The room was dark, yet the four projection sheets standing in a square-like formation in the center of the room formed a bright light, impossible to overlook. Changing images and video clips flashed on the screen and commanded my gaze – an athlete in a basketball jersey dancing in a gymnasium, men laughing around a small table, a person in a navy blue suit and red tie speaking directly to the camera. A pulsing, quick beat accompanied the images, propelling them forward and adding an exciting energy to the footage.

Vietnamese-Canadian artist Tam Khoa Vu first drew inspiration for his immersive installation by talking to a group of Vietnamese diaspora who were living in Vietnam at the time. In an interview with the Daily, Vu said that “we were talking a little bit about this dual identity of belonging and also not belonging in Vietnam, and belonging maybe to whatever Western parts of the world we had originated from.” He explained that the term “condition” appealed to him because of its connotation of a “sickness.” He said, “It’s almost a little bit tongue in cheek, you know? There’s a little bit of this melancholia or sadness that can occur when reflecting on identity […] but it’s not entirely just trauma and pain […] it can be joy, also.”

Vu explained that at the surface level,  “hybrid condition” is “a cool sounding phrase that comes from different aesthetic backgrounds,” and that when you peel back the layers, “you can find deeper meaning to it.” This idea reflects the nature of Vu’s installation. At first glance, the viewer is attracted to the video installation and its fast moving images “like a moth to the light,” Vu said. “But once you sit with the work and experience the work, you realize all of the layers and what it does [on a deeper level].”

At first, Vu began creating Hybrid Condition to represent the Vietnamese diaspora within the world of fine and contemporary arts. Vu told the Daily that his name is “so front and center” to “show other Vietnamese people [and] other Asian people the possibilities within the contemporary arts world.” In developing his installation, Vu also imagined his 12-year-old self viewing his work. He said, “when I was 12 years old, I didn’t have role models to look up to. I had Jackie Chan and Bruce Lee […] and they’re not even Vietnamese.” Vu explained that there is nothing wrong with appreciating such figures, but that it “felt very limiting.” He added, “I like Kung Fu, sure, but I also like fashion, I also like shoes, you know?” Because Vu did not know other Asian or Vietnamese designers when he was a child, he wishes to be such a role model for youth today.

Vu is open to criticism. In fact, he encourages it from young people of colour as an avenue to create “space for the diaspora” in the arts world. He told the Daily, “If some 12-year-old looks at my project and is like, ‘wow, that is so whack, I can do that better,’ for me, that’s also incredible. It’s like, ‘go on, go do something that you want.’”

Vu’s installation does not only speak to diasporic populations or people of colour. Vu said, “I realized that I don’t need to tell a Vietnamese-Canadian, or a Vietnamese-American, or an Asian-American, or a Black-American, what it means to be othered […] because we know what feeling othered feels like.” Vu gives “110 per cent” of himself into his installation, and he wants “white people to feel 10 per cent of what it feels like to be othered.” If white people can feel even five per cent, Vu told the Daily, “I would feel like this installation has succeeded.”

To draw in a wide breadth of audiences, Vu works to create an inclusive gallery space. “I want to create a space that my mom can go to and understand, but also that is equally fresh, that your Mile-Ender can also appreciate.” One way in which Vu approaches this is through using modern digital platforms that can appeal to numerous demographics. His installation includes video extracts projected on four different screens, playing in a loop and at differing times, so that each visitor will have a unique experience.

When asked where he sourced the video footage, Vu told the Daily that much of his footage comes from memes online. He said that he “conducted a lot of that research the way a lot of people conduct their research – first thing in the morning, when you wake up and crack open Instagram.” He started saving numerous memes, and soon, individuals began sending Vu memes as well. Vu also shot a large part of the footage himself; one screen of footage is entirely shot by Vu in Vietnam.

