Latest News

Hockey, Sports, Winter Sports

From Gretzky’s legacy to Ovechkin’s triumph

by Jenna Payette on

More in Hockey:

In the grand theatre of hockey history, few stories have captivated fans quite like Alexander Ovechkin’s relentless pursuit of Wayne Gretzky’s all-time goal-scoring record—a chase that feels like a question not of ‘if’ but ‘when.’ As the torch prepares to pass from the Great One to the Great Eight, it has ignited what has come to be known as ‘The Gr8 Chase’. This chase is more than just one legend pursuing another—it’s a testament to the evolution of hockey itself.

Gretzky holds the record for most goals in National Hockey League (NHL) history with 894, after an illustrious 20-year career. Entering the 2024-2025 season, Ovechkin needed just 42 goals to break the Great One’s record and cement the Washington Capitals’ sniper’s place in history. A broken fibula in November threatened to derail the 39-year-old’s pursuit, sidelining him for 16 games, but now, against all odds, Ovi sits a mere eight goals away from breaking what was once considered the ‘unbreakable’ record.

Ovechkin might surpass Gretzky in the exact same number of years Gretzky played—20—but in entirely different eras of the sport.

The 1980s and 1990s featured high-scoring, free-wheeling hockey, with some players even exceeding 200 points in a single season. Gretzky achieved this feat four times. Goaltenders relied on a stand-up style with smaller equipment, defensive structures were less refined, and rule changes favoured a more offensive style of play. During this era, Gretzky’s legendary vision and hockey IQ allowed him to dominate at an unprecedented rate. Remarkably, even if he had never scored a single goal, Gretzky would still hold the record for the most career points, due to his incredible number of assists. Let that sink in.

He was a once-in-a-generation hockey mind. His greatness is unquestioned, but the era he played in likely factored into his record-shattering totals.

Fast forward to the 2000s—the Ovechkin era of hockey. Dubbed the ‘Dead Puck’ era, the early 2000s was defined by highly structured defensive systems and physical play, making scoring far more difficult. Goaltenders embraced the butterfly style, allowing them to cover the bottom of the net more effectively, and with advancements in elite training and video analysis, they got better every year. Players have also become more willing to sacrifice their bodies, blocking shots and finishing checks, making every inch of the ice a battleground. The NHL has since tightened penalty enforcement and introduced rule changes like hybrid icing and shootouts, altering the game’s flow. Yet, despite playing in an era designed to suppress offence, Ovechkin continues to score. His electrifying slapshot, unleashed against some of the best goaltending the sport has ever seen, cements his case as the greatest pure goal-scorer in hockey history.

Scoring in hockey is one of the toughest feats in sport, requiring a perfect storm of skill, timing, and perseverance. Unlike the high-scoring nature of basketball, elite hockey players get only a few chances per game—battling never-ending obstacles, physical play, and relentless pressure—to capitalize. Unlike football, where plays are strategically planned, today’s hockey is more exciting than ever, driven by incredible speed and the need for split-second decision-making. Goals can be a result of an unpredictable bounce, a screen, or an individual moment of brilliance. 

As Ovechkin inches closer to surpassing Gretzky’s legendary record, the significance of the Gr8 Chase extends far beyond mere statistics. It represents a celebration of resilience, skill, and evolution in the sport of hockey. While the game has transformed over the years, with new challenges, rules, and dynamics, one thing remains constant: The pursuit of greatness. 

As Ovechkin draws nearer to this historic milestone, the hockey world holds its breath, witnessing a legend rewrite history in real time. With just under 20 games left in the season, will Ovi do it?

Art, Arts & Entertainment

‘Little Burgundy – Evolving Montreal’ tells the story of a neighbourhood through the lens of Black resilience

by Hannah Nobile on

More in Art:

When British-Canadian photographer Andrew Jackson first visited Montreal, he set out to find the city’s Black spaces. His search led him to the neighbourhood of Little Burgundy, formerly known as Saint-Antoine, where he encountered a paradox: Why is Little Burgundy considered a Black space when only 11 per cent of its residents are Black? The answer: An ongoing history of gentrification displacing what was once a thriving Black neighbourhood.

