The following interview has been edited and shortened for clarity.

Aurelien Lechantre for the McGill Daily (MD): Could you begin by introducing yourselves and what you do for OSVRSE?

Jen Collins (JC): Yes, I’m Jen Collins. I’m the educational advisor for OSVRSE, the Office of Sexual Violence Response Support and Education. I’ve been here since August and I do programming, promote things for the office and manage the volunteer team, which are called peer educators. 

Alice Dautigny (AD): And I’m Alice Dautigny. I’m part of the peer educators team at OSVRSE: we are a team of seven student volunteers who give workshops to different groups and clubs from McGill, but  we’re trying to open it up to more students. Thus our work consists in helping organize events, managing the OSVRSE Instagram, and educating the community on how to respond to assault disclosure or situations of sexual violence.

MD: Then would you say the main activity of the office consists in the education aspect through such workshops? 

JC: OSVRSE is first and foremost a support space for those impacted by sexual violence. It’s a central spot on campus for that: we support anybody impacted by sexual violence by creating a safe space. We help people navigate receiving sexual violence disclosures from a friend, and support those who have experienced sexual violence themselves.  Even professors come in and ask about how to make their classroom a more safe and welcoming environment. So we help with accommodation, psychosocial support and counselling, safety planning, etc.

Then our student volunteers do workshops for clubs. Peer-to-peer learning is great because the students understand each other: they know what they’re going through and how to adapt presentations to the audience.

MD: What do these workshops mainly consist of, and what do they entail?  Is it like a class about the subject, the topic you’re about, or is it interactive? Who is your audience?

AD: Most of our audience, until now, is composed of clubs looking to organize events. Usually these events involve alcohol and drinking, so workshops are required for the audience to be able to respond if there’s any issue during their event. The workshops are educational content about several topics that can be interesting for student organizations to be aware of: being an active bystander and responding to disclosure (understanding how to behave if someone during an event comes to you for support). Our workshops are designed to be interactive, with lots of questions, simulations so people can put themselves in the place of an active bystander to prepare for real case situations, looking at real life scenarios, and always a 30-minute Q&A session.

MD: You mentioned active bystanders. What do you mean by that exactly? 

AD: In a workshop context, we like to use the term active bystander to teach participants how to behave when you’re a witness of sexual violence or sexual harassment. So usually it’s looking at our behaviour as witnesses in public spaces and can also be if you witness your friends in toxic relationships with dangerous sexual violence behaviors.

MD: Why do you think it important to comprehend this role of active bystander, specifically on campus?

AD:  I feel like McGill’s campus is both huge and very lively: partying, drinking and meeting people are an inherent part of campus life. Thus it is really important to have associations like OSVRSE and to make sure everyone is aware of the reality of sexual violence at our age.  There’s the beginning of many relationships and discovery of the dating world, so it is important to help prevent and educate people on what is a safe relationship and how to recognise abuse, sexual violence or toxicity — as, unfortunately, sexual violence is a reality for thousands of people, especially students 

MD: Do you think most McGill students are educated on such matters today? Are there other initiatives that OSVRSE has put in place to further education and awareness surrounding sexual violence on campus? 

JC: It is difficult to measure this precisely with stats, but I think “It Takes All Of Us” (“It Takes All of Us” is an online education program about consent and sexual violence, mandatory for every student entering McGill) is great in that aspect. It was created before I came here, but I got to take part in doing it and seeing it in the office. It’s really helpful: I wish I had it when I was in undergrad at my university.

AD: Actually, I heard about OSVRSE through the “It Takes All of Us” form. I looked up who the association was after seeing it in the form, then I saw they were searching for volunteers and  joined! But the other volunteers mostly heard of it through “My Involvement” or directly on the OSVRSE website. 

MD: How and where might we find you? If a student needs support or just wants to participate in a workshop, how can we get to know that? 

JC: You can go online at the OSVRSE website: you could book a workshop, you could see a response advisor, the different possibilities are all on our website and if you don’t see a time slot that works for you, you can always email the office, osvrse@mcgill.ca, and we’ll get back to you within our office hours. 

MD: Do you have anything to add? Perhaps an upcoming event or somewhere we might find you?

JC: Yes! On April 1, in honor of Sexual Assault Awareness Month, we are holding a trivia event at Mac campus. There’ll be food and prizes, and it’ll be really fun. We got a lot of local businesses to donate gift cards for raffles and prizes. So we really want to end the year with a big, fun event –  I think everyone loves trivia.

AD: And follow our Instagram (@OSVRSEmcgill) if you want to stay updated and participate in future workshops and events!

The post Highlighting OSVRSE appeared first on The McGill Daily.

On March 3, 2025, two Palestinian members of the Students’ Society of McGill University (SSMU) submitted a motion calling for a Special Strike General Assembly (SGA) to deliberate on initiating a student strike in support of Palestinian liberation. This motion was accompanied by a petition garnering 52 signatures from students across various faculties, meeting the constitutional requirements set forth in Article 13.2 of the SSMU Constitution. Article 13.2 mandates that for a Special General Assembly to be convened, a written request must be submitted by at least 50 members representing a minimum of four different faculties or schools, with no more than 50 per cent of the signatories from any single faculty.  Upon satisfying these criteria, the SSMU scheduled the SGA for Thursday, March 27.

The motion received significant backing from campus organizations, notably Solidarity for Palestinian Human Rights (SPHR) McGill. SPHR actively promoted the initiative, urging students to participate in the SGA and support the strike motion. Their endorsement emphasized the urgency of addressing the university’s affiliations and investments perceived to be complicit in actions against Palestinian communities. In preparation for the strike, SPHR continues to post support resources for activists, emphasizing that “in every historic example of divestment, prolonged mass student mobilization was essential to success.” 

The proposed strike motion outlined three central objectives:

• First, it calls on McGill University to divest from companies involved in weapons manufacturing and operations within Israeli-occupied territories; including but not limited to Lockheed Martin, Airbus, Textron, and Thales. Further, the strike would emphasize the need to reexamine financial entanglements deemed complicit in human rights violations.
• Second, it advocates for academic disruption through a temporary cessation of classes, intended as a material and symbolic act of protest to draw campus-wide attention to the Palestinian cause.
• Third, the motion demands institutional accountability, urging the administration to sever ties with entities implicated in the oppression of Palestinian communities. Additionally, the strike would put pressure on McGill to stop disciplinary action against students mobilizing for Palestinian rights. 

The March 27 General Assembly saw hundreds of students pack into the SSMU Cafeteria, reaching the maximum in-person capacity of 300, while over 400 more joined online through Zoom. The energy in the room was charged in in  a mix of tension, urgency, and collective determination. Students lined up at microphones to speak passionately for and against the motion, debating the implications, logistics, and symbolism of striking. Discussion featured both emotional appeals and procedural interventions, reflecting the deep engagement of attendees. While many voiced unequivocal support for the motion, both the principles and practices of the strike were debated. In the end, the motion passed by a significant majority,, with 679 SSMU members voting in favouur. 

The motion outlines that the strike is intended as an act of protest against the university’s perceived complicity in the oppression of Palestinians. It specifically demands that McGill University divest from companies involved in the occupation of Palestinian territories and the manufacturing of arms. The motion further calls for the disruption of regular academic activity to raise awareness and foster solidarity. During the strike, undergraduate students are asked not to attend class: however, students may still submit assignments online and attend scheduled exams. During class time, students are urged to participate in strike-related programming. These include information sessions, picket lines, and artistic interventions meant to mobilize broader campus dialogue and public visibility. 

Statements from organizers emphasized the urgency of collective action. During the GA, attendees cited recent developments in Gaza and longstanding student organizing traditions as motivators for their involvement. Members of SPHR and others expressed that this strike would not only be about Palestine, but also about confronting institutional complicity and reclaiming agency as students within university governance.

Speaker and organizer Rama Al Malah expressed the urgency of the motion, introducing the strike as part of a continuous effort for Palestinian liberation. “We know this is the will of the students, and we will strike and continue to fight for our people no matter what,” she shared in an emotional address to the crowd. 

Although the motion ultimately passed, the discussion at the GA reflected a range of conflicting student opinions. Some attendees voiced apprehension over academic consequences for students, while opposing parties challenged the effectiveness of the strike motion. Procedural debates arose around how to balance democratic participation with accessibility in a hybrid setting. 

