Reports of these cuts first circulated in November 2024 when McGill announced that the teaching support budget in the Arts faculty was to be cut by 15-20 per cent, Morard stated. Each department and unit were given their own proposed cut number within that 15-20 per cent range: for example, the History department was directed to cut 17 per cent of its teaching support budget.

The cuts introduced last semester are linked to the larger cuts that the Faculty of Arts has to make in the upcoming fiscal year, as detailed in the Town Hall. When the monthly Faculty of Arts council convened on February 18, Morard described that the Faculty of Arts would face a $3.6 million cut target overall, including funds directed to teaching support.

“The way this will impact TA positions, and graduate students more broadly, will ultimately result in less hours and/or less positions,” Morard said.

Currently, TAs take a 180-hour position during a semester. While each department’s approach to these cuts will vary, the most common moves will be either cutting TA hours — for example, by creating 150-hour shifts — or by moving TAs into different positions, such as graders. Morard underlined how these cuts will not be uniform across the Faculty of Arts, and that individual departments are still in the process of deciding which route to take.

Potential cuts to the number of TA positions will have drastic impacts on the academic experiences of both graduate and undergraduate students, according to Morard. By reducing reaching support and lowering the budget for the Arts in general, course offerings are expected to decrease. Without TAs, the quality of these course offerings will also be affected, leading to lower educational experiences for both undergraduates and graduates at McGill.

Having been a TA himself, Morard described that being a TA is a valuable experience for many graduate students. This opportunity opens doors to teaching and is beneficial for those who are looking to go into an educational career. On the flip side, TAs help and support undergraduates in a variety of ways. They are a second source of expert knowledge on the course material, and can give students a new perspective on how to approach the concepts taught in their classes.

“An important part of McGill class offerings is having tutorials and conferences, not just lectures,” Morard further explained. “Having a TA allows for conferences, allows for tutorials, and that allows many students who, say, may not thrive in a lecture setting, thrive in small groups or smaller classrooms.” By eliminating TAs, and effectively cutting the number of tutorials or conferences offered to undergraduate students, they are removed from an opportunity to succeed academically.

Additionally, undergraduate students may feel more inclined to reach out to TAs instead of their professors, as TAs are younger and can appear more approachable. Morard noted that many undergraduates appreciate their TAs for having a closer interaction, which is not feasible in larger courses. Lastly, without TAs, professors are expected to take on the responsibilities of grading and will be inclined to offer more robust office hours, which takes away from professors’ ability to engage in their own academic research.

Morard described a few ways in which AGSEM has currently been trying to mitigate the effects of these cuts, primarily in trying to get the university to understand the value of TA labour. Last semester, the union launched their “No More Free Hours” campaign that has encouraged TAs to stick to their hours and prevent doing unpaid work. TAs often work beyond the hours they are paid for due to unpredictable workloads, such as responding to student emails, additional office hours, and extra-long grading. This campaign has been one of their main efforts to emphasize how important TA labor is. In addition, Unit 3 of AGSEM — which encompasses graders, course tutors, undergraduate course assistants, graduate student assistants, graduate teaching fellows, and other academic casuals — began bargaining for better work conditions last semester. These negotiations also seek to make it harder for departments to move Unit 1 employees to Unit 3 in what Morard described earlier as the effort to transition current TAs to graders. Unit 3 workers, while unionized, currently do not have a contract and are waiting on McGill to respond with an intent to bargain.

Overall, these imminent changes in the academic climate at McGill have left Arts TAs with a general sense of anxiety. Morard explained how younger TAs, such as first-year PhD students or Masters students, are increasingly worried about losing these opportunities. For many, these positions are an important source of income amidst rising costs of living in Montreal. The possibility of losing out on hours, or on even obtaining a TA position, has created much uncertainty and anxiety within AGSEM.

“Many TAs feel that they have to work over their hours, and will work over their contract hours […] knowing that they will lose experience or be forced to feel the pressure of possibly having to overwork for less pay,” Morard explained, rooting the overall sense of anxiety for current TAs to these reasons.

These attacks are a continuation of the general trend of disregard for the Arts at McGill. Recent years have seen consistent cuts in funding for the Faculty of Arts that extend beyond TA hours into course offerings. In 2013, McGill removed 100 Arts classes, which led to a reduction in “lower enrollment courses” as Provost Christopher Manfredi (then Dean of Arts) stated, replacing them with larger, broader classes. These larger courses were implemented at the expense of a more intimate class environment, which is what Morard warns will happen with these new rounds of cuts.

“A lot of people like to harp on the Arts and usually they are one of the first faculties — not only at McGill but across Canada and North America more broadly — that gets targeted,” Morard concluded.

The post No More Free Hours appeared first on The McGill Daily.

Moreover, this shock layoff will inevitably discourage other unionization efforts across the rest of North America. The Quebec labour group Confederation des syndicats nationaux (CSN) is incentivized to take legal action against Amazon in the coming weeks.

This is not the first time that Amazon has engaged in union-busting. Another example is the company’s actions leading up to the International Brotherhood of Teamsters union’s strike, organized by delivery workers in New York City, Atlanta, Illinois, and California in demand of better pay, benefits, and working conditions. (Amazon’s poor working conditions, causing injuries exacerbated by inadequate medical care, have been well documented including in a US Senate report). After Amazon failed to acknowledge the Teamsters’ response deadline of December 15, the union launched a strike later that December to affect Christmas delivery services. By refusing to negotiate a contract, Amazon was violating labour law. It is common for employers to refuse to bargain and it is widely established that striking is the best way to get them to the table, but in this case Amazon insisted that the strike did not hurt its operations. They also maintained that the drivers involved were not Amazon workers but “Delivery Service Partners,” recruited through third-party companies, even though they wore Amazon uniforms, drove Amazon trucks and delivered only products bought on Amazon.com.

Companies like Amazon rely on low-cost and easily replaceable labour, meaning they can deal with high turnover. Signing contracts with workers guaranteeing them a fixed salary, certain benefits, and an established level of workplace safety contradicts their fundamental business model. These interests have led Amazon to engage in illegal union-busting activities such as threatening workers’ pay and already-meagre benefits for joining unions, firing some workers for unionizing, intimidating immigrant workers with Trump’s deportation policy, organizing anti-union sessions with managers and company lawyers, and spreading anti-union rhetoric while taking down pro-union messages. Although federal laws in the US govern how companies can and cannot deal with unions and collective action efforts, according to Arthur Wheaton, Director of Labour Studies at Cornell University’s School of Industrial and Labor Relations, they face no significant penalty.

Amazon is not only violating labour laws in North America. During the summer of 2024, the heat in Northern India was so intense that birds were falling from the sky. Still, managers in Manesar made workers swear oaths that they would not drink water or take toilet breaks while working in order to meet productivity targets. Everybody complied, fearing they would lose their jobs. Workers in the plant-loading section resorted to covering exposed skin with clothing to avoid burning in the sun, but this made them sweat, instead losing body moisture to the point of dehydration. Some workers who collapsed from the heat were deducted wages for the time they spent in the hospital. Dharmendra Kumar, the president of the Amazon Workers Association of India, which is part of UNI Global Union, says Amazon workers in India are commonly employed on short-term contracts lasting between one and eleven months. Only contracts lasting over a year qualify for statutory benefits; at the end of 11-month contracts, workers are customarily fired and then hired again.

The exploitation of these workers has helped Jeff Bezos, Amazon’s CEO, amass an estimated fortune of more than US$200 billion and qualify as the third richest man in the world. Now more financially potent than many governments, big multinational companies like Amazon are capable of influencing legislation in their favour. Not only do they spend tremendous amounts of money (sometimes through backchannel contracts) on lobbying and pressuring governments into enacting policies that may be unpopular with their electorates, but also directly fund many far-right political parties and idealist groups. Bezos, among other tech billionaires such as Elon Musk and Mark Zuckerberg, were front and centre at Donald Trump’s second inauguration. On top of that, Amazon has started selling merchandise featuring Trump’s expansionary comments, such as “Canada, 51st State” and “Make Canada Great Again,” seemingly following after Google, whose map services recently renamed the Gulf of Mexico to Gulf of America, and Facebook, who have removed fact-checking on posts.