In the 19th century, Little Burgundy emerged as the home of Montreal’s most prominent English-speaking Black community. The city attracted Black workers from across North America and the Caribbean for employment within the expanding Canadian railway industry that prospered off the exploitation of low-wage labour. Home to 90 per cent of the city’s Black population, Little Burgundy flourished with cornerstone cultural institutions and activist groups. But from the 1960s onward, city plans for urban renewal tore the neighbourhood apart. Residents and organizations were expropriated while homes and Black-owned businesses were demolished. By 1996, a gentrified Little Burgundy housed a dwindling two per cent of the city’s Black population—leaving behind a gutted community. 

However, Little Burgundy wasn’t culturally acknowledged as a Black space until the 1980s. 

“I began to think about what happens when spaces become termed as Black. There are very few benefits from that definition […] Little Burgundy became a Black space when it was linked to notions of criminality and failure,” Jackson said in an interview with The Tribune.

His exhibition challenges that perspective. When the McCord Stewart Museum commissioned Jackson to document the sites and locals of Little Burgundy in the third iteration of its Evolving Montreal series capturing the transformation of the city’s neighbourhoods, he set out to explore the racialization of the space and how perceptions differ between Black and non-Black individuals. The exhibition features photographs and three poignant, uplifting short films exploring the stories of people and organizations within the community.

“For a Black person, a Black space is a space of sanctuary, it’s a space of survival, it’s a space that holds personal or communal memories,” he explained.

Jackson points to his photo of a boarded-up window and notes how an outsider could look at this and see a sign of failure, while the person living beyond those walls is reminded of their 10th birthday, a meal shared with loved ones, or a first kiss.

This duality of understanding forms the basis of his work. Among the frames adorning the walls, there are close-ups focusing on details throughout Little Burgundy’s streets, whether it be a crack in the sidewalk or the way the sunlight hits an apartment window. These shots, representing a surface-level impression of the area, are then contrasted with intimate portraits of the individuals that inhabit that space. 

Among them is Jason Fraser, an outspoken leader in Little Burgundy who directs a men’s group at the Tyndale St-Georges Community Centre.

“There’s a lot of things in Little Burgundy that taught me how to be a family man, that taught me how to love my community, that taught me how to represent it in a good way [….] I hope my kids continue to be proud of Little Burgundy and that everyone continues to talk about Little Burgundy, not in the negative but in the positive. That’s my goal,” Fraser said.

By spotlighting the individuality of the people within Little Burgundy, Jackson fosters a sense of shared connection with the viewer. It provides a glimpse into a resilient Black community that would otherwise be invisible to those who have shaped their understanding of the space from negative cultural assumptions. The residents of Little Burgundy have a lifetime of personal memories and experiences that outsiders couldn’t know. This exhibition amplifies their voice.  

“As a Black Canadian looking across the border at what’s happening in America, I think right now that making Black people, Black bodies visible, giving an opportunity for Black voices to be heard is a political act. It’s an act of resilience in the face of that erasure,” said Jackson.

Little Burgundy will continue to change. Jackson’s documentary photography stands as a challenge to the erasure of its history and to its negative associations. Instead, it ensures that its legacy is not lost to gentrification. The exhibition isn’t just a visual testament to resilience but also a catalyst for dialogue on the ongoing transition of the community that through time, has been shaped, empowered, and threatened, yet remains at the heart of Montreal’s identity.

Little Burgundy – Evolving Montreal will be exhibited at the McCord Stewart Museum until Sept. 28.

A portion of these interviews were translated from French.

Science & Technology

SCAnning the genome to uncover the genetics of a neurological disorder

by Antoine Larocque on

More in Science & Technology:

Recent advances in molecular biology techniques are bringing new insights into complex diseases. These insights extend to spinocerebellar ataxias (SCAs), a group of progressive neurodegenerative disorders characterized by the deterioration of the cerebellum—a brain structure critical for balance and movement coordination.

In 2019, between 30 and 48 per cent of SCA patients remained without a genetic diagnosis—a test that identifies the genes responsible for a given disease. This was partly due to the limitations of short-read genetic sequencing, a technique which involves breaking DNA into small fragments before determining the order of DNA units that make up the fragments. While this technique is useful, it struggles to accurately resolve repetitive DNA regions in the genome—a challenge in diagnosing certain types of SCA.

Recognizing the need for improved diagnostic tools, Bernard Brais, the director of McGill’s Rare Neurological Disease Research Group, and his collaborators published a review article analyzing how the advent of long-read sequencing has revolutionized SCA research in recent years.

Unlike short-read sequencing, long-read sequencing can accurately detect repetitive sequences in the genome, revealing previously hidden genetic variants. This technology has led to the identification of three new SCA variants: SCA4, SCA51, and, in particular, SCA27B.

