Cord Community Edition - August 2013

4 >> ION Light Rail Vehicles roll into Waterloo Region 7 >> How accessible are abortion services in K-W? 9 >> It’s time to get our CFL (or NHL) team on 17 >> We learn the secrets behind making pupusas 22 >> Documentary Blackfish asks us to Free Willy

<< 19 Elliot Brood takes Kitchener Bluesfest by storm

ORD COMMUNITY COMMUNITY.THECORD.CA

AUGUST 2013

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VOLUME 1, ISSUE 11

Why the Iron Horse trail is the best ride in K-W, in pictures + Bike lane reviews, page 11

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THE CORD COMMUNITY EDITION

AUGUST 2013

Editor’s note You may have already noticed that things look a little different around here. Though we’re a young paper we’re always trying to grow and evolve. We’re viewing this as our teenage years, where we get to experiment with different things and see what we like. Except in our case, the experimentation is with fonts instead of emo hairstyles.

In this issue

Volume 1, Issue #11 Next issue: September 12, 2013

News > 2

We explored the brand new Light Rail Vehicles (guess what — 200 of us can get on!) (page 4), went in-depth to find out how access to abortion services works in Waterloo The Civic Space section is now gone, along with the Region (page 7), and found out how to prep monthly Community Conversation piece. It seemed against what we’re trying to do as a paper — encourage for increasingly severe weather (page 8).

Plus Community Conversations on Waterhealthy discourse about our community — to hide all the opinions in one two page section. From here on out loo’s place in the world markets (page 5) and we’re going to try and integrate opinions and columns whether we’re ready for a professional sports through out the paper. Community Conversations has team (page 9) been re-imagined as a space we can utilize for people, whether they be professional writers or community members, to talk about what matters to them. Anyone who wants to is welcome to submit a piece — up to 600 words long — about a topic of their choosing, so long as it’s relevant for our readers.

We’ve also introduced a new feature called Dear City.

We borrowed this idea from our sister paper The Cord, where for years students have used their Dear Life section to vent about things they love and hate about Wilfrid Laurier University. With Dear City, we’re now extending that opportunity to the entirety of Waterloo Region. It’s completely anonymous, though we do ask for your postal code in case a city councilor should see your letter and want to respond to it.

Issue number 12 is right around the corner now. Right now, voting is going on in the final round of our first ever Best of Waterloo Region. I have to admit, I have been personally overwhelmed by the response. In one day, traffic to the polls on our website smashed all previous records the CCE held for single day page views. On Twitter, I’ve been reading your responses (and cheering for your favourite nominees) and it is wonderful to see people realizing how many really cool things we have in this region. It’s even true for me — I already have a list of new places I have to try thanks to the polls. If you haven’t voted yet, you have till August 7 to vote at community.thecord.ca.

Another big change that will hopefully come with Issue 12 is new staff. We started hiring for our first ever section editors and I have to say, I am very excited about the prospect of having some new voices join our team.

If you think you might be one of those voices, email me to get more information on the postings. There’s something for almost anyone who’s willing to commit the time.

That’s it from me. Time to go back to watching the vote counter go up on Best of Waterloo Region and as always, tinkering away at the CCE to make it better.

-H.G. Watson communityeditor@thecord.ca The CCE is always looking for talented writers, artists, designers and photographers. If you’d like to get involved, email us at communityeditor@thecord.ca Got something on your mind? Want to talk about one of this month’s articles? Submit your letter to the editor to communityeditor@thecord.ca

75 University Ave. W Waterloo, ON N2L 3C5 519-884-0710 x3564

11 < Features The Iron Horse trail has many reputations.

Our photographer Nick Lachance went exploring the different sides of K-W’s alternative transportation super highway. Plus we called in an expert to review the region’s cycling network (page 14).

Urban exploring > 15 With a month left of summer this is no time to get a burn. We learn how to be sun safe on page 16, how to look cute with our new locally produced tote bags on page 15 and how to make pupusas on page 17. Plus our new regular feature, Dear City, lets people vent on page 18.

19 < Arts & Culture Our guide to Kitchener Bluesfest including an interview with Elliot Brood frontman Mark Sasso (page 19), plus a Toronto based theatre company that’s looking to crowd sourcing to put on a play in K-W, and an Ottawa techno band that sometimes plays three different sets in one night (page 20).

Reviews > 22 23 < Events

Advertising All advertising inquiries should be directed to Angela Endicott at 519-884-0710 x3560 angela.taylor@wlusp.com Editor-in-Chief H.G. Watson hwatson@thecord.ca

Graphic Designer Lena Yang lyang@thecord.ca

Publisher Bryn Ossington Bryn.ossington@wlusp.com

Photography Manager Ryan Hueglin rhueglin@thecord.ca

Cord Editor-in-Chief Justin Smirlies jsmirlies@thecord.ca

Heather Davidson hdavidson@thecord.ca

CONTRIBUTORS Cristina Almudevar Charlotte Armstrong Anna Beard Mike Boos Colleen Connolly Ashley Denuzzo Kevin Delaney Bob Egan Dan Herman

Copy Editor Erin O’Neil Tanishka Kundu Nick Lachance Eric Moon Veronica Naas Mark Shiffer Chloe Stanois Kate Turner Andrew Tutty

WLUSP administration President Allison Leonard Executive Director Bryn Ossington Advertising Manager Angela Endicott Treasurer Tom Paddock Vice-Chair Luke Schulz Director Shelby Blackley Director Kate Turner Corporate Secretary Alexandra Abbiento Distribution Manager Angela Endicott Web Manager Adam Lazzarato The Cord Community Edition is the monthly magazine version of the Cord, the official student newspaper of the Wilfrid Laurier University community.

Started in 2012, The Cord Community Edition is an editorially independent newspaper published by Wilfrid Laurier University Student Publications, Waterloo, a corporation without share capital. WLUSP is governed by its board of directors.

Opinions expressed within The Cord Community Edition are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of the editorial board, The Cord, WLUSP, WLU or CanWeb Printing Inc. All content appearing in The Cord Community Edition bears the copyright expressly of their creator(s) and may not be used without written consent.

The Cord Community Edition is created using Macintosh computers running Mac OS X 10.5 using Adobe Creative Suite 4. Canon cameras are used for principal photography.

The Cord Community Edition is a member of the Ontario Press Council, an independent organization established to considers ethical concerns and acceptable journalistic practices. For editorial concerns, please contact the Press Council, which can be reached by calling 416-340-1981, by emailing info@ontpress.com or writing to 890 Yonge St., Suite 200, Toronto M4W 3P4. For information on the Press Council, please refer to the web site at ontpress.com.

The Cord Community Edition circulates monthly. Normal circulation is 33,000 and enjoys a readership of over 60,000. Cord Community Edition subscription rates are $20.00 per term for addresses within Canada.

Preamble to The Cord Constitution The Cord Community Edition will keep faith with its readers by presenting news and expressions of opinions comprehensively, accurately and fairly. The Cord believes in a balanced and impartial presentation of all relevant facts in a news report, and of all substantial opinions in a matter of controversy.

The staff of The Cord shall uphold all commonly held ethical conventions of journalism. When an error of omission or of commission has occurred, that error shall be acknowledged promptly. When statements are made that are critical of an individual, or an organization, we shall give those affected the opportunity to reply at the earliest time possible. Ethical journalism requires impartiality, and consequently conflicts of interest and the appearance of conflicts of interest will be avoided by all staff.

The only limits of any newspaper are those of the world around it, and so The Cord will attempt to cover its world with a special focus on the community of KitchenerWaterloo. Ultimately, The Cord Community Edition will be bound by neither philosophy nor geography in its mandate.

The Cord has an obligation to foster freedom of the press and freedom of speech.

This obligation is best fulfilled when debate and dissent are encouraged, both in the internal workings of the paper, and through The Cord’s contact with the community.

The Cord will always attempt to do what is right, with fear of neither repercussions, nor retaliation. The purpose of community press is to act as an agent of social awareness, and so shall conduct the affairs of our magazine.

THE CORD COMMUNITY EDITION

AUGUST 2013

NEWS

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IN FOCUS

Popular local restaurant Benny’s caught fire July 21. An early estimate for damage has costs between $200,000 and $300,000. • RyAN hUGeLIN PHOtOGRAPHy MANAGER

NeWS LINe

This month we’re talking about...

Woman charged on suspicion of poisoning children

McLobster mania Forget your cronuts, your bacon jam and your raw sushi. There’s a new taste sensation in town — the McLobster. McDonald’s quietly sprung the sandwich — available usually only on the east coast — on the unsuspecting masses the week of July 22 and it caused a viral sensation, with people daring themselves to try the mix of lobster, mayo and green onions on a bun. The CCE staff doesn’t live so dangerously when it comes to culinary tastes, so let’s just say we’re waiting for the Zagaat guide to weigh in before we try it out.

Food truck confusion

The Sun Life Financial Uptown Waterloo Jazz Festival is always a big draw for residents around the region. This year, however, the Festival caused a bit of a flap when its rules conflicted with Open Streets Uptown Waterloo, a first-time partner. Requirements that all vendors at the Jazz Fest pay a vendor fee were not communicated to the new partner organization until close to the event, and as a result two food trucks, SWAT Food Truck and the Great British Bake, had to cancel their scheduled service.

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On July 22, Christine Allen, Kitchener resident and the owner of an alleged unlicensed daycare from 2009-2011, was charged with two counts of administering a noxious substance and aggravated assault after a police investigation into the suspicious hospitalization of two separate children under her care.

She was remanded into custody at a court appearance on July 24, and will again appear via video confer- need for speed ence on August 12.