“The atmosphere at the GA was full of hope — the entire room was buzzing with energy when I walked in. After the motion passed almost unanimously, everyone erupted into cheers and applause,” a student in attendance shared on the spirit of the event. 

SPHR’s framing of the strike echoed similar calls made during past student mobilizations at McGill, including anti-tuition hike protests and campaigns for fossil fuel divestment. Most notably, McGill students organized a pro-Palestinian encampment in 2024 that lasted several months, featuring teach-ins and cultural programming in what students called a “liberated zone” on campus. The encampment called for university divestment from companies tied to Israel’s military operations and drew national media attention before being dismantled. 

The McGill strike also arrives amid a broader wave of student-led activism across Montreal. Just one day prior, on March 26, around 200 students from Dawson College staged a walkout and marched to Concordia University as part of a coordinated day of action for Palestine, reinforcing a city-wide momentum for solidarity movements. This follows an emergency protest for Palestine on March 18, where hundreds of activists took to the streets and organized in front of the U.S. Consulate after Israel resumed its aggression on Gaza.

As of now, no public statement has been issued by the McGill administration or faculty associations regarding the motion or strike.  According to the motion, students are encouraged to participate in events relating to Palestinian liberation and refrain from attending classes. SPHR and supporting organizers are expected to coordinate teach-ins, community-building sessions, and peaceful demonstrations on campus, facilitated by SSMU. While the motion outlines no formal penalties for students who do not participate, it emphasizes the symbolic power of mass mobilization. Further details regarding event schedules, accommodations, and outreach will be shared on social media platforms in the days ahead.

This moment represents a significant chapter in McGill’s long legacy of student activism. “It is the students who steer us towards truth and justice,” Al Malah stated during the presentation of the strike motion. “We learned from history that students have the power to force the hands of our political class and administration that divestment is possible.” The passage of the strike motion underscores a renewed student interest in global solidarity and institutional accountability. With a resounding turnout and a mandate to act, McGill undergraduates have made clear that their vision of education extends beyond the classroom, and is rooted in justice, equity, and meaningful global engagement.

Whether or not the strike achieves its concrete demands, it has already galvanized a generation of students into collective consciousness and participation. As the strike approaches, all eyes are on what unfolds next — and on how student voices continue to shape the university’s stance in an increasingly politicized global landscape.

The post McGill on Strike: Student Solidarity for Palestine appeared first on The McGill Daily.

Upon the publishing of the strategy, François Miller, Executive Director of McGill Sustainability, told the McGill Reporter that “collectively, we are transforming McGill into a world leader in sustainability.” To do so, the new plan focuses on three core domains: climate change, biodiversity loss, and pollution. The university has adopted a bi-chronological approach, with long-term ambitious objectives and more pressing issues to be solved by 2030.

The report first outlines the long-term plan of achieving carbon neutrality by 2040, in balancing the university’s carbon emissions and absorption. In light of this goal, McGill aims to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by 45 per cent from those reported in 2015. The university is also looking to increase climate resilience in facing increasing heatwaves, cold temperatures and extreme precipitation, both in frequency and intensity, and plans to address all critical climate risks on campus before 2030.

To remedy biodiversity loss, McGill pledged to become a Nature Positive University in 2022, joining over 500 higher education institutions worldwide in the effort to foster biodiversity on their campuses. Thus, by 2030, McGill plans to foster biodiversity in 30 per cent of our campus’s green spaces. This means managing our green spaces in a more responsible way: adapting mowing frequency, restricting chemical treatment, targeting only invasive species, and adding planting.

McGill is also currently pursuing goals of becoming a zero-waste institution by 2035. The university launched their first reduction and diversion of landfill initiative in 2018. In 2022, McGill created over 700 new sorting stations all over campus and compost stations in key academic buildings to further diminish landfill in 2022. Adopting a new meal plan approach in 2023 was another change made in hopes of lessening waste. The updated Climate Strategy outlines McGill’s goals to divert 70 per cent of landfill waste by 2030 to remain in line with its 2035 zero-waste objective.

Overall, these sustainability goals are consistent with McGill’s previous commitments, as the Climate and Sustainability Strategy for 2020-2025 contained the same core objectives. Indeed, achieving carbon neutrality by 2040, which has been a goal since 2017, and stayed consistently without any reassessment or delay discourse from McGill’s part. In other words, McGill is staying on track with its objectives. Proof of McGill’s continued engagement lies in their achievement of a Platinum STARS (Sustainability Tracking, Assessment and Ranking System) rating in March 2024: this achievement came six years before the deadline they had set, moving upwards from a silver rating only twelve years prior. The university’s efforts are confirmed when looking at the Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education’s (AASHE) 2024 Sustainable Campus Index, where McGill ranked 8th out of 189 institutions.

However, an integral component of Climate and Sustainability initiatives at universities has to do with research and learning. McGill identifies not only research and learning as its “core mission,” but also the spreading of knowledge it should lead to. This is especially important knowing that Universities Canada warns that many higher education institutions do not communicate their actions or their research efficiently in sustainability. For example, in 2023, McGill established a sustainability module allowing students not only to further understand sustainability, but also showing them how to participate themselves and take action on campus. Learning about sustainability has been incorporated into university life through classes and modules, but also through workshops, clubs, and activities that give students the possibility to engage in a variety of ways.

The role of universities in sustainable development holds far more responsibility than simply making campuses ‘green.’ Evan Henry, Associate Director of the McGill Sustainability Systems Initiative (MSSI) states that, in setting its carbon neutrality goal ten years ahead of what Canada promised at the 2015 Paris Agreement, “not only are we playing our part, we are showing leadership, for not just Canada but for universities worldwide.” In other words, the new 2025-2030 Climate and Sustainability strategy not only reveals McGill’s ambition and commitment to sustainable development, but sets this same high standard for others. This seems to be a joint effort in Canadian universities: Sherbrooke University, the University of British Columbia, and Thompson River University all have a Platinum STARS rating alongside McGill.

Yet, despite the ambitious long-term goals and the emphasis placed on research and learning, Henry wishes McGill adapted to the “unexpected additional global emissions” and established more “aggressive” goals, as stated in an email to the Daily. Overall, if the new strategy ambitiously covers university action both on campus and beyond, it will become effective in the long-term and may be found lacking in more tangible shorter-term objectives.

The post Ambition and Long Term Emphasis In McGill’s Sustainability Strategy 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.

While the organization thrives off of civic engagement and democratic participation, student involvement has waned as students critique SSMU’s lack of transparency and its inability to produce monumental change through legislation. At such a large institution, building a strong relationship between the organization’s board of directors and all of its students is a near-impossible task. As questions of funding and resource allocation are raised by members in the midst of pushback against leadership, voter turnout has decreased by over 50 per cent between the Fall 2023 and Fall 2024 referenda. In 2024, the disconnect between students and SSMU became increasingly clear, leading members to wonder whether 2025 will bring new efforts by the organization to restore this essential relationship.

The past year was a whirlwind of activity in both pushback and progress for SSMU. The organization had a busy year, from fighting tuition hikes in February to dealing with legal issues on support for Palestine throughout the summer and into the fall – all while managing a deficit of up to 1.3 million CAD.

SSMU’s Fall elections, including the Fall 2024 referendum, general assemblies, and special elections, were definitely on students’ radar this fall. The Fall 2024 referendum gained attention after SSMU was unable to increase its membership fee for the fifth year in a row. 58.1 per cent of voters said “no” to an increase to the mandatory base fee for all undergraduate SSMU members, which would have increased the expense to 85.81 CAD for full-time students and 41.22 CAD for part-time students. According to SSMU, the fee would have allowed the student association to provide members with “assets of better quality” and more opportunities for student success while also alleviating the pressures felt by inflation and allowing the organization to operate more comfortably within their budget. Students, already struggling with the increasing cost of living in Quebec, were apprehensive about a fee increase, the use of which was unclear due to the organization’s lack of transparency. McGill undergraduates are frustrated with how the organization’s leadership communicates with
its constituency.

The year culminated with a Special General Assembly on December 5 regarding the removal of President Dymetri Taylor from office. In November, Taylor sent out an email that misconstrued the legal implications of the highly contentious Policy Against Genocide in Palestine, which has been under injunction since November 2023. This came weeks after McGill asked SSMU to sever its relationship with Solidarity for Palestinian Human Rights (SPHR) as a student club, claiming a violation of the Memorandum of Agreement between the University and the SSMU, which is still being debated between the two legislative bodies.

