Sciences/Applied Sciences: Jennifer Sidey-Gibbons 

Originally from Calgary, Alberta, Canadian Space Agency (CA) astronaut Jennifer, “Jenni” Sidey-Gibbons graduated from McGill with honours in mechanical engineering with the class of 2011. She went on to earn a PhD in engineering from the University of Cambridge where she then became an assistant professor. Subsequently, she was selected by the CA as the third-ever woman to join the ranks of their astronaut candidates, completing her training in 2020. Currently, she is a backup crew member on the Artemis II lunar flyby mission. Gibbons has also acted as ground communicator on a number of International Space Station spacewalks and has mentored astronaut candidates. 

Fine Arts: Sheree Spencer 

Born in Toronto to parents of Barbadian descent, stage director and producer Sheree Spencer, attended McGill’s Schulich School of Music with a minor in Drama Performance from the Faculty of Arts. After graduating with her BA in 2012, she freelanced as a stage performer, featured in productions at the Vancouver Opera and the Toronto Fringe Festival. She also went on to earn accolades such as TD Emerging Producer of Toronto Fringe 2016 as well as international recognition for her direction of the opera Plaything: Spencer has since relocated to New York to take up the position of a Mellon Producing Fellow with Beth Morrison Projects, where she continues to produce and direct new works. 

Politics & Activism: Emmanuella Lambropoulos 

Sitting one row from the back and four seats in from the aisle in the House of Commons chamber, Emmanuella Lambropoulos has represented the constituency of Saint-Laurent since 2017. Growing up in Saint-Laurent’s Greek community, she graduated from McGill University in 2013 and was president of the university’s Hellenic Students’ Association. She then moved on to a short career in education, working in the local Saint-Laurent school district. Having volunteered with Stephane Dion, who represented Saint-Laurent from 1996 to 2017, Lambropoulos reported that she’s always been interested in politics. After canvassing door-to-door every day for weeks, she won the Liberal nomination and ultimately a seat in an upset over a seasoned provincial politician, Yolande James. 

Sports: Sylvia Sweeney 

An induction to the McGill Athletics Hall of Fame in 2021 is only the latest accolade in Sylvia Sweeney’s decorated basketball career: Not only playing for McGill, Concordia, and Laurentian, she joined the Canadian national team in 1974 and played in two Olympic games. As a native Montrealer, she studied classical piano performance at McGill University from 1973 to 1975. In 2017, she was appointed a Member of the Order of Canada, the highest honour a civilian can receive. In 1994, Sweeney was inducted into the Canadian Basketball Hall of Fame. Every year since then, the Hall recognizes a female university player with the Sylvia Sweeney award for outstanding achievement on and off the court. After her time in basketball, she began a second career in television, commenting on sports and current affairs and then moving into production. Passionate across disciplines, Sweeney also founded the international ArtsGames competition to celebrate the arts. 

Media: Allya Davidson 

Amidst an ever-evolving media landscape, Emmy-winning journalist and producer Allya Davidson, an alumna of The McGill Daily, still believes in the power of investigative reporting. Graduating from McGill in 2009 with a degree in cultural studies and world religions, the Mississauga-born Davidson earned a master’s in broadcast journalism from the City St George’s, University of London. She went on to produce documentaries for global networks such as VICE, PBS Frontline, and ABC Australia. Davidson is now the first Black executive producer of CBC’s The Fifth Estate, a weekly program that airs investigative documentaries on Canadian and international issues. Davidson also mentors young BIPOC journalists through the Canadian Association of Journalists. Trail-blazing and accomplished, Davidson points to her time at McGill as foundational: “At McGill I learned to live, work with and understand people who were from all over the world, from different backgrounds and religions. I had always been a nerd interested in the world around me, and McGill proved that there were and are thousands of people like me.” 

Business: Ritika Dutt 

Recognized by Forbes in their 2020 30 Under 30 list for Law & Policy, Ritika Dutt co-founded Botler AI in 2017 to help victims of sexual harassment better understand their rights. Born in India and raised in Hong Kong and Singapore, Dutt moved to Montreal to attend McGill and graduated in 2013. Soon after, an experience with a stalker left her scared and confused. “The more I researched about sexual harassment,” Dutt told McGill News, “I realized there were many women, and men, like me, who didn’t know their legal rights in these situations.” Partly inspired by her circumstances and the rise of the #MeToo movement, Dutt co-created Botler AI, which analyzes user reports for free and predicts whether they constitute sexual harassment. It also indicates which laws may have been broken and generates a report that can be sent to the respective authorities. In 2021, the Canadian government invested in Botler to help produce the Pan-Canadian Triage System for Sexual Harassment, Misconduct & Violence. Relaying her belief to CTV News that there is an “urgent, vital need for an easy, accessible solution that empowers individuals to seek justice on their own terms,” Dutt continues to lead Botler as its CEO.

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The McGill Daily’s Editorial Board presents its endorsements for the Executive candidates running for the 2026-2027 SSMU election. The editorial board’s decision process included researching each executive’s roles and responsibilities, as well as the responses of the candidates present at the executive debate. Decisions were made through a democratic vote among the editorial board.

President

Endorsement: Yes to Hamza Abu-Alkhair with reservations

According to the SSMU website, “The President is the chief officer of SSMU, responsible for determining the vision of the Society, coordinating and supporting the activities of the other Executive Officers, and representing student interests on various university governance bodies.”

Experience: Hamza Abu-Alkhair has extensive experience in student government: he is currently a member of the Syrian Student Association, a member of the Arab Students Network, and most importantly, the current VP Clubs and Services of the SSMU. Abu-Alkhair’s position in the SSMU demonstrates an understanding of the organization’s tructure.

Platform: Abu-Alkhair’s platform focuses on three main initiatives: accessibility, community, and financial stability. He aims to achieve his first initiative by launching event summaries for students, ensuring transparency of how SSMU operates, improving SSMU outreach, and promoting student engagement. In terms of community building, he aims to make SSMU more visible on campus, develop a multi-year plan to rebuild SSMU as student-centered hub, and increase daytime programming in the University Centre. Finally, he aims to improve financial stability and transparency through collaboration with VP Finance to ensure financial reporting is accessible and inclusive of student voices.

Endorsement: Hamza Abu-Alkhair’s experience as VP Clubs and Services demonstrates his understanding of the SSMU structure and his experience communicating with student organizations. While his platform lacks specificity in describing the mechanisms he will install to improve current SSMU operations, his recognition of SSMU’s internal limitations demonstrates a desire for change and the implementation of student voices in democracy.

VP Clubs and Services

According to the SSMU website, “The VP Clubs and Services is the point person for internal relations between SSMU and its clubs, services, and independent student groups. They are also responsible for mental health promotion, collaborating with Student Services, and addressing issues of student life on campus.”

Endorsement: Yes to Acadia Knickerbocker

Experience: Acadia Knickerbocker has diverse community engagement experience in and out of McGill. She has served as the VP Race Director for McGill Run Club, AUS Co-Commissioner of the Sponsorship committee, and volunteers at the Milton Park Food Hub. Within the SSMU, she has served as the governance speaker of the Legislative Council, chairman of the Board of Directors under Internal Council, and Corporate Secretary.

Platform: Knickerbocker’s extensive platform targets four main areas of clubs and services. She firstly aims to expand resource accessibility by improving the SSMU club fund, increasing storage space, and expanding University Centre booking access. She strives to increase engagement with student groups through on-campus promotion and orientation channels as well as establishing an Activities Night bursary. Her platform also centres on administrative reform, which she states can be achieved by improving the backlog of student club requests, updating internal regulations of student groups. Finally, she intends to address accounting reform by increasing club financing and autonomy.

