Content warning: Human trafficking Nearly 350 students across Canada and the United States attended a virtual student-led rally on March 5 to call for the defunding of Line 3, a tar sands pipeline project set to run from Alberta to Minnesota. The featured keynote speaker Tara Houska, a tribal attorney,[Read More…]
Tag: Indigenous
Panel highlights Canada’s failure to meet Indigenous communities’ needs
Kicking off McGill Sustainability Systems Initiative’s (MSSI) first annual Sustainable Development Goals Week, McGill’s International Development Studies Student Association (IDSSA), McGill Sustainable Development Goals Student Hub (SDG), and McGill Students for Amnesty International hosted a panel titled “Basic Needs of Indigenous Communities on Turtle Island” on Feb. 13. Panelists Jessica[Read More…]
McGill student urges School of Social Work to support Sipekne’katik Nation
On Sept. 18 Canadian news outlets began to report on a dispute between settler fishermen and members of the Sipekne’katik First Nation in southwest Nova Scotia. Settlers have destroyed property and physically intimidated members of the Sipekne’katik First Nation over their right to fish lobster. The settlers’ disregard of Indigenous[Read More…]
The City of Montreal is letting down its most vulnerable
Ask the average McGill student to point you in the direction of Cabot Square, and not many can. You may have better luck with a Concordia student considering the square’s proximity to their campus. To many Indigenous people in Montreal, however, the urban square holds a special significance. As a[Read More…]
Quebec’s racist health care system needs reform
On Sept. 28, Joyce Echaquan, an Atikamekw woman and mother of seven, livestreamed the moments before her death at Joliette Hospital. The widely-shared video shows hospital staff making racist comments towards Echaquan, and sparked outrage across the country. The horrific situation highlights the deep flaws inherent in the Canadian health[Read More…]
Thousands march demanding ‘Justice for Joyce’
Thousands gathered at Place Émilie-Gamelin on Oct. 3 to participate in a peaceful demonstration, organized by the Native Women’s Shelter of Montreal and its Executive Director Nakuset, Iskweu, and Janis Qavavauq-Bibeau, to demand justice for Joyce Echaquan. Joyce was a 37-year-old Atikamekw woman and mother of seven who faced racist[Read More…]
The Royal Victoria Hospital must remain in public hands
On Sept. 4, students joined forces with Milton-Parc residents to protest the privatization of the old Royal Victoria Hospital. The building’s fate has remained unclear since it was decommissioned in 2015. In July, it was converted into a shelter for the unhoused during the COVID-19 pandemic. Although the City of[Read More…]
The Indigenous Equity Fee must be increased
Increasing the Indigenous Equity Fee should be a popular suggestion. The intergenerational strength and resiliency of Indigenous students attending McGill is remarkable. Indigenous students face a number of hurdles which make it less likely for them to end up pursuing post-secondary education—among these are systemic disadvantages that play into almost[Read More…]
In solidarity with Wet’suwet’en
As of press time, members of the Wet’suwet’en First Nation are struggling to defend their land: For over a decade, Coastal GasLink has been attempting to construct a natural gas pipeline through Wet’suwet’en territory, without the true consent of the Wet’suwet’en peoples. On Jan. 9, students at McGill hosted a[Read More…]
Tribune Explains: The Indigenous Student Equity Fund and Fee
The Fall 2019 Students’ Society of McGill University (SSMU) Referendum included a proposal written by the Indigenous Affairs Commissioner Tomas Jirousek to create a new Indigenous Equity Fund and Fee (IEFF). With a voter turnout of 17.3 per cent, the motion passed with 72 percent of students voting in favour.[Read More…]