Ultimately, President Taylor was not impeached, but the issue was highly important to those involved in SSMU affairs and brought a large turnout to the event. For many in attendance, the assembly marked a turning point in SSMU’s relationship with McGill students. The Special General Assembly demonstrated unity among students in their desire to enact change at McGill “Being at the [general assembly] in December was one of the only times I’ve seen so many McGill students come together with the same goal,” a student wrote in a statement to the Daily. “I recognized a lot of people who don’t typically show up to events like this on campus, which I think sets a strong precedent for students engaging more with the SSMU democracy in the coming semesters.”

As we enter the new year, SSMU has the chance to strengthen their relationship with the student body and be more transparent about the policies and inner workings of the institution. “I would like to see way more transparency from SSMU this year,” another student wrote. “I like to think that I’m a student that’s very tapped into what’s going on, and still I feel so out of the loop. […] Since it’s such a big part of our student fees, information about what the SSMU is doing should be readily available.”

Representing 24,000 students is not an easy task, especially when the student body is incredibly diverse – in identities, fields of study, and desire to become involved within McGill’s legislative body. The SSMU is designed as a vehicle to enact change at McGill, but this only works when we take advantage of the organization’s dedication to hearing our voices and representing our opinions in university affairs. We cannot critique democracy while remaining apathetic an uninvolved in its processes.

SSMU will be holding its annual Winter General Assembly on Monday, February 3, at 6:00 p.m. in the third-floor SSMU ballroom on McTavish. This meeting will allow members to enact change by participating in direct democracy as SSMU executives outline their plan for the new year.

The post A Year in Review: SSMU and the Increasing Disconnect Between Its Student Constituents appeared first on The McGill Daily.

At McGill, on October 5th, Students for Palestine’s Honour and Resistance (SPHR) organized a rally at Roddick Gates to emphasize the urgency of solidarity and action for Palestine. These demonstrators joined a Montreal-wide protest at Place des Arts, rallying for Palestinian rights and collaborating with organizations like the Palestinian Youth Movement and ANSWER Coalition, among others.

Hundreds attended the protest outside of campus, bringing to light the number of students advocating for Palestinian rights against Israel’s violence and calling for change from the McGill administration. A counter-protest in support of Israel added to the tense environment, demonstrating the divided opinions on campus. As violence in Gaza has escalated, McGill has seen a surge in student activism – further fueled by the recent violence in Lebanon. From September 11 to October 1 of 2023, the McGill Board of Governors’ Committee on Sustainability and Social Responsibility (CSSR) invited community input on divestment from military-linked companies through a webform. Many students and groups such as SPHR viewed the CSSR’s invitation for community input as a superficial gesture, reflecting institutional resistance to meaningful action on social justice issues, especially given that McGill had previously initiated similar surveys without making concrete commitments to divestment. A student referendum from Fall 2023 showed 79 per cent support for the University’s divestment. This said, the administration’s injunction to prevent the policy’s ratification has only bolstered activists’ resolve.

The encampment on campus at the end of last semester highlighted strong resistance to McGill’s ties to military corporations, prompting intensified discussions on divestment and student opinions regarding the administration’s response. This encampment was established on campus for 75 days throughout the summer, rallying for Palestinian rights, until it was forcibly dismantled by police and private security hired by the university.

Social media, especially Instagram, has been pivotal for student activist groups like SPHR in spreading information about protests and rallying support on campus. Platforms like Instagram allow these groups to share updates, testimonials, and calls to action, amplifying their message within the McGill community and beyond. Hashtags like #PalestinianRights have broadened visibility, empowering activists to critique Western media narratives and address concerns about transparency. Support from groups such as the McGill Indigenous Student Alliance, Independent Jewish Voices McGill, and Divest McGill have further boosted visibility, demonstrating how solidarity among different movements on campus amplifies engagement for the Palestinian cause and strengthens the sense of community.

National and international student organizations called for a “Week of Rage” from October 7 to 11, encouraging students to walk out, rally, and disrupt classes in support of Palestinian justice. Many viewed participation as a moral obligation, framing it as essential for awareness. In response, McGill sought an injunction from the Quebec Superior Court against SPHR, granted on October 8, restricting protests near university entrances. McGill’s actions exemplify how institutions respond to student activism with legal measures, galvanizing activists further in their calls for accountability.

McGill’s Deputy Provost Angela Campbell and Vice-President Fabrice Labeau voiced concern and support for students’ protest rights, while simultaneously framing the injunction as necessary to maintain academic integrity. This mirrors broader trends across North America, where university administrations are balancing support for student activism with enforcing institutional policies. On October 7, protests also erupted at several universities in the U.S. Students from institutions including Columbia University, UC Berkeley, and others voiced opposition to administrative decisions they saw as hindrances to justice-oriented movements. At Columbia, students rallied in support of Palestinian rights, urging the administration to take a stronger stance. Similarly, at UC Berkeley, students expressed frustration with perceived inaction by their leadership, highlighting a shared tension across campuses as students continue to advocate for social justice causes despite institutional challenges.

Over the past year, student protests have highlighted a growing commitment to social justice, often in alignment with broader global movements. At McGill, organizations like SPHR have worked to sustain this momentum by collaborating with faculty initiatives such as Profs4Palestine to host public discussions and conferences. These efforts echo actions at other campuses, where student groups have united under the shared goal of advocating for Palestinian rights as part of a larger push for global justice. One activist remarked to the Daily that “being here today is about standing up for justice and showing that we won’t be silent.”

The post Student Activist Efforts A Year After October 7th appeared first on The McGill Daily.

“Overwriting Palestine: History, Genocide and Denial Today” is the title of the seventh installation of the “On Gaza” speaker series co-sponsored by the Critical Media Lab (CML) and the Research Group on Democracy, Space and Technology (RGDST). On Monday, October 10, students and faculty were invited to come listen to Dr. Ussama Makdisi talk about the importance of acknowledging the active denial and replacement of Palestinian history and the importance of promoting and supporting Palestinian narratives. Dr. Makdisi, is a Professor of History and Chancellor’s Chair at the University of California Berkeley.

Co-organizer Professor Ipek Türeli emphasized the importance for universities to have an active role in challenging dominant Western narratives. “What has been unfolding before our eyes in Gaza and now in Lebanon on media screens is not an issue that is detached from our campus, nor from our academic communities. Students and faculty demand for events such as the “On Gaza” series which are critical to imagining liberated futures for all of us.”

In the past year the whole world has witnessed the killing of an estimated 43,000 Palestinians, a majority of which are children, women and elderly, and over 2,865 Lebanese people, by the Israeli military. Scholars and media have categorized the ongoing brutal killing of Palestinians as the “first livestreamed genocide in history,” however Dr. Makdisi insisted that facts are not enough. He explained that “Calling history into question helps us understand how colonialism in the name of protecting civilization has been legitimized and what is ethically unbearable becomes morally tolerated.” The lecture he gave provided the answer, shedding light on “the ruthless double standard which underlies Western support of Zionism, with Jewish and Israeli life cherished as part of an alleged enlightened Europe after World War II, while Christian and Muslim Palestinian life and history is devalued.”

Makdisi continued his lecture by discussing the history of Palestine, the rise of Zionism and the systematic work of Western liberal leaders and thinkers for the past hundred years to not only deny Palestinians of their history, but also substitute it with Eurocentric visions and racist portrayals. He emphasized that we should go beyond obvious denial of history, and focus on what it has been substituted for. What is actually chosen to be talked about? And how does this play into the passivity we see around us?

The central issue discussed in the talk was how we approach history, emphasizing the need to recognize the instrumentalization of historical narratives and misinformation in shaping public opinion and influencing the international community’s response to the genocide in Gaza.
“The obvious reality is that long before October 7, there was October 6, and October 5, going all the way back to 1948, and before that 1917, and before that 1897 when European Jewish Zionist nationalists met in Basel to put Herzl’s vision of a Jewish State in motion […] even when they knew that there were people living on that land,” explained Dr. Makdisi.

While the Holocaust was a turning point in solidifying international sympathy to the Zionist cause and led to a massive displacement of European Jews, Dr. Makdisi pointed out that neither the U.S. or Britain allowed for big waves of migrations into their territories. Instead they pushed for European Jewish survivors to settle in Palestine in the name of “decency and humanitarianism.” This led to the 1947 UN partition plan, “which gave the Jewish minority a majority of Palestine.” The Nakba followed as a result of this partition plan, with Zionist militias expelling between 750,000 and one million Palestinians from their homelands and forcing them into refugee status.