Endorsement: Acadia Knickerbocker’s platform and campaign showcase a deep understanding of the SSMU structure, policies, and areas of improvement. Her platform includes clear goals, and concrete solutions for existing concerns among student organizations. The Daily Editorial Board endorses Acadia Knickerbocker for the role of VP Clubs and Services, and believes her diverse experience in student clubs, her cohesive platform, and her passionate campaign position her as a strong fit for the role of VP Clubs and Services.

Vice President External

Endorsement: Yes to Harry Wang

According to the SSMU website, “The VP External is in charge of coordinating SSMU’s relations with various levels of government, student associations, community groups, and campus labour unions; as well as managing political campaigns and mobilization efforts.”

Experience: As a provincial School Board Trustee for the Hamilton-Wentworth District School Board, Harry Wang has experience in public service, developing academic policy. Wang has brought this experience to McGill University, where they has served as corporate Secretary for the SSMU, parliamentarian on the Legal & Governance team under the Internal Counsel, chair of the nominating committee for the VP Finance, board member at large, and a member of the judiciary, as well as a member of the accountability committee.

Platform: Harry Wang’s platform relies on three pillars: Government Advocacy, Student Affordability, and Accountability and Transparency. Wang aims to demystify the ways Quebecois provincial policy impacts McGill operations through collaboration with undergraduate student associations and news platforms. Their platform also discusses supporting lower-income students through subsidies and bursaries to support lower-income students in the face of tuition hikes. Finally, Wang aims to limit the unilateral uses of power and increase transparency on the structure and portfolio of the SSMU.

Endorsement: Harry Wang’s experience in provincial school boards as well as various McGill committees demonstrates maturity and familiarity with representing students’ voices on a larger platform. By championing anti-austerity initiatives, promoting minority voices, and highlighting the impact of provincial policies on McGill, Wang shows to beknowledgeable about student demands and interested in meeting student needs. The Daily’s Editorial Board strongly believes that Wang’s campaign showcases his strongcommitment to striving in the role of VP External.

Vice President Internal 

According to the SSMU website, “The VP Internal is chiefly in charge of communication and creating a sense of community with the student body through event planning and communications (such as the listserv).”

Endorsement: Yes to Maggie Tang with reservations

Experience: Maggie Tang’s experience in student government spans the faculty-wide and school-wide scales, having been the AUS HR Administrator as well as the Faculty of Arts Senator. The former comprised matters like promoting awareness of sexual violence and introducing initiatives to improve student life, and the latter involved liaising directly with the SSMU President and VP Internal. She has also worked as SSMU VP Internal administration.

Platform: The three pillars of Maggie Tang’s platform are Inclusivity, Safety and Good Vibes. In terms of inclusivity, her proposed initiatives include free events, engagement with first-year and international students and interfaculty partnerships. Regarding safety, she suggests lower intervention by external security authorities, more structured and transparent event planning processes, and advocacy for the prevention of sexual violence. Finally, lower-cost ticketed events, stronger alumni career fairs, and attractive events like Winter Carnival and SSMU’s Got Talent – in addition to events that aim to ameliorate mental health through light-hearted, casual means – are part of her plan to infuse good vibes into the student body.

Endorsement: Maggie Tang’s platform is not only full of personality, but full of heart. Despite stating that “the role is not about politics,” we believe that her platform and past experience still demonstrates her commitment to social justice issues, which are not only tied to the communitarian roles of VP Internal but are also inherently political. With her additional knowledge of SSMU bureaucracy, we believe in her ability to navigate the responsibilities that come with shaping the student body.

Vice President of University Affairs 

According to the SSMU website, “The VP University Affairs advocates for student interests at almost all levels of university governance. They do this through coordinating student representation to the university Senate and its committees, researching and consulting on policy solutions, and overseeing academic affairs. They also oversee equity initiatives and complaints, as well as advocacy regarding libraries.”

Endorsement: Yes to Meghan Lai

Experience: Meghan Lai’s experience mostly lies in the faculty of education. These roles are Education Student Senator, Legislative Councilor, Co-Chair of the McGill Committee on Student Services, Director on SSMU Daycare Board, EdUS Council Member, Faculty of Education Council Member, Education Faculty Ambassador, McGill Students For the Open Door Montreal Volunteer.

Platform: The three pillars of Lai’s platform include three ABCs: Academics, Bridge, and Community. In terms of academics, their specific aims include revising the Policy on Assessment of Student Learning, develop AI use guidelines/policy, and bring back VP Academic roundtables. They also aim to improve student services through alleviating Student Accessibility and achievement’s exam proctoring load, develop online booking with the Wellness Hub, and increase Student Services programs. Finally, Lai recognizes, and aims to continue the sitting University Affairs’ open-door policy while also striving to facilitate idea sharing through the University Affairs instagram and website.

Endorsement: Meghan Lai’s extensive experience in the undergraduate Education Faculty demonstrates a commitment to pedagogy and student interests. Their understanding of the responsibility of the VP University Affairs role showcases a strong ability to deliver their promises. Finally, Lai’s dedication to social justice, including menstrual health awareness, diversity, and mental health highlight their care and devotion to student wellness amidst an rigorous academic environment.

The post SSMU Executive Endorsements 2026-2027 appeared first on The McGill Daily.

McGill removed 2.38 million physical sources from its downtown campus in 2024. In 2025, the Massachusetts College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences found that among graduate students, 64.4 per cent were e-book readers. Additionally, according to the Association of American Publishers, in 2024, digital book formats accounted for 14 per cent of revenue, which increased by 11.4 per cent since 2023. This trend does not seem to be just some passing fad: in an interview with BBC, Robert Stein — the founder of the Institute for the Future of the Book — states “The affordances of screen reading will continuously improve and expand, offering people a reason to switch to screens.”

In other words, online media is becoming more accessible, and, as a result, increasingly consumed. At the Colleges of Sultan Qaboos University in Oman, 74.6 per cent of students who prefer e-books do so because they are easier to carry, while students at Yeditepe University primarily use e-books for research and accessibility. E- books are greatly accessible because they are cost-effective, can be used by many people at the same time, and obtained without leaving the comfort of your room.

The benefits of these digital resources extend to learning. According to a 2024 ACRL study at Rowan University, e-books are “linked to quick decision-making, [and] rapid pattern recognition.” However, the ACRL also states that e-books are associated with “instant gratification, and often impatience when results are not immediate.” This is because the convenience of the Internet comes with a caveat: worsening self-control and time-management, as well as a greater propensity towards distraction.

On the other hand, print books are “linked to deeper focus and concentration, better integration of concepts, and easier memorization.” Moreover, according to the Colleges of Sultan Qaboos University study, 67.9 per cent of students prefer physical books for the purpose of note-taking. Reading comprehension is 6 to 8 times greater with the use of print books. According to Psychology Today, the physical act of turning a page creates an “index” in the reader’s mind “mapping what we read visually to a particular page.”

Although these results suggest each form of media has different uses – print for studying, e-books for research – the increased screen time that accompanies digital media use poses many adverse effects on mental and physical health.

So, is a lighter backpack worth the headache?

According to another study conducted by the National Center for Biotechnology Information, excessive screen time can cause back pain and a collection of eye-related problems including “eye strain, headaches, blurred vision, dry eyes, as well as neck and shoulder pain.” Mentally, ramifications include “increased levels of depression, anxiety, and overall other mood disorders” as well as negatively impacting “social relationships and cognitive development.”

Moreover, according to the 2024 ACRL study, first-generation university students feel the impact of increased digital resource use more acutely. Universities assume that current students are “digital natives who prefer electronic resources since they have grown up surrounded by this technology” and benefit from the accessibility of electronic resources, but libraries have witnessed the opposite with first-generation students.

