Published by the SPT, a student society of McGill University
Keep on Commuting
April 5, 2022
Gino McTuff’s journey to the library
March 29, 2022
Creative Supplement Fall 2021
November 23, 2021
Creative Supplement Fall 2020
November 17, 2020
Creative Supplement Winter 2020
February 25, 2020
The McGill Tribune is proud to present the Fall 2017 Creative Supplement, highlighting excellent creative work by McGill students, including poetry, photography, illustrations, music, and mixed-media.
We would like to thank the Arts Undergraduate Society Financial Management Committee (AUS FMC) for funding this project, and Chad Ronalds & Hebdo Litho for printing this issue. Moreover, we appreciate all the artists who submitted; it was a pleasure to review your work.
Although McGill doesn’t have a formal visual arts program, students find their own creative outlets. The Creative Supplement serves as a platform to highlight these endeavours. McGill students are notoriously bright and hardworking; we hope this issue proves that they are also immensely talented.
Critics must balance linguistic priorities with human impact when discussing Air Canada’s faux pas
April 7, 2026
The pattern behind Hassan’s denial of entry
April 7, 2026
McGill has come under fire for awarding former principal Heather Munroe-Blum an honorary doctorate on Oct. 31. The university highlights her “unprecedented renewal of McGill’s outstanding professoriate” and her “unwavering efforts to find necessary resources to maintain McGill’s excellence.” Yet, Students’ Society of McGill University (SSMU) and on-campus labour unions note that multiple caveats exist in Munroe-Blum’s commitment to accessible education—notably, her lack of support for on-campus staff, cutting funds for student services, and advocacy for tuition hikes. While the accolade does not reflect these controversial policies, Munroe-Blum’s legacy is not an issue of truth. It is an issue of narrative—specifically the narrative constructed around McGill as an institution—and who controls it. It is true that Munroe-Blum increased the university’s prestige. It is also true that she promoted policies that hurt students and staff. These seemingly conflicting accounts can and should exist alongside each other, without one eclipsing the other.
The disparate legacies of Munroe-Blum point to a larger issue: The lack of trust between students and administration. In the face of administrative decisions that cut funding for student services, students often believe that their interests are not the interests of the university administration. For example, the recent restructuring of McGill Mental Health and Counselling Services left many students feeling that their basic needs are being overlooked. Creating one-sided narratives that diminish the complexity of a McGill principal’s legacy does not help. Both students and the administration have an obligation to create an environment of openness, honesty, and responsibility, so that the difficult-to-breach gap between the two groups—and their diverging ideas of what it means to better McGill—can be bridged. This begins with addressing how both parties communicate with each other.
The goals of McGill University as a research facility, a financial entity, and a prestigious institution are not necessarily analogous with the goals of students, who tend to focus on the university as a source of support and education, rather than one of profit or prestige. For example, the restoration of various on-campus buildings is essential to the university’s image and infrastructure, but might seem superfluous to employees facing salary cuts.
It would be unrealistic and disrespectful to demand that McGill rescind the honorary doctorate. However, the university could respect those simultaneously disadvantaged under Munroe-Blum’s administration by acknowledging statements from on-campus labour unions, or dissatisfied former students. In the wake of decisions that—while serving the administration’s goals—left students and staff without certain resources and support, the university is obligated to pursue dialogue with those affected. In doing so, it must work toward more satisfactory policies for everyone on campus.
Whenever the administration undertakes a new initiative, it must ask, “Who is this initiative serving: Is it our alumni and competitors, or our students and staff?” If the initiative is meant to serve students, they should then be made an active part of the decision-making process. Consulting student members of the Board of Governors is not good enough—university administration must make a concerted effort to reach out to the broader student body. This will prevent policies with good intentions, but misguided application. Furthermore, crucial decisions, such as the revamping of Mental Health Services, must be made not just with students in mind, but with the support of multiple, varied student voices over a period of time. This is not to say that McGill never attempts this: This summer, for example, McGill Counselling and Mental Health Services emailed students with a survey on the efficacy of the program. Consultative initiatives like that have the right idea—to be effective, however; they must be done regularly and comprehensively.