Vu also uses social media as an “artistic vision” and as a “marketing tool” for his work. In addition to his visual artwork and his current installation, Vu is the founder of an import business, TKV Fine Arts & Financial Arts. The business subtly challenges perceptions of Vietnamese culture by giving new meaning to apparel and objects commonly found in Vietnam, such as grocery bags, sandals, and blue-collar workwear. Vu told the Daily that he uses his e-commerce business “as a vehicle for storytelling” to explain to his audiences why these common garments are important. Through his social media usage, Vu can market both his art installation and his business. He said, “When I have marketing and hype for the business, it channels into the artwork, and the artworks also feed into my art practice.”

In an interview with The Creative Independent, Vu said, “I don’t want to go to bed on Sunday just being afraid of Monday. Life can pass you by in that way.” Vu told the Daily that this mentality still informs his work today. Vu stated that he is “unabashedly” himself, and that his sincerity and upfrontness inform his work. He said that “a lot of Asian-Canadian people are typically seen as ‘timid,’ and ‘meek,’ and ‘model-minorities,’ and then when you have someone like me ‘qui peut changer de langue facilement,’” – Vu speaks English, French and Vietnamese fluently – “does that make people scared, or worried, or does it challenge their notions of what an Asian person is?” Vu predicts that his installation will encourage visitors to confront the question “am I racist?” and hopes that his work will overturn prejudices.

Vu strongly encourages McGill students to visit Hybrid Condition. Entry to the exhibition is free and runs until March 30 from Tuesday to Saturday between 12:00 and 6:00 PM. For more information on the exhibition, visit m-a-i.qc.ca/en/event/hybrid-condition. To learn more about Vu and his upcoming artistic pursuits, check out his Instagram page @tamvu.biz.

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The Daily spoke with Holly, First-Year Representative for Jam for Justice, about the details of the event. She explained that Jam for Justice is extremely excited to be working with The Open Door: “we have been wanting to collaborate [with them] for a long time.” The Open Door describes itself as “a beacon of light and hope to many of its visitors,” and Jam for Justice hopes to replicate this sense of warmth and inclusivity through its events. As Holly stated, “music is meant to be shared with others, and Jam for Justice fosters a welcoming and inclusive environment.” She added, “whether you are a musician or you simply like to listen to music – all are welcome!”

Battle of the Bands is a unique event. Unlike Jam for Justice’s previous coffee house and open mic night events, Battle of the Bands is an opportunity to vote on your music preferences, buy in-house designed T-shirts, and watch student bands perform live. Holly told the Daily that audience members can expect “a line up of five different bands, all of whom are students at McGill,” with music ranging from “pop, punk, rock, funk, and jazz.”

The bands include: The Longest Year, Nautical Twilight, The Peterman Experience, Something at the Bottom of the Lake, and Merekat. After every band performs, audience members will have the opportunity to vote for their favourite performance. Holly encourages McGill students to “stay to the end” to participate in the voting process, which adds a lighthearted competitive edge to the event.

Not only does Jam for Justice support local charities, it also uplifts musicians with smaller platforms. In an age of an overwhelming breadth of online music streaming, Holly emphasized the importance of seeing live music performances. When musicians perform live, “it is the most raw version of that music. Getting to share [their music] face-to-face with their audience instead of through a screen” is special, she told the Daily.

Holly said that “at the heart of music is a sense of community; community and music go hand in hand.” Battle of the Bands is the perfect opportunity to experience and support this community.

To find out more about the event, visit Jam for Justice’s Instagram page, @jam_for_justice. To learn about the bands who will be performing, visit their Instagram pages: @the.peterman.experience; @somethingatthebottomofthelake; @longest.year; @natuticaltwilight_music; and @merekat.tv.

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The President of the Round Table on Black History Month, Michael P. Farkas, stated that the laureates come from Quebec’s Black communities and are a “source of pride for us all.” He added that “honouring and recognizing them for their tireless work in the service of Quebec society is an immense privilege for us.”

