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Commentary, Opinion

Three verdicts, one unjust reality

by Matthew Molinaro on

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Content warning: racism, police violence

In the past several days, three high-profile cases have come to deeply unsatisfying conclusions. Two are American—Kenosha shooter Kyle Rittenhouse was cleared of all charges after he killed two men during a night of unrest following the shooting of Jacob Blake, and the three white men who murdered Ahmaud Arbery, much like a modern-day lynching, were convicted. The other is Canadian, the least known and covered of the three: Pradel Content, a Black man living in Laval won an ethics case against a police officer who shoved him, made racist comments toward him, and then deleted Content’s phone recording of the 2017 incident. Many have raised concerns about Rittenhouse’s proceedings, questioning whether he would have still been found innocent, or even alive, had he been Black. And though Arbery’s mother expressed her relief at the guilty sentence, it, of course, remains unjust that a Black person still cannot move freely through society without fear. The just application of the law cannot save a Black life taken too early. Content’s case reveals an insidious aspect of Canadian anti-Black racism; that is, the constant and unhelpful positive comparison to the United States and the “moderate” bureaucracy that holds onto these cases for years.

The report did not contain a valid reason for why Michael Boutin, the officer who stopped him, would need to check Content’s licence plate. In a statement by the Centre for Research-Action on Race Relations, Content shared that he started recording once he exited his car at a gas station. Noticing that Content was filming him, Boutin proceeded to slap the phone out of his hand, throw him against his car, and handcuff him without informing him of the reason for the arrest. Later reports, including ones that led to the ethics violations, found that Boutin filed a false police report and wrote a ticket that suggested Content was using his phone while driving. During their encounter, Content mentioned he was from Florida, to which Boutin replied that he must be lucky to live in Quebec because in the United States they shoot people “like you.” Since this comment targeted his race, the ethics committee found this to violate their ethics code, amongst five other ethics violations. This comment stings even more considering that George Zimmerman, the man who shot and murdered Trayvon Martin, was acquitted of all charges in Florida. Boutin’s lack of ethical standards reveals the lack of oversight in police systems. It is important to remember that Boutin was not alone at the time—his fellow officer could have easily stopped him. Their choice to stand silent and even erase their actions is in line with Canadian ideals, wherein the propagated culture of politeness and respectability comes at the expense of racialized people and substantive changes to policing. 

It is concerning that Content’s case not only took four years to conclude, but remained relatively unacknowledged beyond local news articles. The ticket Content received was immediately overturned, but this cannot overturn the immense and mostly unchecked power the police wield. Without the gas station footage, these police officers might have continued to roam unaffected; the chances of an ethics board believing a Black man’s word against a police officer’s remains, unfortunately, minimal.. Surely, given the officers’ immediately violent response, far more cases are unreported. At the same time, this should not open up the possibility for cameras to be placed everywhere in public. People should not be surveilled at all times, and the police, who already provide plenty of surveillance in Montreal, must be, at the very least, reformed.

Hearings on Boutin’s possible sanctions are expected to begin next month, meaning now more than ever is the time to speak out and rally against racial profiling and excessive policing. On the municipal level, Canadians should treat politicians, including recently re-elected Mayor Plante, who pander to police with suspicion. If not defunding, ethics, bias, and social responsibility should be considered as important as physical, medical, and shooting certifications at the policing level. Much like Arbery’s case, bare minimum successes of the justice system should not be celebrated as victories.

McGill, News

Suzanne Fortier reflects on McGill’s future and lessons learned from COVID-19

by Madison Edward-Wright & Juliet Morrison on

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As the Fall 2021 semester and McGill’s bicentennial year comes to a close, the McGill administration has started envisioning plans for the university’s academic, ecological, and structural future. From opening a new Office for Mediation and Reporting, to assessing McGill’s Strategic Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion Plan and the Anti-Black Racism Action Plan, to adapting to a world changed by COVID-19, the administration is beginning to implement several changes. 

McGill principal and vice-chancellor Suzanne Fortier reflected on these changes in a round table interview with campus media on Nov. 24. Fortier feels that updating plans and creating new offices are the first steps toward a more equitable and globally in-tuned university.

“Next calendar year, we are [entering] a third century of our institution, so it is a great time for us to think about the future,” Fortier said. “We celebrate with the full knowledge that not all of our 200 [years of] history were great [….] As we think about our third century, it is also [about] how do we learn from our past.”