Perhaps most importantly, print books are preferred by a majority of students. According to a 2015 study conducted by Dr. Naomi S. Baron —a professor emerita of world languages and culture at American University — 92 per cent of students favour physical books over digital ones.

However, this does not dismiss the very real issue of cost. Even though physical sources are often preferred and more beneficial to learning, they are not always chosen. This is due to the expense of print books and course packs, and the accessibility of digital versions. At McGill, some professors link both libraries and Internet- sourced e-books on their syllabi, as well as scanned PDFs of book sections on myCourses. Conversely, others require students to find the texts on their own. This requires either spending hundreds of dollars at Paragraphe or the McGill Bookstore, or otherwise finding online and possibly illegally-pirated copies. It seems that many universities are taking advantage of the abundance of online resources available to avoid the responsibility of providing students with a more affordable means of accessing print media.

That being said, resources exist — both within and beyond McGill — meant to improve your access to print books.

McGill students can request physical books from McGill’ s libraries as well as from the 17 Partenariat des bibliothèques universitaires du Québec (PBUQ) member Quebec university libraries through the Sofia Discovery Tool — a shared library catalogue. If you prefer to borrow books in person at other university libraries, simply bring your McGill ID card to show the library staff and they will provide you with a library card. Additionally, students can borrow books from McGill partner libraries, such as the Montreal Neurological Institute Hospital Library, Neuro-Patient Resource Centre, Polish Institute, and Presbyterian College Library.

If you want to save money and roam the welcoming wooden aisles of a cozy bookshop, independent booksellers are also an option. Barely a five minute walk from campus, The Word is a family-run staple of the McGill and broader Montreal community, providing coursebooks and used texts in English and French. Librairie l’Échange is another secondhand bookstore, located in Plateau Mont-Royal; they sell books, CDs, and records in English and French. Next to Berri-UQAM, Volume Boutique sells used books, DVDs, CDs, and records. On Boulevard de Maisonneuve are two more secondhand bookstores: Librairie Bonheur D’Occasion and Yann Vernay Librairie.

Additionally, there are many useful websites that resell or even loan course materials. These include, but are not limited to: Thrift Books, the McGill University Book Exchange, and the Free Textbook Loan Program — a student-led initiative of the QPIRG- McGill Alternative Library.

The Department of English Student Association (DESA) also hosts biannual book sales.

The post Better in Print appeared first on The McGill Daily.

“Can we not talk about politics, please? Not everything is political.” 

This is a sentiment often heard when a controversial topic arises, be it at the dinner table with family, in a group setting with friends, overheard at a coffee shop, or online when expressing an opinion. 

But what does “being political” even mean? Is it pledging allegiance to a political party? Is it exclusive to government actions? Is it following the news diligently and participating in conversations about current events? Or has the definition of engaging in ‘political speech’ evolved throughout the years?

Politics surrounds us – when politics is an inherently human system, you cannot argue that it is separate from humanity. Those who live without thinking of politics are allowed to because they are the ones benefitting from it. 

Distancing yourself from politics is harmful because everything is political. By choosing to ignore or not engage in political issues, or claiming nothing is “that deep,” we fail to take into account that often, things actually are that deep. 

To live in a world of internet populism is to live in a reality where everything is humorized. Where the government-sanctioned murder of an innocent woman is played for jokes by prominent political figures. Where Immigration and Customs Enforcement raids have been glorified by the Trump administration through meme culture. Where racist tropes of South Americans as members of drug cartels have been weaponized by the Trump administration to justify the abduction of a sitting national leader. We are being gaslit by the current political establishment into taking the serious unseriously, into believing that crimes are practical jokes, and that abuses of power are trends confined to our For You feeds.

The American political debacle reflects a wider trend in modern internet culture, where politics is trivialized and even reduced, in some circumstances, to entertainment. In this internet age, one might assume that increasing accessibility to information would lead to greater political awareness and literacy. However, the immediacy of the news has become a double-edged sword: we are being exposed to the world through a digital lens, while simultaneously downplaying said news to the background.

We’ve entered an era where people react to the news in the same way they react to entertainment. Wars are equated to reality shows. Humanitarian crises are taken as the newest “hot button” topic, trends to be consumed and fed through the internet discourse cycle. Racialized language has become the newest punchline. As social media platforms have emerged as the primary means of accessing news, people online lose the ability to differentiate fact from fiction and attitudes from experience. 

One second we might be viewing images from the genocide in Gaza; the next, we’re judging celebrities’ outfits at the Met Gala. Graphic images of death and destruction flash before us and become quickly forgotten. We’re growing used to being entertained rather than informed.  

Coming to terms with the political nature of our world can evidently be burdensome. However, this does not mean that we should take on a defeatist attitude. Getting involved in independent journalism, advocacy campaigns, and crowdfunding initiatives are just a few concrete steps we can take to integrate political issues into our social lives. While we must remember that everything is political, it does not mean that everything is doomed.

The post The Distressing Increase in Depoliticization  appeared first on The McGill Daily.

Described by CBC as the “perfect storm,” Canada’s current economic instability was a long time coming, partly due to the ongoing trade war with the United States. As the Governor of the Bank of Canada acknowledged last June, US President Donald Trump’s erratic threats and tariffs on Canada have “stalled momentum” in the labour market. When combined with post-pandemic inflation and a growing population outpacing job availability, continued economic instability has led six in ten Canadians to believe the economy will only deteriorate further in 2026.

Furthermore, as in most other sectors of society, artificial intelligence (AI) is beginning to transform the Canadian economy and youth employment prospects. In a recent survey of Canadian companies, 23 per cent reported plans to reduce their employee count in 2026 due to increased reliance on AI. The jobs currently threatened by AI are highly repetitive, entry-level positions that often allow young workers to get a foothold in their respective fields. 

Commenting on the Carney government’s recent efforts to alleviate youth unemployment, the vice-president of Scotiabank Economics said, “they’re going to have to go deeper in terms of how the education and the university systems [are] equipping younger 

Canadians to enter and stay in the workforce.” When it comes to McGill, Career & Planning Services is responsible for equipping students for the workforce. CaPS provides a range of resources, including “career counselling and advising, skills development workshops, experiential learning and career exploration programs, mentoring, and career and networking events.” 

Student reviews of CaPS are mixed. While some may find value in the services CaPS offers, others find their instruction to be rudimentary and largely unhelpful. Many students report being redirected towards LinkedIn and Indeed after seeking career guidance from CaPS. “I went to one of their events, and I did a one-on-one consultation,” says one third-year undergraduate. “Most of the information shared at both was nothing beyond basic information that I already knew or could find very easily with a Google search or TikTok.” Additionally, the limit on post-graduation access to CaPS is currently restricted to one year for most services, including “access to search jobs, book appointments, and attend career events” through McGill’s MyFuture portal. For many, a year simply isn’t enough time to find a job anymore. 

Amid ongoing concerns over youth unemployment, McGill must reform the quality of CaPS’ assistance. CaPS needs to improve its accessibility and provide greater personalization in guiding students through an ever-evolving economic landscape. In a job market where it’s more about who you know than what, CaPS must also do more to directly facilitate connections between students and prospective employers. With our futures on the line, our generation needs all the guidance we can get. 

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Despite this, student newspapers remain essential to informing the public on local happenings. At universities across Canada and beyond, students have historically used their voices to interrogate structures of power and delve into the nitty-gritty of local politics. These papers have critically touched on topics that city-wide news neglects.

In the US, student journalism is another pillar of expression that has come under attack from the Trump administration. As the GOP’s assault on free speech has prompted the restructuring and silencing of large media personalities and organizations, students have continued to pursue candid journalism. Nonetheless, federal crackdowns on student journalism have persisted. Journalists at Columbia University’s Spectator have been issued suspensions for covering campus protests. Indiana University notably fired its the Indiana Daily Student’s student media advisor in an effort to censor the paper’s political content. Journalists at the University of Pennsylvania’s Daily Pennsylvanian have camped out overnight to ensure that they would be able to cover university issues after administrative pushback, such as the student protests against the genocide in Gazstudenjt newsa, police activity on campus, and administrative budget conflicts.