During the month of February, the Round Table also initiates an impressive range of artistic, social and historical activities across Montreal to celebrate Black History Month. Valérie Plante, Montreal’s mayor and partner of the Round Table, stated, “During this month, the many events and a varied program of activities invite us to discover and appreciate the contribution of Montreal’s Black communities to our city’s unique character.”

This year, the Round Table’s theme “Many Stories, One History” emphasizes the diversity of Montreal’s Black communities. In an interview with the Daily, Nadia Rousseau, Executive Director of the Round Table on Black History Month, explained that when speaking about Black people, it is imperative to use the plural form “communities” and never the singular word “community.” She said that we should never talk about Black communities as a monolith because “we have many different social backgrounds, we come from different countries, some of us are immigrants, some of us were born on this territory.” Acknowledging this diversity, Rousseau also spoke to the unity inherent in Quebec’s Black communities and the importance of celebrating them: “As Quebecois, [Black Quebecers] are part of the story of Quebec.”

The Daily also spoke with Stephane Moraille, a 2024 Black History Month laureate, entertainment attorney and international recording artist. Moraille emphasized the importance of celebrating Black History Month. She encourages “the emergence of [Black communities’] voices and visibility,” noting that “it is a really great thing that Black History Month still exists [because] it makes us come together and celebrate together.”

Fimo Mitchell, meditation teacher, podcast host, writer, and English-language spokesperson for the Round Table on Black History Month helps to promote Black History Month events across Montreal. For Mitchell, the theme “One Story, Many Histories,” is a powerful one. In an interview with the Daily, Mitchell highlighted how “there is a lot of diversity within our community,” and that “it’s important that we see that as something that adds to our community, rather than a nuisance and something that we have to overcome.”

In an interview with Cult MTL, Mitchell noted that with this diversity, “the question is, can we fit and share our cultures, our differences, celebrate that and figure out how we can harness and bring all that together to move forward as a collective?”

Mitchell’s work in the meditation community informs the way he approaches his role as Black History Month spokesperson. Mitchell’s organization, When The Village Meditates, is tailored specifically to racialized and marginalized communities.

“A practice like meditation has the potential to promote healing and thriving as a community, [which is] really important,” he remarked to the Daily.

Mitchell uses his meditation organization to create an inclusive space for Black people and other communities of colour. Mitchell told the Daily that he previously thought yoga and meditation “were just for white women who wear Lululemon.” He said that many other Black people also feel that this space is not always inclusive of their communities.

“When we started having BIPOC meditation circles,” he recalled, “the amount of people who came up afterwards were like, ‘wow, it’s so nice to be in a group where I feel like I’m fully seen and fully heard.’” On February 17, Mitchell led a meditation session called “Finding Rest.” He emphasizes the significance of “embracing rest as a fundamental aspect of well-being and liberation.”

Another notable Black History Month event in Montreal is the screening of Black Ice (2022) on February 20, directed by acclaimed director Hubert Davis and featuring LeBron James, Drake, and Maverick Carter as executive producers. Nadia Rousseau told the Daily that she strongly recommends that Montrealers attend the event, being particularly “something McGill students would enjoy” and benefit from seeing. Rousseau is also looking forward to the augmented-reality experience at the Phi Centre in Old Montreal, “Colored: The Unknown Life of Claudette Colvin,” which tells the story of the U.S. Black civil rights pioneer Claudette Colvin. The experience runs from February 7 to April 28.

Mitchell praised the multitude of events taking place during Black History Month, but also noted that more work needs to be done beyond this month in order to foster racial equity. He said that Black History Month is “an opportunity for us to celebrate and come together and reflect on what it is we need to do moving forward,” both through “reflection on an individual level” and on a community level.

“We need to look at things generations from now,” Mitchell stated. “What do we want to see when we are long gone?”

For more information on the Round Table on Black History Month and the complete programming list for February 2024, visit moishistoiredesnoirs.com.

