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Behind the Bench, Football, Sports

Kyren Lacy: A life lost, a dream stolen

by Will Kennedy on

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Content warning: Suicide

On April 26, 2025, Cydney Theard spoke at the memorial service for her boyfriend and Louisiana State University (LSU) Football star player Kyren Lacy, who passed away on April 12. Theard delivered powerful words about who her partner was, the hopes they shared, and how a narrative pushed by the internet led to him taking his own life. 

“We dreamed in simple colours. A draft day suit, our first apartment, his jersey hanging by the door. He was right there ready to step into the [National Football League (NFL)] and start the life he’d earned,” Theard shared.

In January 2025, Lacy was accused of negligent homicide and felony hit and run in Louisiana. Police claim that Lacy made a passing maneuver which led to an oncoming car swerving to avoid him and colliding into another vehicle. Lacy insisted that he had no involvement with the crash and was merely in the area.

Even after his passing, Lacy’s lawyers have worked to clear his name. In October 2025, Lacy’s lawyers released surveillance footage of the incident, showing that he was over 80 yards behind the crash when it happened. They also released bodycam footage of a sheriff pressuring a witness into changing their statement to place the blame on Lacy. 

Louisiana State Police claim that it was Lacy’s reckless driving which caused two other cars, including a Kia Cadenza operated by a woman whose identity has not been made public, to collide head-on. Lacy passed a vehicle on a stretch of single-lane highway by using the oncoming lane, a typical maneuver on rural highways—except Lacy did it in a no-passing zone. Lacy’s attorneys have never disputed this fact, but have pointed out that he merged back into his correct lane with 361 feet separating him and the closest oncoming vehicle, meaning he merged while respecting more than three times the required passing distance. Evidence thus shows that Lacy was back in his lane well prior to the colliding vehicles making any maneuvers leading up to the crash. 

The district attorney (DA) also raised concerns about the way police have relied on video and audio footage that is not synced properly, making it appear that Lacy was much closer to the crash than he actually was. The DA’s report states that the Kia Cadenza was “following too close, which caused her to take evasive action to avoid hitting the back” of one of the cars in the crash. Furthermore, the DA’s findings were consistent with the account from a driver of a truck involved in the accident that the driver of the Kia Cadenza “caused that wreckage.”

Yet the media treated Lacy’s accusations as guilty until proven innocent—the opposite of how justice ought to work. Collegiate athletes are often treated like circus performers in this way, with the public forgetting that they are young people too. 

Lacy did have emotional outbursts on the football field, including one that a Barstool Sports employee used to paint him as guilty when his charges were first announced. LSU coach Brian Kelly had previously described Lacy as “high-strung” and someone who struggled with his emotional control, but followed up by saying, “That young man, I love him because he’s working on that every day.” Countless other young men of Lacy’s age have also struggled with emotional regulation, but few have had their emotional outbursts used to defame them. 

Regardless of whether Lacy caused the crash, he should still be alive today. Theard spoke at his memorial service about the way people demonized him online. “They called him a monster. [….] Offline, he carried that weight so the rest of us wouldn’t.” Lacy ultimately took his own life while carrying the weight of being painted as a murderer by hundreds of thousands of strangers around the world. 

The greatest tragedy of all is that Lacy was not mourned properly because the world was busy vilifying him as someone he was not. It is a cautionary tale of how the public’s words deeply affect young athletes. It is important to talk about what happened to Lacy, but the more important story should be who Kyren Lacy really was. 

As Theard said, “Kyren Lacy was kindness in motion. Remember him that way and let the truth at last find its light.”

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. 

Student Life

In de clerb, we all fam: Clubbing culture at McGill

by Rachel Blackstone on

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Content warning: Sexual violence

You’re 18, sitting in your dorm on your first Friday night in Montreal. Syllabus week was daunting, and you’ve met what feels like a million people. Your minifridge is stocked with your first legal Société des alcools du Québec (SAQ) purchases. What do you do? Head to Café Campus with new friends.