Student journalists continue to form a vital component of the reporting ecosystem around universities. Despite the rise of social media, especially in the post-pandemic era, student-run traditional news media has proven its continued importance. For example, at Fanshawe College in London, Ontario, the local campus paper saw a nearly 30 per cent increase in pickup rates over the past four years. As Barbie Zelizer for The Philadelphia Inquirer notes, undergraduate journalists “expend boundless energy to get the facts right.” In a new era of journalism, where censorship runs rampant and political threats are abundant, yet student journalists continue to move forward. We must turn away from monopolized media organizations and uphold and return to our roots: driven by passionate students willing to fight oppressive political forces.

If you engage with student journalism, then you are making a difference by believing in the free exchange of ideas, in the right to inform the public of injustices, and in defending the truth, you are making a difference by engaging with student journalists.

Our publication serves to inform the student population and document campus stories and history. The Daily exists for and by the students of McGill University. This newspaper cannot achieve its goals without the contributions of our community, and the best way to do this is to get involved. Email one of us, pick up a pitch, or contribute your own ideas. The Daily is a platform to amplify your stories and your perspective. To fight the deterioration of engagement with student journalism is to engage in it yourself.

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Recently, the discussion regarding the importance of higher education has re-entered campus conversations. In light of the federal government’s caps on international students and McGill’s own budget cuts to its faculties, students are beginning to question how much Canadian post-secondary institutions truly value education. In particular, as universities become increasingly corporate and inaccessible, they are less recognized as critical informational nuclei. Attending an academic institution typically includes access to a substantial array of resources. Students at McGill can take advantage of millions of academic and cultural databases — from maps to musical scores — in addition to hundreds of extracurricular clubs and engagement opportunities. Given the threat to the survival of these resources — such as the downsizing of McGill’s physical library — it is crucial for undergraduate students to stay informed about the opportunities available to them beyond the classroom.

This is especially important as continued demand for change within our institutions — for instance, McGill divesting from arms manufacturers — forces us to consider how we want to shape universities to become stronger centres for social change. Correspondingly, a key element in advancing this change can be through the reinvestment of funds into educational and cultural resources that have the power to encourage socio-political praxis. 

At McGill, our physical and digital libraries already contain a plethora of academic journals, books, and articles. However, few are aware of the media collection available both for download and streaming. These collections act as both an educational alternative to dense academic texts and as a source of entertainment for students. This audio and visual resource contains an immense collection of various film streaming platforms, e-books, audiobo oks, and music files that all students can utilize. Moreover, McGill students have access to radical student-run catalogues, such as those from the Quebec Public Interest Research Group’s (QPIRG) alternative library and the Union for Gender Empowerment’s library, which supplies anti-oppressive and independently published texts. Knowledge about the availability of these resources is imperative for our intellectual and political freedom. In times of structural repression, education is one of the most constructive tools in collective consciousness raising. Thus, with McGill’s numerous prohibitions on students’ ability to protest and freedom of expression, we must capitalize on the means at our disposal to stay informed about social and political issues. 

As students at a university with a distinct international population, campus life exposes us to a variety of cultures. This diverse demographic — accompanied by the numerous student clubs, art exhibitions, concerts, and research opportunities — opens students up to a rich set of ideas and customs. This diversity is what makes McGill, and by extension, university campuses, so central to cultural change. The campus acts as a microcosm of the global: through direct engagement with the opportunities it offers, students learn to cultivate their own aesthetic tastes, interests, and philosophical missions. As federal policy continues to reduce the international enrolment rate in Canada, reaffirming our commitment to this diversity is necessary. Students from all cultural backgrounds should feel welcome on campus: we must continue to foster multiculturalism. 

Despite the nominal freedom of information granted to us as students, we must still maintain a nuanced assessment of our position on campus. Quality of health services at McGill University remains a persistent problem. Cuts to student-run services has made it difficult for students to access essential resources and exercise their voices. In the larger picture, the administration has failed to respond to community demands, such as divestment from arms manufacturers. These issues underscore the growing distance between the institutional structures that make up universities and the student body they are meant to serve.

We must remember that access to higher education is an opportunity we as undergraduates have the privilege to capitalize on. The materials at our disposal can provide us with the tools to better ourselves and the world around us. We must remember that these means are not universal, nor is their quantity and quality guaranteed. University resources are a privilege, and it’s in our best interest to make use of them.

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Queer issues go beyond the question of identities and labels. Attacks on queerness are attacks on humanity as a whole. Our activism, therefore, must consider how some identities overlap between marginalized groups. In particular, queer identities are often impacted within social and political conflicts arising from prevailing attitudes toward other ethnic and racial groups. This Queer History Month, we must remember that the oppression of these other communities ultimately affects queer issues too.

When we consider the genocide in Gaza, the rise in global fascism, or the mounting housing insecurity closer to home, queer issues are never as far away as we think. On October 18, seven million people mobilized across the United States in “No Kings” protests against the loss of human rights resulting from U.S. President Donald Trump’s authoritarian policies. Amidst the signs condemning media censorship and government corruption, protesters raised manifestos against the expansion of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) operations. ICE has been under fire for their rampant mistreatment of queer and trans immigrants in the agency’s detention facilities. Queer detainees in the Southern Louisiana ICE processing centre have shared accounts of sexual harassment and assault, including being forced by officers to perform oral sex, being stripped naked, and mocked, and being touched inappropriately while performing labour tasks. The abuse endured by queer immigrants in ICE facilities is the result of their intersectional identities as members of both marginalized groups. The ongoing activism protesting ICE’s abuses of power does not address the whole of the issue as long as we fail to mention the systematic abuse of queer people in processing centres across the U.S. With Queer History Month and No Kings Day taking place simultaneously, it becomes evident that the fight against anti-democratic governmental backsliding and the struggle against the oppression of queer immigrants are deeply entangled.

Here in Montreal, queer individuals have raised many concerns about the need for a more nuanced approach to local activism efforts, especially as pertains to Palestine. Israel’s “pinkwashing” strategy, which seeks to “conceal the continuing violations of Palestinians’ human rights behind an image of modernity signified by Israeli gay life,” has given queer activists around the world the additional challenge of preventing their causes from being used to justify the genocide in Gaza. In May 2024, Helem Montréal, a 2SLGBTQ+ organization made of members of SWANA communities (Southwest Asia and North Africa), publicly cut ties with Montreal Pride, stating that the organization had failed to address the issue of Pride events potentially being co-opted to vehiculate the ongoing oppression of Palestinian rights.

Meanwhile, membership to the organization Queers for Palestine has been increasing across Canada, specifically in major cities like Toronto, Montreal, and Ottawa. Members aim to stand in solidarity with the Palestinian people’s struggles for liberation, and with the plight of queer Palestinians in particular. As the Queers for Palestine Ottawa website states: “We aim to centre and amplify the voices of Palestinians, in Palestine and in diaspora, who are and have been leading the calls to liberate their people. ” However, this stance has been ill-received by many others concerned for queer rights, with critics often raising the issue of the abysmal treatment of queer people under regimes across the Middle East and North Africa (MENA.) In a 2023 article, journalist Armin Navabi writes that support for Palestinian liberation goes hand-in-hand with support for the Islamist resistance group Hamas, positing that “the deep-seated radical Islamist ethos driving the organization…if unbridled, would jeopardize the very freedoms cherished by LGBT people across the developed world.” But this discourse fails to acknowledge that the state of Israel has never actually attempted to address the criminalization of homosexuality in the MENA region, and has instead been using such rhetoric as a smokescreen to justify the ongoing genocide.