SCA27B stands out from other SCA variants due to its distinct genetic signature: A high number of trinucleotide [guanine-adenine-adenine (GAA)] repeats within an intron—a segment of DNA that does not code for proteins—of the fibroblast growth factor 14 (FGF14) gene.

FGF14 plays a key role in stabilizing ion channels crucial for the function of Purkinje cells, specialized neurons in the cerebellum involved in motor control and learning

“We suspect that if [individuals] have less of it, the channels cannot perform as well, and then it leads to all types of problems in the cell,” Brais said in an interview with The Tribune.

Patients with SCA27B typically carry more than 250 GAA repeats in one copy of the FGF14 gene. However, some individuals with fewer than 300 GAA repeats never develop SCA symptoms, suggesting additional genetic considerations influence disease onset.

The purity of the GAA repeat sequence also plays a crucial role in SCA27B development. Asian populations, for example, rarely develop SCA27B since their FGF14 gene contains a mix of triplet nucleotides, making the repeat sequence more stable.

However, individuals inheriting a pure GAA repeat sequence may experience expansion over time, particularly in the cerebellum. 

“We think that, with time, the error grows, and it will grow because it is a pure sequence that, for whatever reason, is prone to errors,” Brais commented. “When the DNA is patched up, it makes errors, and [the error] continues to grow.”

Additionally, between 15 and 50 per cent of SCA patients have no family history of this disease. Research suggests that a short 17-base-pair DNA sequence upstream of the FGF14 seems key in stabilizing the GAA repeat sequence length. Therefore, people without this controlling region are more likely to develop SCA27B.

“Somewhere in the history of Europeans, some people probably lost this controlling region, and that makes this region more unstable, so it changes size,” Brais explained. “If it goes past a certain size, it will continue to increase even more, and if it passes a threshold size, then [the person] will develop the disease.”

The discovery of SCA27B represents a major step in refining SCA diagnosis, especially among individuals of European descent. Initially identified in French Canadians, where it accounts for nearly 60 per cent of SCA cases, SCA27B was later recognized as one of the most prevalent SCA variants worldwide.

“It is really worthwhile studying French Canadian genetics to find the cause of diseases,” Brais said.

Beyond ataxias, studying SCA genetics could offer broader insights into neurological disorders associated with aging. 

“I think it’s opening the door to a better understanding of aging in terms of memory or movement, like for Parkinson’s disease. But this is not the same; it’s aging in terms of balance,” Brais said.

Out on the Town, Student Life

Unmissable events happening this month

by Malika Logossou on

More in Out on the Town:

With the roads defrosting, the weather warming, and the clock springing forward, Montreal is back and better than ever with a bunch of activities to take advantage of the (relatively) temperate temperatures. Lucky for you, The Tribune has compiled a list to keep you occupied in the upcoming weeks—if you’re one of the lucky few who has a lull between midterms and finals, anyways.

1. Festival Art Souterrain

From March 15 to April 16, the 16th annual Festival Art Souterrain will transform Montreal’s underground city into a contemporary art exhibition. The festival will feature 30 artists and five exhibit venues, as well as free artistic activities following this year’s theme: The environment. Entrance is free, although some activities, such as guided tours, require purchasing a ticket. 

One of the perks of the festival is that it is underground—as much as we enjoy the weather getting warmer, it is still freezing outside, and there’s always the inevitable late-March snowstorm. The Underground City spans across 33 kilometers, serving as a pedestrian network right under the heart of Montreal that connects metro stations, shopping centers, and cultural landmarks. This festival is the perfect way to explore art while staying warm and getting to know one of Montreal’s most famous landmarks. 

2. International Festival of Films on Art

If you’d rather see your art through a video camera, this festival may be for you! From March 13 to March 30, the International Festival of Films on Art will be presenting hundreds of short and feature-length films on art and culture in cinemas in various locations downtown in light of its 43rd edition. This festival is your chance to watch captivating movies, paintings, photography, music, and dance, exploring Montreal’s rich artistic culture. The virtual edition extends until March 30, allowing you to enjoy the art from the comfort of your home if you are unable to make it in person. 

