Project description: Queer McGill has operated at McGill in various forms since the early 1970’s, and has played its own particular role in queer history. Being able to access and reflect on this aspect of our local queer history would be incredibly meaningful to present and future generations of queers and activists.

Project description: This project will consist of a qualitative and quantitative systemic examination of the Montreal shelter system to determine the state of access for transsexual, transgender and gender-variant people in need of shelter and housing (with a possible specific focus on women`s shelters). Furthermore, the research will look at other cities which have successfully adapted their shelter system (such as Toronto and New York City) to improve access for trans people. The final research will be used in the context of the Trans Health Network`s Shelter Access campaign (to be launched in Fall 2009).

Final product: The final product will be a15-20 evaluation report, with a 2-3 page summary report (to be used for media and public awareness), summarizing the status of the Montreal shelter system, and compiling resources and making recommendations based on the successes of trans activists in other cities in implementing policy regarding trans access.

The Trans Health Network (THN) is a coalition of groups who have come together to fight for better access to health care services for transgender, transsexual and gender-variant people in Montreal and throughout Quebec. The network has been together for around five years and currently includes Project 10, Stella, Action Santé Travesti(e)s et Transsexuel(le)s du Québec (ASSTTeQ), and the 2110 Centre for Gender Advocacy.

The THN exists within a long history of organizing for improved access to health care and social services, decent working conditions (in particular for sex workers) and housing, HIV prevention, and an overall greater quality of life for trans people in Quebec. This history, however, has all too often been ignored by more recent efforts to address these issues. This research project would help to shed light on some of this history, in part by reviewing historical research and documentation in this area.

The student completing this project will conduct primary research compiling the mailroom policies of Canada’s 58 federal prisons (i.e. what is permitted in), with particular attention paid to pornography, erotica, and queer content.  The information will be provided to prospective penpals, as well as  used by the Prisoner Correspondence Project to tailor future resource design.

Final product of the research: A 15-20 page reference guide with the research findings.

Skills required: An upper-level student with an interest in Canadian public policy and/or criminology.

We are seeking an overview as to how public policy has influenced incarceration levels in Canada over the past fifty years to help us contextualize other work we are doing on HIV prevention in prisons.  This request does not entail primary research but rather the collection and synthesis of a broad range of information on related topics: the effects of Canadian drug policy, the advent and role of alternative sentencing strategies, etc.

We also realize the broad nature of “public policy” as a topic and are open and receptive to proposals of research with a narrower focus.