Fortier listed reducing the university’s environmental impact and carbon footprint as a key objective in the coming decades, citing McGill’s commitments to reach net-zero by 2040,  switch energy systems from gas and oil to electric, and adopt a decarbonization policy.

“We have a huge problem right now, which is climate change and the planet,” Fortier said. “We need to evolve to be terra sapiens.”

The term “terra sapiens” refers to the evolution of human action toward a more environmentally aware collective consciousness. Some students, however, like Samuel Helguero, 3L and Divest McGill organizer, feel Fortier’s words do not mark a transition to a greener and cleaner campus.

“Suzanne Fortier remains perhaps the most ardent opponent to divestment across all of Canadian universities,” Helguero wrote in an email to The McGill Tribune. “To see her attempt to brand the school as ecological is only ironic.”

Another topic Fortier touched on was the recent letter sent by Christopher Manfredi, McGill provost and vice-principal (Academic), to the Office de consultation publique de Montréal (OCPM), which subsequently published it on their website. In the letter, Manfredi explained that McGill would be open to participating in the investigation of unmarked Indigenous graves at the Royal Vic site. Fortier cautioned that McGill cannot embark on the investigation alone. 

“[McGill] cannot do anything by itself,” Fortier said. “The site does not belong to us, it belongs to the government of Quebec and to the McGill University Health Centre, what people call the Glen [….] It is unlikely that we would find [graves], but we are not totally discrediting the suspicion […], and we will do our work with the technologies that allow you to see if there are unmarked graves.” 

The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic has forced many institutions, such as McGill and large corporations, to reevaluate the way day-to-day affairs are run. A takeaway for McGill’s governing bodies—the Board of Governors and Senate—as Fortier explained, has been to trust in those who have been educated and trained to handle unforeseen situations and events like a global pandemic. 

In an interview with the Tribune, U2 Arts student Mata Bocoum described a lack of engagement with key issues such as climate change and technological advancement on McGill’s campus, and felt that the administration could do more to acknowledge campus organizations that focus on those topics. 

“I am not someone who is very engaged in extracurricular activities […] so maybe that is why I do not see any promotion for making changes with the climate […] or technological innovation,” Bocoum said in an interview with the Tribune. “But, I feel like [clubs] are not promoted enough. [Activist groups] should be a focus for promotion because they are very important in the new era, but they are not talked about enough.”

Editorial, Opinion

Valuing equality over equity stunts science

by The McGill Tribune Editorial Board on

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On Nov. 24, The //National Post//’s Michael Higgins wrote an exclusive article titled “Minority professor denied grants because he hires on merit: ‘People are afraid to think.’” The article documents McGill chemistry professor Patanjali Kambhampati’s refusal to take part in equity, diversity, and inclusion (EDI) hiring practices. Instead, Kambhampati wrote that he would hire the “most qualified people” in the EDI section of his application for a $450,000 grant from the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC). In the //Post//’s article, he also decried that EDI and “woke culture” kill innovation, harm science, and disrupt society. Though Kambhampati’s stance on meritocracy is understandable, his choice to tank his own application for media attention speaks volumes about his commitment to science’s progress. While EDI hiring and practices alone are insufficient to dismantle systemic racism in scientific research, they are nonetheless essential; scientific innovation only improves when those at its forefront reflect the diversity of society. 

EDI hiring exists because institutions often filter out those who do not fit the old mould of the scientist archetype, such as women, people of colour, and lower-income individuals. Kambhampati’s racial colour-blindness shows the problem of individuals thinking that they alone can transcend systems of oppression. Institutions, for instance, can still perpetuate systemic racism even without overt racists within them. Valuing merit and skills is not mutually exclusive to EDI: Equitable hiring and practices allow everyone to have a fair shot in academia, not just those who fit individual professors’ subjective and flawed opinions.

Kambhampati spoke up to critique governmental agencies’ increasing implementation of EDI principles. EDI, though, is not some new dangerous revolution––it is about accessibility, which is far more compatible with enhancing current research methods. Kambhampati’s choice shows that he is willing to sacrifice scientific progress in favour of maintaining the status quo. His equality-over-equity approach continues to ostracize historically excluded groups from science. NSERC and the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada’s EDI sections ask to proactively, intentionally, and carefully consider science’s blindspots when composing a team. Though Kambhampati commits himself to helping students of all backgrounds, his overwhelming desire to avoid discriminating against white men is suspect when EDI neither attacks them nor stops them from otherwise having myriad societal benefits. As Kambhampati suggests, EDI is not without its problems, like virtue-signalling. But these problems are not enough to dismiss it entirely—and so publicly.