Getting down University Avenue is about to get a whole lot faster COURTeSy mCdONALd’S in September, thanks to the new 202 iXpress route. The service will run from Conestoga Mall to The Boardwalk on Ira Needles, making Puppy rescue it much easier for residents to The Cambridge Humane society got a travel across Waterloo from east special delivery this week, in the form of to west. Never again will you be 33 dogs rescued from a Paris area home. faced with several bus transfers to Conditions at the home were described go to one mall from another mall. as squalid and many of the dogs, now in a two-week quarantine, had multiple health problems. The good news? People are literally lining up to adopt the adorable little guys, who range in age from seniors to barely week old litters. Here’s hope they • COURTeSy GRANd RIVeR TRANSIT get the life they all deserve – being really adorable and starring in YouTube videos for our amusement.

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AUGUST 2013

News

THE CORD COMMUNITY EDITION

a new look for the GRT

Waterloo residents got a preview of the new ION Light Rail Vehicles

. • Kate turner Cord VISUAL director

Justin smirlies cord editor-in-chief

T

he ION made its first trip to Waterloo Region this month.

The $818-million light rail transit (LRT) system that the Region of Waterloo has approved is finally in motion. On July 12, Bombardier, under its Flexity Freedom line of vehicles, showed off one of the new light rail vehicles (LRVs) in front of Region of Waterloo headquarters to give residents the first official glimpse of the ION train.

The Region purchased 14 vehicles in total for the LRT system, which is to be completed by 2017.

“These kinds of projects and getting to milestones like today take a huge amount of

work by a huge amount of people, so one of the themes of today will be partnership, collaboration and working together,” announced Mike Murray, chief administrative officer for the Region of Waterloo, at the official unveiling of the ION train.

The model on display on Fredrick Street in Kitchener featured the driver’s area, some seats and the exact width of the train car – a vehicle that already appears to be a lot more spacious than the buses in the Grand River Transit (GRT) system. The final LRVs will have doors on both sides, will be able to seat 56 passengers and should hold up to 200 people in total.

The project will be implemented in two stages with the first stage — a 19 km track from Conestoga Mall to Fairview mall — to

be completed by 2017. The second stage will connect Conestoga Mall and Ainslie St. terminal.

While it has been approved by regional councilors in June 2011, the LRT system in Waterloo Region has seen its fair share of opposition, some of which resurfaced earlier this month. Through a petition on Change. org on July 10, Ted Livingston, the CEO of Kik Interactive, tried to reignite the opposition to the project.

But Tom Galloway, a councillor at the Region of Waterloo, said it was too late.

“The people who are primarily not on board [with the project], so to speak, don’t understand that this is much more than a fancy transportation project. This is about shaping our community,” he said. “We must

plan the 250,00 people that are coming in the next 25 years. And it is happening; it’s about 10,000 people a year.”

One of the reasons why the region moved toward a LRT system is to reduce congestion without having to expand urban sprawl.

Kitchener Centre MPP John Milloy spoke to The Cord Community Edition at the unveiling about his thoughts on the new system.

“I’ve found, by driving around the community, that there are issues with congestion and traffic problems, and we’ve got to address it and this is going to address it head on,” he said.

While the Region won’t see the ION LRVs until the summer of 2016, the production will begin about two years earlier in 2014.

THE CORD COMMUNITY EDITION

News

AUGUST 2013

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Community Conversations Where should you look to see international economic growth?

Right here in Waterloo

A resident out for a walk in Northdale, the site of a new revitalization plan. • NICK LACHANCE CCE CONTRIBUTOR

The new ‘hood

Northdale revitalization plan promises big changes for the ‘student ghetto’ Ashley Denuzzo CCE Contributor

T

he end of the “student ghetto” is near.

In fact, by the year 2030, city officials are predicting that areas surrounding Wilfrid Laurier University and the University of Waterloo will be almost unrecognizable.

These proposed structural changes are a result of an approved movement by the Ontario Municipal Board (OMB). On July 18, the OMB allowed for a “community improvement” plan to take effect immediately.

The changes will directly affect homes in the Northdale area bounded by Phillip Street, Columbia Street, King Street North and University Avenue.

This geographical pocket has earned the title of Laurier and UW’s “student ghetto,” because a majority of the residents living in the area stem from nearby universities and colleges.

However, in 20 years, Northdale might not reflect that nickname.

“The technical terms in there are to revitalize and reurbanize,” Waterloo city councilor, Jeff Henry, said last week.

Henry is councillor for Ward 6 which includes the Northdale area. He explained the ambitious 20-year plan to the CCE. “Basically, you’re taking an area that maybe doesn’t look as good as you’d like it, maybe it’s a bit run down [or] some things are falling into disrepair,” he said.

“And you’re finding a way to breathe new life into it.”

The Northdale plan was born in city council in 2010.

It was finally approved in June of 2012 and has taken a year to finalize permits, contracts and other legalities.

The City of Waterloo has also reserved about $3.5 million to implement the community improvement plan, estimated to take place between 2015 and 2021.

As of now, the tentative plan for Northdale is to completely restructure the landscaping model. Private investors have been given permission to start purchasing property and developing multi-purpose and multi-residential buildings.

These developments may range from student-accommodation buildings to green space to cafés and shops.

“We’re anticipating seeing a different mix of different

units in that community,” Henry explained. “It’s creating a more vibrant and dynamic community.”

However, the biggest change for the Northdale area will come from a residential perspective. A neighbourhood that is largely occupied by students may one day welcome young professionals, adults and even families.

“The houses that were built in that area were made in the post — World War II era and the shelf life of those homes is beyond the point and time where we are now,” David Murray, vice president of student affairs at Laurier, explained.

“We need to start thinking about safety and these structures and some of the issues that we’ve had.”

However, some students are more than happy living in their run-down student housing.

Al James, a fourth-year student at Laurier, has lived in a house on Albert Street for the last two years. Before that, he rented an apartment that was built exclusively for students.

“From my perspective, I have lived in both apartment and ‘ghetto’ settings,” he said, noting the different student life cultures.

“I found the ghetto to be more of a community […] In an apartment, I didn’t know my neighbours and I lived there for eight months,” he said But, from a structural point of view, a revamped student neighbourhood may be the change that a growing university city needs. The new Northdale neighbourhood is expected to have an “urbanized” feel where students and other residents will be able to live, study, play and work safely both indoors and outside.

“We’re rather unique with what we have in Waterloo,” Henry emphasized. “So, we had to come up with our own solutions.”

Students and residents, however, should not expect to see massive changes anytime soon. Although private investors can technically start construction immediately, the new Northdale plan is still in its beginning phase.

“You’re going to start to see people coming forward with ideas about what to build,” Henry said when asked about the Northdale’s next steps.

“But it’s still a 20-year plan, so things aren’t going to change overnight.”

There’s no doubt that gravity will always privilege our economic relationship with the United States. It’s simply far easier and far cheaper to ship products down the road than it is to send them overseas by air and sea. And with five major metropolis’ of over 7 million (New York, Chicago, Philadelphia, Boston and Detroit) within a day’s drive of Waterloo, it’s little surprise that traffic moving south on the 401 continues to drive the bulk of our economy.

This, despite the fact that while economic growth at home and in the US is forecasted to fall short of two per cent in 2013, emerging economies such as China, India, Indonesia are all forecasted to grow over five per cent. That’s why Canada has aggressively pursued, albeit empty-handedly so far, a free trade agreement with the European Union, and similar arrangements with Japan, India, Singapore and, in a more limited manner, China.

Broadly speaking, the old adage that “demography is destiny” rings true as middle-class populations in these countries grow, providing mature economies such as Canada’s with great opportunities to reorient towards selling to them.

Federal trade initiatives that seek to set the table for the expansion of trade and the growth of Canadian exports to these markets are step one. However they need a complementary approach

by Canada’s cities and regions, let alone entrepreneurs and business, to make it happen.

Hence the City of Waterloo’s aggressive approach to developing its place in the global economy. And this isn’t just about having BlackBerry’s in everyone’s hands! Over the past two years, Waterloo Mayor Brenda Halloran has made three trips to China, in addition to trips to Belgium and India, in efforts to help network local entrepreneurs and businesses to opportunities abroad. Kitchener Mayor Carl Zehr has similarly visited Brazil and Germany to drum up business and investment.

Such public efforts, however, can only do so much. Private decisions by the 44 per cent of Canadian small and medium sized enterprises that do not export hold the real keys to expanding Canada’s, and Waterloo’s, international network.

Exporting is one of the primary drivers of growth amongst firms, and along with a prioritization of research and development spending, are the key factors that drive Canada’s highgrowth firms. While there are only 13,000 of these firms across the country, out of a pool of over 1.2 million, they are responsible for upwards of 45 per cent of net job creation in the country. Expanding their ranks is priority number one.

Locally, Canada 3.0’s Soft Landing initiative, which provides funding and a network of contacts on the ground in new markets, is a great example of how public and private can collaborate to facilitate this growth and the focus on the overseas markets that are most likely to provide it. There’s no doubt that entering foreign markets can be daunting and this program aims specifically to help mitigate that challenge.

It’s become trite to state that the realities of a hyper-competitive global economy mean that we can’t be content to look in our own backyard for customers and economic growth. Making it happen requires a collaborative effort across levels of government and across both the public and private sphere. Luckily for us, Waterloo Region is providing a great example of how it can be done.

-Dan Herman is the co-founder of the Centre for Digital Entrepreneurship and Economic Performance (deepcentre.com) and a PhD Candidate at the Balsillie School of International Affairs.

THE CORD COMMUNITY EDITION

AUGUST 2013

CITY OF WATERLOO | OUR COMMUNITY w3 WARD 3 COUNCILLOR

Angela Vieth t: 519.747.8784 c: 519.807.2111 angela.vieth@waterloo.ca

I am happy to announce that council has recently approved a strategy to kick-start planning for a network of action sport venues across the city.