Clubbing culture at McGill is strong. The unofficial McGill slogan, Work Hard, Play Hard, rings true for many who enjoy drinking, dancing, and late nights out. But what does clubbing really feel like for those immersed in the culture?

Despite its crowded nature, clubbing can be an incredibly personal experience. A night out can be tailored to match your every preference. The genre of music, type of people, and style of dress vary greatly among the city’s nightlife institutions, allowing eager students to search for their “Goldilocks” option—whatever feels just right. Whether you treat the club as an arena to meet new people, or as a space to release stress with your best friends, it can act as an exodus of the week’s burdens.

In an interview with The Tribune, Sahar Jafferbhoy, U3 Arts, expressed that clubbing fervour is most prominent among first-year students.

“I think it’s the newfound freedom. You’re 18, you don’t really go [out] before [starting university], and you’re meeting all these new people. You’re wanting to do all these new experiences with these new people you’re meeting.”  

For some, especially women and other visible minorities, safety concerns cannot be ignored when planning or partaking in a night out at the clubs. According to Statistics Canada, one in three women experienced unwanted sexual behaviour in public in 2018. Furthermore, the sexual expectations that hook-up culture places on women, combined with intoxication from substance use, can pose serious safety concerns for women on a night out.

Susanna Nowak, U2 Education, explained to The Tribune, “People know what is [appropriate], and some people just don’t care to follow social etiquette anymore. It becomes really awkward when you’re telling people multiple times, ‘Hey. What are you doing? That’s not okay.’”

Jafferbhoy explained further that she always carries a rape alarm when she goes to clubs. “I would never go anywhere in the club on my own. Even to the bathroom, I’d go with the other girls.”

Some women feel safer when they go out with guy friends, since they feel that their presence offers some protection against unfamiliar men. Noemie Bisaillon, U2 Education, expressed that experience: “[I feel safer] If there are a few guys in the group, just ’cause you kind of feel like men are more likely to listen to other men.”

While some students go to the club looking for romantic partners, this isn’t everyone’s prerogative. To make clubbing safer and more enjoyable for everyone, we must recognize the necessity of clear and enthusiastic consent. After all, we should never assume the intentions or desires of anyone, especially strangers.

Deniz Tarman, U1 Engineering says, “I think [clubbing] is pretty fantastic. With all the problems it has, I think [Montreal] is a great clubbing city. I think issues regarding safety and violence are a general humanity issue, and dare I say a general man issue.”

Despite the risks, the clubs are full and many women still find the activity fun and enjoyable. “I love the vibes. I love the environment, the atmosphere. Everyone’s always in a good mood. I love a wee boogie, I love a wee dance. I love going with my friends,” adds Jafferbhoy.

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.

McGill, News, SSMU

SSMU LC discusses gender-affirming care insurance, new VP hires, and Fall Referendum

by Devdas Hind on

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The Students’ Society of McGill University (SSMU) Legislative Council held its fourth meeting of the semester on Oct. 23, with 25 members present.

After the Steering Committee briefly presented a report, SSMU Black Affairs Commissioner Kendra-Ann Haynes gave a presentation. Haynes stated that the Black Affairs Committee is interested in opening a chapter for Black Future Lawyers and expanding the Black Equity Fund to post-graduate students at McGill. 

Next was a presentation from Chief Officer Mike Lee of SSMU Elections. He outlined strategies to increase voter turnout for the upcoming Fall Referendum, including a raffle, flyers, and a stronger social media presence.

“People do vote [when] they feel related to a topic [and] when they feel that things are related to them,” Lee said. 

The Conference on Diversity in Engineering (CDE) then presented its request for $25,000 CAD from the SSMU Campus Life Fund to balance its budget. The CDE’s Co-Chair Claire Levasseur stated that sponsors are especially difficult to find this year.

“Three out of the four major [engineering] conferences are being held in Quebec [in 2025], [so] we are all going for the same resources, which has been extremely difficult,” Levasseur reported.

After a unanimous vote in the CDE’s favour, the LC approved the CDE’s request for funding.   