Science does not and cannot exist in a social vacuum: Social issues affect science, and science affects social issues. Consider how science was, on one hand, manipulated to justify racial distinctions, colonialism, and the rigid gender binary, and on the other, the method used to disprove these myths. Consider also the eurocentric grounds for measuring systems like the body mass index (BMI), which has led to inadequate treatment toward people from other parts of the world. Clearly, science research has a cultural problem, one that prioritizes the interests of white, cisgender, straight, non-disabled men. 

It is researchers like Kambhampati who weaponize their “minority professor” identity and their own experiences of racism to rationalize their ideologies at the expense of minorities. Newspapers like the //National Post// and white commentators harp on exceptional cases like Kambhampati to dismiss equity initiatives, foregrounding a single racialized person’s experience to justify anti-woke rhetoric. Though Kambhampati fears self-censorship and “wokeism,” the more salient question is whether untenured faculty, graduate, and undergraduate students of colour could speak out to the same degree as a tenured professor who can arbitrarily sink potential funding.


Science principles itself on objectivity, but subjectively excluding people undermines the scientific method. Without fear, McGill’s Faculty of Science must follow McGill’s equitable hiring practices and stop their professors from stifling equitable science for cultural and academic capital.

Emerging Trends, Student Life

Wending your way through winter commutes

by Mahnoor Chaudhry on

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The arrival of winter, with its sub-zero temperatures and snow-packed roads, transforms students’  lifestyles—especially when it comes to their daily commute. 

Much of the student body can be seen walking or biking to school in the summer months, but far fewer cyclists are spotted on the roads once the first signs of winter approach. Though some bike owners might still be seen bracing the wind chill, Bixi, the city’s affordable and convenient public bike rental service, ended their season on Nov. 15. This means that many, including Arantza Fernandez, U3 Arts, have had to resort to other ways of travel.

“It was so easy to take the bike,” Fernandez said in an interview with The McGill Tribune. “I would be at school in five minutes, and I could come and go as much as I wanted. Now I have to walk to school, which takes me almost 15-20 minutes.”

However, unlike the weather these days, all is not bleak. Opting to walk to campus can bring about some positive and unexpected changes in one’s daily routine. 

“The good thing is I now get to call people when I walk, like my parents at home,” Fernandez said.

Nevertheless, many cyclists still pedal their way through the snow to get to their classes—and many start gearing up for the winter months far in advance. Danyal Chaudhry, U1 Science and frequent winter biker, is familiar with the preparation process. 

“Biking saves me a lot of time, and it is not as dreadful as you think when you have the proper gear for it,” Chaudhry said. “If you have big winter tires, some headlights for darker days and are wearing layers, you should not have much trouble biking to campus.”

It’s important for cyclists to know how to equip themselves and their rides to ensure safe travel. Experts suggest proper winter tires to prepare your bike for the snowy months, and regular cleaning throughout to prevent ice buildup and breakage from frozen parts. 

Although self-preparation is needed, efficient snow plowing is also crucial to avoid wipeouts. Montreal’s winter bikers have formed a community that vocalizes and lobbies for these concerns. They call themselves the “hurlus,” French for “weirdos.” 

Bikers are not alone in having to change their travel routes to school. Ibrahim Naveed, U3 Science, has become cautious, albeit hesitant, when walking to campus now; the dilemma of missing classes due to harsh weather is not unknown to the student body. 

“The weather has made me reluctant to walk to class and I often think of taking the bus or, sometimes, not going to campus at all if it’s too cold out,” Naveed explained. “In the summer, I would normally just take my bag and run to campus, but now I have to make sure I am properly bundled up to prevent myself from freezing to death.”

With many layering up in their winter boots and parkas to walk to campus, car commuters who live farther from McGill or in areas with limited public transit face different challenges. For them, endless lines of traffic, inescapable construction reroutes, and icy roads increase the risk of danger and can lead to longer travel times. The Montreal Gazette offers a comprehensive guide for those who choose to travel by car in the winter. The SAAQ is another helpful resource. 

