Maria Cholakov

Concordia shuttle bus service reduced this fall

Local Journalism Initiative / / / , , ,

The shuttle bus will start running at 9:30 a.m. Photo Maria Cholakov

Hannah Scott-Talib,
Local Journalism Initiative

The reduction comes as a result of the university’s financial situation

In light of Concordia University’s financial situation and subsequent budget cuts this year, the university’s shuttle bus service will be reduced this fall semester. 

From Monday to Thursday, the reduced schedule will see the shuttle bus first depart at 9:15 a.m. from the Loyola campus and 9:30 a.m. from the Sir George Williams (SGW) campus, with Friday’s schedule modifying the earliest departure from SGW to 9:45 a.m.

In comparison, last year’s shuttle bus schedule saw the bus run from around 7:30 a.m. to 11 p.m. across both campuses from Monday to Thursday, and 7:30 a.m. to 7:50 p.m. on Fridays. 

“The aim is to continue to provide the service to the Concordia community, even as the university navigates a difficult financial situation,” Concordia University spokesperson Fiona Downey said. “A decision on the winter term [shuttle bus] schedule will be made later in the fall.”

A budget update was posted on the university’s website on Aug. 13, explaining that the university is “facing extraordinarily challenging times” and has approved a deficit of $34.5 million for the 2024-2025 school year. 

“If the shuttle bus isn’t coming as often, it’s really going to be a problem [for me],” fourth-year psychology student Soha Hashmi said. “All of my classes are at Loyola, so [I take it] pretty much every day.” 

She added that the shuttle bus was often full when she took it last year, before the reduced schedule. 

“The amount of times I’ve had to stand in line for like 20 to 25 minutes, and then there’s such a big line around the Hall building that you still end up having to wait for the next shuttle, which takes even longer,” Hashmi said. “[It’s] to the point where, one time, my friends and I just decided to split an Uber, and everyone in line started doing the same thing.”

She said that another one of her concerns regarding the reduction relates to the safety of the shuttle bus over other public transportation measures.

“This is really going to impact everyone, but especially people like international students who don’t know their way around the city,” she said. “When you’re new to the city and you’ve never been here by yourself, taking public transport is really scary.”

Second-year student Maria José Jimenez Acosta shares Hashmi’s concerns. Jimenez Acosta said she sees the shuttle as a safe method of transport that first-year and international students can rely on to get from one campus to another. 

“If you have an 8:45 a.m. class, now you will just have to find another way,” Jiminez Acosta said. 

She added that many of her friends have labs for their classes that take place early in the day or later in the evening, which the reduced schedule would not accommodate. 

Hashmi expressed that, while she appreciated the university’s honesty about the financial situation, she wishes there could have been budget cuts made elsewhere.  

In response to The Link’s inquiry regarding the possibility of the shuttle bus being eliminated entirely by 2025, Downey stated that “depending on how things evolve, we are considering all options with regards to the university bus system.”

This article originally appeared in Volume 45, Issue 1, published September 3, 2024.

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A look back on student encampments and resistance

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Students set up McGill encampment for Palestine. Photo Hannah Scott-Talib

Zina Chouaibi & Geneviève Sylvestre,
Local Journalism Initiative

The dismantling of the McGill encampment was not the end of Palestinian solidarity in Montreal

Over the past year, universities in Montreal and across the world have witnessed a surge in student activism, with campus encampments serving as symbols of Palestinian solidarity.

Antler, a camper at the McGill University encampment, who was granted a pseudonym for safety reasons, was about to leave Montreal for summer break when the encampment was erected on April 27. Instead, she chose to stay in the city to show her solidarity.

“This is a student opportunity that doesn’t happen often. It’s the first encampment in Canada, it was in a school that is already on stolen land, it had a lot of backstory to it that was very important to us,” said Antler. “At the time of the encampment, it kind of felt like it was the most we could do.”

The encampment brought unprecedented attention to the issue of divestment, highlighting activists’ demands that McGill and Concordia divest from companies with connections to the ongoing genocide and cut all academic ties with Israel.   

McGill filed three injunctions in an attempt to get the encampment removed. Two were rejected by Quebec Superior Court judges, and the last was withdrawn by McGill after the dismantlement of the camp by a private security firm on Jul. 10.

“The fact that it was forcefully removed by mercenaries only contributed positively to the momentum,” a representative from Solidarity for Palestinian Human Rights (SPHR) McGill said. 

According to the representative, the encampments showcased the unity and power of the student front.

“We had never seen this much media coverage on this topic despite divestment being a demand for the past two decades,” they said.

Antler was not present the day the encampment was taken down, but says she is very proud of what all the campers accomplished.

“Honestly, more than anything, more than disappointed, I was just very, very proud of how long the encampment stayed and how resilient the students were,” she said. 

The removal of the encampments did not mark the end of the divestment movement, but rather a shift in tactics. Activists like Hassan Ridha from the Palestinian Youth Movement are now focusing on long-term strategies that involve coalition-building across different communities.

“When multiple separate efforts are joined together, they become more powerful,” Ridha said.

Despite the lack of meaningful progress from university administrations, Ridha sees the rise in solidarity as a significant victory.

“I consider the unification of students, businesses, professionals and parents a major success of the encampment,” he said. 

According to the SPHR McGill representative, the Montreal community played a crucial role in supporting the encampments and keeping the movement alive.

“The Montreal community has supported us throughout the encampment with donations for what was necessary to keep the encampment alive,” the SPHR McGill representative said. “That in itself plays a huge role in achieving divestment.” 

Currently, activists like Ridha are looking to engage new supporters to sustain the movement, particularly incoming students who may be unfamiliar with the history of the encampments. 

“To engage new supporters, it is important to be as present as possible in as many places as possible,” Ridha said. He believes that by expanding the movement’s reach and involving more communities, the movement can continue to grow and evolve.

“At the end of the day, we are students who don’t want our tuition money to go to the funding of a genocide,” the SPHR McGill representative said. “That is such a simple ask: justice.” 

With files from Maria Cholakova

This article originally appeared in Volume 45, Issue 1, published September 3, 2024.

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