3. Cabane Panache

If you live in Quebec and you’ve never been to a cabane à sucre, can you really say you have lived the Quebec experience? Even if you have been to one before, not going to Cabane Panache this year would mean missing out on one of the province’s sweetest traditions! From March 20 to 23, on Promenade Wellington, you can find maple syrup delights, live folk music, and expanded festivities. This year’s edition is special as it is part of Verdun’s 150th-anniversary celebrations. Be sure not to miss out on the largest urban sugar shack festival, and bring some of your friends along while you are at it. Additionally, it is not too far from McGill by metro, as it is located near De l’Église metro station. 

4. Montreal’s St. Patrick’s Parade

On March 16, Montreal’s St. Patrick’s Parade will take place on Rue de Maisonneuve, from Fort St. to Jeanne-Mance, starting at noon. It has happened annually since 1824, making it the second most famous Irish parade in North America, behind New York. Expect floats, marching bands, musicians, and performers flooding the streets. Whether you have Irish roots or just love a good celebration, this event is a must-see! 

5. The Montreal National Women’s Show

From March 28 to March 30, enjoy a weekend of fashion, beauty, wellness, and lifestyle at the Montreal National Women’s Show. At the Palais des Congrès, the show will feature over 320 exhibitors providing attendees with food, wine tastings, fashion shows, celebrity guests, free beauty makeovers, health and beauty tips, cooking demonstrations, interior-design advice and travel ideas. Conferences and workshops complete the program of this event dedicated to women. 

Montreal has covered you for March, so mark your calendars and make the most of these upcoming events!

McGill, News

McGill Food Coalition’s weekly calendar plants seeds for alternative food system

by Eliza Lee on

More in McGill:

Throughout the Winter 2025 semester, the McGill Food Coalition (MFC) has posted a weekly calendar compiling food service events on campus, from free lunches to events discussing food sustainability. MFC is a student-run group that represents and coordinates projects between food advocacy groups, including the Student Nutrition Accessibility Club (SNAC), Midnight Kitchen, and Happy Belly. 

In an interview with The Tribune, Mia Szabo, U3 Arts and a project leader for the MFC, explained that the calendar seeks to improve students’ access to nutritious, affordable, and sustainable foods. She added that by compiling the services of its member groups, the calendar enables students to more easily incorporate them into weekly meal planning. 

“On Monday, I can get SNAC groceries,” Szabo said. “On Wednesday, I can go to Midnight Kitchen. On Friday, there’s Happy Belly, and in between, there’s workshops.”

Szabo also drew attention to the symbolic significance of the calendar in showing that student food advocacy groups are united in their efforts to combat food insecurity. 

“We really want to convey a sense of cohesiveness across the different groups, which in the past, might not even know that each other existed,” Szabo said. “We’re all working towards a common goal, which is servicing McGill students and the McGill community.”

Szabo emphasized that the calendar contributes to MFC’s larger commitment to creating an alternative food system on campus, filling gaps left by the traditional food system centred upon for-profit companies. 

Élèves des Champs—a student-run ecological garden on the Macdonald Campus—is among the member groups of MFC. Reflecting on the MFC’s work beyond the calendar, Sam Liptay, U3 Science and representative from Élèves des Champs, echoed the coalition’s role in tackling food insecurity holistically and addressing common obstacles between student groups. 

“Something that people [have been asking] is, ‘What are the limits to growth for each group?’, and trying to assess those and see if this can be overcome, and see if there [are] commonalities,” Liptay said. 

For Jeanne Arnould, U4 Arts and a representative from DefaultVeg McGill, MFC is a key way to increase the visibility of food advocacy groups for students, something that is crucial given that it can be challenging to find an updated list of active clubs and services on campus. DefaultVeg promotes plant-based eating through catering services and other food sustainability events, such as vegan snack nights. 

“When you do have a club, you need to go table at Activities Night and hope that some people will be interested, otherwise your student club or group kind of dies,” Arnould told The Tribune. “So [MFC’s] initiative to actually structure [these groups under a coalition] is really, really valuable.”

In a written statement, Hugo-Victor Solomon, Vice-President External of the Students’ Society of McGill University (SSMU), noted that rising inflation and the lack of food options on campus are among the main drivers of food insecurity for students. However, Solomon believes that SSMU signing a new Memorandum of Agreement (MoA) with McGill on Feb. 28 may help bring more food venues to the University Centre.

“I’m happy to say that given the signing of the new 5-year MoA, […] it’ll be a lot easier to secure contractors in a more streamlined process through having a management agreement with the University in place—and to get more food service tenants in the building ASAP,” Solomon wrote.