Conversely, it is students’ responsibility to respond in kind. Although there may be a tendency to mistrust or ridicule any administrative initiative or communication, this is not conducive to the implementation of student-first policies. In an ideal situation, students would use the available democratic institutions, such as SSMU, to influence the administration’s decisions. This is impossible if students do not see these institutions as agents for dialogue. Statistics show that most do not, with only 21 per cent of students voting in the 2017-18 SSMU executive elections. The lack of trust and engagement indicates that, just as the administration must improve by championing student goals, the student body must revive its use of official channels for self-advocacy. Even if justified, anger and withdrawal from democratic institutions are ultimately self-destructive.
An award such as Munroe-Blum’s by nature reflects only one thread in many narratives that shadow her tenure. These are written by mistrustful students, on the one hand, and bottom-line focused administrators on the other. Sometimes these stories align, but more often, they are contradictory. Students must look deeper than these highly public flashpoint moments; students and administrators alike must seek the kinds of conversations that lead to a respectful and sustained dialogue. Only then can the opposing narratives of students and the administration be reconciled.
Through mathematical modeling and collaboration with scientists at the University of California San Francisco (UCSF), McGill researchers, including Rached Alkallas, graduate student in the Department of Human Genetics and the primary author of the seminal study published in Nature Communications, have identified a protein that sharply decreases in patients with Alzheimer’s disease (AD). They then created an algorithm to track the production of this protein by using mRNA.
In cells, proteins are only produced when they are needed; otherwise, they degrade. For example, when taking a bite of chocolate cake, the human body responds to the increase in blood-sugar levels by producing insulin, a protein which helps transform sugar to energy. The insulin level rises when sugar has to be taken up, and falls back when no sugar is circulating throughout the bloodstream. After blood-sugar levels return to normal, insulin will be chopped down by some cellular machinery.
The amount of messenger RNA, or mRNA, limits the amount of protein that can be produced. mRNA copies codes of genetic material from DNA, which is then used to instruct protein production in the cell.
Imagine hundreds of construction workers with one physical blueprint of the building at hand; their work progress would be unbearably slow. However, if every worker had a blueprint, their productivity would increase. The same goes for mRNA; the more mRNA, the more proteins can be synthesized. Proteins and microRNAs, short strands of RNA that chop slice mRNA, regulate the amounts of mRNAs.
The McGill researchers found proteins and microRNA that can stabilize the mRNA of synaptic proteins in the brain. Synaptic proteins allow neurons to have an easier time communicating with each other by facilitating the release of important proteins at appropriate times.
“[We identified six different proteins], consisting of microRNAs and proteins, that are involved in shaping the mRNA stability profile of the brain,” Alkallas said. “[RBFOX, one of the proteins, turned out to be] dysregulated in the brains of patients with AD.”
Quantifying the amount of mRNA in tissue samples is technically challenging. The researchers therefore resorted to a roundabout route; by using public data on mRNA abundance—called “RNA-Seq data”—they built a mathematical model to predict mRNA stability. Researchers at UCSF measured the rate of mRNA degradation in cells that they had grown, and the McGill team then found that their predicted values from the model matched to the values obtained at UCSF.
“[UCSF] helped us to test the validity of our theoretical model in living systems,” Alkallas said.
After the confirmation of their model, Alkallas and his colleagues used it to analyze the RNA-seq data from two different populations of humans—a control group and patients who died from AD—and pinpointed RBFOX’s rapid degradation in the brain tissues of Alzheimer’s patients. The protein RBFOX is important to stabilize mRNAs of proteins that facilitate synaptic transmission. The decreased amounts of RBFOX result in destabilizing the mRNA, leading to a reduced ability to send nerve signals—a symptom of AD patients.
“We propose that dysregulation of RBFOX is associated with an altered mRNA stability profile in AD, opening the door to further research on the potential role of RBFOX in AD [progression],” Alkallas said.