Amazon’s continued violations of human, labour, and democratic rights violations are why workers are calling for an Amazon boycott. While a few million sales may not make that big of a difference for the company, it can make a big difference in the development of small businesses in Quebec and Canada that respect labour laws.

The post Boycotting Amazon appeared first on The McGill Daily.

As of late December, family physician Dr. Hashana Perera, the Wellness Hub’s primary GAC doctor, has gone on maternity leave and will not be back until January 2026. Dr. Perera was responsible for providing Hormone Replacement Therapy (HRT), surgery readiness assessments, and other trans healthcare services alongside local wellness advisor Margot Nossal. During her absence, Dr. Perera’s patients have been redirected to the Hygea endocrinology clinic. 

The Wellness Hub told the Daily that they have a “multifaceted plan to provide care during Dr. Perera’s leave” and have been “building capacity through training and increasing options for care.” Nonetheless, the TPU has expressed that this redirection of services is an additional obstacle for trans patients seeking GAC and HRT services.

The TPU claims that since any general practitioner can supervise and administer HRT in Quebec, “it is an unnecessary burden on endocrinology clinics to exclusively shoulder this responsibility.” They added that “as specialized medicine, endocrinology is harder and slower for patients to access than general practice.” Multiple healthcare providers at Hygea have also recently gone on parental leave, adding an additional strain on their staff amidst an influx of new patients.

As of mid-January, the waitlist for HRT at Hygea was over a year long, a considerably longer wait than for any other endocrinology services at the clinic. According to the TPU, this means that patients referred to Hygea at this time will likely not be able to receive service at the clinic until after Dr. Perera returns from her leave.

According to a statement given by the TPU to the Daily, Wellness Hub employees told the organization in January that no plans had been made for other staff at the Hub to take over Dr. Perera’s role in administering HRT. However, in a more recent statement to the Daily on February 21, the Hub said that other medical staff are currently being trained in facilitating HRT and administrating other trans care services. The reason for this change is unclear. In January, the TPU claimed on Instagram that, to their understanding, Hub doctors have had access to and, in some cases, not taken various opportunities to learn how to provide HRT. Rather, the TPU states, “it simply seems that many doctors at the Hub, and in Quebec, do not believe that providing care to trans people is their job.”

The Wellness Hub also told the Daily that they have recruited a new family physician with seven years of experience in GAC services, who they hope will begin work at the Hub by mid-March. The TPU claims that the head of the Hub told them via email in January that they intend to find new providers, but the TPU has doubts after the same promise was left unfulfilled last year.

The TPU continues to meet with members of the Wellness Hub at least once a semester to discuss issues raised by patients on access and medical practices. In an official statement given to the McGill Reporter and shared with the Daily, the organization said that the dialogue with Hub employees over the years has been encouraging, and that they have been happy to see specific providers demonstrate a willingness to improve and develop trans patient care.

In 2022, the TPU interviewed over 25 trans patients to produce a comprehensive list of proposed changes to improve the GAC services at the Wellness Hub. They worked alongside SSMU, HealthQueer Professionals, and Community Educators for Healthcare Improvement to ensure the representation of trans voices in wellness spaces at McGill. Despite important victories over the past three years, the TPU claims that there is still much progress to be made in adequately addressing issues raised by patients.

The TPU has already raised various questions about the efficiency of HRT services at the Wellness Hub, and, as stated to the Daily, has made Hub employees aware of the precarity of having only one doctor providing HRT. Simultaneously, the TPU continues to have grievances and concerns about GAC at the Wellness Hub. In a statement posted on Instagram, the TPU discussed the limitations of trans health services available to McGill students, including: that the HRT process is unnecessarily long, that there is only a narrow range of HRT medications available to transfeminine patients, and that 17-year-old patients cannot access their right to consent to HRT until their 18th birthday — despite the medical age of consent being 14 in Quebec.

These grievances come directly from the patients the TPU represents. A series of anonymous interviews conducted by the TPU for the McGill Reporter raise various issues with GAC practices at the Wellness Hub, including practices that do not align with international recommendations set by the World Professional Association for Transgender Health. The six-month wait period to begin HRT (beginning from when the patient had come out or begun socially transitioning), and a visual inspection of the chest wall and physical examination of the genitals for patients seeking feminizing hormone therapy, are two Hub policies which have been dropped after meetings with TPU representatives. That being said, as of December, the Hub still required a minimum of three appointments to receive a prescription, even when patients presented a consent form at their first appointment.

“I think in general there needs to be greater understanding and recognition of trans patients’ perspectives on their own medical care,” shared a former undergraduate student who received HRT, referrals for surgery, and mental health services at the Wellness Hub from 2022-2024.
“I think it would be beneficial to see more doctors able to provide gender-affirming care at the Wellness Hub, though I know this is easier said than done,” a current student added.

The TPU continues to remain in contact with the Hub, which has been made aware of their concerns. The Union has also been in communications with Student Services and Provost Angela Campbell, and hope to meet soon with Dr. Vera Romano, Director of the Wellness Hub. In this time of change among GAC practices, The Wellness Hub has stated that they will continue to correspond with the TPU, keeping them informed of recruitment efforts and developments during Dr. Perera’s leave.

Gender-affirming care goes beyond HRT services. In Dr. Perera’s absence, the Wellness Hub continues to offer support services to LGBTQ+ students: students can meet with Local Wellness Advisors who provide psychosocial support, book appointments with counsellors and sexologists, and refer to Access Advisors in navigating care and support. For trans students struggling in the wake of recent changes made by the Wellness Hub, the TPU offers a plethora of resources for support, healthcare, and gender advocacy.

The post TPU Raises Concerns About Changes to Trans Care at Wellness Hub appeared first on The McGill Daily.

This is how Erica Mandato, one of the speakers for this year’s TEDxMcGill event, started off her speech, perfectly encapsulating the essence of the theme ‘Ripples.’

On Sunday, February 9, TEDxMcGill’s yearly speaker-series event took place in the historic space of Le National. Amidst the rustic ambiance, creaking floorboards, and centenarial architecture, bright and innovative ideas were shared with a captivated audience. TEDxMcGill is an independently operated event organized under the umbrella of TED, with the goal of highlighting ‘ideas worth spreading’ by inviting innovative speakers to share their insights with the world in 18 minutes or less.

Selected from a pool of 125 applicants, the most competitive year yet, this year’s event featured the talks of seven individuals: Charlotte Spruzen, Michael Zegarelli, Yasmine Elmi, Charlie Scholey, Asmaa Housni, Erica Mandato, and Iyngaran Panchacharam. The speakers were diverse in experience and perspectives, ranging from undergraduate, masters and PhD students at McGill, to career professionals.

When asked about the choice of the theme ‘Ripples,’ TEDxMcGill’s Chair Katherine Squitieri said they wanted “to express the diversity and variety of information that you can find in a TED talk and make sure that speakers had the freedom to express their ideas without feeling constricted to one theme or narrative.” And so just as ripples spread when a drop hits the surface of the water, each speaker had the opportunity to illustrate how their ideas and experiences can create ripples throughout our collective lives. These ripples took many different forms, and just as the executive team had intended, each speaker molded the theme to fit their experiences.

Charlotte Spruzen kicked off the event by introducing the notion of uniformitarianism, discussing how geological principles affect the past in the same way they do the present. She illustrated this with a picture of sand waves shaped by the wind next to a fossil of similar sand waves from millions of years ago, frozen in time. In a geological era so influenced by human activities that we’ve named it the Anthropocene, after ourselves, it is critical to understand how these ripple effects can permeate through time at a much larger scale. Spruzen highlighted that the negative effects of climate change can and will affect our planet for thousands of years to come, and we must come together to fight it.