This strategy focuses on skateboarding,

w4 WARD 4 COUNCILLOR

Diane Freeman t: 519.747.8784 c: 519.569.9955 diane.freeman@waterloo.ca

Have you ever considered parking the car and riding your bike as a primary mode of commuting? Perhaps I can cover all the reasons why it took me so long to switch to my bike and to encourage you to consider giving it a “spin”.

First of all, you don’t need to ride like you’re in the Tour de France. Keep your speeds around 20 km/hr and have a water bottle handy. Upon arrival allow your body to naturally cool down and dry. Long hair?

No problem - braid or bundle it up under

BMX and mountain biking – action sports with a broad appeal to youth and young adults and an emerging family market, as adult action sport enthusiasts draw their children toward the sport.

Outdoor public spaces where residents have the opportunity to meet and expand their social network is integral to vibrant neighbourhoods. I believe that action sport venues located within neighbourhoods will serve the same function for youth, as the playground does for families with young children, your helmet, release it upon arrival and don’t brush it until it dries out or pack a portable hair dryer to give it a quick dry.

If you need to dress in business attire for work, pack your suit jacket and tie in a saddlebag and consider a short sleeved cotton shirt. If you’re wearing a long skirt, install a guard on your rear tire to keep it clear of the spokes. You can also roll the front hem of the skirt around a bungee (shock) cord and use a clothes pin to hold it in place. Hook the ends of the bungee cord to the underside of your bike seat. Now it won’t fly up in the wind. Wearing a short skirt? Wear biking shorts underneath it or pack it instead.

I typically ride with about 10lbs of stuff but sometimes I ride with more. I ride with a front basket, a rear carrier and two bike bags. Once loaded, the weight is forgotten.

where physical fitness is combined with social benefits. Action sports play a vital role in the physical and psychological well-being of many youth. A network of easily accessed action sport venues will support healthy, safe and active lifestyles.

The Skate Park on Father David Bauer Drive is a proven popular venue for action sport enthusiasts. City staff have identified other candidate sites, including Albert McCormick Community Centre, however a robust public consultation process to further identify Nobody wants to get caught in the rain, but you won’t melt, and your bike will be ok too. For urban commuting, invest in a full set of fenders for your bike and some good rain gear. It can be daunting, but I feel a sense of real accomplishment when I complete the ride. I ride in the winter too with insulated riding pants, my ski jacket and balaclava.

How far is your destination? Google Map your route using the bike option and offroad trails. You might find a more direct path with fewer hills to climb. It’s also easy to ride to the bus depot and board the bus. This type of multi-mode commuting is becoming the norm in many urban areas.

Buy your bike from an actual bike shop.

An excellent bike shop owner will help fit the bike to you, your commuting choice and ability. A good bike is not much

and evaluate potential sites will be a key step in the implementation process.

Do you have an idea for an action sport venue? Would you like to get involved or receive updates about this initiative?

Give me a call. I’d love to hear from you!

more expensive than what’s at the big box stores, and they will be better made and much lighter. Set your own pace based on how tired you feel and how confident you feel on the road, dismount at cross-walks and walk your bike or take breaks along the way to catch your breath. No one is judging you, but you.

But why? Why even try?

Cycling has been the only way I could find time to incorporate exercise into my daily routine. In the past I have managed to lose weight, but without a consistent exercise routine could never keep it off – my bike has changed that. I might say I will go to the gym but the excuses just pile up. When my teenager takes the car in the morning and I need to get to work, there are no excuses and the bike looks like a fine choice. Good luck!

A Message From City of Waterloo Mayor Brenda Halloran ...

Waterloo has been earmarked as a growth community by the Province of Ontario.

People are drawn to this city for all it has to offer. Our ability to reinvent ourselves and to diversify our economy has made Waterloo a city of choice to live, work, learn and play.

One of our city’s core areas is a neighbourhood known as “Northdale”. This neighbourhood is nestled between two of Canada’s top universities – University of Waterloo and Wilfrid Laurier University. The neighbourhood’s residents are predominantly students, with businesses on part of the periphery. As the universities have a student population that has accelerated past 40,000, this neighbourhood’s diversity and rapid growth has unbalanced the neighbourhood. It has become increasingly challenging to balance the interests of a number of diverging groups.

We established a Northdale special project committee to address the challenge of balancing the needs of our varied constituents. This group of residents, including students, educators, a developer, realtor and a landlord/investor, came together to provide important input to a neighbourhood vision and land use plan. This vision, along with a community improvement plan and new land use regulations, was approved by our council in June of 2012. It envisions a neighbourhood where a wider range of demographic groups can live, study, learn, work, shop, and play.

How do we execute this vision with the very limited staff and monetary resources we have available to us? I was delighted last year, when I learned that we have been awarded the IBM Smarter Cities Challenge grant. We were one of 31 cities around the world, and one of only two communities in Canada, to receive this prestigious award, which will allow IBM’s experts to provide recommendations for an action plan to rehabilitate and reinvigorate the Northdale neighbourhood.

Visit us online and join in the conversation at

Waterloo is an award-winning city that leads by example. Globalization makes it more important than ever to maintain and enhance our quality of life so we are an attractive place for foreign investment, startups and a place where families are comfortable planting roots and building a future.

All our residents, both present and future, including our student population are important to us.

I know IBM will help us reposition the image of this neighbourhood to attract the kind of investment that builds on the vision that is the foundation of the planning – something that was outside of the scope of the Northdale plan, but which is important to its success.

This fall, as we welcome this dream team to our municipality, we look forward to seeing our vision for this important neighbourhood turned into a realistic and workable plan.

Thank you IBM!

/citywaterloo

The City of Waterloo is committed to providing accessible formats and communication supports for persons with disabilities. If another format would work better for you, please contact:

P. 519.886.1550

E. communications@waterloo.ca

TTY. 1.866.786.3941

www.waterloo.ca

THE CORD COMMUNITY EDITION

News

RE-Evaluating rights

AUGUST 2013

7

Accessing abortion services is not without barriers in K-W H.G. Watson CCE Editor-in-chief

W

hen Texas Senator Wendy Davis filibustered for over ten hours to halt the vote on a law that would limit abortion access in her state last month, Canadians watched with as much interest as our southern neighbours. Canada hasn’t had a law concerning abortion since the famous Supreme Court Case spurred by Dr. Henry Morgentaler stuck down the abortion provisions in the Criminal Code in 1988. Since then no Canadian ruling party, despite the individual efforts of some backbenchers, has touched the debate.

The result is that women are free to make the best choice for themselves personally in Canada. But how free are they? While the law can make no limitations on Canadian women, they do face issues accessing abortion services stemming from a lack of available doctors and the stigma that surrounds the procedure.

In Waterloo Region, many women who find themselves in need of reproductive health assistance go to Planned Parenthood.

The centre, which offers full counseling and a number of other reproductive health services, prepares women to deal with some of the issues that arise with seeking an abortion including wait times, travel and language barriers.

“They only [perform therapeutic abortions] up to 12 weeks here and so many days,” explained Angie Murie, the executive director of Planned Parenthood Waterloo Region.

“And they will not do it if you have medical conditions of one sort, like epilepsy or a heart condition.”

The here Murie refers to is the Freeport Clinic, a site that is part of the Grand River Hospital system. It’s a large medical facility that offers many procedures, but one or two days a week it also provides therapeutic abortions. It is the only abortion clinic, public

or otherwise, for all of Waterloo-Wellington.

That means residents of Guelph or other further out towns have to travel all the way into Waterloo to access abortion services. “That’s a problem as far as I’m concerned,” said Murie.

As a result, wait times can stretch anywhere from one to three weeks. And should a woman with an underlying medical condition or who is more than 12 weeks pregnant need help, they’ll have to make an appointment in either Toronto, Hamilton or London. “[Travel] is a barrier as well for some women,” said Murie, recalling the story of one patient who had to travel to London. “She didn’t have a car and the bus that was available wouldn’t get her there...her appointment wasn’t until seven in the morning so she had to go the night before, which means a hotel stay.”

For a woman who has access to support, a car and funds, these barriers might simply be inconvenient. But for some women they are much more than that. “We get a lot of university students who come here,” said Mary Hall, the interim clinical services supervisor at the Region of Waterloo sexual health clinic, another resource for people looking for information about abortions. Students, teenagers and people who work full time face more barriers paying the costs of travel.

Patients may also have trouble finding information about abortion services from their own medical providers. Under Canadian Medical Association policy, doctors cannot be compelled to provide abortions.

These barriers are not unique to Waterloo Region. In fact compared to some areas of Canada, it is still relatively easy to access abortion services. “Where you live makes a big difference in terms of what abortion services you’re going to be able to access and how easily you will be able to access them,” said Dr. Christabelle Sethna, an associate professor at the Institute of Women’s Studies at the University of Ottawa. She’s studied

how far woman have to travel to access abortion services across the country.

“If you live in a rural area in a smaller centre it becomes a lot harder to access abortion,” said Sethna. Some provinces, like PEI, have no abortion service providers at all.

Women are forced to travel to other Maritime provinces. Sethna cites the example of New Brunswick where women must get the approval of two doctors before they can go forward with the abortion.

Despite the fact that technically speaking, abortions are a relatively simple out-patient procedure that most doctors could do as long as they have access to a hospital in case complications arise, few do it. For some, it’s because of moral or spiritual reasons.

Murie said the problem may lie at the medical school level. “I know that on a regular basis we’ve heard that when they’re teaching about stuff in hospitals that abortion is really down played.”

McMaster Medical School, which has a Waterloo campus, did not respond to CCE requests to provide details of its curriculum regarding abortion services. At University of Toronto, therapeutic abortions are listed as part of the course curriculum for students in third and fourth year.