For Canadians, rising socioeconomic concerns – including job and housing security – also disproportionately affects those in the queer communities. 2SLGBTQ+ Canadians are more than twice as likely to experience visible homelessness than their straight, cisgender counterparts, with queer women in particular being four times as likely. Trans Canadians are twice as likely as the general public to experience extreme poverty and homelessness, and more than half of the trans population has difficulty meeting the financial demands to retain housing. This issue is especially pertinent to queer youth, as approximately one out of every three homeless young Canadians identifies as 2SLGBTQ+.

Many Montrealers have been subject to the struggle of remaining housed, and the city has seen a dramatic increase in visible homelessness within the past seven years. Queer people, specifically Black, Indigenous, People of Color (BIPOC) who also identify as 2SLGBTQ+, face increased struggles in finding secure housing. Those left with nowhere to go are often forced into “hidden homelessness,” leaving them to resort to unstable and often dangerous strategies for short-term habitation. As well as facing higher risks and more barriers associated with housing access, queer unhoused people have a unique set of needs. Many 2SLGBTQ+ youth specifically struggle with dramatically higher rates of mental health issues or suicide, and being unhoused makes it increasingly difficult for them to access essential mental, physical, and sexual health services. Not having a safe space solely for members of the queer community who are struggling with housing insecurity leaves an already vulnerable population susceptible to additional violence and discrimination on the streets or in shelters. Despite the many shelters and resource systems available to unhoused people in Montreal, there are currently no shelters in Quebec offering emergency services exclusively catered to the needs of 2SLGBTQ+ people. Though there are plans for such shelters being discussed, notably the Lambda House Project, there is still a long way to go in ensuring that the needs of 2SLGBTQ+ unhoused people are adequately met.

All queer issues are human issues. When we think about confronting oppression across the country and across the world, we must consider the queer people who are marginalized in other ways. Fighting oppression is our collective responsibility, and this Queer History Month it is essential to consider the intersectionality of queer identity in our activism. When we have these conversations, we need to do so with nuance in order to facilitate the wider discussion that so many queer voices are a part of.

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But this escalatory pattern is not one that started just two years ago. The “two years” timeline, the narrative that Western discourse has and is continuing to peddle, is profoundly ahistorical. To say that Israel’s crimes began two years ago is a whitewashed starting point, a rescaling of the timeline that ignores how this spiral of escalation began in the first place. It is a retelling of history that allows Western nations to scrub away the inconvenient truths behind the Palestinian struggle: namely, that the ongoing dispossession of Palestinians from their lands since the Nakba seventy-seven years ago is the very continuation of the West’s colonial history.

Israel’s genocide in Gaza is the culmination of a century-long colonial project: one that began with the Balfour Declaration in 1917, with Britain becoming the first Western power to declare support for the Zionist project in Palestine. It started implementation in 1948 with the wave of ethnic cleansing known as the Nakba (“catastrophe” in Arabic). This violent expulsion of Palestinians was conducted not by rogue factions but by mainstream Zionist groups like the Irgun paramilitary: the very Irgun which would later be absorbed into the Israeli Defence Forces and become the ideological predecessors of Israel’s ruling Likud party. The indiscriminate killing of Palestinians in Gaza is not solely the policy of the current ruling party, but the core of Israeli policy from its foundation to the present day.

The settler-colonial logic behind Israel’s actions is a direct echo of the genocide of Indigenous peoples in North America by European settlers. Just one week ago, on September 30, we observed the National Day of Truth and Reconciliation here in Canada. It is a day meant for us to remember the bloody foundations on which Canada was built: to recognize that the land we now stand on was violently wrested from the Indigenous peoples of Turtle Island by European settlers, and that the systems of oppression used to dispossess Indigenous peoples of their rights and dignity still exist to this day.

But can we say that we have learned, here at McGill, when this university has yet to divest from companies involved in Israel’s military-industrial complex? Can we say that that Canada has learned, when this nation is still selling weapons to Israel despite having pledged to cease arms exports because of the genocide?

If these last two years, and the preceding seventy-seven, have been any indication, the answer is a clear “no.”

What have Western media institutions done, when faced with the blatant hypocrisy of their actions? Double down on lies and silence the truth. Basic reporting on Gaza has been suppressed in Western newsrooms, to the point that media organizations have become little more than stenographers for Israeli propaganda. An open letter from BBC journalists to the agency’s Board of Governors notes how “it has felt that the BBC has been performing PR for the Israeli government and military.” Social media is also coming under siege, having been identified by Netanyahu himself as “the most important weapon … to secure [Israel’s] base in the US” and beyond. All this comes with Israel’s relentless targeting of journalists in the Gaza Strip, and escalating repression against Palestinian journalists in Western nations.

If accurate coverage of the very news from Gaza has been dwindling, then objective analysis of Palestine, Israel, and their role in Western imperial policy has been next to nonexistent to begin with. To consider the Palestinian cause in isolation is to ignore its central role in European, and now American, foreign doctrine in West Asia. Israel is not an outlier but a lynchpin of the West’s settler-colonial project in the Arabian peninsula and beyond. In the 1956 Suez Crisis, France and Britain enlisted Israel in a military attack on Egypt to seize the Suez Canal and depose then-Egyptian President Gamal Abdel Nasser. Netanyahu, after his first term as Israel’s PM, testified to Congress in 2002 in support of an American aggression against Iraq — one that would be launched in the following year. Former NATO Commander Wesley Clark revealed in 2003 that after Iraq, the Bush administration was preparing to launch military assaults against Syria, Lebanon, Libya, Iran, Somalia, and Sudan. Twenty-two years later, all these countries have now been directly attacked by the US, Israel, and/or their proxies.

Even peace plans have been weaponized in the name of settler colonialism. One can go back as far as the 1993 Oslo Accords, with promises to former Palestinian President Yasser Arafat of eventual Palestinian statehood having now faded into three decades of escalating oppression. In March of this year, the ceasefire between Israel and Palestinian resistance groups was unilaterally broken by Israel to continue its annihilation of Gaza. The Trump administration’s signature Abraham Accords has seen Arab nations normalize relations with Israel to undermine resistance against Israel. Jordan and Saudi Arabia have notably aided Israel in intercepting missiles from Iran and Yemen, and the UAE has been supporting Israel’s economy through trade. In early September, declarations of ceasefire talks were used by Israel to attempt to assassinate Hamas leaders in an airstrike on Qatar. Trump’s twenty-point peace plan, endorsed by Netanyahu and drawing inspiration from the leaked “Gaza Riviera” plan, would see the establishment of a transitional governing body for Gaza led by such ‘peace-loving’ politicians as former British Prime Minister Tony Blair, the co-architect of the Iraq war.

Western governments are not just complicit in Israel’s atrocities. The genocide in Gaza is a full-throated continuation of the violence enacted by European settlers against Indigenous peoples worldwide. This inconvenient truth — that to this day, Western nations are continuing to pursue the same colonial agenda they have for centuries — is one the mainstream narrative is attempting to sweep under the rug. A narrative where genocide is normalized, war is peace, bombs and bullets and famine are the status quo. Where being born is reason enough to be killed in the name of imperial greed.

It is a narrative that we the students, we the generations of tomorrow, must do our utmost to fight. Keep your eyes on Gaza. Keep yourself informed. Reject this world that would have us support genocide. Remember the actions of those in power, and never forget their crimes.

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Language is inherently human. Being able to articulate our thoughts is what distinguishes us from animals.  Language is a tool to foster communities and shape identities.

When one sets out to learn a new language, one is usually encouraged to partake in a variety of activities in order to improve. We are told to listen to music sung in that tongue, read its books, watch its movies, or practice with native speakers  to perfect the language. What do these actions have in common? They’re grounded in cultural customs – because language is inherently cultural.  