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In downtown Montreal, hundreds of protestors and counter-protestors vocalized their opinions in front of Quebec Premier François Legault’s office near McGill’s Roddick Gates. In response to these tensions, Legault stated in a press scrum that, “we’ll put in place a committee with some experts that will look at the different subjects, the rights of the children, all the debate around gender decisions, and we’ll look at what’s done in other countries, and the committee will come back to us.”

The “committee” Legault referred to is known as the “comité de sages.” Suzanne Roy, Quebec Minister of Families, presented the mandate and structure of the committee on December 5, 2023. The committee aims to advise the Quebec government on issues related to gender identity, and will be composed of three members. These are Diana Lavallée, former president of the Council on the Status of Women and former president of the Quebec Interprofessional Health Federation; Dr. Jean-Bernard Trudeau, former deputy director general at the College of Physicians; and Patrick Taillon, professor of constitutional law and human rights and freedoms at Laval University.

The committee, which has a budget of approximately $800,000, will produce a report that is expected to be published in the winter of 2025. The report will analyze the potential impact of the policies, practices, and guidelines surrounding gender identity on Quebec society at large, and will also identify issues that the government should further examine. The Quebec LGBT Council will assist the committee. The council is composed of more than 70 organizations across Quebec and works to raise awareness among legal, social, and institutional actors to defend the rights of LGBTQ+ communities.

However, the committee has been criticized for its lack of transgender and non-binary members. Co- spokesperson for Québec Solidaire, Gabriel Nadeau-Dubois, said that it is “unusual” to be discussing such “sensitive” issues “without bringing the voices of the people concerned to the table.” He added that “we would undoubtedly find it special, as Quebecers, for example, a committee on the future of the French language with no French speakers.”

When asked if she could imagine a government committee responsible for studying the status of women without any women on it at a press briefing, Lavallée responded, “probably not.” Moreover, when questioned about the absence of members of the LGBTQ+ community on the committee, Roy stated that the committee is not intended to represent the interests of the LGBTQ+ community, but that it will benefit from its collaboration with the Quebec LGBT Council. The head of the Quebec LGBT Council, James Galantino, said that “Unfortunately we were told the committee would exist with or without us. So if the committee exists, we’d rather have a role in it.”

The Daily spoke with Abe Berglas, Administrative Coordinator at Queer McGill, about the comité de sages. When asked about the committee’s potential to progress the rights of members of the LGBTQ+ community, Berglas said that the committee “won’t progress queer rights or trans rights at all but I also don’t think it was ever meant to. I think it was meant to placate trans foes.” Regarding the role of the Quebec LGBT Council on the committee, Berglas stated that “the Council should take a firmer stance and should refuse to collaborate with the comité de sages. I am worried that lending any sort of legitimacy to the committee will just enforce its power.”

Kimberly Manning, Principal of Concordia University’s Simone de Beauvoir Institute, also expressed concern regarding the committee, specifically due to the lack of transgender and non-binary representation. She stated that “I think [the committee] is a really disturbing development in the history of the province” and that the composition of the committee demonstrates the lack of the government’s regard for prioritizing those affected by the issues at hand. Manning added, “By putting [the committee] on the table, they’re giving permission to a rise in hostility and transphobia.”

Berglas further explained that the committee will negatively impact the rights of the transgender community by delaying important advancements such as the implementation of X gender markers on provincial identification documents like health cards and driver’s licenses. In 2021, the Quebec Superior Court demanded that the province change several sections of the Civil Code of Quebec to include the ability of non-binary people to be recognized by their gender on provincial identification documents. Now, government agencies like the Société de l’assurance automobile du Québec (SAAQ) are stating that they need the input of the comité de sages before they can move forward with the implementation of X gender markers.

“Even if the final report were amazing, there has actually already been a negative effect of the committee,” said Berglas. They added that “the very existence of the comité” will delay trans rights. When questioned about the role of Queer McGill in light of the comité de sages, Berglas explained that they helped organize a protest on January 15 to advocate against the negative implications of the committee. They said that “it went quite well” and that they were “effective in getting [their] message across to a lot of people.”