One recent graduate of McMaster’s medical program was willing to speak to the CCE anonymously about her experience learning about therapeutic abortions in medical school. While she attended McMaster, the only abortion training she received was during an ethics class, when they discussed what to do if a patient approached them requesting information about them. “There were evening sessions that were organized by student groups and presented by local abortion providers,” she said. “They were very well attended.” Residencies that offered experience providing abortion services were also atypical, according to her.

The reason for this is not a grand conspiracy on the part of medical schools or the

government to stop women from accessing abortion services. It’s due in large part to the stigma and fear that surround the procedure.

“It can be kind of hard to get in touch with doctors who are abortion providers, ” said the McMaster grad we spoke to. Students need that contact to get practical experience. And as she pointed out, the fact that she didn’t want to be identified in the article speaks volumes.

This sentiment is echoed by Murie, who notes she always ensures her own staff are careful even when arriving and departing the Planned Parenthood offices — even though they don’t even perform abortions there. “That level of internalized shame kind of permeates a lot of what we do,” she said.

“There’s always this sense of how much do we advertise stuff versus how much do we keep it quiet because we don’t want to invite to much tension.” It’s an unusual position for a non-profit to be in since most normally want increased awareness of their services.

Attacks against doctors are still unusual in Canada but not unheard of. But the stigma is what keeps many people quiet and makes it more difficult to find the services they need.

Hall did however note that patients have had an easier time finding her clinic since the internet made things easier to find information on anything. “Most of the people are getting our info from the website and they are not having trouble accessing it,” said Hall.

Though abortion services in Canada - and Waterloo Region - is more accessible than in some places, Sethna does not believe we should become complacent. “This is what I’m trying to hammer home in my work,” she said. “Abortion does not have to be illegal in order to be inaccessible.”

You can find more information about reproductive health services on Planned Parenthood’s website, ppwr.on.ca/

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News

THE CORD COMMUNITY EDITION

Forecast Danger

With wild weather becoming the new normal, Waterloo organizations are trying to get people prepared

A Waterloo resident waits out the July 19 storm at a bus shelter at King St. and University St. Weather experts advise that this could be the new normal. • NICK LACHANCE CCE CONTRIBUTOR

Colleen Connolly CCE Contributor

W

hile the city continues to tend to the damages and tidy the mess that July 19’s storm pitched upon Kitchener-Waterloo, we have to wonder how long it will be until the next big weather event demands a similar response.

Paul Parker, a professor of Environmental Management at the University of Waterloo, suggests that it’s not far off.

“We always like to start by saying one storm does not prove anything,” he said. “But if you look at the trend over time, we are seeing the increased frequency and increased intensity that was predicted by climate change models.”

This emerging pattern calls for community action in order to both prevent and adapt to the inevitable.

“It stands to reason that if a one in 20 year event becomes a one in two year event, we plan for it differently,” said Johanna Wandel, a professor of Environmental Management at the University of Waterloo who specifies in areas of adaption. “We have to consider flood and storm water management.”

David Roewade is the current environmental sustainability planner with the Region of Waterloo and has overseen the funding of several initiatives within the region

that work towards the management of excessive rainfall.

“The Region works with the three cities around storm water management plans because, as we saw with recent storms, they put a lot of pressure on storm water systems and there has to be changes made to the size of culverts and certain sewer piping to handle that kind of water,” said Roewade.

REEP Green Solutions, a local environmental non-profit, commenced their RAIN Program last year with aid from the local environmental action fund through the City of Kitchener. This program encourages the community to assist in reducing pollutants from entering Ontario’s lakes and rivers via storm sewers, while improving quality of storm water flow and limiting quantity.

This program assists homeowners with the modification of their homes and gardens to allow the capture of storm water and prevention of system overflow.

“That’s the challenge with climate change; what we saw recently with these storms is that there can be a lot of rain in a very short period of time,” said Roewade. “That overflows the system so if we have a way to manage what we do if a lot of it does fall then the damage can be lessened significantly. And it has the further benefit of conserving water.”

Roewade also suggested that an evaluation of the health and location of trees around the

area should be conducted in order to prevent the damage to power and properties that took place during last Friday’s storm. “[The storm] raises issues of how power lines or communication lines and structures like buildings and garages are in proximity to these large trees and large limbs,” he said. “It gives us an opportunity to learn from this and plan differently.”

Parker feels that it is not enough, however, to plan solely to adapt to increases in climate variability.

“The other option of course is to continue mitigation effects to slow down that rate of change,” he said. “So in other words we can take actions to reduce our carbon emissions and therefore change the steepness of that curve.”

Over the past five years, Sustainable Waterloo Region has been working with businesses across the area to advance their environmental sustainability and sequentially improve their performance. Sixty organizations, which make up 13 per cent of the workforce across Waterloo Region and occupy 16 million square feet of heated space, have collectively committed to reduce their carbon emissions by 45, 000 tons to date.

“It is critical for individual organizations that we increasingly respond to reducing the effects of climate change while at the same time adapting,” said Mike Morrice, founder

and executive director of Sustainable Waterloo Region. “Because both those things are a better investment than simply paying to clean up afterwards.”

Both Morrice and Roewade sit on the steering committee of ClimateActionWR, a community action plan aiming to reduce carbon emissions within the greater Kitchener-Waterloo region by 2020. This plan has been in the making for four years and will be voted on by the city and regional councils later this fall.

ClimateActionWR is a collaborative project between Waterloo Region, Sustainable Waterloo Region and REEP as well as other stakeholders.

“Whether it’s climate change mitigation, greenhouse gas mitigation or climate adaptation, you’re only going to really make a big difference with that kind of collaboration,” Roewade concluded. “You can bring in different perspectives, different expertise and work together towards broad solutions.”

Roewade does not believe, however, that such solutions are close at reach. “There is a lot more work to be done,” he said. “This is not a short term endeavor; obviously this is something we will have to chip away at over time.”

News

THE CORD COMMUNITY EDITION

AUGUST 2013

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Community Conversations Is having an NHL or CFL team to call our own just a pipe dream?

Mark Shiffer hopes it will soon be a reality

• kate turner Cord VISUAL director

mark shiffer CCE contributor

A few weeks ago I went to a football game in Guelph and watched the Hamilton Tiger Cats play the Winnipeg Blue Bombers. Hamilton is in the process of building a brand new stadium, so for the 2013 season all Tiger Cats home games are being played at Alumni Stadium at the University of Guelph. So far, attendance has been good, with fan support coming from the surrounding communities.

I enjoyed the smaller crowd and being closer to the action on the field. It got me thinking about the possibility of Waterloo Region getting a professional franchise to call home one day. Is it a realistic expectation?

A few years ago, the Conference Board of Canada gazed at the future prospects of pro sports in Canada. In particular, they set

out to predict what sports in this country might look like in 2035 in a number of markets. Their findings were based on four criteria: population size, income levels, having a strong corporate presence, and if there was a level playing field regarding taxes and the Canadian dollar exchange rate.

There are really only two major professional sports leagues that may be considered for Waterloo Region: the National Hockey League and the Canadian Football League.

The report looked at both options.

As far as hockey is concerned, the Conference Board of Canada doesn’t think we’ll make the cut getting a team. Income levels and corporate presence were rated as good for the Region of Waterloo, but their research suggests that an NHL market needs a population of close to 800,000 people. By 2035, Kitchener, Waterloo, Cambridge, and

surrounding areas will be getting close to that threshold with a population of just over 700,000. However, they believe that cities with larger populations, such as Quebec City and Hamilton, are likely to be the only other Canadian cities to have a chance at an NHL franchise over the next few decades.

On the other hand, the Conference Board of Canada believes that Waterloo Region already has the required conditions to be a success in the Canadian Football League. The current population of over 500,000 is considered enough for a CFL franchise. Home to two university teams, there is some football tradition here. Kitchener, Waterloo, and Cambridge rank well in disposable income levels and rate higher than some existing CFL cities such as Hamilton and Montreal.

The downside is that there are no existing facilities for a permanent franchise to play in.

A 25,000 seat stadium would have to be built to meet the CFL requirement. Another disadvantage for Waterloo Region is location; it is relatively close to football teams in both Hamilton and Toronto. The Buffalo Bills in the National Football League are also nearby. The proximity of these cities could result in potential market saturation for southern Ontario. In the final analysis, getting a CFL franchise is plausible but still considered unlikely.

It’s doubtful this area will have a professional franchise for a long time. Still, it’s enjoyable to hope and dream about having one to call our own someday. After all, dreams and hopes are what sports are all about.

The Waterloo Bulldogs

The Waterloo Tornadoes

The Waterloo Berlins

Sarah Zoschke, Advertising Assistant, WLUSP

Cristina Almudevar, Cord Arts Editor and CCE Contributor

Angela Endicott, Advertising Manager, WLUSP

Vocal Cord We asked our staff:

What would you name a K-W NHL team?

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AUGUST 2013

News

THE CORD COMMUNITY EDITION

Community Conversations The Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act is a great step forward.

But is it just words on paper?

People with disabilities are the largest minority group in the world, approximately 10 per cent of the population. Over the last 60 years, people with disabilities have demanded access to the goods and services others take for granted. They have moved society to recognize that barriers exist and they must be removed. People with disabilities became “activists” and dealt with slow and immovable objects like governments to make change happen.

In the 1940s, there was societal acceptance that many physical and program barriers existed. Disability organizations began to lobby government with a collective, more effective voice for concrete changes. In the United States, a standard was established in 1981 with minimum requirements for barrier-free physical and program access. This policy soon spread to Europe, Asia, Japan, Australia, and Canada.