Although Solomon reported that SSMU is not currently collaborating with MFC “in any official capacity,” he wrote that the student union will seek to work with them to revise SSMU’s Food Security Policy in the future. 

Lia Boretsky, U4 Science and co-president of SNAC, hopes to see greater collaboration between student groups under MFC and underscored the mutual benefit that comes from this work. Boretsky recalled several weeks when SNAC was able to prevent wasting leftover produce from their weekly Good Food Box distribution service by offering it to Midnight Kitchen for their lunch program. 

“It’s more effective when we work together and collaborate, rather than just being our own [groups], because then things go to waste,” Boretsky said. “We all have the same mission, and if we come together and be more strategic […] it’s going to have a better result for the students.”

Sports

Tennis world no. 1 Jannik Sinner suspended for three months amidst doping controversy

by Ethan Kahn on

More in Sports:

Tennis is full of exciting young superstars, from Spain’s Carlos Alcaraz to the U.S.’s Ben Shelton; however, nobody may be as talented or as dominant as Jannik Sinner. The 23-year-old from the South Tyrol region of Italy has racked up three Grand Slam wins and over $56 million CAD in prize money. Yet his meteoric rise to the top of the tennis world has hit a considerable speed-bump. 

The World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA), an international organization comprised of more than 140 countries helping fight against performance-enhancing drugs in sports, handed Sinner a three-month suspension from Feb. 9 to May 4 after he tested positive for the performance enhancer Clostebol. The suspension stipulates that for its duration, Sinner is not allowed to participate in any Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) Tour events. 

The circumstances of Sinner’s suspension and the question of whether or not he intended to cheat or gained any advantages from Clostebol are murky at best. Sinner’s original positive test was from March 10, 2024, after he beat Jan-Lennard Struff in the third round of the BNP Paribas Open at Indian Wells. Sinner’s physiotherapist Giacomo Naldi was using an over-the-counter spray that contained the steroid Clostebol for a cut on his finger. Naldi massaged Sinner throughout the tournament, and Sinner’s team argued that the Italian superstar was inadvertently exposed to Clostebol through Naldi. The International Tennis Integrity Association (ITIA) issued two bans for Sinner, both of which were reversed on appeal.

Following Sinner’s dominant U.S. Open win in September to claim his second Grand Slam title, WADA announced that they were filing an appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport, where they sought to ban Sinner from any tennis competition for one to two years. This launched another lengthy legal battle and thrust Sinner into the spotlight yet again. This time, he could not escape unscathed. WADA gave him a three-month ban, which, considering their initial one- to two-year goal, let Sinner off lightly.

However, their explanation for their decision did nothing to put the case to bed. WADA not only acknowledged that Sinner’s team was able to prove any Clostebol use was completely unintentional, but also said that their findings did not indicate that Sinner gained any competitive advantage from his accidental exposure to the steroid. When considering these facts, it seems that Sinner was hard done by.

Many questions have been raised by critics on the handling of Sinner’s case and whether or not it creates a double standard for elite athletes. While it is true that Sinner’s punishment may not be the correct decision, he avoided two provisional suspensions through emergency appeals to lift them. Any other player would likely have been forced to serve at least one of the provisional suspensions handed down by the ITIA. Twenty-four-time Grand Slam winner Novak Djokovic sounded off, saying that there were inconsistencies in the treatment of Sinner versus other players who had similar cases.

While the legal drama seems to be in the past for now, Sinner will have to work hard to return to his best. Three months away from competition is a massive challenge in a sport that requires an incredible amount of focus. Sinner will need to get back into the right mindset before his return to competition at the Italian Open on home soil in Rome, which begins May 7. Fans will be hoping this saga is a mere blip on Sinner’s path to greatness, and that he will use this experience to motivate himself to reach the incredible heights that those in the tennis world know he can achieve.

Commentary, Opinion

Quebec’s budget cuts to sexual violence survey put students at risk

by Defne Feyzioglu on

More in Commentary:

Quebec recently cancelled a survey investigating sexual violence on CEGEP and higher education campuses. This cancellation sets a damaging precedent for future policies on sexual violence and student protection, as well as for the salience of institutional accountability, creating a less regulated and more dangerous campus environment. Without data evidencing the frequency and severity of this crisis, it becomes invisible, and institutions can get away with ignoring it.