With all these complications, many students opt for public transport, including the bus, metro, or commuter train. This is when the OPUS discount for McGill students comes in handy, reducing the monthly fee from $90.50 to $54 per month.

“I would never buy the OPUS monthly pass at its normal rate,” Naveed said.“But with the discount and the changing weather, I think it’s worth it, at least for the winter months.”

And so, every year, cylists, pedestrians, and car commuters alike prepare for safety and convenience; amidst the fierce Montreal winters, this small travel routine becomes a big part of our lives. 

Know Your Athlete, Soccer, Sports

Know Your Athlete: Mara Bouchard

by Adam Menikefs on

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Starting university is a challenging time of transition for all first-year students, both academically and socially. For student athletes, this period is particularly difficult, as they are presented with the additional challenges of meeting teammates, coaches, and staff that will become critical figures in their daily lives.

Mara Bouchard, U1 Arts, is a first-year student on the McGill Martlets soccer team who previously played for Vanier College in Montreal. Despite the barriers that many first-year student athletes face, the midfielder from Granby, Quebec found the adjustment to university life to be smooth and straightforward. 

“As a rookie and first year on the team, I was very much included by the rest of the players and veterans,” Bouchard said in an interview with The McGill Tribune. “I think being from Quebec made it easier to bond with the team, as there are a lot of other members of the squad from this province.”

Bouchard performed well in her rookie season with the Martlets, helping McGill achieve the second best defensive record in the league. Bouchard cited her past experience at the National High Performance Center (CNHP) directed by Soccer Quebec in Montreal as a reason for her success. 

“Soccer-wise, I thought it was a great season for me,” Bouchard said. “I was expecting to do well coming from a strong soccer background and playing at CNHP. Especially for my first year, I ended up in a place that I was happy with.” 

The Martlets had an especially impressive showing this season given the larger share of newcomers to the team. The squad placed third in the RSEQ, finishing the year with a 7–4–3 record. Although the Martlets fell short in the playoff semi-final game against Université Laval, they ended the season on a hot streak, winning their final four of five regular season matches. In Bouchard’s eyes, this late-season push proved the team successfully achieved their goal for the season. 

“The result of the semi-final against Laval was obviously not the one we had hoped for,” Bouchard said. “Our goal [for] the year was to become the most improved team. I think we accomplished and proved our goal to everyone, including ourselves.”

Heading into the Fall 2022 season, Bouchard is optimistic about the team’s future and is looking forward to building on this past year’s momentum.

“This year, finishing third was certainly a success for the program, particularly given the shortcomings of the recent past,” Bouchard said. “Our objective for next year is to continue to improve and earn a playoff spot once again. Our coaches have done an excellent job so far in my time here, and I know they are going to push us further to properly develop our individual and team play while we all progress toward the ultimate goal of a championship.”

Off the pitch, Bouchard is halfway through her first year as a psychology major. However, Bouchard’s top priority after university is to continue pursuing her love of and passion for the beautiful game.

“After McGill, I definitely want to keep playing soccer,” Bouchard said. “I am hoping I can find a pro contract in Europe somewhere and hopefully play professionally for a few years after I graduate. If this plan does not work, I will use my degree to pursue my goal of becoming a psychologist. I would love to be employed in this field in the future, and am enjoying studying the subject so far here at university.” 

Next August, training camp will build upon the strong bonds forged between players and coaches throughout this season. Bouchard looks to lead the midfield next season amongst a dedicated squad that is poised to improve on this season’s success.  

McGill, Montreal, News

Montrealers, McGill students march in solidarity with Wet’suwet’en land defenders

by Anoushka Oke on

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The Montreal chapter of the activist group Convergence des luttes anticapitalistes (CLAC) hosted a protest in support of Indigenous sovereignty on Nov. 27, marching in front of and around the Montreal office of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP). McGill students and Divest McGill members participated in the demonstration alongside other environmental, Indigenous, and other activist groups.

The primary focus of the protest was a recent escalation of the construction of TransCanada Energy’s Coastal GasLink (CGL) pipeline’s through the unceded territory of the Wet’suwet’en First Nation in British Columbia, which has been ongoing since 2019. The project has garnered much criticism, as it began without the proper consent of Wet’suwet’en, and police have been quick to use force to suppress dissenters, using police dogs, destroying property, and threatening people with rifles. This November, the RCMP invaded resistance camps—like the Coyote Camp—violently arresting activists and journalists. 