There are two main implications of this study. First, other researchers can use the model to study proteins that regulate mRNA stability without actually measuring the amount of mRNA. Second, the researchers found a marker for AD diagnosis—downregulation of RBFOX, potentially leading to loss of brain functions.
The next step of the study is finding a way to stabilize RBFOX to keep the neural connectivity in AD patients robust, and to employ the mathematical model in cancer research, not just in the field of neurological diseases.
“[We would like to] characterize the mRNA stability profiles of human cancers and [determine] the protein and mRNA factors that shape these profiles,” Alkallas said. “We also hope to determine if any such factors drive cancer aggression.”
The research groups at McGill and UCSF combined neuroscience and mathematics to quantify the amount of mRNA, and identified a protein that is downregulated in AD patients.
Normally, you would expect researchers to isolate tissue samples from patients and collect mRNA and proteins instead. This study illustrates how collaborative the research community has become.
Know Your Artist: Theodore A. Harris
May 27, 2026
The forgotten history of the Montreal coffeehouse
April 7, 2026
Preserving childhood magic in adulthood
April 7, 2026
When Nova Scotian poet Chad Norman (Masstown, Learning to Settle Down) was a teenager, he and all his friends wanted to be rock stars.
"I bought a Fender bass, and a MusicMaster, a beginning Fender, and a small little amp, and wanted to be a bassist,” Norman said.
But the band needed someone to write their lyrics, and when they asked him, his perspective changed.
"When I got the request for the words, that was it,” Norman said. “I ended up selling both guitars.”
More than 30 years later, this Oct. 25, Norman brought his poetry to McGill as part of a reading tour of Canada. Norman read poems from his newly-published Selected and New Poems, a retrospective volume collecting poems from his 16 books of poetry published since the 1980s. Afterwards he sat down with The McGill Tribune for an interview.
Norman clearly loves reading his poems aloud. He was first inspired to recite his poems in an unlikely venue—a department store.
"I had a great influence, I never found out his name,” Norman said. “But believe it or not, he was hired by The Bay department store […] to read Robert Service poems at different locations of [the store]. They even set up a stage where there would be a mock cabin and an old rocking chair, a fake fire. But the guy could read!”
Ever since, Norman has paid special attention to his reading style.
"I want to satisfy the poems. They don’t get off the page often,” Norman said. “They’re usually in-between covers, covers of books, covers of magazines. So for them to have that opportunity to visit the world again is up to me.”
Norman last read at McGill 20 years ago, invited by Professor Brian Trehearne, Department of English, who again welcomed him this time around.
"Earlier when [Trehearne and I] were walking up to [his] office, we were looking at the stairs, and he brought to my attention all the feet that have worn those stairs, [like Leonard] Cohen [and] A.M. Klein,” Norman said with clear reverence.
Norman’s poetry is deeply personal. In his poem “Manhood,” he grapples with ideas of masculinity and his relationship with his own father, concluding powerfully: “A son can cry / He will be a man then.”
In writing about his own life, Norman hopes he can speak to others.
"[When I think of a poem, I ask myself,] ‘Why has it come?’” Norman said. “What has it come to teach me? How can I use this in my life, and can I give it back […] [to] help somebody else? One can always hope.”
The “new” poems in Selected and New Poems, from a currently unpublished manuscript entitled Simona, concern an equally personal topic: The poet’s cat. These charming poems contain such fine titles as “A History of Kneading” and “The Furry Beggar.” In the latter poem, Norman appropriates the language of love poems to amusing effect: “The vast allure of / Her batting yellow eyes / Combined with a meow.”
The reading began with the earliest poem in the book “Live at Marty’s,” written in the mid-’80s, when the poet was still in his early 20s. There was a beautiful symmetry in that moment; Norman, now an established middle-aged poet, reading to the next generation of young, aspiring writers.
The cells in our bodies perform functions that have yet to be fully understood. These structures which have existed for two billion years continue to baffle the scientific community. The mitochondria, an organelle with many unique features and functions, has been a topic of widespread research ever since its discovery in the late 19th century.
