Today is International Women's Day, and although you might notice the requisite "Let's Empower Women and Girls" op-ed on your social media news feeds, the truth is that this day is more or less a farce. It's a day where society can say they have talked about "women's" issues for...

Once upon a time, in a magical, distinct society known as Quebec, a very small portion of the student population sought to take down their government. A Maple Spring is what they were calling for; a complete ousting of the corrupt government. Their cri de coeur was a tuition increase....

Twenty-five years ago today, the highest court in Canada handed down a landmark ruling that would forever change the scope of women's rights in this country. In 1988, following the Supreme Court of Canada judgment, R. v. Morgentaler, it was found that the constraints placed on abortion were unconstitutional, and...

I'm not sure why I'm still surprised when the media quite predictably portrays women in a different light than they do men. Call it systematic cautious optimism -- with every sexist jab the media delivers I sincerely hope that it's the last one. Accordingly, it never ceases to amaze me...

A 23-year-old medical student was on a bus with her boyfriend in New Delhi, and was subsequently gang-raped and sadistically beaten by six men. Two weeks later, she succumbed to her injuries and died. Despite the fact that a woman is raped every 22 minutes in India, this...

It would seem as though my generation, colloquially referred to as millennials or Generation Y, seem to be greatly feared by politicians, specifically politicians who are right of centre.

Conservative politicians are terrified of millennials, and for good reason. Paul Beck, a professor at Ohio State University, theorized that...

Justin Trudeau had barely finished taking his foot out of his mouth when he decided to cram it right back in there. Although this time, his foot is giving Canadians an involuntary gag reflex. After spending his years in Parliament defending the long-gun registry, and voting to keep the registry,...

I grew up in a moderately religious household. My mother regaled my sister and I with the epic stories of the Mahabharata and the Ramayana, we went to the Mandir (Hindu temple) on a regular basis and my mother and my sister prayed everyday.

I began to question religion...

After $6 billion, a Republican primary that rivaled the abnormality of a 1920s freak show, countless memes and a full-fledged war on women, the people of America have spoken. Though it's hardly the triumphant victory progressives would have wanted for their country. Alas, a win is...

Hurricane Sandy pelted the eastern seaboard with high winds, devastating storm surges, fallen power lines, billions in damages and a death toll over 60. The cover of Business Week is rather blunt in its position: "It's Called Global Warming, Stupid." The article goes on to state that it...

A funny thing has been happening lately: Americans of all political stripes have been getting mighty defensive about the political discourse that has been surrounding the current American Presidential debate. As a quintessential Canadian, I understand. It is downright embarrassing to be presenting Barack Obama as a progressive, under any...

When Amanda was in the 7th grade, she was with her friends playing around with a webcam, in an effort to meet new people, and she agreed to flash someone. A year later, the photo was posted to Facebook, consequently sending Amanda into a depression. Despite changing schools twice, the...

There has been a lot of indignation and distress over Stephen Woodworth's Private Member Bill, Motion 312. There is indeed a lot to be upset over, although the recent call for Rona Ambrose's resignation is both overblown and misplaced. Overblown because we were all fully aware of her...

We all do it, don't we? Whether in class or at work, everybody tends to check their Facebook feed. Increasingly, however, I have begun to find Facebook more of an annoyance than anything. Although this afternoon, I would have welcomed my usual eye-roll at the several inane status updates I...

This blog post was supposed to be about firsts for Quebec. With record voter turnout at over 70 per cent yesterday, it was among the highest ever for this province. Additionally, the people of Quebec elected our first ever female Premier, Pauline Marois, and the PQ was ushered into power...

I have not exactly kept it a secret that I disagree with many aspects of the Parti Québécois' current platform. However, when it comes to the PQ's policy on asbestos, I couldn't agree more. If elected, the PQ has stated that it would essentially abolish the...

Pauline Marois and the Parti Québécois (PQ), the current front-runner in a three-way race to form Quebec's next government, have unveiled some disconcerting aspects of their would-be mandate: all overt religious symbols would be banned from public institutions... except for Catholic religious symbols.

In what the PQ...

The Quebec student protesters are coming for Premier Jean Charest, and what better way to do that than to formally align yourself with the opposition? After months of denying any political favourtism or formal ties to the opposition, the former president for the Fédération étudiante collégiale du Québec (FECQ), Léo...

This comedian walks into a comedy club, goes on stage and starts joking about blacks being beaten by white people. You look around and see that people are laughing; it makes you wildly uncomfortable and upset. You can't understand how people are sitting through this diatribe, let alone laughing at...

The protests in Montreal started off as something tangible, concrete: outrage over an increase in tuition. Of course, as we all know, the tone of the protests soon shifted, and before we could all say "neo-liberal policies," the protests morphed into what the protesters themselves described as an...