In Canada, one in three women above the age of 15 report to have experienced sexual assault at least once. This prevalence is reflected acutely on Quebec campuses, where 14 per cent of all reports and complaints to the Quebec ombudsman are related to sexual violence. The need for stronger protections and data-driven policies is vital. Yet, the government has removed a key mechanism for understanding and addressing campus sexual violence. How can an issue be addressed when those in power don’t consider it significant enough to research?

Without the survey, there is no longer a direct, survivor-centred means to monitor sexual violence and available safety measures on Quebec campuses. The Quebec government has justified this cancellation as a cost-saving measure. However, survivors pay the real price. The absence of data does not suggest the absence of violence. It only means that survivors are left unsupported and without a system willing to acknowledge their experiences. Thus, students will continue to face sexual violence with fewer protections and less institutional support. Quebec Higher Education Minister Pascale Déry stated that a broader provincial mental health survey will incorporate data about sexual violence, but merging a specific issue into a general study risks diluting critical insights and overlooking key patterns. Without a dedicated survey, the true scope of the crisis may be misrepresented or ignored entirely. 

The government is not just neglecting its responsibility; it is deliberately turning its back on a problem that causes profound trauma for thousands of women, and demands urgent and ongoing attention. When the government fails, it is up to institutions to step up, take initiative, and ensure that student safety is not sacrificed for bureaucratic convenience. A campus without proper reporting mechanisms does not protect students; it protects perpetrators. Silence does not create safety but guarantees invisibility.

This invisibility is not distributed equally. 2SLGBTQIA+ students, students with disabilities, international students, racialized students, and women already experience sexual violence on campus at disproportionately high rates. The cancellation of this survey makes the severity of their realities even easier to erase. By cutting research funding, the government merely shifts the burden onto underfunded and understaffed organizations like the Office for Sexual Violence, Response, Support, and Education (OSVRSE), leaving it to them to fill the gaps while struggling with limited resources. 

Higher education campuses are not responsible for Quebec’s failure, but in the face of the cancellation of this survey, they have an important choice: Follow the Quebec government’s pattern of neglect or take real, independent action. If the province refuses to track sexual violence, institutions themselves must. McGill must acknowledge that safety does not start with response but with prevention. A commitment to student safety is a choice that must be reflected in action, policy, and transparency.

The government’s decision to erase data instead of addressing sexual violence is not just an oversight. Though there are still a number of alternative forms of data collection in regards to sexual violence, they are not as tailored to Quebec’s school campuses in particular as the cancelled survey was, and thus hold less weight in institutional protections of sexual violence on campuses. Sexual violence is still happening, and will only intensify if the importance of sexual violence data is forgotten. The loss of data makes it difficult to assess whether the measures Quebec has taken to improve campus safety are working, and whose stories of sexual violence are going unheard.

Editorial, Opinion

Censorship of genocide is inherently anti-education

by The Tribune Editorial Board on

More in Editorial:

Quebec Minister of Higher Education Pascale Déry has recently come under fire for her interference in course content at Dawson College, where she demanded that a French language course about Palestinian literature avoid sensitive topics. Shortly after, Déry made a similar intervention in a Palestinian literature course at Vanier College. The minister justified these investigations by claiming that the content was “explosive” and that students deserve a “healthy and safe” environment. Déry’s interventions are not unlike McGill’s own actions towards rejecting discussion of Palestine in classrooms, the exclusion of the word “Palestine” or “genocide” in the university’s email communications with the student body, and the Post Graduate Students’ Society (PGSS)’s removal of words such as “Gaza” and “genocide” from their motions of solidarity with Palestine. 

Stifling discussion of Israel’s genocide in Gaza—or any other major geopolitical crisis—dismisses the lived realities of those involved, stunts positive change, and enables educational institutions to remain passive in their own contribution to acts of violence around the world. Suppressing conversation, especially that which is the most contentious and the most uncomfortable, heightens tensions and propagates misinformation. 

Israel’s genocide in Gaza touches so many students in traumatic and deeply distressing ways, and the university setting is uniquely equipped to facilitate discussion around it in a respectful and informed space. As experts and professionals, university professors can act as knowledgeable mediators and encourage evidence-based dialogue in their students. In this way, not only is open discussion of weighty subjects itself destigmatized, but students are open to learning from one another instead of festering in repressed feelings and unspoken polarized conflict.