SSMU President Dymetri Taylor then gave an Executive Committee report. Among other things, President Taylor noted that the implementation of a new gender-affirming care student insurance model will be pushed back from the beginning of the Winter 2026 semester to the Fall 2026 semester. 

“McGill required roughly six months’ notice to provide information of a secure nature to third parties, [which] is then pushing back implementation of gender-affirming care,” Taylor clarified.

The new hires to the SSMU Vice-President (VP) Finance and VP Internal Affairs positions were next presented to the LC. VP Finance Jean-Sébastien Léger and VP Internal Minaal Mirza both began their roles on Oct. 20.

The Executive Reports continued with SSMU VP External Affairs Seraphina Crema-Black confirming that she will be hosting a Montreal municipal election debate on Oct. 27 in the SSMU ballroom, with confirmed participation from Transition Montréal, Projet Montréal, Futur Montréal, and Ensemble Montréal. The debate will be moderated by McGill’s Associate Provost Angela Campbell. Crema-Black emphasized that there is a form where students can submit their questions for candidates as well.

After Crema-Black spoke, the Medical Students’ Society (MSS) of McGill presented a report. Among other things, MSS SSMU Representative Ling He announced that an emergency MSS General Assembly would be held on Oct. 26 regarding the Fédération des médecins spécialistes du Québec (FMSQ) and Fédération des médecins omnipraticiens du Québec (FMOQ) strikes.  

The LC concluded by handling a series of motions. Notably, the Council voted unanimously to add Crema-Black and SSMU VP University Affairs Susan Aloudat to the SSMU Board of Directors. 

Moment of the meeting: Chief Officer Lee warned that the consequences of not reaching a quorum of 15 per cent during the Fall Referendum means none of the campaigns on the ballot will move forward. 

Soundbite: “We’re [trying] to e-mail professors of large courses for them to remind students [to vote], [while] identifying faculties and programs with the lowest voter turnouts [to] see how we can make sure the target groups can increase their voting.”—Lee on additional strategies SSMU is undertaking to help reach quorum

Commentary, Opinion

Francois Legault’s climate policy is an unforced error

by Max Funge-Ripley on

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Anxious about his plummeting approval rating, Quebec Premier François Legault is shrinking away from one of his strongest positions: Fighting climate change. Earlier this month, Legault’s government announced it will end funding for the Climate Action Barometer (CAB), an annual survey that allows Quebecers to voice their opinions about their municipal, provincial, and federal governments’ environmental policies. 

Curtailing this communication channel removes agency from a populace that has been clamouring for climate action. Meanwhile, Legault has hinted at more potential rollbacks—such as cutting the gasoline tax—at a time when climate action policies need to be front and centre.

Annual average surface temperatures are rapidly rising, and the frequency of extreme weather events is increasing. Tropical storm Debby was a brutal reminder of this for Quebecers. In 2024, the freak inland tropical storm killed an elderly man and became the costliest weather event in the province’s history. 

By ending the democratic outlet that the CAB provided, Legault alienates his constituents. Most CAB respondents support climate action; in response, he chooses to throw the survey out. This is not just a poor policy choice—Legault is silencing a mechanism that allows citizens to hold their government accountable.

However, it does not have to be this way. Working with Quebecers to implement climate action is a ripe opportunity for Legault to regain some of the public faith he has lost, and it is imperative in the context of rampant global warming.

One of the shining stars of the Legault government has been its energy in fighting climate change. Thanks to his government’s investments, Quebecers around the province—from pilots-in-training in Gatineau to CEGEP teachers in Montreal—have tested commuting on electric bicycles through Equiterre’s Velovolt Program. 

Last year, the Fonds d’action québécois pour le développement durable (FAQDD) provided $1.5 million CAD to support thousands of farmers in a collaborative project called Agriclimat, which helps farmers adapt to climate change and modify their farming techniques to lower carbon emissions. 

This progress has sparked international acclaim, notably for Quebec’s hydroelectric power system and research on circular economies of reuse.

If battling climate change has been such a bright spot for Legault, then why is he retreating from it?