He explained in this partition plan western leaders “rationalized the idea that the creation of a Jewish state trumped the suffering of Palestinians, and that the natives of this land were irrational, primitives, and aggressive, because they opposed what Western philosophers and politicians thought of as a fundamentally decent and good thing.” Before adding that for the next 60 to 70 years the “consistent denial of the Palestinian relation to Palestinian land and the substitution of Palestinian history with a different narrative had profoundly corrosive moral, political and ethical effects.”

Dr. Makdisi concluded his presentation by highlighting three dominant dogmas. The first is that, in the liberal West, questioning Israel as a Jewish state — regardless of its actions or history — is proscribed, as it challenges the West’s self-perception as having moved beyond its antisemitic past. The second is the philo-Zionist view of Israel as an extension of an idealized West. The third dogma is that Palestinians are increasingly erased—not only stripped of historical context but also depicted as incompatible with Western humanism. Except when they are considered “negative value” as expressed by Palestinian scholar Edward Said, and any attempt to challenge this narrative is framed as violent or antisemitic.

The lecture was aimed at helping us understand the “self-righteous morality” that has been widespread since October 7, 2023. Makdisi highlighted how despite the clear evidence of genocide most Western leaders and politicians are reluctant to acknowledge this history and condemn Israel’s genocidal actions.

Dr. Diana Allan, associate professor in Anthropology at the Institute for the Study of International Development at McGill and co-founder of the Critical Media Lab, told the Daily that “Ussama Makdisi’s scholarship has done so much to illuminate the richness of Palestinian civilization in the multireligious Ottoman Mashriqi region prior to the Nakba, and to trace how the historical arc of Zionism — a European solution to a European problem — began in racist ignorance and erasure of that world, and bends now toward its complete destruction.” She added that “his talk was a rigorously detailed reminder of the devastating cost of mainstream anti-Palestinian colonial ideology, which our governments and institutions continue to uphold.”

Another point Dr. Makdisi touched upon was the crucial role of students in the creation of new narratives. “The students in particular who have not been indoctrinated in the same way into this liberal language and narrative […] who are empathizing with people that they can see suffering, and are not overwriting that suffering with a completely ideological narrative, are outraged. And the students represent the future,” he told the audience.

Will Roberts, co-organiser alongside Professor Türeli, wrote to the Daily saying that “the importance of Dr. Makdisi’s talk — and of the “On Gaza” series in general — is that there is far too little basic truth-telling in the academy about the ongoing genocide in Gaza.” He denounced the McGill administration for making “the University into a space hostile to basic public scholarship and truth-telling, stoking people’s fears and inciting paranoia.” One example of this hostility was the vandalization of posters promoting Dr. Makdisi’s talk, even during the event itself.

“It is so clear, once you know some history, that racism, apartheid, [and] the weaponization of charges of antisemitism will not succeed in making Palestinians disappear as people, nor stop them or their allies around the world of all faiths from fighting and advocating for liberation,” Dr. Makdisi concluded. “But until that future is achieved each of us has a fundamental choice to make. Each of us has to decide on which side of history we want to stand.”

The livestream of the event is available on YouTube: www.youtube.com/live/ORq2yUC1dd0. You can follow the Critical Media Lab on social media to stay updated with their upcoming events.

The post Dr. Makdisi on Overwriting Palestine: History, Genocide and Denial Today appeared first on The McGill Daily.

Numbers and events may have changed between the time of writing and the publishing of the article

It has been one year since Hamas launched Israel’s deadliest terrorist attack, killing over 1200 Israelis and taking more than 250 hostages. The immediate Israeli military response has since devastated the Gaza Strip, displacing around 90 per cent of its population, and killing 41,788 Palestinians, according to Gaza’s health authorities. Israel has also continuously been putting pressure on neighboring countries. In the past weeks, the Israeli army has pursued increasingly violent attacks on Lebanon, severely weakening Hezbollah’s leadership, prompting Iran to retaliate with a large-scale missile strike against Israel. Meanwhile international organizations have proved incapable of bringing an end to the violence.

Despite multiple international calls for de-escalation and investigations into Israeli war crimes, Israel has continued to navigate multiple military fronts. In the past weeks, it has continued its relentless bombing of the Gaza Strip while also targeting Yemen, Syria, Iran and Lebanon. For the past three weeks, Israel has bombarded Lebanon with airstrikes, killing over 2000 people while injuring nearly 7500 others. In addition to their aerial attacks, Israel announced its decision to begin “ground operations” in Southern Lebanon, reminiscent of their invasion four decades ago. While the Israeli government’s stated goal has been to take down Hezbollah’s structural organization, calling this a “limited, localized and targeted” operation. But the reality on the ground is far from this as shown by the growing number of civilian deaths.

The tensions between the Iranian-backed Hezbollah and Israel are decades old. The militant group Hezbollah was founded in 1982, after Israel seized Lebanon, creating a humanitarian crisis in the southern part of the country. Israel has been targeting Hezbollah leadership in hopes of dismantling the organization, launching one of the most intense aerial campaigns in the Middle East within the past two decades, as Airwars, a nonprofit that monitors military conflicts on Islamic states, reported. Following Iran’s missile strike against Israel, Iranian spokeswoman Fatemeh Mohajerani, said that they are not seeking a broader regional war. However, as tensions increase between Israel, Lebanon, and Iran, hopes for de-escalation are slim.

As Israel pursued its systematic attacks on Gaza, with disregard for civilian victims and the urgent calls for humanitarian aid, the government increasingly faced criticism from its citizens and grew more and more isolated from the international community. Over the course of the year, thousands protested across Israel calling for Prime Minister Netanyahu’s resignation, and for a cease-fire allowing hostages to return home safely. From the perspective of many of these protesters, Israel’s image as a regional superpower was damaged following the October 7 attacks and their failure to safely return all the hostages. However, since the pager attacks in Lebanon, the current seems to have changed. Recent polls show that Netanyahu’s far right coalition party, Likud, is steadily recovering. The series of successful targeted attacks on leaders of Hezbollah boosted a renewed support for the offensive warfare and created a rally round- the-flag effect in favour of Netanyahu’s government.

For the past year, international organizations and world leaders have been faced with the fact that stability will not be reached unless a solution responding to both Palestinian and Israeli national aspirations is reached. Today, a negotiated settlement seems more distant than ever.

There are several reasons why ceasefire deals and talks for consensual agreements have fallen through. Democratic countries such as the US and Israel “are essential for promoting the rule of law…and for ensuring public trust in democratic systems of governance,” the UN announced in a statement. However, Israel’s impunity from its crimes against Gaza, as well as the US and Israel’s threats of retaliation against ICC and ICJ have demonstrated their lack of intention to end the war and protect human rights. Furthermore, Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu continues to launch military bombardment across Gaza, despite there being no real progress in achieving a ceasefire deal.

International structures designed to maintain international peace and security have consistently failed to effectively carry out resolutions. United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres released a statement with Al Jazeera on the failures of the Security Council to bring about political change in the region. He believes that the Security Council’s mechanisms at resolving conflict are outdated, referencing the permanent members’ veto powers and the severe obstacles it poses for action. Furthermore, if the Security Council cannot tackle the humanitarian crises that it was designed to, it hinders other UN agencies, such as the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) from completing their tasks. With the recent developments regarding Israel’s shifted focus on Lebanon and Iran, UN experts admitted that “the ballooning violence adds immensely to the instability and the ongoing suffering of civilians in the wider region, including in Palestine.”

Previous peace frameworks, such as the Oslo Accords in 1993, have been unsuccessful at mitigating tensions between Palestinian self-determination and Israel’s desire for domination. For years after the failure of the Accords became evident, the United States and other major powers took a back-seat role in possible negotiations between Palestine and Israel, allowing these tensions to worsen.

What comes next? After one year, the conflict shows no signs of ending. It seems that with US continued support of Israel, refusing to restrict its weapons shipments, alongside Hezbollah’s commitment to continue attacks on Israel until a Gaza ceasefire is achieved; and the ongoing collapse of ceasefire negotiations in Gaza the situation won’t change.

This has also been a year of student uprisings, protests and counter protests. Students in Montreal have been relentlessly organizing marches and protest in solidarity with Gaza and now Lebanon, continuing to call upon the government and university administrations to divest from Israel and recognize the ongoing genocide. Additionally, the Palestinian Youth Movement, alongside other student led organizations held marches commemorating “One Year of Genocide, One Year of Resistance” from October 5 to 7.