Continuing this long tradition of investigating the mysterious mitochondria, Professor in the Department of Biochemistry at McGill Nahum Sonenberg and his team of researchers have uncovered a mechanism through which the mitochondria plays a key role in preventing cell death in the absence of sufficient nutrients.
Mitochondria have already gained celebrity status among organelles. Aside from synthesizing Adenosine Triphosphate (ATP)—a molecule that provides energy to cells—the mitochondria is responsible for many other functions, including thermal heat production in various mammals during early life stages and hibernation. They work as coroners, allowing cells to die when it becomes necessary to make room for the formation of new tissue. They even serve a neurological function—storing scores of calcium ions to be used in regulatory processes and in the transmission of information from neuron to neuron.
John Bergeron is a professor in the Department of Medicine and co-director of one of the two McGill laboratories which took part in the recent study. Along with Heidi McBride and her team from the Montreal Neurological Institute, he played a key role in Sonenberg’s success in isolating important information about how the mitochondria aids in the functioning of a cell. MTOR, a type of protein enzyme, serves as a core component of two protein complexes which have the ability to regulate cellular activity.
“The paper represents a discovery linking mitochondrial function to the master sensor of cellular nutrients, and regulator of growth in cells known as mTOR,” Bergeron said. "mTOR senses nutrients, insulin and growth factors, and translates this information to a downstream cascade of events that increase cell growth, metabolism and cell replication.”
When mTOR is blocked, the loss of the protein triggers the mitochondria to produce more energy, which is essential for cells to survive under low-nutrient conditions. This is where Sonenberg’s new research deviates from the previously known knowledge of the enzyme.
“[Sonenberg] originally discovered that this process was tightly regulated through protein synthesis initiation factors,” Bergeron said.
Initiation factors signal the beginning of translation (the first step in protein synthesis) and are under the control of mTOR.
The McGill team’s work embodies the next generation of cutting-edge biochemical research, which uses advanced testing methods at the microscopic level that enable rapid testing of mitochondria to view alterations in cells. This type of work has become a “hallmark” of Sonenberg’s methodology, according to Bergeron.
Beyond Sonenberg’s advanced research techniques, the professor is helping biochemists across the world come closer to deeper understanding of the multi-billion year-old organelle.
“The uncovering of a mechanism is always a goal of fundamental basic research in biology,” Bergeron said. “Filling in further details as to exactly how [mitochondria] divide and send signals to make these life and death decisions for cells is a challenge that only can be met by more detailed research. The work has immediate ramifications since the mTOR inhibitors touched upon in the paper are the basis for a new generation of drugs currently under test for cancer therapy.”
The effects of the study could be far-reaching.
“The integration of mitochondria into the life of cells has evolved over the past billion years or so with more surprises sure to be found that will advance human knowledge with hoped for benefits to health and disease prevention,” Bergeron said.
On Nov. 8, the McGill Muslim Law Students’ Association (MLSA) hosted a panel discussion at which Law Professors Colleen Sheppard, Mark Walters, and Johanne Poirier weighed in on the constitutionality of Bill 62. Panelists offered different perspectives on the legislation—which the National Assembly of Quebec passed three weeks prior—to discuss its potential infringement upon religious freedom rights.
In a proclaimed effort to uphold state religious neutrality, section 10 of Bill 62 introduced a ban on wearing face coverings when giving or receiving public services, including public transit, healthcare, and education. MLSA hosted the panel following debates among students over the legality of this bill, particularly with respect to the seemingly disproportionate effect it has on Quebec’s Muslim community.
“We decided that instead of speculating as students, it would be beneficial to all to educate ourselves on [Bill 62’s] validity from experts in the field,” the MLSA wrote in a message to The McGill Tribune. “This is why we organized this event, to enlighten ourselves and help others understand whether this law is constitutional.”
The panel opened with Sheppard arguing that, although many of its provisions are sound—such as the call for equitable treatment of citizens regardless of religious affiliation—the problem with Bill 62 lies in its mandate that all persons have their face uncovered during public exchanges. For Sheppard, it is this addition that renders the legislation out of sync with its earlier notion of state neutrality.