Marlene Hale, a land defender from the Small Frog Clan of the Wet’suwet’en nation, spoke at the protest and expressed her frustration with the Canadian government’s seizure and occupation of their land. Hale described how government officials avoided going through the proper channels of Wet’suwet’en leadership for their consent, instead seeking approval from the twenty band councils, who all signed on to the project. Hale brought this up to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau at a town hall in Saint-Hyacinthe, Quebec back in 2019.

“[I asked him,] ‘how do you not know that [for] consent in our nation, you’re supposed to go to the hereditary chiefs?’” Hale said. “They know who’s going to sign, who is the weak link, and who they can get [consent from] to do the work they want for as little as they can [….] The consent was not given by the right land title holder, which is the hereditary chief, Woos. Right now, he is on his own territory fighting [the RCMP] to gain access to his own home.”

The RCMP has confronted Wet’suwet’en land defenders several times over the last couple of years in an attempt to quell resistance to the pipeline. From Nov. 19 to Nov. 20, they had arrested 29 people, including two journalists, in British Columbia; protestors were trying to interfere with the pipeline’s construction in order to protect the land. The latest wave of arrests spurred protests across the country, including the one in Montreal this past Saturday. Eve Saint, the daughter of Wet’suwet’en hereditary Chief Woos, described the RCMP’s treatment of the protesters and journalists who were arrested, including Wet’suwet’en land defender Sleydo’.

“I just gotta give a lot of love to Sleydo’ because she is a mother, she is an Indigenous Wet’suwet’en mother, [and] she is raising her babies on the Yintah, on the land,” Saint said. “And now, these courts have […] criminalized her and [are] trying to keep her from moving freely on her own land, on her own territory.”

Saint herself has been on the frontlines of the fight; she was arrested alongside three others at Gidimt’en Checkpoint on Feb. 7, 2020 while defending Wet’suwet’en land. Saint condemned the violence the RCMP has inflicted on her people over the past week.

“We have elders that are being dragged off the Yintah, that are being denied their medication, and that had to go to the hospital,” Saint said. “This is at the hands of the RCMP. This is how they look at Wet’suwet’en people, this is how they look at Wet’suwet’en women, mothers, matriarchs, hereditary chiefs. They point their guns at us when they want us off that land so they can steal it. It is stolen land. They want us dead.”

After Saint finished speaking, the group marched toward downtown Montreal, followed by police officers who maintained a heavy presence throughout the demonstration.

In a subsequent webinar on Nov. 28, Ellen Gabriel, who is part of the Turtle Clan within the Mohawk nation of Kanehsatà:ke, compared the situation to the Oka crisis that occurred in 1990. At the time, the Sûreté du Québec (SQ) provincial police force violently invaded Kanehsatà:ke land that developers wanted to turn into a golf course. Following SQ raids of Mohawk territory, there was a 78-day standoff as the police faced down Mohawk warriors defending their land. Then-Quebec Premier Robert Bourassa eventually brought in the Canadian military to replace the SQ, and the standoff ended whenMohawk warriors had to surrender.

“The fact that the RCMP are being the root squad for Coastal GasLink as the SQ were for the municipality of Oka and the rich developers means that we haven’t gotten very far in the reconciliation process that Trudeau and others keep talking about,” Gabriel said. “This is not reconciliation. [Indigenous peoples] were here long before Europeans arrived, and we are still being treated, 500-plus years later, as if we are disposable, as if our rights don’t matter.”

McGill, News, SSMU

SSMU Legislative Council approves motion calling for resignation of President Daryanani

by Juliet Morrison on

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The Students’ Society of McGill University (SSMU) Legislative Council convened on Nov. 25 for their last meeting of Fall 2021. During the meeting, councillors approved a motion to urge SSMU President Darshan Daryanani to submit a letter of resignation within 48 hours of the motion being ratified by the Board of Directors (BoD). 

The motion, brought forth by management representative Nathaniel Saad, pushed for Daryanani to be held accountable for failing to fulfill his presidential responsibilities as chief officer and spokesperson of the Society. While presenting the motion, Saad cited the president’s absence from Legislative Council sessions and Executive Committee meetings—which Daryanani is required to attend as president—since the start of the term. 