Fast-forward to June 13, 2005 when Ontarians saw their provincial government, guided by citizen consultation including persons with disabilities, enshrine into law the Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act (AODA), making a commitment of full access to goods and services by 2025. The legislation requires all communities of 10,000 persons or more to establish an Accessibility Advisory Committee composed of a municipal representative and citizens representing various disabilities, to provide advice on accessibility plans. Standards are set with firm implementation dates for the public sector, business and other organizations, affecting transportation, customer service, information and communications, employment, and the physical built environment.

Like any other legislation, the AODA should be enforced and provide penalties for noncompliance, discrimination or denial of access to goods and services based on a person’s disability. But this is not the case. Instead, an individual must make an application to the Ontario Human Rights Tribunal if they face such discrimination.

Why create the AODA if it is not enforced? If this is the law of the land, and it is, then it should not fall to the individual to ensure it is being upheld. Individuals don’t have to catch and prosecute other lawbreakers. It is the responsibility of the government to have enforcement processes in place just like any other legislation. Changes to the Ontario Human Rights

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Code procedures faces insufficient funding for legal representation for low income, underrepresented or other groups contemplating redress. Many persons with disabilities fall within these categories making it financially burdensome to have cases heard. But individuals shouldn’t have to. This is where the AODA should come into force through fines or other legal remedies. After all, the government has given all sectors 20 years to comply with the legislation, with lowest cost components being initiated first.

How much longer must disabled persons wait to gain full access and protection under the law: 60 more years? More than 30 years ago, the United Nations designated 1981 as International Year of the Disabled. More recently, they enshrined disabled rights as human rights.

This Convention entered into force in 2008. Canada ratified the treaty in 2010. Are these human rights and the AODA just words on paper? Laws need effective enforcement or they are only suggestions.

-Andrew Tutty was diagnosed with Retinitis Pigmentosa (RP) at age 24. RP is a degenerative eye disease causing the degeneration of retinal cells. Since his diagnosis, he has utilized adaptive technologies to compensate for this lack of vision and is always interested in the leveling effect new technologies have. He currently has about three per cent of usable vision. Tutty sits on two municipal accessibility advisory committees and is a liaison for Safe Communities Halton Hills. He also writes a monthly article for a Georgetown community paper on disability related issues. Tutty moved to the K-W area after marrying his beautiful wife in 2011 and sees first hand the many positive efforts towards access and accommodation in this great municipality.

Have something to say? Write a Community Conversation.

All submissions can be sent to CCE Editor-in-Chief HG Watson at communityeditor@thecord.ca

THE CORD COMMUNITY EDITION

AUGUST 2013

FEATURE

Welcome to the iron horse Trail

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Beautiful, cracked, dangerous, controversial, fast, healthy and fun. The Iron Horse Trail is one of the most talked about transit routes in Waterloo Region.

We went looking for what makes it special.

Photos by Nick Lachance

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IRON HORSE TRAIL

THE CORD COMMUNITY EDITION

Meandering through Waterloo and Kitchener the Iron Horse Trail creates a corridor of greenery b between Uptown Waterloo and Ottawa Street in Kitchener, the trail offers a quiet scenic journey shelters travelers from the sound of major intersections, periodically breaking this serenity when

But is it safe? Rumors of gangs, muggings and murders hang over the secluded unlit trail. Technic there are those who travel it regardless of time of day. There is no definitive answer to this questi of day.

My personal journey took me from one end to the other and back again. Along the way I met seve The enjoyable bike ride coupled with the positive feedback I came across changed my preconceiv up to dusk, but would feel uncomfortable being there much later do the seclusion and lack of ligh -Nick Lachance

TOP: Jana Philipp and M.K. Stinson (pictured) and their friend Adwitya Das Gupta come to the trail every once and a while to sell herbal tea, baked goods and locally grown vegetables. They said they feel safer on the trail at night than they do walking down the street in Uptown Waterloo.

BOTTOM: A cyclist crosses the rail tracks near Victoria Park. The Iron Horse Trail follows what was once the rail connection between Waterloo and Kitchener. Now the remnants of the old Canadian Pacific Railway line appear though out the trail as murals, statues and, in this case, new physical reminders of actual tracks.

BOTTOM CENTRE: A jogger heads down the path. In the early morning and late evening, the trail gets so busy itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s almost a highway of alternative transportation.

THE CORD COMMUNITY EDITION

IRON HORSE TRAIL

AUGUST 2013

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between the main artery of the cities and their suburban counterparts. Running 5.5 kilometers through the two cities. A pleasant alternative to traveling down King street, the Iron Horse Trail n the trail crosses Westward reaching streets.

cally the Iron Horse Trail is only open to the public between 6 a.m. and 11 p.m. but undoubtedly ion but the major consensus of people on the trail around dusk was yes it is safe, regardless of time

eral pleasant people who were more than willing to share their thoughts and experiences with me. ved notions about the trail. Personally I would go for a ride or walk on the Iron Horse Trail anytime hting.

TOP: Night falls on cyclists. The Iron Horse has a reputation for danger at night, but Greg Lehman, who walks the Iron Horse Trail with his dogs every day finds mostly friendly people. “Less people maybe [at night],” he added.

BOTTOM: “It’s nice there are always people out walking,” says Waterloo Resident Branden Burke. The most negative experience he had was when he almost got blown away during a storm. He’s heard the rumours of bad things happening on the trail, but noted they always change so much. Would he give up his evening walks?

“I’m willing to get shanked,” he joked.

CENTRE TOP: The trail cuts across several busy streets, making some crossings difficult. But Ana Gascon, who has lived in K-W for one and a half years, walks the trail often and loves it with all its idiosyncrecies. “I love it,” she said. “It’s my best part of the day when there’s nobody and just walking and all the nature and it’s just like, ‘this is heaven.’”

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THE CORD COMMUNITY EDITION

IRON HORSE TRAIL

. • LEna yang Graphic Designer

Iron Horse and Laurel Trails

MIKE BOOS CCE contributor

W

hen travelling around by bike, it’s useful to know some good routes and what challenges you may face along the way. Look at a cycling map for Waterloo or Kitchener, and you’ll quickly realize we don’t have much of a cycling network, so much as a disconnected hodgepodge of bike lanes, multi-use paths, and ‘recommended’ streets. Here’s the best way to get around on a bike in K-W.

The Iron Horse Trail, spanning 5 km, is the premier multi-use pathway in Waterloo and Kitchener. Each city is responsible for its own portion of the trail, which evident by the bumps and ruts that appear in the pavement the moment the border is crossed into Waterloo. Waterloo will also be trading away a portion of the existing trail to a condo developer.

The Laurel Trail is bisected by Uptown and connects to the Iron Horse via bike lanes on Caroline. The unpaved Waterloo Park portion of the trail can get fairly rough and messy during the spring and winter months, but the city wants to wait for rapid transit before paving it.

The Road Diets — Davenport Road diets (or road right-sizing) are a technique to reduce the width of the motor vehicle portion of the road, making them safer for bicycle users and pedestrians while often allowing traffic to move more smoothly. The right-sizing of Davenport into a “complete street” (from four lanes to two with a median and bike lanes) was such a big deal that the City of Waterloo threw a party to celebrate.

While still close to the cars, the bike lanes are smoothly paved and reasonably visible, and even have left-turn waiting areas and marked mid-block crossings. The street would be much more useful if there was bicycle infrastructure to connect with at either end, especially Lexington. Be cautious if using the bike box on the south end; motorists frequently and dangerously ignore it.

Downtown-to-Fairview This 7 km route follows quiet streets and the Iron Horse Trail to connect downtown Kitchener with Fairview Park Mall. First time users and those unfamiliar with the area run some risk of getting lost — the signs are placed high up, are small, and are easily confused for regular street signs. (At least one even points the wrong way!) The route itself is reasonably comfortable and level, at one point passing through the beautiful Rockway Gardens. Kitchener plans to extend the route all the way down Wilson and Old Mill to Cambridge at the 401 pedestrian overpass near Conestoga College.

The Road Diets — Margaret Ave.

Fischer-Hallman — Bleams Road to Columbia

If Davenport represents the local gold standard in road diets, Margaret Ave is the discount model. Much of the paint failed to survive its first winter, and cars frequently drift into the bike lanes. These pothole-riddled lanes also weave and jog sharply to make room for empty on-street parking spaces. During the winter, curbside segments get filled with piles of snow.

The recent emergency closure of the rail overpass has also killed its utility as a corridor into downtown.

Fischer-Hallman is one of the longest roads in the Region with continuous cycling infrastructure in one form or another, but sees little bike traffic. It’s not difficult to see why. As cars roar past at ridiculous speeds, a thin line of paint offers little protection as you struggle to climb its hills. The infrastructure is also inconsistent. Around Highway 7/8, the bike lanes degrade into narrow paved shoulders, making you feel even more like you don’t belong. Chaos ensues at Activa, where the bike lane ends, only to reappear a few metres ahead between the left and right lanes. A boulevard multi-use trail runs on one side for two blocks between Victoria and Queen, but lacks provisions at intersections for crossing streets legally.

Downtown Kitchener — King, Duke, and Queen Downtown Kitchener has rolled out the welcome mat to bicycles this summer, with bright green ‘super-sharrows’ (marked arrows on the road) on King, reminding bicyclists of their right to use the whole lane. Contrary to popular belief, this actually slows down bikes, not cars.

(If you want to go fast, ride Duke.) Vibrantly coloured ‘bicycle’ bike racks are available on most blocks for locking up.

The north-south signal timing on cross streets like Queen leave a lot to be desired, but more sharrows and bike lanes are due to be installed on Queen between Charles and Courtland following construction this year.

-Mike Boos is a year-round bicycle user and member of the Tri-cities Transport Action Group (TriTAG).