“The fundamental flaw of this law is that it targets a particular religious group at a moment when it is endeavoring to advance religious accommodation and state neutrality,” Sheppard said. “[Bill 62] is internally contradictory and incoherent.”
Sheppard also discussed how the bill discriminates on the basis of both religion and gender because Muslim women wearing niqabs will be systematically excluded from accessing public services. In targeting an already marginalized group, the law undermines gender equality.
“[Bill 62] is perpetuating stereotypes about Muslim women’s helplessness, their oppression, their non-integration in society, and so perpetuates a kind of islamophobia,” Sheppard said. “[Bill 62] could be counterproductive and work against women’s emancipation, potentially increasing their isolation from society.”
In contrast, Walters explained why the court might uphold the statute, proposing a connection between the law and its purpose.
“Section 10 isn’t about religion, it’s about making sure that public officials can identify people when necessary, can communicate with them, and can ensure public security,” Walters said. “Its purpose is not about restricting rights to freedom of religion, and so its purpose is not discriminatory.”
Although Walters maintained that some situations do necessitate facial identification—for example, when assessing the credibility of a witness in court—he admits that such cases are rare. To Walters, the majority of public interactions do not justify the removal of face coverings for the sake of facilitating proper communication, such as when a Muslim woman in a public library would be required to remove her niqab while speaking to staff members.
Poirier concluded the panel by examining the rulings of the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) on the cases of Belgium and France, both of which authorized a complete ban on public face-coverings in 2011. She considered the impact of such legislation on coexistence, a value she believes should be upheld in society, with the panelists agreeing that the extent to which Bill 62 can be applied to everyday life is currently ambiguous.
‘Journalism After Gaza’ panel discusses media bias and the future of reporting in Palestine
April 26, 2026
Winter 2026 report card: On-campus dining
April 7, 2026
Finding home in Montreal
April 7, 2026
Illustrations by Arshaaq Jiffry for The McGill Tribune
Writers and activists Desmond Cole, Robyn Maynard, and Andrea Ritchie visited McGill on Nov. 8 for a panel discussion on the nature of racial profiling and police violence, hosted by the Black Students’ Network (BSN). In conversation with McGill Gender, Sexuality, and Feminist Studies Professor Rachel Zellars, they discussed the history of law enforcement discrimination in Canada and the country’s inability to confront its own racism.
For Maynard, tackling racial inequality starts in the classroom; telling young learners honest historical reports of systemic violence in Canada is the most important step to addressing the country’s history of discrimination.
“[Accurate historical accounts] are important, especially in Canada, where we’ve really been denied this history of slavery,” Maynard said. “I asked at my book launch with several hundred people, ‘Did anyone learn about the history of Canadian slavery in elementary or high school?’ Two people raised their hands. Specifically because we are raised to believe that slavery and racism and police violence is something that’s a very American crisis.”
Cole’s advocacy against carding in Toronto—a process in which the police stop citizens and record personal information about them, such as their appearance and contact information—made him a prominent voice against discrimination in Canada. He spoke about activists’ efforts to limit racialized police violence in Ontario.
“Why are we sending police to noise complaint calls?” Cole said. “Why is it that when two neighbours at 11 in the evening have a dispute about noise, somebody with a gun has to come and solve it? This is a danger to black life every single time it happens. But the police associations say ‘No! My job security! My hold on power! You need us! Anything could happen!’ […] But we know what ‘anything could happen’ means. We know who ‘anything could happen’ is going to land on.”
The panelists agreed that enabling and combatting racism occurs at an institutional level, but Ritchie pointed out that individuals can also take action to counter discrimination.
“The cops don’t just [act] without our permission, we call them in to do it,” Ritchie said. “People call child welfare on each other, people call noise complaints on each other, elders call about the youth on the corner. So let’s not be the third-party machine including the police. We have to get rid of the values producing prisons, police, and cages, not just the prisons, police and cages.”