Geopolitical tensions do not cease to exist if a university chooses not to talk about them. Such silence sends the message that the lives affected by and lost to these injustices are not worth addressing in the classroom, thus enabling a false sense of detachment from those realities. McGill itself is instrumental in the genocide, as it continues to invest over $70 million CAD in more than 50 companies complicit in upholding Israel’s apartheid regime. The symbolic weight of these investments is greater than their monetary value; McGill is a world-class institution of higher education, whose actions set a precedent for other educational institutions in Canada and abroad. 

Suppression of uncomfortable discussion not only pacifies past violence, but reproduces it. After an unidentified group in support of Palestine broke windows in McGill’s Leacock Building in February, President and Vice-Chancellor Deep Saini sent a message to students classifying these protestors as threats to students though no one was harmed. His message ignored the purpose of the protest entirely, instead criminalizing the pro-Palestine cause. This rhetorical tactic imbues reductive biases into the discussion of the genocide in Gaza, while simultaneously villainizing protest—by students or otherwise—and discouraging future action. It is in this fear-mongering environment, where certain causes are hand-picked as acceptable or not based on their convenience for the university, where polarizing narratives and heightened tension are encouraged in place of constructive dialogue and progress. 

McGill’s student body and faculty must continue to hold the university accountable for its ongoing complicity in violence and its suppression of crucial discussion. McGill and its student body must also show consistent and energetic solidarity with Dawson College, Vanier College, and the entire CEGEP system, where the grassroots of student activism in Quebec is growing. 

Ultimately, amidst censorship, suppression, and polarizing curation, it is critical that each of us individually continue to have uncomfortable conversations, both to educate others and to learn from others with an open mind. This could be with friends, family, classmates, or professors, but it must continue. We, as students, must challenge our professors when a syllabus is devoid of Palestinian, women, 2SLGBTQ+, BIPOC voices, and professors—especially those protected by tenure—must encourage and facilitate uncomfortable conversations. The power of individuals and their communal discourses in the fight against suppression is immense—neither the administration nor the McGill community can forget it.

Arts & Entertainment, Books

‘Baldwin, Styron, and Me’ is a contemplative exploration of converging identities

by Annabella Lawlor on

More in Arts & Entertainment:

Cigarette smoke caresses the wooden beams of William Styron’s colonial Connecticut home. The piercing smell of whiskey drifts across the creaking pine floors. In the airy afternoons, one can hear the clacks of dueling typewriters, marking each side of the historic property as their own. But into these bristling nights, Styron and his houseguest, James Baldwin, find themselves in stimulating discussions: Arguing, compromising, and honing their literary precision into thoughtful exchanges on race, religion, and selfhood. As the grandsons of an enslaver and an enslaved person, respectively, Styron and Baldwin contemplate the nuances of whiteness and Blackness in 1960s America—exploring how writers can contribute to this cultural dialogue that shapes a shared history and what it means to exist in a racist world.

Québécoise writer and magazine editor Mélikah Abdelmoumen’s newly translated book, Baldwin, Styron, and Me, is a hybrid fiction-memoir that weaves the encounters between literary icons Baldwin and Styron—during Baldwin’s nine-month stay with the Connecticut author—into accounts of her own life in Quebec. Born to a Tunisian father and a Québécoise mother, Abdelmoumen navigates the complexities of her cultural identity in a Canadian province deeply tied to a unified, and now racialized, provincial selfhood.

Abdelmoumen explores the complex history of racial congruence through Baldwin and Styron’s relationship. She gives fictionalized dialogue to their encounters, illustriously assuming the literary voice of each author to imagine how they may have spoken to each other throughout their lengthy, conversational nights. It was during this stay that Baldwin encouraged Styron to embark on his new project, the novel The Confessions of Nat Turner. Told from the perspective of Nat Turner, an enslaved man in the Antebellum South, Styron took from the minimal written records of Turner’s life to tell the story of his rebellion against enslavement. Abdelmoumen describes the novel’s initial critical acclaim and subsequent critique. Whether Styron’s creative liberties accurately or respectfully depicted the internal experience of Black identity during slavery is still carefully debated. 

One writer featured in the literary critique Nat Turner: Ten Black Writers Respond, Vincent Harding, wrote,

“There can be no common history until we have first fleshed out the lineaments of our own, for no one else can speak out of the bittersweet bowels of our blackness.”

When Abdelmoumen’s Styron questions his ability to understand Blackness 100 years prior, Baldwin responds, “In the way that his story resonates in our time. Mine, and yours. By remembering that we are inextricably connected and that your story is my story and that my story is yours.”