Michael Zegarelli, VP of project management at Colliers Project Leaders, continued the discussion by focusing on adaptive design. He emphasized that the time for turnkey, traditionally master-planned cities is over: we must incorporate human creativity and freedom into city planning. He showed participants that our cities must be flexible systems that can adapt and change in needs over time, empowering individuals to shape the space that they call home. He concluded by saying that we must “stop building cities that answer a question and start building cities that spark a thousand new ones.”

Audience members were then immersed in Yasmine Elmi’s story of refusing an acceptance into medical school, in protest of the ripples of structural racism permeating the systems of the healthcare industry. Yasmine shared that the echoes of laws banning people of colour from attending medical school, as well as victims of discrimination by the healthcare industry have inspired her to refuse to participate in this broken system. Instead, she chose to follow her ripple, and now advocates for diversity and inclusion within the healthcare system.

The conference then changed beats when speaker Charlie Scholey came onstage to share the benefits of comedy – while stepping on a fart cushion and throwing it off stage. Next up was a serendipitous performance by the Soulstice A Cappella group, sending melodic ripples through the crowd as their voices filled the walls of Le National. And if that wasn’t enough of an energy boost, the United Groove group showcased their dance skills with an upbeat performance to today’s most trending songs.

The following talks were then very diverse in nature, representative of the diverse experiences of the speakers. Asmaa Housni talked about the paradox of knowledge, concluding that power isn’t inherent to knowledge but rather stems from how we engage with it. Erica Mandato followed up with how her experiences with death have shaped her understanding of life and the social connections we create through it. Mandato expressed to the crowd that loneliness is the new silent killer, as more of us feel isolated in modern life. She stressed that social connection is more important now than ever. “We must reconnect as a community. Every meeting with a stranger is an opportunity to open our minds and hearts,” she shared during her speech. Finally, Iyngaran Panchacharam concluded with a talk about AI, stating that through self awareness and literacy, advocacy, and resilience, “we all have a vital role in producing and controlling the ripples of AI.”

One of the many goals of TEDxMcGill is for “people to be inspired throughout the year and continuously engage with these ideas beyond the event itself,” said Squitieri. It is the executives’ hope that the talks held during this year’s speaker series go beyond the event and have thought-provoking effects on the broader TEDx ecosystem. This is the fundamental idea behind the ripples theme: for ideas to spread and ripple across our community.

“TEDx is the network of people, the dedication that everyone has; all collected under this essential idea of sharing things we’re passionate about and connecting with others through words and speeches,” said Squitieri. She adds that “It’s inspiring to see speeches take on a life of their own outside of the event. We’ve had quite a few talks take off and TED’s platform and reach people far beyond Montreal outside of Canada. And something stemming from something so small as what we’re doing and hearing feedback from people on a different continent is really interesting.”

After the conference ended, TEDxMcGill staffer Le Thuy Dong Nguyen told the Daily that “what’s really important is to pass on knowledge to drive action in the world […] I hope the audience can take away important lessons from the insights shared and bring it to their communities.” And they really did. Audience members described the event as “inspiring and emotional.” One member even told the Daily that these talks sparked an inspiration to incorporate some of the discussed subjects into his artwork.

This conference showcased how no ripple is too small. In this time of uncertainty, social disconnect, and adversity, we all have a role to play in bettering our society. In the words of an African proverb, ‘if you think you’re too small to have a big impact, you’ve never spent the night with a mosquito.’ And as Yasmine Elmi shared in her speech: we should all strive to “be the mosquito.”

The post “RIPPLES” appeared first on The McGill Daily.

The following interview has been shortened and edited for clarity.

Aurelien Lechantre for the McGill Daily (MD): As a national investigative journalist, how do you work? What is it like to investigate a right-wing activist movement for example?

Jonathan Montpetit (JM): Most of my research starts online, not surprisingly: I monitor a lot of different Facebook pages, Twitter feeds, Telegram chats, that kind of thing, and I try to get a sense of how certain themes, policy issues are being talked about, and then as much as possible, I try to, from that research phase, go and talk to people.

MD: Do you go to movements presenting yourself as a CBC investigative journalist to interview them?

JM: One of the things that journalists avoid, whenever possible, is hiding our identities. I’m accountable for my behaviour as a journalist: I don’t want to trick you, I want to hear what you have to say. That’s kind of like our main approach. What happens sometimes though, and I think particularly in investigative journalism, is that you’re trying to get information that would not otherwise be public, and there are people, institutions, or organizations, who are actively preventing you from trying to make that information public.

If you believe that information is of public interest, that it’s essential that it be made public, then you can use different methods to gather that information. For instance, I did a story about a political movement of Christian fundamentalists in Canada. They were holding conferences, discussing their policies and strategies. They would not let me attend as a journalist, and so the next time, I simply bought a ticket, still in my name, and went unofficially. I had my recorder on me, paid attention to being discreet, and observed. However, there has to be a very, very high threshold for an investigative journalist to disguise their identity, because it should be our last resort. There have been some excellent examples of journalists disguising their identities and infiltrating right-wing extremist movements. On my part, the reporting I have done on right-wing groups has always been, “I’m John, I work for the CBC, can I talk to you?” and sometimes people accept. However, there’s an increasing suspicion of the media, and gaining that level of access has been increasingly difficult.

MD: Do you think this poses a threat to investigative journalism? Would you, as a journalist, have to take more and more risks for inquiries and hide your identity more frequently?

JM: I think there are general risks to being a journalist. You know, press freedom is not a straight line moving forward, and I think we’re at a moment where press freedom is certainly on its heels in a lot of different ways.

I think one of the threats to reporting on the far right that’s emerged over the last, four or five years is that there’s a very gendered and racialized way that a lot of these groups deal with media coverage of their activities. Many of my colleagues who, whether they are journalists of color or women or a sexual gender minority, face tremendous backlash online anytime they report on the far right, sometimes going as far as death threats and stalking.

I can deal with it because I work for a large news organization that has resources to protect its journalists. A lot of journalists work independently, and freelancers are a lot more vulnerable to that backlash. Pursuing journalism as a freelancer takes a tremendous amount of courage, but our information environment is richer because of the risks they take on a daily basis.

MD: You mentioned how you thought freedom of the press and journalism were on their heels today: do you think this applies to Canada? Do you think this backlash many journalists suffer from is increasing and poses a risk to journalists today?

JM: I’m a hopeless optimist when it comes to the future of journalism. However, I think there’s no question that journalism in Canada is at a moment of tremendous uncertainty: every journalist, every news organization in Canada has uncertain sources of revenue and is re-evaluating their relationship with audiences. In those uncertain moments, it is easier for some political actors to try to avoid the accountability mechanism that is the press. Because journalism as an institution is going through this period of change, our mechanisms of accountability are weakened and it’s easier for the powerful to do things with less of the pressures of transparency that the press imposes. For example, Meta has barred news links in Canada on all their platforms. Instagram, Whatsapp and Facebook’s millions of users in Canada are deprived of reliable information while misinformation spreads like wildfire.

MD: So would you say social media and the tech giants that handle them are a big threat to press freedom and investigative journalism?

JM: I would say that, if you look at how many news organizations are deciding to no longer post on X because they view it as hostile to their “raison d’être.” The recent decision by Meta to end fact-checking on posts, and explicit animosity towards fact-checkers, shows the fraught relationship between big tech and journalism. I think big tech companies see mainstream journalism as a competitor or a threat, and I think certainly in the comments made by Elon Musk and Mark Zuckerberg, there are attempts to delegitimize mainstream journalism.

MD: And do you think the fact that the media relies partly on social media is a risk? Do you think there’s a need to change, to evolve from the revenue system that relies on ads for journalism to be preserved?

JM: While mainstream media had long relied on advertising as its prime source of revenue, social media has revolutionized the ad market. With the advertising revenue becoming less reliable, a growing number of media outlets are experimenting with a subscription-based model.

At CBC, colleagues of mine who work on the social media desk constantly have to monitor algorithm changes, as suddenly your audience can change radically. So the struggle for journalists is to both exploit the audience potential of social media without becoming overly reliant on social media.