On October 5 the Palestinian Youth Movement called for an International Day of Action. Thousands of people marched in over 50 cities across the US and Canada to mark one year of mobilization and solidarity with the people of Palestine and Lebanon, Syria, Yemen and all those victims of Israel’s violent attacks. Here in Montreal thousands met on Place des Arts. Students and Professors from McGill, Concordia and other institutions joined the rally to the rhythm of drums and slogans. Amongst the speakers was activist Katsi’tsakwas Ellen Gabriel. She spoke out to the crowd, denouncing the genocide, celebrating the strength of students and others to stand together, and reaffirming the shared struggle of Indigenous peoples and Palestinians against colonial oppression and occupation. “We see, as Indigenous people, commonalities between our struggles. We know what genocide is like. Our people united, our people are strong in standing with Palestine” she said. For hours, the steps and slogans resonated through the streets of downtown until Atwater, reminding the world that “the people united will never be defeated”

As a response to the different calls to mobilize McGill and Concordia have decided to restrict access to their campuses. At the time of writing, it has been communicated with students that access to the downtown campus until October 7 will require a McGill ID or a permission letter for visitors to enter. They justified these measures to “prioritize the stable continuation of critical academic activities at a time when there is an elevated potential for disruption” even if there have been no threats to physical safety.

Students at McGill and in the Montreal community at large have displayed their solidarity with the Lebanese people. On October 1, Students for Palestine’s Honour and Resistance (SPHR) McGill and Concordia alongside other student-led groups held a vigil for Lebanon on the campus lower field. Speakers were students from McGill and Concordia, and professor Michelle Hartman reading out a poem written by professor Rula Abisaab. Around 100 students gathered, with candles and Palestinian flags being held next to Lebanese ones. Speakers later condemned the systematic violence carried out against Lebanese people and the genocide in Gaza, while praising the power of resistance and the sustained need for solidarity and collective actions.

A member of Montreal’s Lebanese community has shared their perspective on issues ensuing back home. “As a Lebanese student living in Canada, I can share that many of us are deeply concerned about the ongoing threat in southern Lebanon, even though we’re miles away,” said Sarah Tehini, a U1 Computer Engineering student at McGill. “The situation with Israel is something we’ve grown up hearing about, but now it feelslike things could escalate at any moment.” She expressed concerns about the future state of Lebanon if Israel proceeds with its current military tactics. “We worry about being able to visit home, or if there will even be a ‘home’ to return to. There’s this overwhelming sense of uncertainty about whether Lebanon will ever find stability again, and it’s heartbreaking,” she said on behalf of herself and other Lebanese students in her community.

In light of Tehini’s worries, she still believes there is room for hope. “Despite everything, the resilience of the Lebanese people keeps us hopeful. No matter how much we’ve been through, our love for our country keeps us holding on to hope for a better future,” she concluded.

The post An Analysis of Israel’s Actions Since October 7 appeared first on The McGill Daily.

Pow Wows are colourful celebrations gathering First Nations communities. Deeply rooted in the traditions of Indigenous peoples in North America, they allow individuals to socialize, dance, and sing whilst honouring their cultures.

Dancers flowed into the centre of the Fieldhouse during the Grand Entry and MCs Lance Delisle and Marie-Celine Charron delivered their opening remarks. Flags including that of the Haudenosaunee Confederacy were pinned up and honored. The participants at the event could not be more eager to kick off the day.

The agenda outlined a variety of cultural dancing such as Haudenosaunee social dancing and Métis jigging. People gathered around to watch performances of Inuit throat singing and drumming by the RedTail Spirit Singers, Ottawa River Singers, SpiritWind, and Spirit Wolf. Indigenous peoples of different Nations were encouraged to join in on the celebrations of culture. Dozens of vendors lined the walls of the Fieldhouse selling jewelry and fundraising for causes like Native Montreal, an organization that offers health and support services to Indigenous communities in the greater Montreal area.

The McGill Pow Wow provided non-Indigenous peoples with the opportunity to experience unique Indigenous traditions first-hand, serving as a valuable moment for cultural education. Attendees were encouraged to join in at many moments to learn dancing techniques. The Pow Wow conveyed to non-Indigenous peoples the importance of Indigenous heritage preservation, which was expressed by a first-year McGill student to The Daily after witnessing the Jingle dance. This was her first Pow Wow.

“There are so many dimensions to Indigenous culture that I am being introduced to today. Being in the presence of so many people [who are] willing to share their culture with others so openly is a gift,” she said.

Even members of the Indigenous community were impressed by the collective displays of culture. Kona Slays, an Indigenous entrepreneur of the fashion brand Love, Koko, took home first prize at the Ribbon Skirt special. She expressed to The Daily her excitement surrounding the Indigenous participants.

“My favorite event was the Jingle dancing,” Slays said. “I didn’t know that there were so many dancers!” She was rewarded $500 for her teal ribbon skirt.

Ribbon skirts represent the sacredness of womanhood and strength in many Indigenous cultures across North America. Named for the colourful rows of ribbons sewn along the bottom hem of the skirt, they have evolved into symbols of remembrance for the Missing and Murdered Indigenous women.

While an opportunity for commemoration and celebration, this year’s Pow Wow was also tinged with irony as the university fights the Kanien’kehá:ka Kahnistensera (Mohawk Mothers) in court over the possible presence of unmarked graves on the site of The Royal Victoria Hospital.

Mohawk Mothers were present at the Pow Wow as well, highlighting above all the resilience of the Indigenous community and the importance of healing on Kanien’kehà:ka land.

The post Colourful Celebrations: McGill’s 23rd Annual Pow Wow appeared first on The McGill Daily.

Since the accreditation Association of McGill Professors of Law (AMPL) in 2022, there has yet to be collective agreement between AMPL and McGill. The AMPL has repeatedly received pushback from McGill for requesting involvement in faculty governance and more clarity.

McGill administration has been outwardly uncooperative, aiming to dissolve the association rather than collaborate with it. Throughout the summer break, McGill administrators avoided negotiation. In fact, McGill breached the labor code by failing to appear in court to negotiate on August 30, 2024, and has refused to acknowledge the reality of unionization at McGill. When attempts to negotiate were made, they were often not in “good faith,” said Kirsten Anker, AMPL Vice President. Nevertheless, she has newfound optimism that the bargaining unit is finally being heard.

“Our strike action, and public media campaign, have been focused on this issue since the end of August, and I think in the last week the message has been heard,” said Anker. “The Provost has indicated that he now sees a path forward to dropping the judicial review, and has initiated discussions to that end with AMPL.”

Leading up to this development, McGill challenged the accreditation of AMPL as a proper bargaining unit via judicial review, even though AMPL’s requests are not extraordinary. AMPL simply aims to serve as a voice for the faculty in governing themselves the way they feel is right, and improving clarity in this decision- making process. Rather than complying or negotiating, McGill has further increased its lack of transparency and accountability. AMPL claims: “The real objective [for McGill] is not fewer unions, but none.”

McGill’s refusal to work with AMPL has hurt students in the Law Faculty. With suspended classes, transcript delays, and difficulties processing job applications and scholarships, McGill’s Law students are beginning to get restless. Students are unsure if this semester will even happen at all, as many have signed new leases, uprooting their lives in exchange for zero stability or assurance in their education.

Vice President External of the Law Students Association (LSA), Julien Bérubé, has also expressed concern about the effects of the strike on the students. He explained, “Those who are feeling the brunt of the effects of the strike are the students, strangely, the only ones who have nothing to gain from this conflict.” While the community has been working together to preserve some form of education, and non-unionized instructors continue to teach their classes, many students remain unsure about the future.

“We feel like collateral damage in a conflict where we have nothing to gain,” said Bérubé.

It is not just Faculty of Law students that need to worry about these repercussions, but all the students of McGill. The creation of new unions at McGill will form ripples at the university-wide level. Both the Arts and Education faculties have formed their own associations — the Association of McGill Professors of the Faculty of Arts (AMPFA) and the Association of McGill Professors of Education (AMPE), respectively — and are gaining insight from AMPL on tips to earn accreditation, Anker shared. When an association is accredited, it is legally considered a “bargaining unit” or a union. If a faculty association does not have accreditation, it doesn’t hold any power, making it critical for AMPL to maintain its accredited status despite the McGill administration’s wishes. While such advancements are a sign of hope for many professors, students like Bérubé fear for the future of their academic experience.