“I feel that the Legislative Council has been left in the dark,” Saad said. “The president needs to represent members of the student body which he is not doing, [and] we are currently unaware of whether he is being paid [….] This is an unsustainable situation and allows the situation to potentially replicate in the future. It is a dangerous precedent to set.”

Should the president fail to issue a letter of resignation, the motion dictates that the Legislative Council, pursuant to consultations from students and faculties, will call for a special SSMU General Assembly within the first week of the winter semester to vote on whether the president should be impeached. 

The session’s question period revolved around the president’s absence. SSMU executives reaffirmed that the matter is confidential. 

“When individuals go on leave it is an HR matter,” vice-president (VP) Finance Éric Sader said. “As such it is not relevant to the Legislative Council or the student body to know the precise details. All that is important is that the president is on leave and the Society is functioning quite well.”

When asked why the absence of the president and the general manager has not been communicated to the student body, specifically through SSMU’s most-used student communication channel—the SSMU listserv—vice-president (VP) Internal Sarah Paulin replied  “no comment.” 

The motion passed with 19 council representatives in favour and nine abstaining. During the roll-call vote, all five executive members present abstained.  

In other matters, arts representative Yara Coussa brought forth a motion, seconded by arts representative Ghania Javed, concerning amendments to the internal regulation of student groups. After a debate period, during which SSMU executives disclosed concern about a lack of consultation, the motion was postponed. 

Executives argued that approval of the motion contradicts the duties of the executives. For example, the motion proposes to limit the VP External’s discretionary ability to provide funding, which is granted by the Society’s constitution. 

Coussa apologized to the executives for the lack of consultation, and stated that the personal refutes were unnecessary.  

“I understand that we have not completed the necessary consultations for this motion and for that I apologize,” said Coussa. “However, there is no need to be rude and impolite to the mover and seconder who wanted to emphasize the voices of advocacy groups on campus [….] Being a councillor is a learning curve, and we are not perfect here.”

Moment of the Meeting: 

Councillor Saad called for the vote on the “motion regarding the absence of the SSMU president” to be conducted through a roll-call rather than through normal procedure. 

Soundbite: 

“You have all been councillors for a semester. You have all had a chance to speak to each other and debate on contentious topics. I ask that you have compassion for your fellow councillors and some amount of respect for the members of the gallery [….] I require that you please respect these people [….] It is not okay to use the type of personal and direct attacks that we have seen.”

—Speaker of Council Alexandre Ashkir responding to comments that were made concerning the motion on amending the internal regulations of student groups. 

A previous version of this article incorrectly stated the normal SSMU voting procedure keeps the voters anonymous. In fact, a voting record is posted on the SSMU website after every meeting. The Tribune regrets this error.

McGill, News

McGill changes masking policies amid rise in COVID-19 cases on campus

by Diksha Srishyla on

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McGill announced a new masking guideline on Nov. 19 in a university-wide email from the co-chairs of the new Recovery and Operations Resumption Committee (ROR), associate provost (Teaching and Academic Programs) Chris Buddle and deputy provost (Student Life and Learning) Fabrice Labeau. The update stipulates that community members should replace their procedural masks after every four hours of use. The email also included other updates on McGill’s COVID-19 management, such as details on its rapid testing pilot project. 

The masking directive comes in the wake of rising cases on campus—there were 28 confirmed cases between Nov. 7 and Nov. 20—and is in line with the Quebec government’s contact tracing protocols. These protocols dictate that those wearing a fresh mask—i.e., one that has been worn for less than four hours—are considered “low-risk” if exposed to COVID-19 in a classroom. Those wearing a mask for more than four hours when they are exposed in a classroom will be deemed “medium or high risk” and will be required to get a COVID-19 test. 

In an email to The McGill Tribune, Frédérique Mazerolle, a McGill media relations officer, stated that the university is aiming to make this mandate as easy as possible to adhere to.

“Masks are available at the entrance to most buildings on our three campuses,” Mazerolle wrote. “It is important to stress that a number of preventive measures will continue to be in effect for the [Winter 2022] semester. The health and safety of our students and staff is the guiding principle of all of our planning. Our mission is to provide students the safest and best experience possible despite the current global pandemic.”

Despite Mazerolle’s insistence that masks are readily available to all, some, like Nagashree Thovinakere, a graduate student in the Integrated Program in Neuroscience, feel they have to stockpile masks to comply with the new directive. 