When your mother tongue is suppressed, and you are forbidden to speak your own language, you are subject to cultural erasure. 

The First Nations, Inuit, and Metis Peoples have always relied on oral communication and storytelling to impart wisdom and preserve history. Storytelling in particular is a traditional method that is used to teach cultural beliefs, values, customs, history, and ways of life. 

According to First Nations Pedagogy Online, “First Nations storytelling involves expert use of the voice, vocal and body expression, intonation, the use of verbal imagery, facial animation, context, plot and character development, natural pacing of the telling, and careful authentic recall of the story.” First Nations, Inuit, and Metis stories are essential to relaying historical or sacred narratives, as well as the socio-political practices of the community. One can only imagine how much history is lost when elders lose this ability to communicate with younger generations.

This is a way colonialism destroys nations. When one is more concerned with mastering the colonizers’ languages, like English or French, they are eventually forced to abandon their cultural identities. However, we cannot blame the victims of colonial erasure for their need to assimilate and thrive in an environment where the dominant language is not the one spoken by their ancestors. At the end of the day, humans require community. Speaking the colonizer’s language becomes a means of survival, especially when it imposes itself in all aspects of our lives, be it academic, professional, and even personal. 

The Canadian government’s efforts at pursuing truth and reconciliation have remained performative and empty. Land acknowledgements are made at public events or plastered all over government and university websites. Truth and Reconciliation Day is marked by orange t-shirts and public speeches from the government, but after October 1, it’s back to counting down the days until Thanksgiving: another dark day for the Indigenous community. Yet these efforts fail to preserve an integral part of Indigenous culture: language.

In 2019, the government of Canada passed the Indigenous Languages Act in an attempt to promote and revitalize Indigenous languages. However, the impact of this legislation has been mostly symbolic. The province of Quebec insists on preserving its Francophone culture by implementing The Charter of the French Language, conveniently forgetting that Quebec is on unceded Indigenous land, with ​​Kanien’kéha initially being the land’s native tongue. French lessons are offered by the government, and universities like McGill are reducing tuition for students who take  French classes. Yet Indigenous languages are hardly as accessible, forcing yet another barrier to Indigenous cultural preservation.

This National Truth and Reconciliation Day, we must do more than just acknowledge the land on which we reside. We cannot merely offer empty apologies for the genocidal crimes that led to Canada’s establishment. We all must recognize the structural repercussions of the ongoing colonial project which have destroyed First Nations, Inuit, and Metis communities. We must commit to long-term actions in preserving Indigenous culture, and pushing for more accessible opportunities to learn Indigenous languages. 

Indigenous history lies in stories told, and it is our duty to learn the languages in which they were meant to be heard.     

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On the same day that the news broke about Kirk’s shooting, “Block Everything” protests in France brought almost 300 arrests by deployed military police in just a few hours. Simultaneously, a school shooting took place in Colorado, U.S., injuring two students before the 16-year-old gunman turned the revolver on himself. Meanwhile in Nepal, police opened fire on civilian protestors in Kathmandu, killing 30 and wounding thousands. Still on September 10, 41 people, including 12 aid seekers, were killed in Gaza by bombings carried out by the Israeli military. 

With tragedies making up so many of the headlines and images we are confronted with every day, it’s hard not to feel like the world is ending right before our eyes. This “distant suffering” –  a term now being used to describe the sympathetic anguish and dejection one can feel at witnessing a tragedy from afar – can be crushing. Proliferated in recent years through social media and globalized networks of information-sharing, distant suffering has become widespread and deeply felt. This phenomenon is coupled with rising disillusionment among young people with state institutions worldwide, who are frustrated that so many of our governments remain complicit in the suffering that persists across the globe. A survey of 10,000 youth (ages 16-25) respondents from various countries found that 65 per cent of participants  believed that their governments were “failing young people.” Amidst a declining job market and multiple global crises, university students across the board are reporting higher instances of depression or depressive symptoms than ever before, with 38 per cent in the United States and 46 per cent in Canada over the past two years.

Faced with this inescapable tumult, many young people find themselves trying to shut out the world. The problem of youth disengagement in social and political action is becoming increasingly relevant; young adults are slipping into nihilist anti-intellectualism in order to cope with and avoid the peripheral stress of simply being alive in such pressing times. But our generation’s common “it’s not that deep” mentality is beginning to hinder us from probing further into and challenging  the dominant systems and narratives in our world. While nihilism might momentarily feel liberating, even Nietzsche foresaw it to have the potential to precipitate the greatest crisis known to man, characterised by the erosion of values and perpetual purposelessness.

So, what can we do? When the foundations of the world and our futures feel like they’re crumbling in front of us, is there anything we can do other than sit still and watch? You might catch yourself thinking: “It’s not like I can change the world, so why even bother trying? Does it even matter?”

As today’s youths prepare to inherit the world we live in, doubting the ability of our individual actions to shape the future has the dangerous potential of detracting from our momentum. The Asia Pacific Journal of Counselling and Psychotherapy published a paper on youth non-engagement and spiritual emptiness which puts this pitfall into perspective: “Hope is action-oriented; despair is the failure to take action.” When we lose faith in ourselves to produce even the smallest of changes, we will be forced to accept the status quo. In order to keep pushing for the progress we need, we have to avoid slipping from nihilism into despondency and find a way to make our perspectives actionable. We need something more productive, something that spurs us to mobilize and act in our own ways. This involves making our worlds smaller. That doesn’t mean detaching ourselves from reality, but pulling our focus from the global impact our individual actions and attitudes often cannot have. Instead we must realize the potential they can have to effect change in our communities, which are just as important. 

The thought of making waves across the world can be inspiring, but constantly thinking on such a large scale can often be more paralyzing than motivational. By taking action in our own lives, we can relieve ourselves from the impossible task of trying to counteract forces that are out of our control by putting effort into changing our worlds. Action doesn’t always have to be made with grand gestures: sometimes, it can just mean showing up to support the people and causes we care about.

In addition to taking action, we must remember that while we can be bound by distant suffering, we can also use our sympathy to connect with others through systems of mutual aid and comfort. Rather than focusing on our own internal upset, it often helps to reach out to others and find solace in remembering that we are not as alone as we might feel. Listening to other people’s stories of love and loss, joy and sadness, can help us cultivate empathy in our increasingly divided world. Moreover, while humour has always been a way of making sense of our experiences in particularly dark times, constantly reducing our pain into quips and one-liners can eventually erode our sensitivity. Sometimes, it really is that deep, and that’s okay. 

Yes, most days now do feel like an endless onslaught of bad news and tragedy, ever present on our screens and all around us. But the good news is that we hold the power to enact change. Humans have always been a species capable of adapting, and while the world might feel like it’s ending, that also must mean it hasn’t ended yet.

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In 1961, the Freedom Riders were formed in the United States. This group consisted of black and white American men protesting segregated transit systems by travelling across the country together and fighting racism side by side. Simultaneously, on the other end of the globe, the Mahar writers and poets of India established the Dalit Panthers in 1972. This radical organization, inspired by the Black Panthers, protested the institutionalized caste discrimination faced by Dalits or “untouchables”: the lowest ranked group in the Indian caste system. The Dalit Panthers wrote speeches and produced art, such as pocket-sized political zines, denouncing inequality while also organizing self-defense initiatives. Overall, the thread that weaved these acts of resistance together was not a focus on individual identity, but instead, an affirmation of solidarity despite differences, and the active fight for justice.

Today, we have resorted to land acknowledgements and digital guides navigating the guilt associated with injustice rather than the issue of injustice itself. 