“As professors’ unions are [being created] in the Faculties of Arts and Education, I can only warn my fellow students about the impacts of a potential strike, as we are still living with the impacts of this one,” noted Bérubé.

AMPL, however, does not view the spread of faculty unions in the same light. Rather than fearing the impacts of a strike, there is an understanding that mass unionization is necessary in order to push the McGill administration to properly negotiate. McGill has chosen to maintain its own power instead of prioritizing the education of its students, despite the implications of the administration’s stalling in negotiation efforts.

“While it may be difficult for students to focus on anything other than the way a strike interrupts your studies and impacts you personally, I encourage you to think about yourself as a member of this community too, rather than just a paying customer,” urges Anker. “Right now, we are fighting to preserve and foster important aspects of the university that make it worth working and studying in.”

The post AMPL Remain on Strike, Hoping to Arrange a Deal with McGill appeared first on The McGill Daily.

As McGill celebrates its 14th Indigenous Awareness Week, post-secondary institutions in Montreal are taking steps toward addressing disparities for Indigenous students in higher education. This is particularly evident in Concordia’s tuition exemption, announced last month, and the Dawson Student Union’s petition to exempt Indigenous students from Law 14.

These actions reflect the efforts to address the Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s ninth call to action, where the federal government reports on the fiscal parity in education. They also address the need to close the education gap for Indigenous students and non- Indigenous students, including Indigenous students on and off reservations, as exhibited in the eighth call to action.

Starting this fall, Concordia will be addressing the 10th call of adequately funding education for Indigenous students. McGill announced a similar policy in June where the university would cover tuition fees for Indigenous students from nearby First Nation communities. However, Concordia is the first to implement its policy across the province. In this policy, the school mitigates fiscal barriers to post-secondary education by exempting Indigenous students in Quebec from tuition fees. This includes those who live remotely, such as in fly-in communities, as well as those inhabiting urban communities. Canadian post- secondary institutions outside Quebec have implemented similar tuition waivers, notably Humber College, the University of Toronto, and the University of Waterloo.

While fiscal barriers to educational equity are being reduced, the same cannot be said in terms of language. Last month, the student union at Dawson College (DSU), an English-language CEGEP, petitioned for the exemption of Indigenous students from the additional language requirements enforced by Law 14. According to this law, all students enrolled in an anglophone CEGEP must take an exit exam in French and take additional French courses, deterring Indigenous students from pursuing post- secondary studies according to the DSU. These requirements force Indigenous students to choose between attending these post-secondary institutions or learning and preserving their own languages and cultural identities.

Mia Fischlin, the Administrative Student Affairs Coordinator in the Indigenous Studies Program, further affirmed that settlers imposed their languages on Indigenous peoples and “under no circumstances should another colonial language still be enforced.” Considering many Indigenous students are learning French as their third language, they face additional barriers compared to their francophone and anglophone peers. Many Indigenous students say they will not continue employing the language after graduation as they plan to return to their communities or work in Indigenous organizations. Thus, as French may not coincide with their future professional and cultural paths, “learning French, for many Indigenous people, is a form of assimilation,” Fischlin said.

Other barriers to Indigenous youth’s involvement in CEGEP include Law 14’s admissions cap and prioritization of students with certificates to be taught in English. While Indigenous students may be exempt from the language exam, it is unlikely that they can avoid additional French courses, demonstrating the Bill’s lack of Indigenous consultation regarding equitable exemptions.

This lack of awareness of the plurality in our education system was exemplified in Fischlin’s account of her time at McGill, where Indigenous peoples such as her own family members were excluded from academic discourses due to their time in residential schools. These institutions were created by the church and the Canadian government to assimilate generations of Indigenous children into a homogenous Canadian population. As a result, Indigenous students face different obstacles than their peers which extend to post-secondary education, a discrepancy that the Truth and Reconciliation Commission addresses.

Moreover, the Dawson Student Union plans to take their petition to exempt Indigenous students from Law 14’s language requirements to the National Assembly of Quebec. Criticism of the law has also stemmed from other English CEGEP institutions who have contacted Quebec Premier François Legault to address these discrepancies in consultation with Indigenous peoples. This exemplifies the need in Quebec’s bilingualism to address the plurality of Indigenous peoples in the province.

According to Fischlin, it is important to “account [for] the reality of all the people living in so-called Canada.” Until then, she believes our education system remains an extension of settler- colonialism as it “overwhelmingly favours settler histories.”

The post Post-Secondary Institutions’ Efforts in Mitigating Barriers to Education for Indigenous Students appeared first on The McGill Daily.

Fitznor is a longtime advocate for Indigenous perspectives and ideas in the classroom. She has worked with the University of Manitoba and the University of Toronto to expand positions and programs dedicated to Indigenous education. Her work was recently published in Land as Relation: Teaching and Learning through Place, People, and Practices for her essay focused on the importance of Indigenous stories and land rights to teaching in a way that supports the next generations of Indigenous students.

She has emphasized the importance of dedicated teams led by Indigenous people. Her belief is that universities must “ensure there’s a strong administrative support,” and if a team focused on Indigenous education “doesn’t have equal profile to other units, bring up that profile.”

Indigenous Awareness Week at McGill is a reminder of the work that Montreal universities must do to uplift Indigenous students and faculty. Over the summer, McGill announced a new tuition initiative that would cover educational finances for its Indigenous students, and just last week, Concordia University followed suit by revealing its own plans to waive tuition for Indigenous students in most degree programs.

In reaction to these shifts, Fitznor stressed that championing Indigenous ideas and implementing supportive policies should happen at every level. Describing her time as a lecturer at the University of Manitoba, she highlighted the motivation her faculty had for creating progress and how this spurred important change.

“We shouldn’t have to wait for the province to tell us to do this,” Fitznor urged. “Let’s do it because it’s the right thing to do for the heart and the body of the land.”
Fiznor’s concept of “change” refers to the gains that not only educational institutions must make, but also broader, societal shifts towards a future that rewrites its colonial history. Fitznor believes that such changes should happen at all levels of influence, from students to the highest levels of government. Student involvement can look like taking classes that emphasize Indigenous perspectives. At the faculty level, this means making sure every student has access to coursework that engages with Indigenous ideas and practices.

In terms of subject material that students learn at their universities, Fitznor believes being truly educated on Indigenous intersectionality is to “make sure that for every discipline there should be aboriginal perspectives of that discipline.”

Not every program currently emphasizes this at McGill. For Sophie Ou, a McGill accounting student who attended the event, Indigenous education rarely comes up in her courses.
“In my faculty right now, it’s a lot of internships, a lot of networking,” Ou described. “If I hadn’t had that push from my professor, then I wouldn’t have been able to experience this very moving moment where I get to learn more.” Ou attended the event for a course assignment, but expressed that it made her want to continue to learn about Indigenous education beyond her coursework.

Additionally, Manola Sob, a McGill psychology student who also attended the lecture, underscored that events like this inspire her to take action.
“It makes me want to learn more and do more,” Sob said.

In Canada, non-Indigenous youth were nearly twice as likely to complete a university degree compared to Indigenous youth as of 2023. To Fitznor, much of the disparity in education relates to a lack of representation of Indigenous topics in the classroom. “How do we get the university to change if we don’t know who we are?” Fitznor questioned, in reference to the lack of space for conversations about Indigenous identity in university spaces that often exists.

Otsi’tsaken:ra, a faithkeeper, started the event by sharing Indigenous teachings and explaining how they are integral to Indigenous rights and representation going forward.
“What we do today will affect our children seven generations in the future,” he said, echoing generations of Elders.

As it is McGill’s 14th Indigenous Awareness Week, Otsi’tsaken:ra described the importance of events like this at universities considering the historical erasure of Indigenous perspectives.
“I’m just happy that they’re doing something like this,” Otsi’tsaken:ra reflected. “For 100 years, nobody cared, including universities.”

Otsi’tsaken:ra has spoken at Montreal universities for decades. He says that speaking about Indigenous ways expands knowledge. For the future, he emphasized the power of spreading awareness.“Keep talking about our ways, keep sharing the knowledge,” Otsi’tsaken:ra emphasized. “Keep feeling the feeling of what our ways talk about.”

For Fitznor, impact is paramount for creating a better future for Indigenous education.
“Don’t just come and listen,” Fitznor advocated. “What do you do with what you learn?”