TriTAG maintains bike.tritag.ca, a crowdsourced map of cycling issues and ideas.

Legend to easy cycling

Scenic route

Path separated from motor vehicles

Watch for cracks and potholes

Route clearly marked

Mixed use trail

THE CORD COMMUNITY EDITION

AUGUST 2013

URBAN EXPLORING

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GOGO Shopping Kitchener pop-up shop builds community with fashion ANNA BEARD CCE contributor

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itty, bright, and provocative tote bags are just the beginning.

Can a brand help develop community creativity starting with just a tote bag? It’s likely not a question that crosses many minds, but for Tom Zehetmeier and Catherine Bischoff, it’s one that inspired their pet project, GoGo Mart.

When they moved to Kitchener-Waterloo two years ago from Berlin, Germany, to reconnect with family, Zehetmeier and Bischoff wanted a chance to be part of the growing urban ecosystem found in the heart of the twin cities. The idea of creating an umbrella brand that will help shift the creative scene in Waterloo Region came about by leveraging a shared design background and hope to aesthetically be part of a new environment.

Currently, GoGo Mart calls Kitchener’s Market district home and can be found frequenting downtown’s Art Market but both Zehetmeier and Bischoff are hoping to expand GoGo Mart’s reach. They want to target the Region’s constantly growing and varied post-secondary population. “What we would really like to tap into is the university scene because they have that mind set already. They need something to help carry their groceries,” said Bischoff.

Tote bags are a versatile way to interact with the community and express creativity but like most apparel shops, reaching critical mass is inevitable. Zehetmeier and Bischoff have approached the issue by looking at the bigger picture. Scaling the brand isn’t far from the horizon.

Starting with a name and a logo, GoGo Mart is focused on providing a product that is beautiful and has a strong message That’s certainly the case with their current line of apparel. The introductory installment of GoGo Mart tote bags features five different statements at fifty bags each, including the charming ‘Eating in Darling’ and regionally appropriate ‘Quantum Valley’.

With a different design for each bag, every aspect of production goes through a careful brainstorming process starting with messaging, and moving to pantones and typefaces. The ideas then revisit an overarching goal for each product — is it local, is it clever, is it accessible? After all, GoGo Mart isn’t about one age group or socio-economic class — it’s about producing a product for everyone.

While GoGo Mart is currently a pop up shop found outside the Yeti Café on Saturday mornings, the goal is for it to be more than just witty tote bags that carry your produce home from the market. The brand is still in the early stages of development and the community will help dictate what that final brand looks like. “GoGo Mart isn’t just bags. We don’t know what’s happening with GoGo Mart. For us, it’s a test to see the creativity and how people respond to it. In the future, it could be a t-shirt or a coffee shop. It’s urban, it’s creative, and it’s local,” said Zehetmeier.

He and Bischoff have put a great amount of thought into what they would like the final brand to represent. Bischoff says their hope is to create an interesting space here in the community. “It would be a place where you could find inspiration on several different levels — maybe a design level, maybe a branding level, maybe a palatable level. Creating an inspiring space is really what we want for GoGo Mart. We’ll start with tote bags because that’s a manageable interesting idea that you can be versatile with but who knows where we’re going to go.”

For more information about GoGo Mart check out their Facebook page -facebook.com/GoGoMartKW, or find them on Twitter @ GoGoMartKW

TOP: Catherine Bischoff, the co-founder of GoGo Mart models one of their designs while out and and about in K-W. BOTTOM: The full range of GoGo Mart’s bags. The ‘Paris, London, Berlin, Kitchener bag is already sold out.

• ALL PHOTOS COURTESY GOGO MART

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AUGUST 2013

THE CORD COMMUNITY EDITION

BE SUN SMART Nothing squashes summer fun like a sunburn, sunstroke or heat exhaustion.

It’s easy to forget but exposure to ultraviolet (UV) rays is year round and extra attention should be paid during the summer months.

According to besunsible.ca, “in Canada, skin cancer accounts for approximately one-third (33 per cent) of all new cancer cases” and “an estimated 87,100 new cases of skin cancer were projected to occur in Canada in 2012.”

Reduce your risk of skin cancer by following these simple steps. have necessary components like sunscreen, sunglasses and a hat on hand. Plan your outings when you can. Take the time to check the UV index forecast, bring along extra clothing to cover up with and pack extra liquids like water; don’t forget an umbrella. Once at your destination look for man-made shade like gazebos and awnings, or for natural shade under a tree.

Summer is not here for long so be sun smart.

For detailed information visit the Health Canada hc-sc.gc.ca/hl-vs/sunsol/index-eng.php or the Region of Waterloo Public Health chd.region.waterloo.on.ca/ websites.

Research and words by Veronica Naas, CCE Contributor. Graphic by Kate Turner, Cord Visual Director.

ST OF E B

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Take a second date?

Eat a hamburger?

Go for a bike ride?

LO O RE

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WA

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Where’s your favourite place to:

Voting continues till August 7 @ community.thecord.ca

Results and more in September 12th

URBAN EXPLORING

THE CORD COMMUNITY EDITION

AUGUST 2013

17

WE LEARN HOW TO... ...eat the best Salvadorian snack around: pupusa H.G. Watson CCE Editor-in-chief

I

t’s not a particularly hot day out, but inside America Latina in downtown Kitchener, it is heating up. Ana Melendez, the cook at the restaurant-cum-grocery store, is overseeing a griddle packed with pupusas. The small corn tortillas are stuffed with beans and cheese and then flattened. After five minutes on the grill (two and half on each side), she snatches them off and puts them aside. An order for 30 has come in and there is no time to waste.

“I won’t do that, it’s too hard,” laughs Ana Grimaldi, the owner of America Latina. But she and Melendez are regulars at the Hot Summer Pupusas Festival, happening August 17 outside Kitchener City Hall. For the past eight years this festival has been a celebration of the food and music of Latin America.

Jesus Cerritos is the organizer of Pupusas Festival. Like Melendez and Grimaldi, he’s a member of the large Salvadorian community here in the region, which he estimates at about 4,000 families.

“We want to let people know we have different food and it tastes good,” he explained.

Locals, including Melendez, cook up traditional food like pupusas while both local and international bands play. It’s not limited to the Salvadorian community either – vendors include people from Colombia, Nicaragua and Mexico. “It’s to have fun one day with music and get together,” said Cerritos.

It makes sense that pupusas would be the star of the show, however. The street food came from humble beginnings. “It came out of need,” said Grimaldi. “There was a mother who had children, and she began to make the pupusas to feed them, but then they became the most popular thing in El Salvador.”

The stuffed corn tortillas are now a popular street treat morning, noon and night and are as common in El Salvador as hot dog stands are here.

They’re incredibly easy to eat — you can munch on them one handed. But made well, like at America Latina, they’re also a wonderfully complex food. Melendez serves them with a coleslaw style salsa and hot sauce so spicy and good you’ll almost see stars.

Melendez makes rolling them look easy, but its skill that allows her to make them perfectly uniform, with the exact serving of beans and cheese in each one. They’re incredibly popular. In fact, the order of 30 is for a man who drove all the way from Guelph to get them — he’ll eat ten in the store and bring 20 home to eat later.

You would think Melendez had been making the food since she was young, but in truth, it wasn’t too long ago that she couldn’t make them at all. “She had a business in El Salvador but when she came here she didn’t want to learn English but she wanted to work,” laughed Grimaldi, translating for Melendez. So what did she do? “She didn’t know how to make pupusas [but] she learned here,” said Grimaldi. It’s now been ten years since she started and she’s got it down to an art.

TOP: Ana Melendez works on an order of 30 pupusas, a traditional Salvadorian street food, for a customer. Melendez has been making pupusas for 10 years.

TOP RIGHT: Melendez stuffs a corn tortilla with beans and cheese, a traditional stuffing.

BOTTOM RIGHT: Pupusas are the star of the Hot Summer Pupusas Festival taking place August 17 at Kitchener City hall.

• RYAN HUGELIN photography manger

What can you have in a Pupusa?

Bean and cheese This basic filling is vegetarian friendly, and can be made with any variety of bean though red and black beans are popular.

Jalapeno and cheese Fans of spicy food will enjoy this version, which combined with hot sauce will probably cause hallucinations

Chicharrón Cooked and ground up pork meat, differing than the fried pork rinds most are familiar with.

Loroco Loroco is an edible flower native to El Salvador. Grimaldi explained that this stuffing is popular with the hip set. “Even artist who go to El Salavador, those are their favourite.”

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AUGUST 2013

Dear City...

THE CORD COMMUNITY EDITION

Community Conversations

Each month our readers send us anonymous letters to their city.

Got something to say? Visit community.thecord.ca/dear-city/ July 4, 2013

July 8, 2013

From: Ward 7 Kitchener

From: Ward 10, Kitchener

Can we please get some Indigenous representation somewhere in this city?! Before settlers got here there were entire nations of people and they are now invisible in the city. Some respect should be paid to those who were here first.

There’s a really bad pothole at Weber and Frederick. I have learned to avoid it, but it’s time to let my secret out. Don’t give this pothole the attention it craves.

Love to game? Now you can settle Catan for a cause thanks to some local nerdy organizers The word “community” can have many different meanings depending on whom you talk to. For some, it’s just a word for the people who live on the same street, or in the same neighborhood or city. In Kitchener-Waterloo, however, community is often more—it’s people working together to improve the area and the lives of those in it.

On July 31, community support takes the form of a unique fundraising event called GameRescue, benefitting HopeSpring Cancer Support Centre. HopeSpring provides numerous support programs and services to people affected by cancer. In the early morning hours of July 10, HopeSpring’s building was broken into.