Contemporary social justice movements in North America have made considerable achievements in integrating critical theory into mainstream political consciousness. The works of notable thinkers such as bell hooks or Kimberlé Crenshaw have shaped our understanding of subjugation, emphasizing that the intersection of our various identities – whether that be class and race or religion and gender – influences the way we experience the world around us. 

Nonetheless, the forms of resistance that have arisen from these theories lack key elements needed to unify different parties into a joint struggle: a true sense of solidarity and partnership.  

Instead, the notion of allyship has dominated activist spaces and literature. Defined by Oxford English Dictionary as the “ the state or condition of being a person who supports the rights of a minority or marginalized group without being a member of it,” this concept provides clear guidelines on how those sympathetic to social justice movements should represent, speak to, and show up for people within marginalized communities. When examining the term “ally” from a political context, however, allyship often implies impermanence. Allies are made in times of war and often under strict conditions. Allies aim to further the interests of both groups involved in the partnership for the time being and can quickly be disentangled. Allies are not your fellow friends and partners, nor are they your brothers or sisters. 

When we apply these ideas of conditionality to social activism, we pigeonhole ourselves into a strict set of rules concerning how we engage with others. Not only does this approach frame people as a single monolith, reducing the identities of those within minority groups to their oppression, but it also ensures we centre ourselves and our own feelings of guilt over the actual complex issues facing marginalized communities.

A tenet of allyship has been the overemphasis on the experience of privilege rather than totalizing social hierarchies. However, when our activism solely examines our own complicity in systems of power, we maintain dominant cultural narratives, guaranteeing that the stories with the most visibility in mainstream media are our own and not those of the communities we claim to uplift. Taking this idle position in the creation of art and scholarship ensures that people of colour, queer folk, people with disabilities, and all groups that are already pushed to the margins of social structures are additionally pushed to those of creative endeavours. Rather than taking charge of our activism through direct action and close collaboration with these communities, we isolate ourselves to our own experiences. 

In short, when we uplift voices by creating a comfortable distance between ourselves and the communities we wish to support, we prevent true bonds of solidarity and camaraderie from taking shape. 

Still, the fear of fully absorbing ourselves in the lived experiences of others does come with valid concerns. Overgeneralizations and the misrepresentation of groups can perpetuate false narratives, further obscuring the lived realities of marginalized people. Scholars attempting to capture the Middle East and Asia have sensationalized these regions and its people. Queer love in film and television is often hypersexualized. However, similarly to the notion of allyship, these depictions often centre privileged voices and gazes within discussions on marginalization. They do not aim to understand communities facing marginalization, and as a result, they fail to meaningfully collaborate with members of these groups to challenge oppressive systems. 

We must stop pretending that there is not more nuance to the simple binaries of privileged and oppressed, powerful and powerless. While social structures predetermine the manner in which we perceive others and the way we are perceived, the only way to break free from this condition is to actually engross ourselves in the struggles and stories of others. An allyship that reinforces the divisions between communities does not achieve this. 

We need to create a new conceptualization of active solidarity that does not create false representations of marginalized groups, does not centre our own guilt, and tangibly engages with systems of oppression. We must question the passive, unmoving, and unchanging idea of an ally and submerge ourselves in the struggles of others.

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The death toll keeps rising, and Gaza’s population is declining. Mass killings by Israeli airstrikes and Israel’s blockade of food supplies have resulted in widespread suffering and starvation among Palestinians. Just a few weeks ago, the United Nations (UN) declared famine in the Gaza Strip. 

As of September 1, the recorded number of famine-induced deaths stands at 361, including 130 children, according to Al-Jazeera. 

Throughout these past seven hundred days, Israel’s blatant violations of humanitarian law have been thoroughly documented by Palestinian journalists. In response, Israel has escalated its systematic targeting of the press in Gaza.

On August 10, Israel attacked a press tent located outside of al-Shifa hospital, murdering six Al-Jazeera correspondents, among them renowned and beloved-by-all journalist, Anas al-Sharif. The attack also killed correspondent Mohammed Qreiqeh, camera operators Ibrahim Zaher and Mohammed Noufal, freelance cameraman Momen Aliwa, and freelance journalist Mohammed al-Khalidi. 

Anas al-Sharif is one of the many media professionals who have been targeted by the Israeli government during this genocide. He was a 28-year-old journalist who had reported extensively from the north of Gaza since the start of the genocide. He gained an extensive following in the past two years, one of his most famous televised sections being his jubilant announcement confirming the ceasefire this past January. In the televised segment, Al-Sharif stood tall, surrounded by his peers, speaking into the microphone, and removed his press vest in a symbolic gesture marking the end of the genocide, and his coverage of the scene. 

Seven months later, Israel killed him.

Just two weeks after al-Sharif’s assassination, Israel murdered five journalists and several healthcare workers in a double-tap strike on Nasser Hospital.

As of September 1, Al-Jazeera reports the total number of martyred journalists has risen to at least 278 since October 7, 2023. These attacks are part of Israel’s widespread efforts to erase first-hand documentation of its crimes against Palestinians. 

Ayham Al-Sahli, Palestinian journalist from Haifa, wrote in an opinion piece for Al-Akhbar newspaper, “One of the major challenges in Gaza is the lack of strong independent Palestinian media institutions capable of preserving and managing such an archive. Aside from the official Palestinian news agency WAFA, and a few others that have attempted to work in Gaza, no Palestinian body is maintaining a comprehensive record of the way. After two years, much of their capacities to continue operations have diminished, leaving the substantial archives in the hands of foreign media organizations.”

This comment sheds light on major issues regarding Palestinian press safety. The absence of archival preservation from Palestinian journalists on the genocide is directly linked to the ongoing killings of journalists. Thus, this leads to a strong deficit in authentic, native, on-the-ground storytelling, leaving the reporting up to “foreigners.”

The targeting of Palestinian journalists dates back to before the start of the Gaza genocide. In May 2022, Al-Jazeera reporter Shireen Abu-Akleh was shot in the head and killed by Israeli soldiers while covering a raid in Jenin, a city in the occupied West Bank. 

Abu-Akleh was a prominent name, having reported for Al-Jazeera for more than 25 years. Several Israeli Defense Force (IDF) statements claimed she got caught in a crossfire between soldiers and Palestinian resistance fighters, but those were quickly disproven. Abu-Akleh was wearing a press vest and standing with other journalists when she was killed. 

The press vest should have been enough to protect Shireen Abu-Akleh.

The press vest should have been enough to protect Anas al-Sharif. 

The press vest should be enough to protect journalists from being targeted. 

Since 1977, the Geneva Convention has implemented amendments to clauses asserting the protection of journalists. Moreover, the United Nations website sets journalism as being “fundamental for sustainable development, human rights protection, and democratic consolidation.” In 2012, the UN implemented the “Plan of Action on the Safety of Journalists and the Issue of Impunity” addressing the prevention of violence against journalists and the protection of the press. Yet these suggestions are not legally binding, leaving journalists vulnerable to attacks by repressive regimes.

Under international humanitarian law, journalists in armed conflict hold civilian status and must be protected. Yet, when it comes to Palestinian journalists, we see nothing but frivolous words of sorrow, prayers, and eulogies. 

In fact, at the time of al-Sharif’s martyrdom, CNN and BBC made it a point to link him to the Islamist resistance group, Hamas. La Presse goes so far as to highlight Israeli claims of al-Sharif being a “terrorist posing as a journalist,” despite al-Sharif’s numerous statements that he was a journalist with no political affiliations. Such accusations and harmful narratives have only one aim: to dehumanize Palestinian journalists, and shut down any and all solidarity with them.

This begs the question: what qualifies as being a journalist? And why is it that some journalists’ lives matter more than others? 