During the event, BSN Interim President Andreann Asibey elaborated on the importance of BSN for supporting students on campus.
“We wish people would reach out to us more,” Asibey said. “There are many people who preach about social justice and decolonizing education and advocating [against] anti-black racism but they don’t reach out to us, it’s quite sad. We have an office, we want people to come chat with us. I know we are the Black Students’ Network, but we are here for everybody.”
Asibey also reiterated some of the panelists’ points, highlighting the importance of supporting black students affected by the racism that is pervasive within institutions like McGill.
“We reach out to black students because historically we don’t have a sense of support and community at institutions like this, but we are also here for non-black people because there are other racialized students and people of colour we can be here for,” Asibey said. “We are here to work together.”
Know Your Artist: Theodore A. Harris
May 27, 2026
The forgotten history of the Montreal coffeehouse
April 7, 2026
Live long and prosper, Notre-Dame-de-Grâce
April 7, 2026
Kushapetshekan / Kosapitcikan—A Glimpse Into The Other World, the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts’ (MMFA) newest installation, would be easy to miss were it not for the strange and otherworldly sounds emanating from the dark room at the far end of the museum’s permanent collection of contemporary art. Whether intentional or the result of a lack of space, the fact that the installation was hidden spoke volumes. On display until Feb. 4, the exhibition is part of Woman. Artist. Indigenous., the MMFA’s season-long cycle highlighting the work of female indigenous artists.
The exhibition promotes itself as an “immersive, spiritual experience,” that “[transposes] the Innu and Atikamekw idea behind the words kushapetshekan and kosapitcikan, kept secret by those First Nations peoples—without, nonetheless, entirely revealing it.” Artists Eruoma Awashish, Meky Ottawa (both of Atikamekw descent) and Jani Bellefleur-Kaltush (who hails from the small Innu community of Nutashkuan.)
"Through the work, the artists share an element of their culture in their own way, while leaving a way open for interpretation,” the museum advertised.
The foreboding pitch-black room housed nothing but a tall cylindrical mechanism with a projector displaying a film positioned above it. A sheet of canvas wrapped around six sturdy poles, creating a kind of hexagonal cave with one panel missing.
Viewers were presented with a choice: Stand outside the device and watch the film from afar to see the complete image, or step inside the tiny claustrophobic space and see it from one angle only. I watched the film (roughly three minutes in length) twice from both positions and each time I noticed something new.
The bizarre, non-sequitur shots changed quickly and without warning—deer being chased by wolves across the screen, followed by a close-up of a young girl staring into the dancing flames of a bonfire. A continuous line drawing of a buffalo bounced comically around the space, in time with the sinister music. At one point, the imprint of a face and two hands appeared onscreen—accompanied by the sounds of heavy breathing, as if someone was standing outside the installation, pressed against the material.
During the minutes I spent inside that shadowy, ominous room, half a dozen people came and went. Some sidled up beside me inside the cramped space, shoulder to shoulder or back to back in the silence. Some giggled nervously while others contemplated quietly.
Stepping out of the dark room back into the bright, minimalist display of contemporary art does indeed give the impression of having returned from another world entirely. Everything about the piece—from its bizarre, inhospitable location to its strange and fragmentary images—leaves the viewer feeling like they’ve missed something. Appropriately enough, the installation offers merely a glimpse into the creators’ minds.
According to the artists, the creative approach taken during production was “rooted in decolonization.” By forcing viewers into a bizarre and alien experience, the piece forcibly dismantles the colonial instinct to try and define things we don’t relate to. Instead, the viewer has no choice but to accept that the bizarre imagery is simply beyond the scope of their understanding—that the artists gave us only a portion of the story on purpose. The feeling of disorientation is as much a part of the experience as the film—viewers step into the dark and stay there, long after they’ve exited the museum.
The installation appears courtesy of the National Film Board of Canada’s (NFB) three-year plan to increase awareness of indigenous art. The NFB is dedicating at least 15% per cent of funds to producing future indigenous-led projects.