MD: You mentioned how CBC was less affected by the ad-revenue system because of federal government funding. How does that align with the role of investigative journalism?

JM: I think one of the challenges of investigative journalism is that it’s resource heavy: it requires a lot of people, it can be expensive, and takes a long time. When the media market places the emphasis on producing content, investigative journalism can seem kind of crazy: who says, “I’m gonna employ these three people and they’re gonna produce one story every six months? This makes investigative journalism one of the first things to get cut. I think having a source of revenue that is independent of advertising has allowed CBC to commit to investigative journalism when other news organizations would not be able to.

MD: Do you think committing to investigative journalism is a priority today? Should it be?

JM: It is difficult for me to conceive of a flourishing liberal democracy without a robust culture of journalism. Maybe I just lack imagination, but I think liberal democracy thrives when you multiply mechanisms of accountability. And if you remove investigative journalism, you’re removing an accountability mechanism essential to democracy.

Investigative journalism should be part of our conception of how information flows in our society. If you suddenly were not to have that flow of information, you have citizens who are less informed, who know less about the consequences of public policy, who know less about the consequences of corporate power, who know less about what their politicians are up to.

MD: Is there anything you would like to add before winding up our exchange?

JM: I think the modern challenge for journalists is to grapple with the role of technology in the media, and to think creatively about technology: how can we use these new tools creatively to get more information, to build relationships and enhance our possibilities as journalists without relinquishing the human aspect of reporting.

The post Investigative Journalism: An Endangered Pillar of Democracy? appeared first on The McGill Daily.

Critically, the brunt of these costs are expected to ripple through employment at the university. Manfredi stated in the town hall meeting that “staffing costs account for 80 per cent of our operating expenses, so most of the adjustments are going to come from reducing our staffing costs.” While faculties and other major administrative units at the university have received budget targets for the upcoming year, which gives them the discretion to eliminate activities that may accrue additional costs, approximately 250 to 500 jobs will be cut in the process of this $45 million correction. McGill has yet to release details on which specific jobs they are targeting.

In order to account for the full repercussions of these financial pressures, administration has announced plans to launch a multi-year initiative in two key phases. This initiative seeks to not only balance McGill’s budget for the upcoming years, but almost optimize administrative services, review the current management of academic programs, and launch plans for strategic enrolment. Phase One of this initiative is geared towards implementing immediate corrections in the coming years, which include cutting $16 million and $14 million from the budget for the 2027 and 2028 fiscal years, respectively. Phase Two entails what Manfredi claims to be a “major transformation of McGill.” This phase will be carried out predominantly through an international benchmarking initiative titled UniForum, which observes the measures other universities have taken to increase efficiency under reduced operating costs due to financial pressures.

The immediate impacts of these budget cuts will be felt most drastically in the academic lives of McGill’s students. In December 2024, McGill imposed a hiring freeze in light of the financial impact the tuition hikes had on enrollment rates. Manfredi stated in an email to the Montreal Gazette that “the goal of this measure is to reduce the number of employees in the short term through attrition rather than cutting positions held by current members of our workforce.” Now, however, it appears that this is no longer a short-term solution, and that the university will begin implementing layoffs. In the town hall meeting, Manfredi claimed that McGill will ensure equal treatment across all employee groups — but it has already become evident that the most vulnerable employee groups, such as teaching assistants (TAs), will become the first source of reduction for the university’s operating costs.

Last winter, the Association of Graduate Students Employed at McGill (AGSEM) initiated a month-long strike asking for a pay increase comparable to the hourly rates of other Canadian universities. They ultimately came to an agreement with McGill on a 15.5 per cent increase over the next four years, with their hourly wage increasing from $33.03 to $38.46, effective as of August 1, 2026. This means that TAs now are still facing the same conditions in which they began their strike. Moreover, with McGill’s new policy of attrition, the university will not be replacing the positions of those TAs who choose to leave. This leaves many faculties potentially understaffed as they try to navigate this semester and the upcoming school year. However, in the town hall meeting, there was little discussion about how these job cuts will directly impact this student-led position, especially since TAs are often a first point of contact for students.

Saini admitted that “it just really is impossible to say how many jobs, because we won’t know that until individual units — faculties, departments and so on — come up with their plans on how they are going to achieve the reduction in salary mass.” Deferring the judgement on financial planning to the faculties themselves leaves TAs unable to go directly to McGill administration about their grievances. Saini, Manfredi, and Labeau emphasized how they are trying to maintain the reputation of McGill among the world’s leading universities. Manfredi assured students that they want to make sure that “McGill remains a place that provides [students] an educational experience that led [them] to choose McGill.”

However, these promises were made without a thorough explanation of how the budget cuts would directly impact the education students receive at McGill. TAs and professors work together to make sure that students are understanding course material in the most optimal fashion. It becomes difficult to “thrive in [one’s] research and scholarly endeavors,” as Manfredi put it, when one TA is assigned to large courses, often responsible for hundreds of students at once. The reduction in academic staff is guaranteed to put students’ educational experiences in jeopardy.

The post McGill Announces $45 Million in Budget Cuts for the Upcoming Academic Year appeared first on The McGill Daily.

What is a situationship?

The word itself is a modern invention, but the concept is nothing new. A situationship is essentially a romantic or sexual relationship that lacks clear labels, expectations, or commitments. It exists in the grey area between friendship and official partnership — something that feels like a relationship, but doesn’t come with the same level of commitment. Unlike the classic “talking stage,” which is supposed to progress into something more, situationships can stretch on indefinitely, existing in a state of perpetual emotional limbo.

Pop culture has played a major role in normalizing this dating trend. Songs by artists like Olivia Rodrigo, SZA, and Taylor Swift capture the frustrations of undefined relationships, while TikTok trends embrace “It’s Not That Deep” culture, where emotional detachment is framed as empowering. Meanwhile, dating apps like Hinge and Tinder have made it easier than ever to keep swiping for the next best option, reinforcing the idea that commitment is unnecessary when new people are always within reach. As a result, situationships have become less of an anomaly and more of an expected reality in university dating culture.

Why are situationships so common at McGill?

For many students, the lack of clear labels isn’t necessarily a bad thing — it’s a way to maintain flexibility without feeling tied down. University is a time of intense academic and personal growth, and committing to a relationship can feel like an added pressure rather than a source of support. Some students view relationships as a distraction, something that might interfere with their studies, social lives, or post-graduation plans. Others worry that defining a relationship too early could ruin the natural flow of things, leading them to keep things ambiguous for as long as possible.

Another major factor is hookup culture and the rise of casual dating. While McGill isn’t as party-driven as some other universities, the “no-strings-attached” attitude still influences how students approach romance. The convenience of dating apps makes it easy to meet people, but it also fosters a paradox of choice — why settle down when there are always more options? Ghosting, slow fades, and mixed signals have become common, reinforcing a culture where uncertainty is the norm.

But while situationships offer freedom and flexibility, they can also leave people feeling emotionally drained. Some students, however, say they work — as long as both people know what to expect. One student explained that they were currently in a situationship, describing how it allowed them to balance connection and independence.

“We’ve been seeing each other on and off for a few months. It’s nice because I don’t have time for a relationship but still crave intimacy and connection. It works because we have the same expectations for our situation, so we are able to enjoy each other’s presence while knowing that there’s no commitment — for now.”

Still, not everyone is convinced that situationships are worth the trouble. For some, they’re just a form of self-inflicted heartbreak waiting to happen.

“I’m in a situationship right now,” one student shared. “I know we like each other, but every time I bring up defining things, they get weird about it. So I just pretend I don’t care, but honestly, it sucks.”

The emotional toll: is this actually what students want?

At first glance, situationships might seem like an easy, low-risk alternative to traditional relationships. But many students admit that the lack of commitment creates more stress than it relieves. One student reflected on their personal experience, saying:

“My experience with situationships has been one of precarity. I find that they never end well. You go into them knowing that you might get hurt, but take the risk anyway, in the hopes that maybe it might become something more serious.”