The thief made off with a number of items, including video game equipment used for HopeSpring’s Supportive Oncology Activities in Recreation (S.O.A.R.) program for kids age 3 to 12.

The unfortunate news of a thief stealing video game equipment meant to benefit children affected by cancer was so shocking that a “supergroup” of self-described nerds, including Headshots From the Heart’s Matthew Trushinkski and Jim Tigwell, Nerd Nite KW’s Charlotte Armstrong and Eric Moon, KW Polar Plunge’s Greg Lehman, and local artist and blogger Ryan Consell, quickly rallied to the cause and organized GameRescue to replace HopeSpring’s lost items.

GameRescue Board Game Night took place on July 31 at the Rum Runner Pub in downtown Kitchener. A celebration of board and card games in their myriad forms, participants played a wide selection of games with friends and strangers alike. Classic family games such as Monopoly, Yahtzee, and Scrabble were played, along with a host of others widely popular in the gaming community, such as Settlers of Catan, Munchkin, Battlestar Galactica, and the retro VHS board game Nightmare.

Additionally, participants brought video and board games to donate towards the cause. KW Vintage Games, a local video game store, was present during the event to take the items and make donations to HopeSpring for the value of the donated games.

Monetary donations can be accepted any time by visiting the HopeSpring website hopespring.ca/getinvolved/donate.

The Game Rescue team hopes that this will be the first of many future unique fundraisers that will benefit other local charities.

-For more information, updates, and future events, give them a follow on Twitter: • @GameRescue4HS • @HeadshotsHeart, @ConceptCrucible (Jim Tigwell), @Mat

ty_Tru (Matthew Trushinski) • @NerdNiteKW, @scifichar (Charlotte Armstrong), @moon_

unit_eric (Eric Moon) • @KWPolar, @SpikeGreg (Greg Lehman) • @StudentofWhim (Ryan Consell) • and the hashtag #GameRescue4HS

Follow us @cordcommunity

THE CORD COMMUNITY EDITION

AUGUST 2013

ARTS & CULTURE

19

The best of the rest of Bluesfest >> Andre Williams and the SAdies Friday August 9 7:30 p.m. Downtown BIA Stage

This is so much cooler than Gord Downie and the Sadies. Andre Williams is a R&B and punk blues musician who has written for Stevie Wonder, been signed to Chess Records and has recorded with tons of Detroit garage bands (the Dirtbombs, Jack White preWhite Stripes).

Booker T. Jones Saturday August 10 3:30 p.m. OLG clocktower stage Elliot Brood headlines the Sunday night set of Kitchener Bluesfest on August 11. • PHOTO Courtesy elliot brood

THE LONG TRAVELLED ROCK N’ROLL BAND Elliot Brood comes to Kitchener Bluesfest older, wiser and with a Juno under their belt cristina almudevar CCE CONTRIBUTOR

C

ontrary to popular belief, Canadian band Elliott Brood is not a person.

“On a nightly basis, we get someone coming up to [Casey Laforet, the guitarist] or me and saying, ‘Hey Elliott, loved the show!’” recalled Mark Sasso, lead singer of the alt country band. “I don’t think we’ll ever lose that…like ‘man I love that guy, he’s so great!’”

The name Elliott Brood was a pseudonym Sasso was using originally when he began playing solo. It began as a homage to a friend’s band named Wayne Omaha, and took off from there.

“I didn’t want to be the Mark Sasso Band or anything like that,” he said.

Despite the occasional name related confusion, Elliott Brood is certainly on an upswing. They recently celebrated their ten-year anniversary with a re-release of their first album and are also planning a new album to be released sometime in 2014.

“We’re going to go out on a tour out west like we did ten years ago.

We also re-released Tin Type with three new songs on vinyl which should be out in August.”

Elliott Brood also recently celebrated a Juno win for their latest album Days Into Years for Best Roots and Traditional Album of the Year.

This continues their Juno nomination streak.

“This is our fourth nomination, so it’s not like we’re old hands at it but it always feels really good to know that you’re appreciated by your

peers. And to finally win is pretty awesome, too,” Sasso joked.

Days Into Years was inspired by a trip to a World War I military cemetery while in France.

“We found ourselves with five days to travel,” Sasso explained. “We decided to take in historical sights. We wanted to stop at Juno beach... after the first couple of hours at the cemetery, there were 11,500 tombstones and it really grabbed us.”

“We thought maybe we will write an album about it, but that didn’t happen for another five, six years … we found time to digest books on the subject.”

Elliott Brood will be taking their foot-stomping country sound to the Kitchener Bluesfest over the weekend of Aug. 8. This is their second time playing the festival, more than five years after their first Bluesfest appearance.

The band are no strangers to playing in the Kitchener-Waterloo region. They recall having played here numerous times, most notably at Starlight on King Street and in the surrounding Guelph area. Sasso mentions having a soft spot for playing at Starlight having always played a great show there. Now they get to relive the magic with special Great Lake Swimmers later this summer.

Elliot Brood plays with Great Lake Swimmers at Kitchener Bluesfest on the Downtown BIA stage Sunday August 11 @ 6:30 p.m. For ticketing information visit kitchenerbluesfestival.com

Frontman for Booker T and the MG’s, best known for the song “Green Onions”. Recently he has recorded an album with The Drive by Truckers and an album with Questlove and a few other members of The Roots.

OTIS TAYLOR SUNDAY August 11 5:30 p.m. Festival main Stage

Taylor’s sound is driven by incredible guitar playing skill and a passion for social justice. He’s also won two Blues awards (one in 2005 the other in 2006) for his skill with a banjo.

-Compiled by Kevin Delaney & H.G. Watson

20

AUGUST 2013

SWEET TREAT

H.G. Watson CCE Editor-in-chief

Theatre Brouhaha aims to bring Delicacy to K-W

A

Toronto based theatre company with roots in Kitchener-Waterloo are hoping to bring their racy new play to the area this fall and they’re relying on crowd funding to do it.

Theatre Brouhaha has put on several well received plays in Toronto and the surrounding area. Delicacy is the latest entry to the company’s oeuvre. It’s a risque black comedy about two couples who meet at an underground sex club and later reconnect for a dinner none of them will ever forget.

Chris DePaul, Theatre Brouhaha’s producer, has been eager to bring another play to Kitchener since the company brought their play Help Yourself here in January of this year.

But he was concerned they wouldn’t be able to sell enough tickets to make the trip worthwhile. Enter crowdfunding.

“We had a [Toronto] Fringe show last week and it sold out,” he explained. “We got asked a lot of questions about whether there would be an encore.” Rather than book a theatre and hope for ticket sales, DePaul used a Toronto based crowd funding tool called CSI Catalyst, created by the Centre for Social Innovation.

“I set up this CSI catalyst page and said if we are able to make $5,000 worth of tickets. we’ll say ‘yes we’ll do a remount,’” said DePaul. Within 24 hours they had their money.

Artists have found that crowdfunding has allowed them to pursue their passion without taking such a hard hit on their wallets. This has certainly been the case for Theatre Brouhaha, many of whom still have day jobs. “It’s a really effective way to ensure that everyone involved in the show is able to constantly take time off work to come out and do a performance,” DePaul noted.

Now DePaul is hoping that K-W audiences will be as generous. He’s put a hold on space

THE CORD COMMUNITY EDITION

ARTS & CULTURE

Kelly McCormack, Andy Trithardt, Tennille Read and Kaleb Alexander in Theatre Brouhaha’s Delicacy. • PHOTO Courtesy ZAIDEN

at the Registry Theatre in Kitchener for September 13. “I would want to know at least half the house would be sold,” he said.

While the company does have some personal ties to K-W, it’s the audiences that make them want to come back. Help Yourself was received enthusiastically when it was performed here in January, and just this past June DePaul, playwright Kat Sandler and dramaturge Tom McGee wrote a crowd sourced play as part of Steel Rail Sessions 2013.

“I think what’s becoming apparent is K-W is becoming Brouhaha’s home away from home,” said DePaul. “The audience there is like us — interested in the same type of

issues — and looking for theater that is edgy, witty and addressing issues that are a part of their lives.”

Humour is a constant in Theatre Brouhaha’s plays, and Delicacy is no exception. It’s gotten rave reviews from NOW magazine in Toronto, and Jorn Weisbrodt, the artistic director of Luminato described it as drug like “you just want more as you go along.”

“Like all our plays humour is the main focal point,” said DePaul, “but [Delicacy] goes dark, definitely dark.” He and the rest of the theatre company often describe themselves as writing for the HBO generation; darkly comic pieces that aren’t afraid to take sex and

violence head on (no word if they’ll be including any dragons yet though).

If Theatre Brouhaha is able to raise funds, K-W will get to experience the treat that is Delicacy. For DePaul, his expectations are simple.

“We’re really hoping we’re able to come with Delicacy, perform in front of this audience and go our for drinks after,” he laughed.

After all, what more could you want?

To learn more about Theatre Brouhaha or support their crowd funded campaign to bring Delicacy to Kitchener September 13, visit theatrebrouhaha. com

FEVERS ARE ON FIRE Ottawa electronic band head to Maxwell’s as they begin to heat up Shelby blackley CCE contributor

T

wo and a half years ago, Jim Hopkins approached musician Colin MacDougall about wanting to collaborate on a more electronic type of music.

Now, with less than a month until the debut of their band Fevers’ full-length album, No Room for Light, the buzz is bigger than they expected.

“We’re really looking forward to giving people outside our bubble the chance to hear our songs, basically,” Hopkins, the bassist of Fevers, said.

Originally from Ottawa, Fevers was started after Hopkins and MacDougall recorded various demos with an electronic feel. With MacDougall’s experience coming from more indie-rock bands, there was a tie to his past as well as the new “edgier” movement of the electronic genre.