The answer is affordability. He wants to recoup his losses in favourability with Quebec residents who are frustrated by his spending mistakes, like the $1.1 billion CAD spent on the well-over-budget SAAQclic project, and the $500 million CAD spent on the never-built Northvolt factory. In response, Legault is attempting to make a big deal of cutting the CAB, which costs one five-thousandth the cost of that nonexistent Northvolt factory. This is a mistake—for Legault and for the environment whose preservation he is choosing to neglect. 

Counter to Legault’s rhetoric about affordability, cuts in environmental programs, such as the CAB, do not rest on sound economic logic. 

Taking public transportation costs half as much as driving, and biking costs only one-seventh the cost of driving. Quebecers’ electricity bills are the cheapest in the nation—and it is not close. Environmentally-friendly options are often cheaper for individuals than high-emission ones, so building up eco-friendly options would make life more affordable for everyday people.

The strong support for climate action shown in the CAB study results should—and still could—be great news for François Legault. His government has a track record of delivering on community-focused environmental projects, so he should capitalize on this opportunity to further Quebecers’ climate priorities.

Quebec has worked hard to integrate clean energy and multimodal transportation, making many everyday necessities more affordable for residents while fighting for our planet.
Legault must not turn his back on his own progress. Defunding the CAB is detrimental to his party, his constituents, and the democratic process in which they participate, not to mention the environment as a whole, which is deteriorating and in need of swift action. Legault should play to his strengths and continue to set the pace for clean energy, sustainability, and public engagement in climate action.

McGill, Montreal, News

SLASA, CLASHSA, and LLC host ‘Building Bridges: Insights from Hispanic and Latin American Diplomats’ panel

by Katherine Dale on

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On Oct. 24, McGill’s Spanish and Latin American Students’ Association (SLASA) and McGill’s Caribbean and Latin American Studies and Hispanic Studies Association (CLASHSA) collaborated with McGill’s Department of Languages, Literatures, and Cultures to host the ‘Building Bridges: Insights from Hispanic and Latin American Diplomats’ panel, in honour of Latin American Heritage Month. The event provided McGill students, staff, and community members with dialogue on the field of diplomacy, and on ways to embrace Hispanic and Latin American culture in Montreal through organizations like SLASA and CLASHSA. 

In an interview with The Tribune, Sophia Newman Jimenez, U3 Arts and Vice President of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion at SLASA explained why Latin American cultural groups and heritage months are important to diasporic students at McGill. 

“SLASA provides a place of friendship, family, and home,” she said. “When you’re with people of the same ethnic background as you, you are able to share the same food, interests, and worldview. For Hispanic Heritage Month, it is really important to celebrate [Latinx people] because we’re a really unique group of people who have a unique way of looking at the world.”

SLASA holds a variety of different events throughout each academic year, including reggaeton parties and Spanish-language-learning social gatherings. This fall, in an effort to expand its offerings, the club hosted Oct. 24’s diplomatic panel. The panel was moderated by Víctor Muñiz-Fraticelli, associate professor in McGill’s Faculty of Law, and featured Victor Manuel Treviño Escudero, Montreal’s Consul General of Mexico, Mauricio Baquero Pardo, Montreal’s Consul General of Colombia, Gerardo Ezequiel Bompadre, Montreal’s Consul General of Argentina, and Carlos Ruiz Gonzalez, Deputy Ambassador of Spain in Ottawa. 

Throughout the panel, the main points of discussion included what the daily life of a diplomat and their duties look like. The panel participants also described how their experience in Canada differs from their postings in other places, and the most challenging aspects of their profession, like working to build what Treviño described as “bridges of understanding” with host countries. 

Bompadre of Argentina spoke about the continuities and changes of the job.

“It is important to find opportunities for your country and your people and to make your country known [where you are posted],” Bompadre said. “Diplomacy has changed quite a lot, our ancestors of this field had it differently, and now it is less autonomous.” 