They added that the protestors “walked along René-Levesque, so there was some exposure there, and we were able to cause some disruption, which was the goal.”

Berglas encouraged students to participate in student activism, specifically related to the advancement of LGBTQ+ rights. They have learned from their experience as a student at McGill that student activism can influence the university’s administration: “I’d like to think that the Quebec government has a similar enough power structure to also do that.” Concerning the comité de sages, Berglas said that they would continue to organize counter-efforts to the committee, emphasizing the importance of “making noise and not going down without a fight.”

To find out more about Queer McGill’s advocacy work, you can visit their website, queermcgill.org, or their Instagram page, @queermcgill.

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Flash forward to middle school. I am 13 years old, standing in front of a foggy mirror in the girls’ changing room of my school gym. My fellow classmates stand on either side of me, scrutinizing their reflections.

“Ugh, I hate my skin right now. It’s so oily,” one says. Another shakes her head vehemently. “No, you look so good,” she whines. “My stomach looks so fat though.”

Suffocated by these negative comments, I nod my head in agreement, offering my own critiques of my physical appearance among the cacophony of self-criticisms.

How did this change happen so fast? At nine, I was running through nature without a conscious thought about my body. At 13, my body was all I could think about.

Yet I was not alone in this shift. In 2023, a report found that 50 per cent of 13-year-old American girls were unhappy with their bodies, and by the time the same girls were 17, this number grew to nearly 80 per cent. Another study discovered that 70 per cent of adult women reported withdrawing from activities due to negative body image, and 60 per cent were self-conscious about their weight.
Men are also affected. A 2022 study found that 75 per cent of young boys and men report using appearance and performance-enhancing substances to modify their body image, and in a survey of over 50,000 adults, 41 per cent of men were self-conscious about their weight. In 2018, 83 per cent of American women and 74 per cent of American men reported being dissatisfied with their physical appearance at one point in time.

At age 13, when the majority of my peers used this negative self-talk, these statistics would not have surprised me. It seemed normal, natural, even, that my classmates and I experienced negative body image; this was simply the way the world worked. Now, however, I understand how dangerous this thinking is. Negative body image should never be thought of as the status quo.

In an effort to combat these sentiments, body positivity and body neutrality emerged as two approaches to improving one’s perception of one’s external appearance, self-worth and overall well-being.

Body positivity, which refers to having a positive, loving view of one’s physical body, originated in the 1960s fat rights movement in the United States. At this time in the US, body positivity helped to raise awareness about the barriers faced by fat people; consequently, the word “fat” was reclaimed as a descriptor instead of an insult.

In 1969, New York engineer Bill Fabrey was frustrated with the negative way society was treating his fat wife, Joyce, and began reaching out to everyone he knew to raise awareness about it. This led to the creation of what is currently known as the National Association to Advance Fat Acceptance (NAAFA), which played a key role in founding the modern-day body positivity movement.

At its inception, mainstream fat activism associated with organizations such as NAAFA often excluded people of colour, due to the worry that tackling more than one issue at a time could “dilute” their message. This thinking is extremely dangerous. The body positivity movement should be one of inclusivity and intersectionality that champions every body. However, when it excludes people of colour, it implies that some bodies matter more than others.

As the Black body positivity activist Sonya Renee Taylor stated, “if the body positive movement is only positive for some bodies, it is not a body positivity movement.” A movement that was intended to aid marginalized people ironically marginalized entire groups at the same time.

In the early 2000s, after a global expansion of the body positivity movement, it morphed into the version of body positivity that we are more familiar with today. As 1990s message boards and chat rooms morphed into contemporary social media platforms, fat people continued to build digital communities. At this time, Black and brown people were also able to more easily create their own communities, causing the movement to be more inclusive of people of colour.

However, in recent years as social media became pervasive, the body positivity movement took a turn for the worse. The term “body positivity” became something of a buzzword that often contradicted the original intentions of the movement. White women with hour-glass figures whose sizes did not surpass 16 started being touted as “radical role models,” pushing those who did not fit into this ideal to the sidelines.

