The Tribune TUESDAY, MARCH 26 2024 | VOL. 43 | ISSUE 23
THETRIBUNE.CA | @THETRIBUNECA
Published by the SPT, a student society of McGill University
EDITORIAL
FEATURE
SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY
Assist, don’t resist, TAs in their strikes for better rights
When walls talk
Practices of resistance in times of crisis presents: How to use new media
PG. 5
PG. 8-9
PG. 13
Statement regarding former SSMU President Darshan Daryanani The Tribune Publications Society
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s part of our mandate to cover campus news and student politics, The Tribune published 33 articles about Darshan Daryanani, former President of the Students’ Society of McGill University (SSMU), between 2021 and 2022. However, all of the facts were not available at the time of reporting. In the Spring of 2023, Daryanani commenced legal action against 19 defendants including The Tribune and a staff writer, claiming damages for injury to his reputation, health, and earning potential. Daryanani and The Tribune have settled the matter, without any admission of liability. As part of the settlement, The Tribune is publishing this statement to clarify the timeline and facts regarding Daryanani’s presidency. Start of Presidency Even before Daryanani assumed office as SSMU President, efforts were made to remove him from his role. In March 2021, one of the candidates, who was subsequently elected to the SSMU Executive, publicly encouraged his peers to “start a controversy” about Daryanani. The candidate received a sanction from Elections SSMU for negatively campaigning against Daryanani. Nonetheless, Daryanani won the SSMU presidential race against two candidates, with 55% of the vote. In May 2021, the aforementioned individual unsuccessfully attempted to oust Daryanani with a “vote of non-confidence”. On May 31, 2021, during a confidential session, the SSMU Board removed Daryanani from his position as Chair of the SSMU Board of Directors. Daryanani was not present in the meeting, nor was he provided with any reasoning for his removal. Daryanani maintains that the SSMU’s ac-
tions contravened his employment contract and SSMU governing documents. The Tribune has only recently learnt of this context. Five-month long Suspension Only three months after Daryanani commenced office as President, the SSMU Board took the extraordinary measure to suspend him from his role as President. The SSMU Board initially told Daryanani that the suspension would end on November 5, 2021. Instead, they repeatedly extended his suspension four more times, over a period of five months. No reason was given for the suspension or subsequent extensions. The Tribune did not have this context at that time of reporting. Reinstatement On January 6, 2022, SSMU finally appointed an independent lawyer to conduct an “admissibility analysis” into the complaints. Daryanani was not required to be interviewed by the investigator, and he was never informed of any allegations against him. The analysis was conducted by Maître Magalie Poulin, a lawyer at HumaniLex Services Conseils. Poulin concluded that: “None of these complaints are reasonably susceptible to lead to a conclusion of psychological harassment if they were respectively subject to an investigation. Indeed, even if all the alleged facts were proven as they were reported to us by the Complainants, they could not constitute a situation of harassment for either one of them.” Daryanani was accordingly reinstated on February 14, 2022; however, he had lost five months of his Presidency. In the February 22, 2022 issue, The Tribune covered this reinstatement, including
perspectives from Daryanani and SSMU executives. At that time, The Tribune did not report on the conclusion of the investigation.
tains that the impeachment violated SSMU regulations, and that it was inherently devoid of fairness and transparency.
Impeachment Despite the result of the investigation, SSMU representatives organized an online impeachment assembly on April 11, 2022, just six weeks before the scheduled end of his term. The SSMU representatives did not provide any reasons for Daryanani’s removal. Daryanani claims that it was impossible for him to have a fair opportunity to defend himself against unknown allegations. He main-
Resolution Daryanani’s claim against the other defendants remains ongoing in the Superior Court of Quebec. Daryanani believes that the resolution with The Tribune is a positive step, and that going forward, there will be an increased awareness of the fundamental principles of due process, procedural fairness and natural justice on university campuses, in student government and in the media.
McGill Senate discusses Palestine, 1,600 TAs go on strike as negotiations with McGill stall over tuition hikes, and budget cuts Senate Steering Committee shuts down discourse collective agreement AGSEM calls for higher wages and healthcare benefits Fabienne de Cartier Staff Writer
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tudents walking through Roddick Gates on Monday, March 25 were met with the sounds of bells, chants, and honks, as well as a massive banner that read “McGill is a
union university.” This picket line marked the start of McGill Teaching Assistants’ (TAs) strike for better pay, healthcare, and indexed working hours. The Association of Graduate Students Employed at McGill (AGSEM)—the union which represents TAs—hopes
that this strike will pressure McGill to take negotiations for a new collective agreement (CA) more seriously. Since the beginning of the academic year, AGSEM has met with McGill 15 times to bargain over both monetary and non-monetary aspects of a new contract. PG.2
about McGill’s ties to Israel Alex Jonas Contributor
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he McGill Senate convened on March 20 in Leacock for its third meeting of 2024. Central topics were student calls for McGill to cut ties with Israeli institutions, the tense atmosphere on campus
over Israel’s siege on Gaza, and the ongoing legal battle between McGill and the provincial government over proposed tuition hikes. The meeting began with memorial tributes to the late Professor Emeritus Radoslav Zuk and Professor Monica Popescu, followed by a discussion of the
Senate Steering Committee report. The report explains that four motions related to the ongoing genocide of Palestinians had been submitted but were unanimously declined by the Steering Committee—meaning they were not on the agenda for discussion—on the grounds that they are not Senate business. PG.4