The post Dr. Laara Fitznor Urges Universities to Feature Indigenous Perspectives in Education at Indigenous Awareness Week Talk appeared first on The McGill Daily.

The commitment to exploring divestment from weapons companies comes as part of an offer that Saini claims to have made to representatives of the encampment. 

“This decision was taken as a result of discussions with (members of the encampment and) the broader McGill community who have asked us to move forward with this commitment that reflects our values and reinforces inclusion, stability and cohesion within our campus,” McGill’s Media Relations Office (MRO) told the Daily in an email.

The MRO added that “The McGill community can be expected to be consulted on this issue in the fall.” In December, McGill’s Committee on Sustainability and Social Responsibility (CSSR) will compile a report exploring “the question of divestment” and present it to the Board of Governors.  In addition to examining divestment, Saini pledged to fund two scholars “directly affected by the ongoing crisis in the Middle East,” and disclose McGill’s investments under $500,000, which were not previously disclosed.

Representatives of the encampment were not satisfied with this offer. In a statement by Solidarity for Palestinian Human Rights (SPHR) and Independent Jewish Voices (IJV) McGill and Concordia, the organizations declared that this offer “falls short of the student body’s clear demand for material change.” They believe that by delegating this responsibility to a committee, the administration is trying to use bureaucracy to delay taking action in the hope that students will forget. They also called out the hypocrisy of McGill’s promise to fund scholars at risk while the university continues to invest in companies supplying the weapons being used in Israel’s genocide.

Furthermore, these representatives allege that McGill did not approach their negotiations in good faith. They claim that the McGill administration did not show up to scheduled meetings, and messaged individual students as an attempt to seemingly isolate the representatives. McGill, on the other hand, stated that they have “made substantial offers on many occasions, yet encampment representatives have declared their demands non-negotiable.” When the Daily requested the administration’s internal correspondences regarding the negotiations process, the documents were withheld to “protect professional secrecy.”

Emily, a founding member of Students for Peace and Disarmament who was heavily involved in campaigns for divestment from weapons manufacturers and fossil fuels, echoed SPHR and IJV’s doubts. Emily is “pessimistic that McGill’s exploration of divestment from weapons manufacturers will lead to any meaningful change without students making it happen themselves.” 

Investment in weapons manufacturers has long been a concern of McGill students, according to Emily. During the Vietnam War, students protested McGill’s involvement in weapon manufacturing, making it the only Canadian university on the CIA watchlist. In 1988, McGill imposed regulations on military-funded research, however these were repealed in 2009. In recent years, SSMU has passed both the Policy on Harmful Military Technology and the Divest for Human Rights Policy as a result of student advocacy, affirming their commitment to advocating for both divestment from weapons manufacturers and Israeli apartheid.

“Divestment from the military industrial complex cannot be separated from divestment in other instances, including in Palestine [and] other areas McGill is complicit in,” said Emily.

In November, the Daily reported that McGill invested at least $7 million in the top 100 arms-producing companies of 2022, most of which have ties to the Israeli military. As all investment amounts are now disclosed, the Daily found that investments in those same companies now exceed $10 million as of June 30 ($10,612,400), increasing by 29 per cent from June 2023 ($8,212,896.63). 

Through Access to Information requests, the Daily has been able to track the exact amount invested in these arms-producing companies since June 2023, as shown in the graph. Investments in some companies, such as Moog, Thales, Dassault, and Airbus, have decreased since June 2023. However, investments in companies with clear ties to the Israeli Defence Force, such as BAE Systems and Textron, have increased by over 100 per cent.

The CSSR advises McGill’s Board of Governors on matters of social responsibility relating to their investments. They are responsible for assessing whether a legal entity causes “social injury,” which they define as activities that “violate or frustrate the enforcement of rules of domestic or international law intended to protect individuals against deprivation of health, safety, or basic freedoms, or to protect the natural environment.” However, the CSSR’s definition emphasizes that “a legal person shall not be deemed to cause “social injury” simply because it does business with other legal persons which are themselves engaged in socially injurious activities.” This definition could therefore exclude many institutions, such as banks with investments in weapons manufacturing, that students are calling on the university to divest from in addition to weapons manufacturers. 

From their experience as a student organizer, Emily emphasized the importance for McGill students and community members calling for divestment from weapons manufacturers to continue to make their voices heard to the administration.

“Without pressure from a united McGill community, McGill’s “explorations” will get swept under the rug,” they warned.

The post McGill Commits to “Exploring” Divestment from Weapons Manufacturers Amid Pressure to Divest from Israeli Apartheid appeared first on The McGill Daily.

The demands of the encampment were as follows:

• Disclose: The McGill Board of Governors and the Concordia Investments Committee must fully disclose all investments in companies complicit in the genocide of the Palestinian people.
• Divest: McGill and Concordia must fully divest from all complicit companies and cut academic ties with Israeli institutions.
• Defend: The universities shall not pursue disciplinary charges against students taking action in support of Palestine; and will drop any pending charges against students.
• Declare: The universities must issue a statement condemning the genocide against the Palestinian people and pressure the Canadian government to cease all military contracts with Israel.

Beyond McGill, student activists across the world have taken initiative to hold their universities accountable and to pressure administrations to not only disclose their investments but also divest from funding Israeli apartheid. The Daily has compiled a list of major developments this summer concerning the student encampment in solidarity with Palestine at McGill. 

It is crucial to follow events happening on the ground in Gaza, as these directly inform why students are mobilizing in North America. We recommend following Palestinian journalists reporting on the ground, like +972 Magazine, as well as broadcast channels such as Let’s Talk Palestine for more comprehensive updates.

An encampment is organized by McGill and Concordia students on McGill’s lower field, becoming one of the first Canadian universities to do so. The students plan to remain indefinitely at the encampment until McGill agrees to divest. 

Despite McGill’s administration requests to remove the tents, the students refuse. Fabrice Labeau sends out an email stating that the protest is currently peaceful.  

After two days, the encampment triples in size as members in the community rally around the student protestors. McGill security tells students that they “have no right to be here,” threatening to use other options to dismantle the encampment. 

Labeau sends an email out stating that the administration “saw video evidence of some people using unequivocally antisemitic language and intimidating behaviour.”  

President Deep Saini announces that the encampment has become unsafe with “hateful rhetoric” being “flagrantly used.” McGill announces that they are trying to de-escalate the protests and demonstrations, but the students remain adamant in their occupation on campus. 

Two McGill students attempt to file an injunction request against the encampment, asking  to ban protests within 100 meters of McGill buildings for a 10-day period. They claim that words circulating around and within the encampment were creating a hostile and unsafe environment. 

Judge Chantal Masse rejects the injunction made by the McGill students, stating insufficient evidence of urgency or danger to students’ access to McGill buildings.

In an email, Saini upholds that dismantling the encampment is “non-negotiable,” offering to hold a forum with students to discuss their demands in exchange for leaving the encampment. 

At this time, Montreal Police has received McGill’s request for assistance with the encampment, but have yet to make a decision. 

A counter-protest in support of Israel is organized on Sherbrooke, leading to heavy police presence on campus and the closure of the Roddick Gates entrance. The counter-protest lasts for a few hours, and there are no major escalations between the two groups.

Quebec Premier François Legault comes out with a statement claiming that the encampment is illegal, and that the police must move in and dismantle it. 

SPHR, IJV, Profs4Palestine, and the Mohawk Mothers hold a press conference in the encampment. Students explain that they have presented their demands to the university and are waiting on a concrete plan for divestment. Until such an agreement is met, they will continue to maintain the encampment. 

At this press conference, students reveal that McGill has been instructing their security to restrict certain basic necessities from entering the camp, such as porta-potties and COVID-19 masks. 

McGill University requests an injunction to remove the encampment by use of the SPVM, and they announce that convocation ceremonies will be moved from the lower field. In their request they refer to the encampment as a “fortress” and a “village,” with “occupants” posing safety and health risks. 

Students hold another press conference affirming that they will not move until their demands are met. 

After filing for an injunction, McGill goes to court against the encampment. 

Court documents reveal that McGill previously asked the SPVM to intervene, but the SPVM refused and asked the university to resolve the situation peacefully.

Nakba Day marks the 76th year of the Nakba.

Quebec Superior Court Justice Marc St-Pierre denies McGill’s injunction request, describing it as “ill-founded” and suggesting that the school modify it to refile. 

Montreal activists glue childrens’ shoes and red paint to the steps of the Arts Building to honour the Palestinian children killed by Israel, whose deaths they view McGill as complicit in.