As Stephanie Yeboah, influential writer and fat blogger, states, today’s concept of body positivity “has alienated the very people who created it. Now, in order to be body positive, you have to be acceptably fat – size 16 or under, or white or very pretty. It’s not a movement that I feel represents me any more”. The body positivity movement also began to be critiqued for being unrealistic; radically loving your body every day can be overwhelming and is simply not feasible for many.

Enter: body neutrality. Popularized by Anne Poirier, intuitive eating counselor and eating disorder specialist it invited people to form their concept of worth, value, and identity around their internal self instead of their external appearance. Unlike body positivity, which encourages a constant flow of positive thoughts and speech directed toward one’s physique, body neutrality encourages people to simply accept their body without the pressure of feeling love toward it. Moreover, this philosophy states that beauty and levels of attractiveness do not say anything about a person’s character, lifestyle or the kind of treatment they deserve.

Body neutrality can be a particularly helpful approach to those with disabilities. As writer Rebekah Taussig describes, some people “are frustrated with the demand to love their bodies when they feel betrayed by them. Being neutral could feel like a relief.”

It is clear that body neutrality has many benefits; must we then conclude that body neutrality is superior to body positivity? I don’t think so. In many ways, body positivity’s demanding nature and transformation into something of an insincere buzzword are not conducive to improving one’s body image and feelings of self-worth. On the other hand, aspects of body positivity – such as directing compliments and positive self-talk toward one’s body – can lead to increased self-confidence and overall well-being.

However, radically loving one’s body can often feel like too big of a step. Instead, body neutrality can be an excellent approach to sincerely accepting one’s body for its abilities instead of its external appearance.

When I think back to my nine year old self, happily running through fields and blissfully unaware of my body, I wonder – wouldn’t it be better not to have the terms “body positive” or “body neutral” at all? What if we could just be, without hyper-fixating on strategies to improve the ways in which we view our bodies?

Currently, our world is obsessed with the body’s physical appearance. Be it through photo editing apps, plastic surgery, or simply social media in general, it is clear that a preoccupation with the external pervades society. However, I do not think this fixation is natural – in my mind, humans should be able to exist without a constant stream of commentary on beauty standards, body image and external appearances.

However, in the face of such a world, my wish to be rid of complex terms that comment on the way we view our bodies seems unrealistic. Instead, in order to improve one’s body image and sense of self-worth, adopting body positivity or body neutrality to most effectively suit an individual’s needs seems to be the next best thing.

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Montreal’s Participatory Budget

In a comment to the Daily, Francyne Gervais, interim director of Montreal’s Resident Experience and Communications Department, explained that Montreal’s participatory budget is “a democratic process that allows the population to influence the allocation of a part of the municipal budget.”

This process is also a “concrete way to mobilize collective intelligence and the Montreal population to work towards solving urban issues,” said Robert Beaudry, who works on citizen participation and democracy on the executive committee of the City of Montreal, in a comment to the Daily.

Montreal mayor Valérie Plante emphasized the significance of the city’s participatory budget in October 2022. She explained that “for us, the participatory budget is one of the ways to give the population the opportunity to reclaim their power to act on their city, their street, in their neighbourhood. And that is extremely important.” 

Montreal launched the first edition of its participatory budget in 2020, setting aside a budget of $25 million for the completion of projects proposed and voted on by the general public.

In the spring of 2022, 12 projects related to the advancement of Montreal’s ecological and social development were put into action. As a result of this process, Montreal initiated projects such as the “Water in your bottle” initiative, which aims to install more water dispensers across the city to increase access to drinking water, and the “Éthel garden” in Verdun, which transforms a parking garage into a public space focused on health and solidarity. 

