle they might not have otherwise considered.

Outside, the collection continues in the James Sculpture Garden, where community members pass through and study day in and day out. These abstract sculptures definitely fit in with their surroundings—although they sit within view of the 19th-century-style administration building, they also sit within the shadow of the very 20th-century-built McConnell Engineering Building. 

These juxtapositions make the campus feel cohesive despite its many artistic and architectural differences. Like a museum, every piece of art belongs exactly where it stands, and like a museum, the VAC takes its position as a provider of public art very seriously.

Uniquely, while the VAC has works of art in storage just like any museum in the world, its Visible Storage Gallery on McLennan Library’s fourth floor offers a unique glimpse of artwork that would not normally be on display. The collection displayed here is a microcosm of the types of paintings chosen to hang around campus. It acts as a snapshot of the wider collection—complete with European-style portraits, abstract sculptures, landscapes and photographs, and a major compilation of Indigenous-created artwork.

One of the pieces, What is She Looking at? What Does She See? by Freda Guttman Bain, is particularly intriguing. In my exploration of campus art, it was the first photograph I’d seen of a human subject, and a woman at that. Although the photo is in black and white, it reflects a sort of modernity compared to many of the paintings and ceremonial objects in the room with her. With the subject sitting across from the camera, the viewer is explicitly asked to wonder what she’s facing. Perhaps a more equal future?

Taking more notice of the art all around campus can be a learning experience in and of itself, as the priorities of the collection have changed over its two centuries of building. Through various specialized exhibits, including the Japanese prints on the fourth floor of Bronfman, the VAC today critically highlights non-Western approaches to art and artistry. Although art is but one aspect of creating a safe community for all, the diversity of the VAC is an important reflection of the students for whom it is presented. 

While you rush to classes or find yourself hunched over a textbook, take a moment to look around and see how cultures around the world have displayed their passions, fears, hopes, and stories. You never know what you might find.

Student Life

Haunted happenings at McGill 

by Jamie Xie on

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On certain nights, when the odd moon glows pale and crooked over campus, McGill is an impossibly-held breath of swallowed light. In a certain Burnside basement lie the remnants of something remarkably gruesome: The dark undertow of a winding tunnel that seems too narrow, a labyrinthine corridor folding in on itself, a lung collapsing under its own weight. 

It is the hall with eyes, a series of miraculous misgivings—something seven feet tall which stalks on its hind legs and does not wish to be seen. Footsteps trail no fewer than five steps behind you; it is faster, smarter, hungrier than you—a violent warning that if you can hear it, it has already heard you. Counting down from 10 like a game of hide and seek, it is a church bell chiming, marking its own hour of death. Drawn tight like a curtain, the route promises passage to Otto Maass. How tragically human that we are so often proven poor liars—prone to promises we cannot keep, prone to keeping things that aren’t ours. Time remembers a naive freshman who wandered down this passage to nowhere.

Some student encounters blend mundanity with the uncanny. In an interview with The Tribune, Cedric Phillips, U3 Science, reported a bizarre incident in the Islamic Studies Library which defies explanation; over the course of an hour, three books tumbled from the shelves without warning. 

“No one was even near the shelves. It was sort of a sanity check for me,” he said. “Whatever it is either really hates me or really hates undergrads.” 

Ominous flickering lights have been reported in other corners of campus. 

Linc Ketchate, U3 Engineering, recounted eerie lights in the Trottier basement and Arts building in an interview with //The Tribune//. “As soon as it gets dark out, there’s something creepy happening in there, and it’s not just BdA.” 

Ketchate suggests that these experiences may be shaped by the collective anxieties that define student life, highlighting the constant stress to perform, particularly during midterm season and amid external pressures such as the STM strike, which make familiar spaces feel hostile and almost otherworldly.

With many students coming from abroad or leaving home for the first time, university life can be a profoundly isolating experience. For Layla Issa, U2 Arts, this loneliness became especially tangible during reading week. While her friends returned home to see their families, she stayed behind, studying late into the night on the second floor of McLennan Library. It was there, she recalled in an interview with The Tribune, lights blinked out—leaving students literally and figuratively in the dark. 

“When the lights went out and everyone looked up at the same time it was like this weird moment of camaraderie,” she says. 

Jasmine Ma, U3 Arts, showcased her psychology background in an interview with The Tribune about McGill’s haunted nature. “As the dark is coming in and the days get shorter, it’s unsurprising that the brain can play tricks on us in this kind of collective psychosis.” 

In an interview with The Tribune, Nesrine Yala, U1 Arts, reflected on the bonds that shared fright forges in a cultural context. 

“Ghost stories often bring people together. Even though they’re about something negative or scary, fear, injustice, they create a sense of community.”

For Issa, the experience became less about fear and more about empathy. 

“Some things can’t always be explained, I’m not sure if I believe in the paranormal but I believe in energies. That’s where empathy comes out. It’s through these lived experiences that McGill shares a common heart.” 

It is unclear whether McGill’s ghosts are real or imagined—if the shadow slipping through Burnside’s tunnels is born of memory, or the anxiety of midterm all-nighters. But what remains is undeniable: The strange pulse of something unspoken, which breathes new light into the university’s collective imagination. 

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