Specifically, Bompadre noted emergent technological networks as one of the primary changes of the job. In the digital world, diplomats now have more opportunities to receive advice from their nation’s capital on foreign policy decisions. 

All four diplomats explained the initiatives they have in place for students, including networks of exchange for undergraduates.

“We found that there is a greater interest for students studying here to come to Spain and study for a year,” Gonzalez said. “The [Spanish] embassy tries to ease the path for them to get in touch with the local people here in order to empower those kinds of agreements.” 

The diplomats also explained how they seek to empower all members of the Hispanic community in their respective posts, including students. 

“As a member of the foreign service of my country, it is important to empower students after they finish university to join this career and open doors to provide different kinds of advice,” Treviño stated. 

Newmann emphasized how students can learn new perspectives on international diplomacy through participating in events like these. 

“It is important to look at what diplomacy looks like outside of [just] North America or Europe,” Newmann said. “Diplomacy means something different in the context of Latin America, and I think this event provides students with the ability to see those differences, and how that plays out in international relations.”

Art, Arts & Entertainment, Music

Breaking ground at new creative collective’s defiant art-expo and rave

by Norah Adams on

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I was whisked into Concrete Breaks’ Communal Art-Expo and Rave on Oct. 23 by heavy bass thrumming under my feet and a crush of people bottlenecking behind me. Once through the doors, bright projections of cityscapes flashed to my right while a diverse array of prints and poetry lined the walls to my left. To the far end of the st. Laurent bar Barbossa, the density of event-goers increased until they formed a dancing mass, all crowded in front of one of the rave’s string of DJs. 

Concrete Breaks is an offshoot of Nina Rossing, Matt Pindera, and Luke Pindera’s initial creative endeavour Pacific Breaks, “a grass-roots electronic music collective” in Vancouver, which similarly hosted a rave. According to their mission statement, Pacific Breaks aimed to “reinvigorate Vancouver’s rave scene with innovative, open-air events and cutting-edge sounds.”

Concrete Breaks wields much loftier goals, evident from its name, which strays from a specific place and instead describes a geographically universal breaking from stasis. In an interview with The Tribune, co-organizer Nina Rossing described the globality of this event, noting artists from Denmark to Toronto. The cosmopolitan nature of the expo aligns with one of its cardinal themes: Connection. 

Another facet of the art-expo rave’s broader scope lies in its name, the event being an amalgam of many art forms, breaking beyond just sound. Concrete Breaks sent out a call for ‘All Medium/All Voices,’ the only directive being that pieces tackle the themes of dystopia, resistance and connection. This expansive breadth of forms came together at Barbossa to produce a mode of art that was completely novel. 

The DJ’s beat shook the floor of the bar, causing the videos on the walls to fizzle at the edges while red rave lights cast prints on the wall in new shades. Each piece of art did not merely exist alone in the space, but instead all multiplied to form one new piece of which we were all a part. 

Rossing reflected on what she and her team hoped to achieve through the event’s vast array of media. 

“I think it’s just creating humanity. […] The beauty of being human and the beauty of art and of hope, and the power that it holds,” she said.

The night’s goal of humanity was achieved tenfold, with tables sprawled with pens and sticky notes for attendees to place their art alongside the selected artists, a gallery space loud not from music but from conversation, and a dancefloor bouncing beneath jigging bodies.  

Concrete Breaks undertakes a return to humanity, especially imperative in our current zeitgeist. As society moves towards extremist radicalization, forging simple connections feels unreachable—people become friends with artificial intelligence or strangers on subreddits. 

Rossing emphasized the importance of resisting such a world of alienation.

“We need to connect more, and with that, we become super powerful, and we can turn bad things into good things,” Rossing said. 

Fellow organizer Luke Pindera similarly commented on the importance of the Concrete Breaks’ ideology in this moment. He told The Tribune in an interview that they “want to represent something positive amidst this […] world of chaos.”

Rossing, both Pinderas, the artists, and the attendees came together last Thursday to do just that: Create positivity and good. Everyone gathered, interacted, danced, and left feeling fuller than when they entered. 