Five of Montreal’s boroughs also run their own participatory budgets. Residents and business owners of the boroughs Ahuntsic-Cartierville, Côte-des-Neiges-Notre-Dame-de-Grâce, LaSalle, Le Plateau-Mont Royal and Mercier-Hochelaga-Maisonneuve are able to suggest and vote on projects specifically aimed towards their own communities. Certain boroughs, such as Mercier-Hochelaga-Maisonneuve, ran the first edition of their participatory budget before the city of Montreal’s first edition, launching their voting process in 2019. This process led to the creation of several community-serving initiatives, such as a new pavilion in St-Donat park and a bike repair station in several neighborhoods.

The second edition of Montreal’s participatory budget focuses on similar goals of environmental and social development. Kick-started in October 2022, the budget focuses on themes of youth, equity and safety. This year, $30 million has been allocated to support these projects, which fall into four categories: safe and active mobility; sports and recreational equipment; meeting areas; and parks and green space. 

Youth is also prioritized. As Plante emphasized, “schools, the community, the police department, the city of Montreal and other levels of government must all listen and be involved in offering opportunities to our beautiful youth.” This year’s participatory budget achieves this by reserving a minimum of $5 million of the total budget for projects stamped with a “youth seal,” which are initiatives proposed by youth or created specifically for youth. 

The Process: How Does a Proposal Go From an Idea to an Action Plan?

All Montreal residents aged 12 and over, as well as business owners, are allowed to propose and vote on projects involved in the city’s participatory budget. This year, the city outlined that project proposals must embrace a theme of youth, equity or safety; meet a collective interest; be located on public property or city-owned land; and be durable and sustainable in the long run. The project must also be able to begin within two years. 

Between October 13 and December 4, 2022, Montrealers proposed 666 initiatives by completing an online form or calling the city by telephone. Once the proposal window closed, a preliminary selection of ideas took place. From December 2022 to April 2023, the city analyzed the eligibility of all received proposals, before collaborating with third-party representatives to prioritize and develop the 504 eligible projects. 

Six committees composed of selected citizen representatives as well as city staff with expertise in relevant fields – such as social and community development, planning, and culture – partook in this process. To decide which projects to prioritize, the committees examined three criteria: the consistency of the idea with the themes of youth, equity and safety; the transformative nature of the idea and its potential to impact the daily lives of Montrealers; and the creative nature of the idea to renew city practices in novel ways.  

After this stage, the city assessed the logistical and economical feasibility of the prioritized projects before developing the final list of projects to be submitted for voting. During this process, ideas with similar themes were blended to form one idea, whereas ideas that were too broad or generic were enhanced with specific details. 

This Year’s Finalist Projects

From September 29 to October 29, Montrealers were able to vote for eight out of the 31 finalist projects eligible for voting, including: “Montréal Climbs!” which proposes the development of outdoor rock climbing walls and the installation of boulders in neighbourhoods across Montreal; “Fully Inclusive Parks” which seeks to transform four parks into fully inclusive spaces, so that users with all levels of motor capabilities or types of functional limitations can access them; “Safely on Foot in My Neighbourhood” which aims to reduce traffic and improve pedestrian mobility in various neighbourhoods by adding safety features to intersections, new street lighting, benches, and vegetation for aesthetics; and “Enjoying Food as a Community in Montréal-Nord” which proposes the development of an outdoor farmer’s market and a universally accessible community kitchen in Montréal-Nord. 

The winning projects will be announced in November 2023, and the planning and realization of the initiatives will commence in January 2024. 

In the coming weeks, the third edition of Montreal’s participatory budget will launch, as Laurianne Tardif, Press Relations Manager with Montreal’s Resident Experience and Communications Department, stated in a comment to the Daily. 

For more information regarding Montreal’s participatory budget, including the complete list of projects and the upcoming launch of the third edition of the budget, visit makingmtl.ca.

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Dr. Donald Vinh, infectious diseases specialist at the McGill University Health Centre (MUHC), said that COVID-19 is “making a comeback.” Vinh stated that “in the first week of September alone, there were 127,000 confirmed cases of COVID, excluding approximately 560,000 people who self-reported viral respiratory symptoms but did not get tested.” He concluded that there is a “significant increase [in COVID-19 cases] over what was happening in August.”