“I have access to masks in the lab where I work, but that is not the case elsewhere on campus,” Thovinakere said in an interview with the Tribune. “So what I have been doing is carrying extra masks with me.”

Bridget Griffith, a post-doctoral researcher in the Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, stated that the expense of buying masks—when not readily available on campus—adds to the challenge of compliance. Griffith also thought that the policy might be more effective if it drew attention to better mask hygiene and more consistency in wearing masks correctly. 

“Often, I see people not wearing the mask properly, wearing the masks multiple days in a row or storing the mask in their pocket,” Griffith said. “This puts people in situations more risky than they think they are.”

Ashika Jain, a pharmacology graduate student, on the other hand, feels that McGill has done an adequate job in making masks available to the student body. However, Jain mentioned the new requirement is still somewhat challenging to comply with because of the nature of lab work.

“It can be difficult for me [to change my mask every four hours] when I am doing an experiment in particular,” Jain said. “But, since the accessibility for masks has increased, it is feasible.”

Mazerolle explained that McGill’s new masking guideline is just one of many initiatives currently in place at the university—McGill has also begun a rapid COVID-19 testing project in the Trottier Engineering Building Cafeteria.

“The voluntary rapid COVID-19 testing pilot project for asymptomatic people has been used by more than 500 students, faculty, and staff since its launch on November 8th,” Mazerolle wrote. “The initiative is open to any student, faculty or staff member who wishes to be tested. Individuals that have tested positive are directed to get a confirmatory (PCR) test from an authorized testing site and to self-isolate.”

The results of the rapid test arrive within 15-20 minutes. The testing project is set to continue for the rest of the Fall 2021 term.

McGill, News

McGill holds first in-person convocation since onset of COVID-19 pandemic

by Lily Cason on

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McGill held its Fall 2021 Convocation ceremonies at Place des Arts on Nov. 25 and Nov. 26, marking the first time that convocation has taken place in-person since Fall 2019. There were four separate ceremonies, two on each day, to honour the approximately 700 students who completed undergraduate, graduate, or certificate programs at McGill as of August 2021.

The university announced that the Fall 2021 convocation would be in-person in an Oct. 22 university-wide email sent on behalf of principal and vice-chancellor Suzanne Fortier. In an interview with The McGill Tribune, Sireena Divecha, a member of the Fall 2021 graduating class who earned a degree in materials engineering, recalled waiting anxiously for the news.

“I’m so happy. It’s the first convocation since COVID that’s going to be in-person,” Divecha said. “I’m so glad I made it. All through summer I was hoping, waiting for the email where they said it is going to be in person.”

The university implemented a number of COVID-19 safety measures, such as checking vaccination status and enforcing mask mandates, to protect graduates and guests. Sina Hashemi, a member of the Fall 2021 graduating class who received a certificate in oral and maxillofacial surgery, spoke to the Tribune after the first convocation service. Hashemi expressed gratitude that the university, in his experience, closely adhered to COVID-19 measures. 

“[The ceremony] was very nice,” Hashemi said. “I noticed they took all the precautions, like cleaning the microphone after every speaker. It was really nice to be back and see everybody, all the graduates sitting together with their families and having live music and whatnot.”

Aliia Shakirova, a member of the Fall 2021 graduating class who obtained a master’s degree in atmospheric and oceanic sciences, felt for her friends who only had online ceremonies.

“I had a few friends who graduated last year, and they feel very sad that they don’t have any convocation in person,” Shakirova said. “I am from Russia, and I was doing a Bachelor’s in Moscow and we didn’t have any sort of convocation at all, so that’s like the first experience for me, so I’m very glad.”

Frédérique Mazerolle, a McGill media relations officer, explained in an email to the Tribune that in-person ceremonies are being planned for those who had virtual convocations—the Spring 2020, Fall 2020, and Spring 2021 classes.

“This Fall’s ceremonies only included the Fall 2021 Convocation cohort,” Mazerolle wrote. “However, the University is actively planning the in-person ceremonies our past cohorts so richly deserve, the first of which will take place in Spring 2022. Invitations […] will be sent in the coming months. McGill will continue to take a prudent planning approach that allows us to adapt as the health and well-being of our community remains a top priority.”