McGill files its second injunction against the encampment, arguing under the basis of legal rights and claiming the campus as private property. Talks between administration and students within the encampment are revealed to have halted after McGill filed for its first injunction. 

Saini publishes an op-ed in the Montreal Gazette arguing that the McGill encampment “isn’t a peaceful protest; it’s an unlawful occupation.” He states that the university and the protestors have tried to reach a mutual understanding, but the “occupants continue to eschew meaningful conversation.” 

To celebrate its 30th day, members of the encampment organize a day of family-friendly workshops, art, and teach-ins for the community. Activities include a “Mapping Palestine” workshop for kids; a talk from Michelle Hartman and Malek Abisaab about their book What the War Left Behind: Women’s Stories of Resistance and Struggle in Lebanon; a photo exhibition from the early days of the encampment; and a teach-in on the history of Palestinian student activism at McGill by SPHR.

Students organize a banner drop on the construction site of the Sylvan Adams Sports Science Institute, an institute funded by billionaire and self-appointed “ambassador for Israel” Sylvan Adams. According to SPHR McGill, two people nearby were arrested.

Saini sends out an email update condemning several actions of the encampment, such as protesting outside of Angela Campbell’s house and setting a table of rotten food for the McGill Office of Investments. He admits that while the university has asked the SPVM to “take every action possible under the law” to dismantle the encampment, the SPVM have refused. He emphasizes that while McGill “offered to examine divestment from companies whose revenues largely come from weapons”, it will continue to take a so-called “neutral institutional stance”.

Naksa Day marks 57 years since the Naksa or the “setback,” when Israel seized the West Bank, East Jerusalem, and Gaza, which displaced 300,000 Palestinians.

The McGill Hunger Strike officially ends, with strikers saying that they “are no longer willing to risk our lives and bodies for the genocidal killing machine known as McGill.”

Student protestors barricade themselves inside of the James Administration building as a result of McGill’s continued investments in genocide and in response to calls to escalate for Rafah. 

Police arrive on the scene, using tear gas and pepper spray on the protesters while also charging at them with shields pushing them away from the building and toward the Roddick Gates. The protesters are escorted from the building, and police say arrests will be made. 

The Montreal Police arrest 15 people involved in the James Administration building occupation; 13 on the account of entering and breaking, and two for interfering with police officers. 

McGill makes an amnesty offer to the protestors in the encampment. Their offer proposes to review and explore new options for divestment from weapons manufacturers. The university will also grant disciplinary amnesty to participants, student or employee, in the encampment if they leave by June 16. This pardon will not extend to acts committed during the James Administration building occupation and barricade. 

McGill says they will disclose direct equity and fixed income investments below $500,000 and create a mandate to support Palestinian scholarship at McGill. 

Solidarity for Palestinian Human Rights (SPHR) creates a post advertising a “youth summer program.” McGill denounces the post as the image contains individuals holding assault rifles. The program seeks to inform on resistance movements against Israel’s genocide of Palestinians.  

McGill ends its negotiations with encampment protesters, saying that the protesters have rejected their offers of amnesty. Saini says the university will pursue disciplinary action. 

In Saini’s statement he claims the encampment has “maintained that their demands are non-negotiable while accusing the university of unwillingness to engage in fair discussions.” The proposed offer on June 11 was rejected with protesters saying they won’t leave the encampment until the university cuts all investments connected to Israel. 

McGill closes its campus, using private security guards to dismantle the encampment during the night. Protestors are escorted off the lower-field while workers hired by the university clear away the tents, signs, and tarps. Saini states that “this camp was not a peaceful protest,” but a “a heavily fortified focal point for intimidation and violence.” The McGill encampment was the last encampment remaining in Quebec, as those erected at Université du Quebec à Montréal (UQAM), Université de Sherbrooke, Université Laval, and in Square Victoria had all been taken down.

The post Unfolding the McGill Encampment appeared first on The McGill Daily.

McGill’s President and Vice-Chancellor Deep Saini has explained how this has come about as “the Quebec government has confirmed it is unwilling to reconsider the changes to tuition and financing for students from outside of Quebec,” adding that “we have no choice but to take extraordinary action.” 

In February, Quebec announced its intention to raise tuition fees for out of province students from the current minimum of $8,992 to $12,000. This comes alongside a requirement for 80 per cent of students to achieve French conversational proficiency by graduation. 

Following an announcement on February 15, the university mentioned how it has issued a stay, which hopes to stall the implementation of the two measures “while the court considers the challenge,” mentioning how it is a violation of both the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms as well as The Quebec Charter of Human Rights and Freedoms. At the forefront of McGill’s legal battle is lawyer Pearl Eliadis, who mentions how Quebec’s government measures focus on “differential treatment, the discriminatory treatment [and] the attacks on major institutions” in an interview with CBC. She added that “they [McGill and Concordia] have been very valuable to the province of Quebec.” 

Quebec ministers have played key roles in the lawsuit against McGill, with the university announcing how the measures are “an unreasonable exercise of power by the Minister of Higher Education since they were incompatible with the mission assigned to her.” Pascale Déry, the Minister of Higher Education in Quebec has been focal in Quebec’s attack on English language institutes, initially proposing that out-of-province tuition be increased to $17,000 in October 2023. 

SSMU Arts Representative Rishi Kalaga, who is also Chair of SSMU’s Combatting the Tuition Hike Committee, noted how “the tuition hikes will severely harm daily life at McGill by bringing on funding cuts and hiring freezes.” He expressed support for McGill’s lawsuit as  “[t]he Quebec government does not seem to be listening to our calls to repeal the new measures so I think the best course of action to take from here is to take the issue to the courts.” 

SSMU adopted a ‘Motion Regarding action against tuition hikes,’ approved on January 18 which includes two appendices outlining their plan to fight the tuition hikes. Appendix I states how “[t]he SSMU will continue to explore the ways in which these tuition hikes can be opposed” through “mobilisation and protest movements.” Appendix II establishes the formation of the Combatting the Tuition Hike Committee. 

Due to the issue being “before the courts,” the Quebec government has failed to respond to the concerns of McGill or Concordia, adding to confusion. 

Concordia joins McGill’s decision to sue the Quebec Government, filing a separate lawsuit, where, unlike McGill, it wishes to also challenge the 80 per cent French conversational proficiency hallmark set for Concordia students as well as the out of province tuition hikes. In an opinion piece for the Montreal Gazette, President Graham Carr stated “From Day 1, it has been obvious that the government is improvising — never presenting accurate data to support its claim, refusing to engage in respectful dialogue or constructive consultation.” 

Bursaries have been introduced as a mitigation measure for McGill and Concordia students, with McGill proposing a ‘Canada Award’ of $3,000 for 80 per cent of incoming undergraduate students to bring the tuition rate closer to its current rate of $9,000. Arts, Agricultural and Environmental Sciences, Music, Education, Nursing, and Architecture departments are all eligible. Saini mentioned in a press release how “offering this award will require the university to make financial sacrifices,” yet the question remains: where will these sacrifices come from and what form they will take? 

SSMU’s motion mentions how sacrifices may come in the form of “enrollment and revenue drops, program cuts, layoffs and major reductions in the varsity teams,” having collateral effects in almost all areas of McGill. McGill’s budget for 2023-2024 creates a larger shadow of doubt of whether financing such an ambitious bursary program will be possible, with the university already in substantial long-term debt of $1.28 billion.

The Daily reached out to Liam Gaither, SSMU Vice-President External Affairs , on the topic of the financial sacrifices which McGill will be hit with. Gaither mentioned how “[t]he university will have to make a lot of cuts in all areas of the institution” . One particular area which Gaither focused on was the fact that there will be “no floor fellows” next year as a result of persistent cuts, causing further difficulty for incoming undergraduates. He hoped to reassure these students by mentioning that “the McGill degree’s prestige still remains intact, although one suspects that it will undergo some degradation if these measures are successful.” 

Concordia has already reported a 27 per cent decline in out of province applicants for the coming academic semester, while McGill reports a decline of 20 per cent for Fall 2024 and Winter 2025 with the fallout from these tuition hikes already visible. It remains to be seen what result the lawsuit will bring about. Yet, it is clear that anglophone institutions are not backing down, with Pearl Elliadis mentioning how Quebec’s measures “from a legal perspective raise some very serious questions.”

The post McGill versus Quebec appeared first on The McGill Daily.