COVID-19 is projected to circulate more as the weather gets colder. Raymond Tellier, Associate Professor in the McGill Depart of Medicine with an expertise in coronaviruses, explained to the Daily that respiratory viruses “tend to have a seasonal peak in the autumn and the winter time.” Part of this is due to the increase in spending time indoors. Tellier said that inside, “the air is more dry and there is less humidity, which can favour the survival of the aerosols of several viruses.”

Quebec’s Health Ministry wants to find the “best window” to vaccinate Quebecers to minimize the increase in COVID-19 infections. Health Minister Christian Dubé said that “the worst of the pandemic arrives in December-January” and because the “vaccine is good for at least six months”, the Quebec Health Ministry is starting their campaign now to ensure the maximum coverage of the vaccination.

Health services participating in the campaign offer an updated version of a COVID-19 mRNA vaccine by Moderna, which targets the Omicron XBB.1.5 subvariant. Authorized on September 12 for people ages six months and older, the Moderna vaccine also targets EG.5.1, the current predominant subvariant in Quebec.

Dr. Tellier explained that EG.5.1 is a descendant of the XBB variant, which was the variant chosen when creating the updated vaccine: “It looks like the current vaccine would be an excellent match for the variants that are circulating right now”.

On Thursday, September 28, Health Canada also authorized the new Pfizer-BioNTech Comirnaty drug for individuals ages six months and older, which targets the same COVID-19 subvariant. The Pfizer vaccine will be available in the coming weeks as part of Quebec’s campaign.

Dr. Caroline Quach-Thanh, pediatric infectious diseases specialist at the Centre Hospitalier Universitaire Sainte-Justine and president of Quebec’s immunization committee, advised vulnerable populations to get the Moderna vaccine as soon as they are able to instead of delaying their vaccination to wait for the Pfizer shot, as both are effective at preventing negative effects of the virus.

For the first time, Quebec will also offer free Influenza vaccines on a widespread basis, meaning that individuals can visit the same health service to be vaccinated against both the flu and COVID-19 simultaneously.

Alexandra Peebles, McGill Medical Student and Research Assistant with Dr. Nicole Basta, encouraged McGill students to take advantage of Quebec’s vaccine campaign. For one, vaccinations “reduce the risk of transmitting COVID to others, which could save lives down the line.” In addition, Peebles explained to the Daily that students should get vaccinated to prevent the long term risks associated with COVID-19. She stated that “as a student, a huge concern, in my opinion, would be suffering from long COVID. Common symptoms of long COVID include fatigue, brain fog [and] shortness of breath. These symptoms can make studying, working, or exercising all the more challenging.”

As Dr. Tellier shared, long COVID is particularly dangerous because “we don’t completely understand the mechanisms of long COVID and we don’t know the risk factors.” However, getting vaccinated can reduce this risk by lowering the probability of catching the virus: “All we know right now is that the best way not to get long COVID is not to get COVID!”

Dr. Tellier continued to note the impressive power of the COVID-19 vaccine: “I am a big fan of this vaccine. It is remarkable that they could come up with it so fast because when this pandemic started, not only did we not have a vaccine, we did not even know if it was possible to make a vaccine against this kind of virus. It’s not done before, not for humans.”

As of October 2, people in long-term care homes and private senior’s residences are now able to get both the flu shot and the updated COVID-19 vaccines. All other individuals are able to get vaccinated from October 10.

Peebles emphasized that “you do not need to be a Quebec resident to receive a COVID-19 vaccine. This applies to anyone, McGill student or not.”

To book an appointment, visit the ClicSanté website and select the COVID-19 icon before following the steps to confirm your booking.

Rapid COVID-19 tests are also available free of charge in Quebec’s various vaccination centres, schools, daycares and pharmacies.

For more information, visit Vaccination contre les infections respiratoires | Gouvernement du Québec.

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