In addition to its convocation ceremonies, the university held an online Indigenous Scarf Ceremony on Nov. 22—a tradition it introduced in 2011— to recognize the 91 First Nations, Métis, and Inuit students in the Fall 2021 graduating class. This year’s ceremony involved speeches, live music from Mi’kmaq performer Don Barnaby, and the presentation of specially-designed scarves. In his speech, provost and vice-principal (Academic) Christopher Manfredi commended the graduates for their hard work and reaffirmed the university’s dedication to reconciliation.
“You have many reasons to be proud of yourselves and to feel confident in your abilities,” Manfredi said. “As you embark on your next chapter, know that McGill will continue the important work outlined in our 52 calls to action with the aim of truth and reconciliation with Indigenous communities.”

Science & Technology

CHIME telescope maps the expanding universe

by Adam Matthews-Kott on

More in Science & Technology:

On Apr. 28, 2020, an unusually intense fast radio burst (FRB) was detected by the Canadian Hydrogen Intensity Mapping Experiment (CHIME) telescope located near Penticton, British Columbia. Although it was only partially captured by the telescope, the radio burst was intense enough in magnitude that, according to scientists working on the project, it outpowered the average detected FRB by a factor of 15. Upon detecting the fast radio burst, CHIME observers manually sent out an astronomer’s telegram to other astronomers observing that region of the sky.

“[An astronomer’s telegram] is a one-paragraph blurb sent out to the community to basically say ‘hey, I detected something, you guys should point your telescopes at it,’” Paul Scholz, a fellow at the University of Toronto’s Dunlap Institute for Astronomy and Astrophysics, explained to The McGill Tribune. “[Observers using x-ray telescopes] looked back at their data and found that there was also an x-ray event at the time of the fast radio burst.”

In conjunction with data other telescopes provided, astronomers discovered that a magnetar located in the Milky Way galaxy was the cause of the fast radio burst. Functionally a neutron star with an immense magnetic field, a magnetar would be capable of producing the type of fast radio burst that CHIME detected.

The CHIME telescope itself has a relatively unusual look for a telescope. Resembling four conjoined halfpipes, CHIME is able to survey a much larger swath of the sky than most other radio telescopes. In addition, the telescope has a broad frequency coverage of 400 to 800 MHz, making CHIME ideal for mapping the presence of hydrogen gas. Since hydrogen gas is the most abundant element in the universe, measuring its expansion rate allows cosmologists to find the expansion rate of the universe itself.

“Five to seven billion years ago, [the universe] started accelerating outward. The slowing down diminished and now it’s expanding more rapidly every day,” Mark Halpern, a professor in the physics department at the University of British Columbia, said in an interview with The McGill Tribune. “We’re trying to explore this shape change in the expansion history. The way we would like to do that is to measure how fast things are moving and how far away they are, looking back in time.”

A side proposal for CHIME was to monitor the radio burst emitted by pulsars visible from the northern hemisphere. Pulsars are neutron stars capable of producing FRBs much like magnetars, but with steady recurring pulses that magnetars lack. However, the project increased in scope, aiming to monitor signals from a wide range of FRBs; the difference was that their origin was completely unknown.

“Near the beginning of CHIME, we realized that it would be extremely useful for detecting fast radio bursts,” Scholz explained. “In the decade before CHIME started up, there had been around 50 FRBs detected. We went from 50 FRBs […] to 500 FRBs in a year.”

So far, CHIME has been able to map over 1000 FRBs, including the magnetar detected in April 2020. This has allowed scientists to conclude that magnetars are at least one possible cause for some of the FRBs detected by CHIME. 

To speed up the identification process, a new system was set up to make the data much more accessible to the wider scientific community. The system, called CHIME VOEvent Service, releases curated samples of the detected FRBs with their original frequency and size. This automation increases the speed at which the detection of fast radio bursts can be communicated to other telescopes, allowing them to work more efficiently with each other.

“We can expect many new observations of FRBs to be taken by a variety of telescopes around the world, as they respond to the VOEvent trigger just moments after an FRB occurs,” wrote Andrew Zwaniga, the lead developer of the CHIME/FRB VOEvent Service and a research assistant in the physics department at McGill, in an email to the Tribune. “This will give a new window into the kinds of signals that may accompany FRBs, such as optical light, X-rays, and gamma-rays. This could be crucial to understanding the engine that produces an FRB.” 

As it enters its fourth year, the project continues to accumulate data. With every passing year, astronomers get closer and closer to uncovering further glimmers of the mysterious workings of the universe.

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