Psychologists have found that ambiguity in relationships can lead to increased anxiety, as people are left constantly second-guessing where they stand. The fear of seeming “too needy” or “too intense” prevents many students from expressing their true feelings, resulting in a dynamic where no one is fully honest, but everyone is emotionally invested.

This emotional limbo can be exhausting. Students in situationships often act like they’re in relationships. They go on dates, text constantly, and rely on each other for emotional support — but they don’t receive the security that comes with commitment. This can lead to confusion, jealousy, and even heartbreak; especially when one person inevitably wants more than the other is willing to give. Some students describe it as a slow, inevitable disappointment, where they try to convince themselves they’re okay with casual dating, only to realize too late that they wanted something more.

One student put it more bluntly: “Don’t do them. Unless you’re super bored and heartbroken.”

The future of love at McGill: a shift back to relationships?

Despite the prevalence of situationships, there are signs that Gen Z is slowly moving back toward more serious relationships. Studies show that, following the pandemic, young people are tired of casual flings, with many craving deeper emotional connections. The exhaustion of constantly navigating undefined relationships has led some students to reject hookup culture in favor of something more meaningful.

At McGill, this shift is visible in the growing frustration that students express with situationships. Some are actively choosing to avoid them altogether, prioritizing emotional clarity over fleeting excitement. Others are still engaging in them, but with a critical awareness of their limitations. “I used to think situationships were fun,” a student admitted. “Now, I just think they’re a waste of time. If someone isn’t sure about me, I don’t want to waste my energy trying to convince them.”

So, is the end of labels here to stay, or is it just a phase? Maybe the reality is somewhere in between. Love isn’t disappearing — it’s just being rewritten. The way McGill students approach dating today might be different from previous generations, but at the core of it all, people still want the same things: connection, honesty, and the certainty that they matter to someone else.

The post Situationships and the End of Labels appeared first on The McGill Daily.

For many Asian Montrealers, Lunar New Year is a way to celebrate their heritage. The festivities keep Asian culture alive in Montreal and exhibit their contributions to the city’s rich cultural fabric.

Celebrations kicked off on January 29 with a festival in Montreal’s Chinatown. Despite low temperatures, attendees braved the cold to witness a performance by members of The Montreal Chan Lions Dance Club in Sun-Yat Sen Park. Amidst the snow, dancers performed the lion dance to the pound of drums, kicking off Lunar New Year with a symbolic ushering-in of prosperity and good luck.

The largest celebration to bring in the Year of the Snake took place over Saturday, February 1, and Sunday, February 2. Described as one of the most important annual events for Montreal’s Chinatown, the Lunar New Year festival brought over 30 community organizations together — highlighting the strength and unity of Montreal’s East Asian communities.

The weekend’s main event took place on Saturday, February 1, with a parade organized down René-Lévesque Boulevard. Coordinated by the City of Montreal, the MURAL festival team, and the Asian Night Market, Montreal’s Lunar New Year parade is one of Canada’s largest. Hundreds of onlookers gathered in Chinatown to celebrate the holiday, witnessing events including the lion dance, the dragon dance, and waist drum performances by local Chinese dance and performance collectives. Art installations by local artists – giant lanterns, inflatable snakes, and sparkling archways – decorated the neighbourhood. From 11:00am to 5:00pm, spectators and performers alike embodied the optimistic spirit of Lunar New Year in a festive display of cultural expression.

Winston Chan, an organizing member of the Montreal Lunar New Year Festival Committee, stated in an interview with CityNews that the parade “gave a soul back to Chinatown” in bringing communities together to celebrate a year of wisdom, prosperity, and innovation. Over 30 community organizations were present at the event, partnering to enrich the celebration.

Festivities lasted throughout the weekend. Sunday brought more dance performances, as well as music and martial arts. Large crowds livened Chinatown amidst the cold of winter, bringing renewed waves of foot traffic to local restaurants and businesses.

This year’s Lunar New Year holds a special significance to Montreal’s Vietnamese community, as they commemorate 50 years since the arrival of Vietnamese refugees in Canada through a celebration of resilience and cultural identity. After the end of the Vietnam War, Canada accepted nearly 200,000 refugees between 1975 and 1990, mainly Vietnamese citizens whose lives had been uprooted and jeopardized in the wake of the US-driven civil war. Many of these initial immigrants settled in the Montreal region beginning in the mid-1970s. While Canada provided support to East Asian refugees, community was essential in rebuilding and keeping Vietnamese culture alive.

Montreal’s Vietnamese community celebrated Lunar New Year with the Têt Festival on January 19. Charles Nguyen, spokesperson of the Vietnamese Community in Canada-Montreal region, shared in an interview with CityNews that the celebration embodies what it means to be Vietnamese in Canada: being with family and friends, to “come together and celebrate over a great meal, reflect on the past year, and wish each other good luck.” The event featured musical performances, cultural dances, and lots of food, as well as expositions on the rich history of Vietnamese communities in Quebec.

McGill student organizations have also scheduled festivities throughout the duration of the holiday. McGill’s Vietnamese Student Association celebrated Têt on Saturday, February 1 in the SSMU ballroom. The event was full of traditional Vietnamese art and entertainment, as well as delicious food. The event was a chance to celebrate Lunar New Year with students of diverse backgrounds and interests, coming together for an afternoon of community and culture. Students celebrated on Thursday, February 6 at the Lunar New Year Festival presented by The McGill Chinese Students’ Society (MCSS), McGill’s Malaysian and Singaporean Students’ Association (MASSA), McGill Taiwanese Student Association (MTSA), McGill Koreans’ Educational and Cultural Association (MECA), Hong Kong Student Network McGill (HKSN), and the Concordia Canadian Asian Society (CCAS). Activities included games from across cultures, art-making workshops, and music and dance performances, supplemented by a wide array of food and desserts.

As Lunar New Year comes to a close, we can remain optimistic about the Year of the Snake and all that it will bring. Through celebrations of culture and community, Montreal’s Asian communities continue to show us Lunar New Year’s importance. The Daily wishes you all a safe new year full of luck, wisdom, and transformation!

The post Montreal Celebrates Lunar New Year appeared first on The McGill Daily.

This bill would require an amendment to the Quebec Charter of Rights and Freedoms, with the goal of moving the province away from Canada’s multicultural model towards an interculturalist one. As opposed to the federal multicultural model, which, according to Roberge, does not encourage enough unity under one national identity, Quebec would turn towards a model which is more in line with Quebec’s distinct culture and provincial identity.

With a significant emphasis on the integration of newcomers, this bill will focus on promoting values such as gender equality, secularism, and civil law traditions as “vector[s] for social cohesion.”

Immigration, Francization and Integration Minister, Jean-François Roberge, has criticized the federally-endorsed multiculturalist model for creating conditions amenable to cultural “ghettos,” that is a society divided into groups that are “not interested” in values of the Quebec society. The goal of the bill is therefore to create a cohesive society with a unifying set of cultural and social values.

Roberge stated that this bill would enact “mechanisms to ensure” the “moral duty” of newcomers to integrate and adhere to Quebec culture.

That said, what these mechanisms will be, how cultural adherence will be determined, according to what standards, and by whom, all remain questions to which Roberge cannot yet provide an answer.

One example he provided as to the enforcement of this bill would be the removal of the annual funding granted to organizations and cultural events if they do not adhere to the principles established by the bill. Events that, in his proposal, would continue to benefit from this funding would be those that are open to different ethnicities, and feature artists who would perform “well-known Quebec songs.” He remarked that Quebec culture is “more than just poutine.”

This bill comes at a time when the CAQ is not only lagging behind in polls, but also at a time when the very resources that help the integration of immigrants, like Francization programs, have been downsized, leaving many newcomers without the possibility of learning French. The same can be said of the measures meant to encourage contact with Quebec culture. For instance, free museum entry on the first Sunday of every month has been discontinued.