The defiant art exposition, alight with inspiration and connection, presents a fresh perspective on the importance of coming together and pushing towards resistance. As proclaimed by Pindera, Concrete Breaks goes beyond just a collective; he described it to The Tribune in terms of a way of life. In this fissured world, perhaps we should take up their mantle: Look down and see how we may break the concrete upon which we tread. 

Montreal, News

Culture Shock 2025: QPIRG hosts workshop exploring Milton-Parc’s hostile urbanism

by Asher Kui on

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On Oct. 23, the Quebec Public Interest Research Group (QPIRG) McGill hosted the “Walking as method: Exploring hostile design in Milton-Parc” workshop as part of its annual Culture Shock event series. This exploration was led by Cara Chellew, PhD candidate in McGill’s School of Urban Planning, as well as Jonathan Lebire, co-founder of coaching organization Agence Dragonfly.

The event kickstarted at QPIRG’s office on av. du Parc, with a group of around 15 people making their way to the street’s intersection with rue Prince-Arthur Ouest. Chellew pointed out bright white light bulbs placed above benches at the intersection. 

“Across the street, there’s another light, and you’ll see […] it’s actually blinking,” she observed. “For the longest time, I thought it was malfunctioning. [….] [But] it’s blinking very steadily. It’s been happening for a couple months now. [….] These interventions are meant to really target certain behaviours like trying to sit too long or sleep in public.”

Chellew continued to explain why these acts of hostile urbanism—architectural attempts to restrict certain social groups from enjoying public spaces—are meant to be kept subtle and unnoticeable. 

“Often when [hostile urbanism is] really noticeable, […] there’s outrage, rightfully so, and then sometimes, things get removed,” she said. “[Hostile urbanism] is meant to target these kinds of behaviours, but also not be very noticeable to everyday people.”

The group then ventured inside Les Galéries du Parc, where Lebire highlighted the neighbourhood’s lack of third places.

“You want to cry, you want to yell, […] something bad happened in your life, you don’t want to be seen crying. You’re going to transit to your house as soon as you can. But normally there should be what you call ‘third spaces,’ […] to kind of temper having a bad day at the job,” Lebire said. “There should be a way to use this architecture to make sure people have places to take a minute.”

Chellew then added that spaces where people cluster and socialize are crucial to a neighbourhood’s quality of living. She then talked about the intersection of av. du Parc and rue Milton, where an abandoned lot has been heavily restricted to keep Milton-Parc’s unhoused population out, effectively depriving them of third places.

“We’re purposely not going down [av. du Parc] because I want to give our friends a little bit of privacy,” she said. “There’s this lot that folks used to hang out [at]. [….] I call it ‘ground zero’ because it’s really the most heavily fortified spot in the neighbourhood. It just shows every little space here […] is restricted from people accessing [it].”

Chellew and Lebire continued the tour, pointing out benches that were designed to be uncomfortable, with unnecessary armrests meant to keep sleepers away. Such benches could be found at intersections of rue Sherbrooke and rue Jeanne-Mance, and rue Sherbrooke and rue St.-Urbain.

The tour ended at Jardins du Monde et des Premières Nations at the corner of rue St.-Urbain and rue Milton, as Chellew encouraged McGill students to look out for signs of hostile urban planning.

“There are certain things that you can kind of look out for. When you’re checking out a space, are there places to sit? Does the space feel comfortable? Does it feel uncomfortable for some reason? Why is it uncomfortable? Is it too bright or too loud?” she emphasized.

In an interview with The Tribune, Joseph Liang, the Students’ Society of McGill University (SSMU) Popular Education Events Coordinator, explained that this year’s Culture Shock aims to examine the McGill and Montreal community’s relations to the land through various anti-oppressive perspectives.

“For example [.…] with the Migrant Justice Panel [Culture Shock event], we look at land in terms of […] border regimes that are imposed on land,” they said. “I think [this land theme] is particularly relevant in the context that we’re living in. The settler-colonial occupation that we see happening in Palestine, that is fundamentally an issue of land, an issue of occupation of land. Here in Quebec, the PL 97 was a law that granted a lot of [Indigenous] land in northern Quebec to forestry companies. [….] I think land is sort of at the center of a lot of struggles that we are seeing right now.”

