McGill University president Deep Saini navigates turbulent waters with grace

Deep Saini was days away from unveiling a signature initiative to boost French proficiency at McGill University when a contact in the Quebec government quietly warned the school’s new president he might not have the money for it.A few days later, in early October of 2023, the government fired a policy torpedo in his direction. It announced it would hike tuition for Canadian students from outside Quebec, require 80 per cent of graduates to achieve intermediate French fluency and redistribute a portion of McGill’s sizable international tuition revenue elsewhere in the system.