The Quebec Community Groups Network (QCGN) has expressed its concern over the vagueness of the bill, while The National Council of Canadian Muslims has stated that the bill is a “troubling piece of legislation that is designed to force minorities to conform to a very narrow vision of Quebec culture.”

It remains to be seen how this proposed bill will fare in the upcoming months. Already it has been subject to great skepticism and criticism as to its viability and vagueness – especially regarding the manner in which it will be enforced. Roberge stated that it is too soon to share precise details, since his priority is to first pass the bill.

The post The CAQ’s Bill 84 appeared first on The McGill Daily.

The government of Canada has launched its official theme for this year’s BHM: “Black Legacy and Leadership: Celebrating Canadian History and Uplifting Future Generations.” As stated in a message from the Honourable Kamal Khera, Minister of Diversity, Inclusion and Persons with Disabilities, “this year’s theme is about reflecting and celebrating the contribution of Black Canadians.” At its core, the theme aims to celebrate Black history in Canada and spread awareness about the contributions of Black Canadians to the nation’s country and history. In reflecting on the ways Black Canadians have shaped the country, Canada strives to pave the way for a more equitable, inclusive future.

In order to be able to participate in the theme of Legacy and Leadership, the country must confront its history. Canada remained active in the transatlantic slave trade system until its abolition in 1834 — an involvement often overlooked — and this legacy of slavery is present in the evolution of systemic racial discrimination within the country. As we approach February 1, we must acknowledge that Canada’s history is rooted in deeply racist practices in order to understand how to move into the future, reconciling with and repairing the past. Further, in adherence with this month’s theme, it is crucial to recognize and celebrate the contributions of Black Canadians to the nation.

In terms of reconciliation, the Canadian government has worked towards uplifting and supporting Black communities in Canada through various projects. The Canadian government has invested over $1 billion into Black communities through the Multicultural Anti-Racist Program (MARP). The objective of MARP is to “advance anti-racism, provide equitable opportunities, promote dialogue on multiculturalism, anti-racism, racial equity, diversity, and inclusion to advance institutional and systemic change.” MARP initiatives include the financial support of research to collect further information about the “challenges faced by equity deserving populations.” There are three components to MARP: projects, events and Organizational Capacity Building (OCB). Each component aims to provide support to Canada’s racial minorities through funding of community led initiatives.

Further action includes the 2018 recognition of UNDPAD on behalf of the Canadian government, alongside the promise to remain committed to achieving “equality and conditions that are free of discrimination, awareness-raising, and education, informing-gathering.” The Canadian government subsequently recognized the United Nations Second International Decade for People of African Descent, spanning from 2025-2034. UNDPAD works to promote the human rights and freedoms of people of African descent, as well as “promote a greater knowledge of and respect for the diverse heritage, culture and contribution of people of African descent to the development of societies,” alongside many other objectives to implement legislative measures to eliminate all forms of racial discrimination, namely discrimination on the basis of race being made punishable by law in countries such Bolivia and Uruguay.

The Canadian Government continued to further its efforts to promote the presence of Black voices within international institutions by organizing the participation of 24 Black Canadian “civil society leaders” at the United Nations Permanent Forum on People of African Descent. This particular initiative was organized by the Canadian Commission for UNESCO (CCUNESCO) in collaboration with the Canadian Race Relations Foundation (CRRF). This event offered the opportunity for Black Canadian civil organizations to voice their own experiences of anti-Black racism, inequalities, and discrimination. It provided a space for participants to network and build connections, while also creating an opportunity to hold the Canadian government accountable. The event worked effectively as a forum where organizations could offer insights into further strategies to implement effective solutions for combating racial inequalities within Canada.

Despite these efforts made by Canada to reconcile with its past of racial inequality, there remains an immense number of reparations to be made, in the forms of scholarships, tuition remissions, housing grants, and business grants, to name a few. The philanthropic and charitable sector continues to fail Black Canadians, evident in recent studies illustrating a “systemic underinvestment” in Black communities — with Black community organizations receiving approximately seven cents for every $100 distributed by leading Canadian philanthropic institutions.

According to the Canadian Black Chamber of Commerce (CBCC), Black entrepreneurs continue to struggle with barriers including access to capital. Determining concrete solutions to this problem is challenging, as the community of Black business owners is severely underrepresented in research circles. Yet it remains evident that a prevailing issue is funding in Canadian Black entrepreneurship, a burden resting on the Canadian government to take initiative and extend funding.

Despite these ongoing challenges, the Canadian government continues to acknowledge the work that needs to be done across the nation. A message released by Justin Trudeau in the Anti-Racism Strategy 2024-2029 illustrated the country’s recognition of prevailing issues of racial inequality, stating that that he wants “the federal government to reflect the Canada it serves — because the more voices and perspective we have at the table, the better the decisions making.” This is an indication of the government’s ongoing commitment to inclusivity within Canada, demonstrating their dedication to fostering an environment of “economic, social, [and] cultural empowerment.” Additionally included within this outline of strategies is a large number of initiatives to reform legislation to encourage accountability. The theme of this year’s BHM will demonstrate the government’s ability to honour the very principles of leadership and legacy which it places at the forefront of their efforts in reconciling with their history of systemic racial discrimination.

In Montreal specifically, the theme of this year’s BHM has been announced as “All that We Carry” (Tout ce que Nous Sommes), as organized by the city’s RoundTable on Black History Month. A variety of events will be held throughout the month to celebrate Black culture within Quebec, proving participants with the opportunity to become immersed in Black history. Celebrations kicked off on Thursday, January 30 with the the Montreal Black History Month 2025 Opening Ceremony. The RoundTable on Black History month has selected 12 laureates to be honoured for their work, who will each represent one month of the year. The festivities don’t stop there: throughout February, the city will host an assortment of events from music concerts to live theatre. “Distant Echoes of Africa” will take place on February 21, featuring composers and artists of African descent. An English language-master class will be hosted by the leader of the Black History RoundTable Michael Farkas on February 8, in addition to an exhibition showcasing Afro’Queer artists on February 26. Multicultural readings, dance performances, film streamings, and a comedy tour will take place in the city throughout the month of February.

The kickoff on Thursday highlighted the importance of Black History Month as a way to recognize the deep-rooted biases and prejudices that continue to shape Canada. Youssef Youssef, CKUT correspondent for the Daily, stated that the event exemplified that Black history is all history, and that we must continue to recognize that Black voices have been excluded from the history of our country. In the words of Ian Thomas, the event’s anglophone spokesperson, “It’s not Black history, it’s our history.”

The post Canada Celebrates Leadership and Legacy appeared first on The McGill Daily.

In 1969, Cools was instrumental in the infamous Sir George Williams Affair — a protest that occurred at Sir George Williams University (now Concordia University), Canada’s largest student sit-in to date.

In spring of 1968, six Black students attending Sir George Williams University filed a complaint against Professor Perry Anderson. They claimed that regardless of quality, all work submitted by Black students was given a failing grade. A committee was formed by the university to investigate the complaint and Anderson was suspended until a decision was reached. After almost a year of deliberation, the complaint was rejected by the university, sparking immediate outrage from the students and Montreal community. Over 200 people, including Cools, gathered in the school and occupied the university’s computer centre in protest of this disregard for civil rights.

An agreement was negotiated between Sir George Williams University and the protestors, stating that the protesters leave the building in exchange for the formation of a new committee who would review the original complaint. However, only about half of the protestors vacated the building, so the agreement was discarded. On February 11, 1969, police entered the school and chaos ensued. Amidst the turmoil, a fire began in the computer room, causing over $2 million in damages. Being named as a “ringleader” in the revolt, Cools was arrested, along with 96 other people. She stayed in jail for four months before being pardoned by the government. The next day, Anderson was reinstated, and months later, he was exonerated from all charges of racism.

Evidently, change did not happen overnight. However, the Sir George Williams Affair instilled even more passion in the civil rights movements occurring in Montreal, which had been increasing throughout the 1960s. In 1971, Sir George Williams University revised its policies on processing complaints so that both students and faculty members were involved in the decision-making process. In 2022, an official apology was given by Concordia University regarding the situation in 1969.