Al-Sharif and his peers have to work twice as hard as others to prove their journalistic integrity and commitment to the truth, while they stand strong in the face of dangers some of us will never be brave enough to even face. In addition to being systematically hunted down by Israel, Palestinian journalists also face the delegitimization of their profession. 

As journalists who are committed to reporting on the truth, we cannot remain silent while our peers in Palestine are being martyred. We must push for their security, fight to keep their voices heard, and preserve their dignity. An attack on one of us is an attack on all of us. 

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At McGill, the end of August signals the beginning of classes. It’s a routine we all have or doubtless will become familiar with. As the leaves turn from green to orange, as the autumn chill settles in, our campus comes alive with the hubbub of students. In a little over a month, midterm season will hit. By the time winter snows arrive, we will be stressed over finals. For new students, it’s the first time many are leaving their homes. For returning students, it might be their second year, their third year, or their last year before they say farewell on the graduation stage.

According to UNESCO, Canada boasts one of the highest post-secondary education rates in the world at nearly 70 per cent, a number only surpassed by Russia and Belarus. A 1999 Ministers’ Report cites post-secondary education as taking a “central role in addressing the challenges of a changing society.” In particular, modern issues — such as the rise of information technology — were foreseen to “affect and [be] influenced by” post-secondary institutions, a prediction which holds ever stronger to this day.

On a similar note, universities have been key to informing the collective conscience of each generation of youth and driving social reform. On its own, Montreal’s university scene has fostered countless such movements through the decades: women’s rights in the first half of the 20th century, the civil rights movement in the 1960s, and more recently, the anti-tuition hike strikes in 2012. In the present, students at McGill have continued to push against injustice in Canada and abroad. Two prominent examples are protests against the university’s New Vic project on potential unmarked Indigenous graves, and Israel’s ongoing genocide in Palestine.

But in spite of their importance to youth internationally — and, in some cases, directly because of it — universities are coming under threat.

Recent years have seen Canadian institutions face budgetary deficits across the board. In 2024, the federal government introduced caps on the number of students from outside of Canada, which led to a reduction in  international student enrollment. This, combined with shortfalls in provincial funding, have forced universities across Canada to make drastic operational cuts. The University of Regina has increased tuition for all students by 4 per cent. Waterloo University has been looking to cut spending by $42 million against a $75 million deficit in the 2025 fiscal year, while Dalhousie University and Université de Sherbrooke each face fiscal gaps in excess of $20 million. Last year, Queens University cut student scholarships and smaller music courses in their Faculty of Arts and Sciences in response to a budgetary shortfall of $35.7 million.

Here at McGill, administrators are tackling a $15 million shortfall this fiscal year and an expected $45 million for 2026 — numbers which, in a February town hall, President Deep Saini warned could accumulate to $194 million by 2028 if no action is taken. These measures came in the wake of Quebec Premier François Legault’s tuition hikes for out-of-province and international students. Sixty staff layoffs were announced in May, fewer than the 99 initially estimated, though it remains to be seen what further measures McGill administration will be taking in the new academic year. The Daily warned against many of McGill’s proposed cuts, which would have disproportionately affected our university’s Arts programs. 

These problems are not unique to Canadian institutions. In the United Kingdom, over 40 per cent of universities have reported deficits this year, in spite of austerity measures: a number which has been steadily increasing over the last five years. Like in Canada, this shortfall has been attributed to a decrease in international student enrollment. This figure balloons to over 80 per cent in France, where it led to over one billion euros of cuts to higher education and research this year.

These issues have been most pressing in the United States, under the Trump administration’s blatant crusade against academia. Wielding claims of antisemitism and “woke” indoctrination, President Donald Trump has either threatened or proceeded to cut federal funding from multiple major institutions. Simultaneously, international students have been systematically targeted by immigration officials, often for political reasons. Federal grant organizations have also dramatically rolled back funding for graduate students and post-doctoral researchers. 

The plight of Western higher education is growing in tandem with a looming labour crisis among post-secondary graduates. According to Statistics Canada, Canadian youth between 15 and 24 are facing the worst employment prospects in nearly 30 years, with inflation and population growth tagged as the two primary culprits. An even more worrying trend is emerging south of the border, where unemployment among young   graduates is significantly exceeding the overall American rate of joblessness. In particular, the payoff of getting an undergraduate degree seems to be quickly dwindling: young male college graduates are now facing unemployment at the same rate as non-graduates, while just over a decade ago they were only half as likely to be without jobs.

Higher education is in crisis. Political agendas and the current economic storm are diminishing the value of post-secondary education. To abandon our universities is to abandon possibilities for the coming generations. It is egregious and unpardonable that policymakers, whether by neglect or deliberate intent, are driving the erosion of our academic institutions.

The post Higher Education Is In Crisis appeared first on The McGill Daily.

The 2025 theme for Women’s History Month is “Moving Forward Together.” According to the National Women’s History Alliance, it aims to celebrate “the powerful influence of women who have dedicated their lives to education, mentorship, and leadership.” In North America especially, it is impossible to speak about women in education and leadership without acknowledging the trans women who dedicated their lives to this very cause. Christine Jorgensen is one such well-known figure, an actress and trans activist who spent much of her time in the spotlight educating the American public and advocating for transgender people. In terms of leadership and community organizing, American activist Louise Lawrence held large public lectures on transgender history from the 1940s to the 1970s. These women played an integral role not only in raising public awareness about trans issues but also in advocating for the rights of all marginalized genders. 

Looking at past examples of how trans activists spread awareness about gender non-conformity, we can see that trans rights and women’s rights have always been intertwined. Transphobia is ultimately harmful to anyone affected by sexism or misogyny, including cisgender women, since it reinforces the stereotypes that, for centuries, have been perpetuated by the patriarchy. In light of the recent rise in vitriol and hate crimes against transgender individuals, it is more important than ever to stay united as a community. The normalization of anti-trans violence makes the world less safe for everyone. When some members of our community are in danger, the entire community is in danger — violence ripples outwards, and as these hate crimes become legitimized by mainstream media and the government, much of the human rights progress over the past few decades is eroded. 

One recent instance of this discrimination was the treatment that Imane Khelif received at the Paris Olympics. Khelif, an Algerian boxer, was targeted by a violent hate train filled with transphobic attacks despite not being a transgender woman herself. This highlights how anti-trans rhetoric is largely based on Western ideas of femininity, resulting in a racist, narrow conception of gender that disproportionately affects women of colour. In 2022, a “female-only” dating app came under fire for using AI to “confirm” if users were female.  The AI ended up denying access to users that were women of colour, since they did not meet the Eurocentric criteria for “female features” defined by the app’s software. “Trans women are an easy scapegoat to amplify an effort to police all women’s bodies,” said Angel Joy Flores, a trans athlete based in Seattle. “Anti-trans rhetoric surges and emboldens [all forms of] misogyny.”

Given the precarious state of trans rights around the world, especially in the US and the UK, it is more important than ever for Canada to continue protecting trans rights for its community. On October 31, 2024, Alberta passed a new bill called the Fairness and Safety in Sport Act. This misleadingly titled legislation aims to restrict women’s sports to “female only” and could target children as young as twelve. Children risk being pulled from sports just based on someone’s suspicion of their identity; the legislation urges educational institutions and sports clubs to go as far as investigating birth records. Additionally, Conservative party leader Pierre Poilievre has also voiced his support for excluding trans women from women’s spaces such as bathrooms and shelters. That such rhetoric is being issued by one of the leading figures in Canadian politics sets a dangerous precedent for trans rights in our country. 

Now more than ever, it is important for feminists and trans activists to come together to build solidarity and fight against the patriarchal regime that affects us all. We must challenge the rise in exclusionary ideology worldwide by embracing the intersections between both communities, and we must be wary of falling into the trap of pitting women’s issues against trans issues. 

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