Through these imaginations of the past, Abdelmoumen reminds that in the wake of tragedy and trauma, we can only heal our wounds through empathetic, understanding, and direct confrontation with this problematic past. At the same time, she questions to what lengths one could accurately explore the Black identity while using a privileged, white pen: How could Styron even begin to capture the intense legacy of racism and intersectionality in America?

This anecdote of the past seamlessly transports us into Abdelmoumen’s present: On her way home from work while living in Lyon, France one night, she was assaulted, mugged, and called a racial slur. She speaks of her experience as the “Other” in both Québécois and French society, as someone who existed within Quebec and Tunisia in cultural tandem. She also reminds her Québécois readers of the province’s recent spike in racial injustices and hate crimes.

Abdelmoumen posits that once we identify violence and ugliness for what it truly is, we can truly move forward—but not so fast that we forget the traumatic truths of the past. Through these literary explorations, we can listen to and learn from those whose experiences differ greatly from our own. It is in this space that Abdelmoumen realizes her own identity—not in rigid, definitive permanence, but as a fluid thing to be molded and shaped throughout time. 

“Following in no one’s footsteps, I chose my identity: It is not, nor will it ever be, fixed,” Abdelmoumen asserts.

McGill, News, SSMU

The Tribune Explains: SSMU’s new Memorandum of Agreement with McGill

by Shani Laskin on

More in McGill:

On Feb. 28, the Students’ Society of McGill University (SSMU) and the administration signed a new Memorandum of Agreement (MoA)—a document outlining the two parties’ cooperation. Coming in at 118 pages long, The Tribune breaks down what students actually need to know about the new MoA, how it differs from the previous version, and why it matters.

What is the MoA?

The MoA is a crucial aspect of how SSMU operates. The SSMU is a student-run organization registered as a not-for-profit incorporated under the Canada Not-for-profit Corporations Act. Despite its independence from McGill, the terms of its relationship with the university are central to its functioning—defining its ability to operate on the McGill campus and for clubs and services to use the McGill name. 

Without an MoA, student clubs and services cannot legally use the McGill name or work out of the University Centre, fundamentally disrupting SSMU’s operations.

Typically valid for five years, the new agreement will remain in effect until May 31, 2029. This MoA includes a couple of key adjustments, including new requirements for hopeful SSMU executives and changes to how McGill and SSMU can resolve any Notices of Termination—formal announcements that either party wants to end the agreement. The MoA also includes details on the SSMU office’s upcoming move to the fourth floor of the University Centre. 

What are the new rules for SSMU executive and executive nominees?

Under the previous MoA the only requirement to run for a SSMU executive position was to be an undergraduate student who had taken at least 18 credits in the 18 months leading up to the election. The previous MoA also stipulated that all SSMU executives and Board of Director members would be subject to the Code of Student Conduct and Disciplinary Procedures, although there were no further details on candidates’ eligibility. 

Now, SSMU executives and directors cannot have a disciplinary record at McGill, an offence under the student code of conduct, or have been suspended from the university. 

How has the process of resolving MoA-related issues between McGill and SSMU changed?

The default clause in the previous MoA outlined that an “event of default” would occur if SSMU breached the MoA, its own constitution, Quebec law, or faced serious financial issues. In the event of default, the money “assessed by the University for [SSMU]” would be put into a trust fund overseen by representatives of both parties until the default was resolved. The new MoA no longer includes this clause. Instead, either party can now issue a Notice of Termination at any point, with the issue being taken to an impartial third-party mediator. 

To SSMU President Dymetri Taylor, this adjustment takes away some of the University’s financial power over student union in negotiations over default. 

“The reason for the change was more or less to give some leeway and have it be more of a conversation amongst equals,” Taylor explained to The Tribune.

Where are the SSMU offices going?

Currently located in suite 1200 of the Brown Building, the SSMU offices will be moved to the fourth floor of the University Centre following this school year, taking over suites 401 and 403-409. While most of the space is currently unoccupied, it includes the Club Lounge, the McGill University Photography Students Society office, and the Queer McGill library. The SSMU has yet to finalize where the clubs’ spaces will be relocated to, although he alluded that libraries from various SSMU services may be consolidated into a single space.

As for the current SSMU offices, McGill will take over the space to create more offices for staff on campus. According to Taylor, this is in part due to financial constraints that have forced the university to cut down on its external leases in and around Montreal. 

1 … 77 78 79 80 81 … 1,363

Read the latest issue

Read the latest issue