The results of the Sir George Williams Affair reached beyond the school and into the community of Montreal, expanding even to people living in the Caribbean. Many students, like Cools, had come from Caribbean countries to study in Montreal, sparking growth in publicity and knowledge regarding anti-colonialism. Multiple Black community groups were founded in response to the increased activism, some of which are still ongoing (Ligue des Noirs du Québec and the Maison d’Haïti). The contribution and sacrifice made by Cools and the other students during the Sir George Williams Affair crucially propelled the increasing activism for the civil rights of Black people in Montreal.

After finishing her schooling, Cools began a career in social work. In 1974, Cools founded an agency called Women in Transition Inc., which was one of Canada’s first domestic violence shelters. She served as executive director for a number of years, during which she aided in the opening of multiple other shelters in Ontario. Cools also helped organize Canada’s first conference on domestic violence, titled Couples in Conflict.

Cools then shifted her love for social justice into a more political light. After the loss of multiple electoral campaigns to represent central Toronto, Cools was elected to the Canadian senate in 1984. This made her Canada’s first Black senator and the first Black woman to become senator in all of North America.

During her career as a senator, Anne Cools observed and participated in multiple different political groups. She began and spent the majority of her time with the Liberal party, switching to sit with the Conservative party in 2004. She ended her career as an unaffiliated senator. She was instrumental in many bills in Canada’s legislature, notably Bill C-20, concerned with Quebec’s secession from Canada. She is very proud of her work in divorce and separation cases, in which she took an important and, at the time, a somewhat unique stance: she would take special focus to ensure the fathers in these cases were being treated fairly, and that, above all, the child’s wellbeing was prioritized. A large part of this work occurred because of the formation of the Joint Committee on Child Custody and Access, which Cools helped to create. Having been a member of the Canadian senate for over 34 years, Cools gained much experience and influence through her position. As the age limit to be a member of the senate is 75 years, Cools retired on August 11, 2018.

Anne Cools continues to make an impact on the community, whether that be in the Caribbean, McGill, Montreal, or Canada as a whole. Her strength and perseverance is evident in the many different stages of her life. From immigrating to Canada, graduating university, participating in civil rights movements, and becoming a part of the Canadian Government, she has not let anything get in the way of what she believes. Cools has a strong sense of justice, but more than that, she has the resolve to act on her intuition and create positive change for people who are being mistreated.

The post Anne Cools: Our Restitute Alumnus appeared first on The McGill Daily.

The Quebec government is also feeling the repercussions of extreme weather events and the economic consequences they have provoked. The province witnessed an increase overall in extreme weather phenomena ranging from droughts, heat waves, and storms with heavy rains and violent winds, to drastic drops and rises in temperature leading to freeze-thaw – all of which affect the stability and durability of buildings, roads, and runways. Quebec is not an isolated case: Canada as a whole is experiencing this. The summer of 2024 alone led to $7.1 billion in insured losses, mostly due to floods in Southern Quebec and Southern Ontario, wildfires in Alberta, and a hailstorm in Calgary. This catastrophic summer led to 228,000 insurance claims, a 406 per cent increase compared to the average over the past 20 years, according to Celyeste Power, President of the IBC.

Due to climate change, both the frequency and intensity of weather-induced catastrophes increased, as can be observed through the augmentation of insured damage. If the increased cost of insured damage is a problem in itself, it also undeniably serves as an alert signal to remind us of the many risks these extreme weather phenomena pose. This increase in extreme weather phenomena also threatens energy production, transportation, and, most of all, agriculture, where productivity is directly altered by climate change and extreme weather. The question of our health and safety is also important: extreme weather affects everyone, as seen through the availability and quality of drinking water. However, it unequally threatens weaker or more exposed populations, such as the higher mortality of elderly populations seen during heatwaves.

The US National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS) has established a causal link between poverty and exposure to risk. Communities with less resources are feeling the burden of damages caused by extreme weather; they are shown to be more exposed and susceptible to suffering from mental and physical health issues, injury, and even death due to environmental disasters. Those that don’t have home insurance aren’t accounted for in these figures, implying that the situation is even worse than what the insurance sector is warning us about.

Climate change operates on such a broad scale that it is almost impossible to grasp the full extent of extreme weather-related damages and the damages that are slowly occurring as time progresses. To help us track estimates of costs, the Canadian Climate Institute developed a tool accessible to all at the website ClimateChangeCosts.ca.

This situation is not bound to get any better. Power ominously recalls that “what we have to remember is this isn’t an anomaly. It’s not bad luck. This is our new normal.” Philippe Gachon, hydroclimatology professor at the Université du Québec à Montréal (UQAM), predicted that the flood risk would only increase in Quebec due to high intensity downpours and storms. The increased frequency and intensity of natural disasters will make Canada, as Jason Clarke, national director of climate change at the IBC, says, a “riskier place to live, work, and insure” if no action is taken against climate change.

To limit the risks of both extreme weather phenomena and the damage they cause, the NIEHS explains a government may take action in three ways. First: preparation, or building infrastructure in advance, as well as informing and educating the population on the issue. Second: adaptation, which means changing the way we manage our forests and build our cities. Third: mitigation, where the objective is to limit climate change itself by reducing greenhouse gas emissions through sustainable development programs, engaging governments and states in the long-term.

Solutions have been proposed along these lines. Montreal, for example, took the effects of long-term climate change into account and planned to halve its greenhouse gas emissions by 2030. They have also proposed creating underwater reservoirs and greenspaces for draining excess rainwater to avoid overloading the sewer system – as what happened in 2023 and 2024 summer floods.

Even if the Canadian government has invested $6.6 billion in climate adaptation initiatives since 2015, it is not sufficient, and Power urgently calls for governments to “take action to reduce the risk,” as climate change effects will only worsen if nothing is done to prevent it further.

The post Extreme Weather in Canada: Financial Burden and Environmental Challenge appeared first on The McGill Daily.

TikTok has been at the center of debates about data privacy, national security, and digital sovereignty. US lawmakers have long expressed concerns that ByteDance’s ties to the Chinese government could enable unauthorized access to American user data. While ByteDance has repeatedly denied these allegations, the platform’s rapid growth and cultural influence have made it a target of bipartisan scrutiny. The extension granted by Trump provides a brief reprieve, but it also raises questions about what’s next for TikTok and the broader implications for social media platforms operating globally.

The uncertainty surrounding TikTok’s fate has already triggered shifts in the social media landscape. Competitors like Instagram, YouTube Shorts, and Snapchat Spotlight are scrambling to attract TikTok’s displaced user base. Instagram, for instance, has introduced features like “Edits,” a video-editing app inspired by TikTok’s CapCut, and has expanded its video grid format to support longer videos — a clear attempt to capture the short-form video market.

Meanwhile, platforms like RedNote (known as Xiaohongshu in China) have positioned themselves as key alternatives. By emphasizing creativity and international cultural exchanges, RedNote has seen a surge in downloads, bolstered by its recruitment of American influencers to promote the app’s versatility.

TikTok’s challenges extend beyond business; they’ve become a symbol of the growing tension between the US and China. President Trump’s proposal for the US to hold a significant stake in TikTok highlights the app’s role in digital diplomacy. The platform’s uncertain future has even sparked renewed dialogue between the two nations, as Chinese President Xi Jinping emphasized the importance of cultural and technological exchanges. This unprecedented intersection of social media and geopolitics underscores how deeply intertwined these platforms have become with global relations.

While TikTok’s 75-day extension offers temporary relief, its future remains unclear. Whether through a partial divestment, a merger, or a complete shutdown, the next steps will have lasting consequences for users, creators, and the social media landscape at large. The TikTok saga also highlights the need for clearer global regulations around data privacy, as well as the challenges of balancing innovation with security.