Commentary, Opinion

Nobody is running for mayor! The death of municipal democracy in Quebec

by Noah Bornstein on

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On Nov. 2, Quebec will hold municipal elections—though in 87 cities throughout the province, the results of these elections are already decided. In the 2025 Quebec municipal election cycle, over 4,500 municipal candidates ran unopposed. In a process known as acclamation, candidates who are running unopposed bypass the election cycle and are automatically awarded the title. One of these constituencies is Terrebonne, a city of more than 120,000 residents. If Canada wants to maintain its democratic capacity at all three levels of government, then federal leaders need to treat municipal government with equal importance as they do provincial and federal governments

If nobody is running against incumbents, maybe constituents are simply happy with their current municipal leaders. That is what Terrebonne mayor Mathieu Traversy believes, and in his case, it might even be true. Traversy is a well-liked mayor and has a diversity of political viewpoints in his government. Nonetheless, he still ought to have an opponent for the sake of democracy. 

It is abnormal for a city the size of Terrebonne to have zero competition in a mayoral race. In 2021, three candidates ran for mayor, and four candidates ran in 2017. The lack of competition for Mayor Traversy is a sign of political apathy and a weakening of local democracy. In a representative democracy, the primary way for citizens to influence policy is through elections. Without elections, representative democracy fails to give its citizens a voice. Without a civic voice, democracy does not exist. In Terrebonne, there is no election, and consequently, no democracy.

While uncontested elections are concerning in cities like Terrebonne, they become even more troubling in small towns where municipal government roles are often thankless jobs. Faced with mounting tasks, these mayors often get lambasted on social media for minor problems that they have little power to fix. Yet, election by acclamation is most common in these districts. Of smaller municipalities in Quebec, almost a quarter of districts with less than 2,000 people elected an all-incumbent council this cycle. Normand Marin, former mayor of Pointe-Lebel in the Côte-Nord region, describes rural mayoralty as an impossible task because mayors of small towns tend to be overworked and criticized heavily on social media. The meagre salary makes the job even less desirable.

With immense censure and low salaries, it is no mystery why there are so few candidates for municipal politics. In the Chaudières-Appalaches region, four municipalities—Sainte-Cyrille-de-Lessard, Saint-Benjamin, Lac-Frontière, and Saint-Phillibert—currently have no mayoral candidates. Yet a robust democracy, especially at the municipal level where every vote counts, is reliant upon competition. The question, then, is how to make small-town leadership sustainable and appealing to would-be political candidates.

One potential solution for some of these smaller municipalities could be to merge with neighbouring towns. A municipality such as Saint-Phillibert, which is closer to larger towns, could easily be added to the municipality of either Saint-Prosper or Saint-Georges. Declining local autonomy would be a necessary trade-off, as Saint-Georges has almost 33,000 people and a budget to match. Many of the administrative duties of a mayor could be absorbed by a larger, better-resourced municipal administration.

However, municipal mergers are not viable for every community. If Lac-Frontière merged with its neighbouring municipality, Sainte-Lucie-de-Beauregard, the new territory would span over 130 square kilometres with a combined population of just 450 constituents. Merging such remote, sparsely populated areas would only intensify logistical challenges, as servicing a large, spread-out region is far more difficult than managing a compact community. Combining two municipalities of such a small size would only exacerbate the problems that sparsely populated municipalities already face.

Although merging municipalities represents a compelling potential solution to the crisis of Quebec’s uncompetitive municipal elections, the deeper issue is that local governments are chronically underfunded and understaffed. Government programs to mobilize capable university graduates into voting in municipal elections could offer a means to improve the province’s democratic capacity. 

The provincial government cannot force people to run for office, but it can make running for office more appealing. A first step would be to properly fund and staff rural communities by bringing municipal government to parity with the provincial and federal levels.

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