Social media, like its users, is at a crossroads. TikTok’s fate will not only shape the future of short-form content but also serve as a case study in how nations navigate the complexities of technology, culture, and power in an increasingly connected world. For now, all eyes remain on the clock — and on what happens when those 75 days are up.

The post Tiktok’s Uncertain Future: Social Media at a Crossroads appeared first on The McGill Daily.

As of now, four candidates are running for party leadership. The current list of candidates includes Pablo Rodriguez, an MP who has worked under the Trudeau government but is now independent; Denis Coderre, the former mayor of Montreal; Charles Milliard, the former president of the Federation of Chambers of Commerce of Quebec (FCCQ), a federation of provincial businesses; and Marc Bélanger, a tax lawyer who has previously run for federal office.

Discourse concerning whether the PLQ should maintain a traditional platform similar to its opponents or reinvent itself is particularly relevant considering the Liberal Party of Canada’s decline. The PLQ’s support has been diminishing among the francophone population outside of Montréal, a bilingual city with an anglophone minority. As a result, Maura Forrest from CBC News stresses that the provincial party’s success depends on its ability to distinguish itself from the federal party.

The PLQ’s interim leader Marc Tanguay holds a positive outlook on revitalizing the party’s political position: “The challenges are many,” he said, “but as you are aware…the Quebec Liberal Party has always been able to reinvent itself.” Some of the candidates have expressed this same rhetoric of distinguishing the PLQ from its political opponents, while others have adopted other positions to gain popularity. Millard’s campaign avoids nationalist and language rights discourse used by the Coalition for the Future of Quebec (CAQ), yet Coderre has adopted this discourse to counter the Quebec Party (PQ)’s popularity by advocating against the centralization of federalism at the expense of provincial autonomy.

Sylvia Martin-Laforge, the Director General of the Quebec Community Groups Network (QCGN), stresses that the party’s provincial success is dependent on the discourse of language rights and that a “traditional image of economic stewardship” should be maintained. Millard is in solidarity with both francophones and anglophones in Quebec, emphasizing that “the Quebec Liberal Party is the only political party in Quebec that can talk to all Quebecers” in an interview with CBC. While both Rodriguez and Millard’s campaigns focus on public welfare programs, such as healthcare and education, Coderre and Bélanger have targeted the economy with a focus on developing natural resource programs.

In terms of the voting process, party members of the PLQ will gather on June 14 to select their party leader for the next four years. At the provincial level, parties use direct elections, encouraging more participation as one’s vote is not mediated by a convention delegate, a method first implemented by the PQ in 1985. While voting is limited to party members, there may be voting fees and a requirement regarding the length of time one has been a member of the party. On their website, the PLQ explained that “members in good standing will be able to vote by telephone or Internet,” reducing issues of lower vote turnout due to mobility issues during the voting period from June 9 to 14. Rather than counting up votes, the PLQ is using a points system where the votes are weighted by age group and riding. Each riding has an equal say, as all constituencies are given 250,000 points, while 125,000 points are given to party members 25 years of age or under. Candidates are then assigned points based on the share of votes given in each riding.

Voter participation will be a key deciding factor in this election. One of the PLQ’s greatest concerns is consolidating a strong voting base outside of Montréal, as the electorate is composed of whichever party members choose to vote. Thus, levels of participation may vary regionally, reflecting political cleavages. This is why the party has employed a points system instead of rounding up the votes, where instead of a vote per member, different amounts of points are allocated based on the members in different ridings. Both Rodriguez and Millard are supported by the Liberal caucus, Millard having also consolidated a youth voter base. This is particularly important considering that the PLQ voter base had little support among younger demographics, as reported by The Montreal Gazette. Lower youth participation is also noted at the provincial level among the age groups of 18 to 24 and 25 to 34, and at the federal level among those 18 to 24 years of age.

Moreover, the newly elected leader of the PLQ will inform the party’s success in the provincial elections on October 5, 2026. In the provincial general election, voters from each constituency or riding vote for the candidate that they would like to represent them in Parliament, known as a Member of Parliament (MP) or, in the case of Quebec, a member of the National Assembly (MNA). According to the first-past-the-post system, the constituent that accumulates more votes than other candidates first wins. Unlike an absolute majority, in a simple majority, an MP/MNA can be elected with less than half of the votes as long as they garner more votes than their competitors. Each riding has a seat in Parliament/National Assembly; thus the elected MP/MNA of each riding has a seat in Parliament where they can vote on legislation on behalf of the people. As of 2022, the Liberals have 19 out of the 125 seats in the Quebec National Assembly, while the governing CAQ party has 86 and the PQ has 4. Despite this, CBC reports that the PQ has been rising in polls, particularly due to their “young, charismatic leader,” Paul St-Pierre Plamondon.

While it is early in terms of establishing a party campaign for the 2026 elections, the economy, immigration, and language policies remain contested issues in Quebec, as they were in the last provincial election in 2022. Electing a new party leader will determine the PLQ’s party platform in the 2026 general election and whether they will keep pursuing a traditionalist platform or reinvent themselves.

The post Electing the New Leader of Quebec’s Liberal Party appeared first on The McGill Daily.

California’s arid terrain and sweltering summers have long made it a hotspot for wildfires, but their severity has escalated in recent years. The Palisades Fire has already burned through over 17,000 acres, while the Eaton Fire has torched 14,000 more. Extended droughts, unprecedented heatwaves, and erratic weather patterns have dried out vegetation, transforming it into highly flammable fuel. Adding to the challenge, the notorious Santa Ana winds, with gusts exceeding 160 kph, have propelled the flames, making efforts to control the blazes futile.

Ongoing investigations reveal a combination of natural and human causes to the fires. The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) has been looking into possible human involvement, adding another layer of unpredictability. Investigators are looking into potential cases of arson and accidental ignitions, as downed power lines and construction sparks have come under scrutiny.

The cost — both human and economic — is staggering. With damages expected to surpass 250 billion USD, this disaster ranks among the most expensive in U.S. history. Families forced to flee with little warning face not just the loss of their homes but an uncertain path forward. Overcrowded shelters offer temporary relief, while local authorities are scrambling to provide financial aid and recovery programs. The fires have ravaged neighborhoods, wiped out critical infrastructure, and decimated wildlife habitats, leaving a scorched void in their wake.

Amid the destruction, acts of resilience and generosity stand out. Grassroots organizations, volunteers, and nonprofits have mobilized quickly, providing essential supplies, medical aid, and emotional support for those in need. Neighboring states and even international aid groups have stepped in, highlighting how collective action can bring relief during overwhelming crises. Donations, both large and small, are pouring across the world, showing that in moments of destruction, communities still find ways to support one another.

However, these fires are more than isolated tragedies: they’re part of a feedback loop fueled by climate change. Wildfires release massive amounts of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere, accelerating global warming and increasing the likelihood of future fires. This self-perpetuating cycle is a dire warning that systemic changes are long overdue. Improved forest management, stricter building codes in fire-prone areas, and transitioning to renewable energy are essential steps to breaking the cycle.

Beyond the environmental costs, the mental and emotional toll of these disasters often goes unspoken. Displaced families face not only the loss of their homes and all of their possessions, but also the uncertainty of starting over. First responders work tirelessly, often at great personal risk, to contain these fires and help residents find safety, yet they too bear the burden of trauma. Calls for better mental health support in disaster recovery plans are growing louder, emphasizing that rebuilding goes beyond bricks and mortar.

These fires also spotlight glaring gaps in infrastructure and policy. Critics argue that outdated building codes, insufficient funding for prevention programs, and corporate negligence have left communities more vulnerable. Utility companies, in particular, are under scrutiny for their role in sparking past blazes, with legal battles over accountability expected to shape future policies.

Wildfires don’t just burn forests — they upend lives, leaving scars on landscapes and communities alike. As smoke fills the Los Angeles sky, the question remains: How many more warnings will it take until it’s too late? Whether these fires become an annual disaster or a sobering turning point depends on what is done next.

The post How Los Angeles Wildfires Showcase Climate Change and Community Action appeared first on The McGill Daily.