“We could get together and just record and record and record and make demos. And then

we decided to seek other people to collaborate and maybe form a band,” Hopkins said.

MacDougall eventually left his previous band and brought over his drummer, Mike Stauffer, who is originally from Cambridge.

Martin Charbonneau, who plays keys and guitar, also joined in the following months.

The final piece of Fevers was Sarah Bradley, who helps the vocals of the up-and-coming band.

“As soon as we heard her voice we said, ‘wow, we have to get her on board,’” Hopkins said. “Eventually she came down, maybe the day after we called her and the five of us kind of felt good as a band.”

From there, the EP was released with no hope of people listening. But the feedback was more than what they hoped for around the Ottawa area, and they ended up playing at multiple festivals, including Blues Fest, Juno Fest and Pride Fest.

According to Hopkins, after the success of the EP, Fevers felt as though it was time to release their debut full-length album. Hopkins

and MacDougall went out to a cottage in Quebec with “no preconceived ideas” and began to write and record in hopes of putting together a new album. “[We thought] if it sounds electronic, it does, if it doesn’t, it doesn’t.”

The new album was recorded and produced in both Toronto and Ottawa. Hopkins and Fevers have already been working on moving the new songs out into the music world ahead of the album’s release on Aug. 24.

“We played a few shows recently, just introducing the new songs to people,” he said.

“This is kind of our biggest ‘outside of Ottawa’ big expedition tour. We’re really excited about it.”

The Ontario tour ranges from shows in North Bay, Ottawa, Hamilton and Maxwell’s in Waterloo. Hopkins believes this is the first chance Fevers has to break out to a new set of listeners. Their tour will focus on shows that get their music out there and there won’t be much variation from venue to venue.

“It is our first tour and we don’t want to mess around with the formula too much,” he said. “But in places like North Bay, where I think we have to play for like three hours or something crazy, we might end up doing all three or four different shows. So that would be interesting.”

But for now, it’s a matter of having their music reach into different geographical areas than just the Ottawa region.

“We’re excited to bring our songs to other crowds and the other bands we will be playing with. And hopefully they’ll bring their fans out and they’ll enjoy our music, too.”

The band will start their Ontario tour with a two-day, 24-hour performance in Ottawa at the launch party. Fevers will play a minimal electronic set, a DJ set, a fully acoustic set and then a live, full show.

Fevers plays Maxwell’s Music House on September 5.

THE CORD COMMUNITY EDITION

ARTS & CULTURe

Alysha Brilla branched out on her own in Ontario after deciding not to stay in California.

• PhOTO COURTeSy STefAN ChIRILA

BRILLIANT STAR k-w based singer/songwriter Alysha Brilla is making music on her terms BoB EGAN CCe CONTRIBUTOR

L

ocal singer-songwriter Alysha Brilla has a career story that most musicians would envy – awards and accolades at a young age, a recording contract, a publishing/songwriting deal and a management team. You’ve even heard her music on Country Music Television and the television show DeGrassi High.

Her story is the classic, inspiring tale of talent, hard work and being true to one’s self.

“I started writing and performing in my early teens and won a $20,000 recording deal with a producer in Toronto. My mom would drive me in after school and that’s how I made my first demo — I was still in high school!“ she said.

After high school she followed her passion for jazz to Humber College and immersed herself in writing, recording, performing and networking on the Toronto scene. Within two years she had management, label and publishing deals and began spending a lot of time in L.A. cowriting and collaborating with respected industry players. She was on top of the world, or so it seemed.

“I am grateful for those experiences but I began to feel like I was being forced into a role that wasn’t really me. I was expected to write and perform dance music but jazz, Afro and Brazilian music is what I loved. My parents, my manager and my label all wanted me to stick with it, to succeed obviously.”

But after two years of commuting to L.A., Brilla pulled the plug on her dance music career.

“It felt like a break-up, it was very difficult. But in my heart of hearts I knew I had to be true to myself.” The industry turned their back on her and she was on her own. She was even prohibited from releasing her own music for over a year.

It was a year well spent because her re-bound reads like a chapter from the indie rock manifesto. She was determined to record and release her own full-length album. She raised enough money locally through the crowdsourcing site IndieGoGo to make her record. Then she reunited with the Toronto musicians that she once played with back in her days at Humber College.

They entered the esteemed Toronto studio Revolution Sound and created her masterpiece.

“It was such good karma, everyone kicked in to support me and help me. They all understood that I had to follow my passion, I am so grateful for that.”

The result is the newly released In My Head, a stunning collection of Brilla’s compositions (on her own label) — beautiful melodies and singing surrounded by the music close to her heart. “Holding the finished record in my hand was one of the greatest days of my life.”

Fortunately for us, for as far and wide as Alysha has travelled, she calls K-W her home. “I have had so much support from the community here, the Grand River Blues Society, the K-W Society of Artists, Octoberfest and all my fans, friends and family. This is my home.”

“In my Head” can be purchased locally at Sunrise Records in Fairview Mall and on iTunes.

AUGUST 2013

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REVIEWS

No happy ending for shamu Documentary Blackfish uncovers the dangers of keeping Orcas in captivity

OLYMPIA Austra

Tilikum, pictured performing at Seaworld, is responsible for the deaths of three people. • Photo courtesy DOGWOOF GLOBAL

BLACKFISH (2013) Dir: Gabriela Cowperthwaite In 1877, writer Anna Sewell published Black Beauty. It’s the story of a horse who trades hands between a number of owners, some nice but many more cruel and terrible. The novel, told from Beauty’s perspective, is a parable about the importance of animal welfare and how the way we treat animals reflects on our own personalities.

It’s been almost 150 years since Black Beauty was released, but it appears we haven’t learned much judging by the story told by new documentary Blackfish. The film is about the billion dollar marine park entertainment industry and its captives, killer whales. In particular the film is concerned with the life of one Orca – Tilikum, the largest Orca in captivity, who is responsible for the deaths of three separate people.

Tilikum’s story is presented like a modern version of Black Beauty’s. The film chronicles the early, Wild West days of orca capture in the Pacific Ocean, where Tilikum is separated from his pod in the 1970’s. From there, he is sent to a marine park in Victoria, B.C. where is he kept in a swimming pool sized enclosure with two other female Orcas who beat up on him. When not performing, he’s shunted into an even smaller metal enclosure (some of you have living rooms larger than where he was kept). It’s here where it is alleged that Tilikum pulled a trainer under the water and drowned her.

Later, Tilikum is sold to SeaWorld. There, because of his size, he’s a star. But the film chronicles how his violent past is kept quiet from trainers — all of whom, it bears mentioning, are young and attractive but have no marine biology qualifications to speak of.

You’ve likely heard this part of the story. Almost 20 years after the attack, Tilikum pulls trainer Dawn Brancheau under the water and savages her, in front of horrified guests who videotape the whole thing. While trainers at times speculate that Tilikum may have done it on purpose, the documentary makes clear that the real guilty party are the people who captured Tilikum, the people who continue to keep in in concrete bathtub and the people who pay hundreds of dollars every year to see him swim around in it. Over and over, the documentary points out that Orca’s have never once attacked a human in the wild but at marine parks they have multiple times. The only difference is now that everyone has a video camera in their pocket, we can all see when it happens.

In the end of Black Beauty , Beauty is saved from the glue factory by one of his first owners, a kind horse trainer who adopts him and puts him out to pasture. Tilikum’s story has no such kind ending in sight. He’s a product of entertainment, and the people who own him aren’t eager to give him up. But what Blackfish hopes to do is tell his story, so that one day he too can leave.

-H.G. Watson

Would people call your music taste ‘esoteric’? Do you spend every night at Princess Cinemas? Blow your allowance at independent bookstores? Do you dance?* Can you string a sentence together? Do you know what ‘esoteric’ means?

If you’ve answered yes to any of the above questions, you could be the arts editor for the Cord Community Edition.

Email communityeditor@thecord.ca for more information *Dancing is not required for this position.

Olympia has a dream-like quality to it.

There is a melancholic background behind the synth and electro sounds. Almost hypnotic, the beats are very fast but the lyrics are sung slowly and seem to be almost draped over the music. This structure gives it a bit of a club air, but not as loud and in your face.

It is definitely less in your face than Austra’s previous album, Feel it Break. The opening track “What We Done?” has a space-opera feel to it. Other songs that inspire a second listen are “Forgive Me” and “Painful Like” as well as “Annie”; though all of the songs on the album are exceptional. It is creeping music — up your ears into your brain. Suddenly, you find yourself singing it at bus stops and during dinner. It is trippy and danceable, if you’re so inclined.

-Tanishka Kundu

A BAD GIRL IN HARLEM New Politics A Bad Girl in Harlem displays New Politics’ pop and rock sensibilities. There is a certain nostalgia and romance to it. It is rebellious, with a boy band streak. There’s also rap and a lot of punk music on the album. This is a very experimental first album; it’s got a little bit of everything. The second and fourth tracks on the album, “Harlem” and “Stuck on You” deserve a special shout-out. The second track starts with the lyrics ‘I spend my money on the regular miracles’ and instantly gets you listening. Where “Harlem” is very punk-romance, “Stuck on You’ is mushy” in the best way possible. The Danish band leaves no stone unturned in making you dance to both punk and pop music.

-Tanishka Kundu

THE CORD COMMUNITY EDITION

AUGUST 2013

MONTHLY EVENTS THIS MONTH WE’RE GOING TO....

Music Riverfest Ontario is lucky to be host to too many great music festivals to name. That said, for those of us living in K-W, it’s always an added bonus when we don’t have to travel too far to enjoy them. Elmira — just a 40 minute drive away from Waterloo — is home to Riverfest, a great little day long festival where you get to see some great bands including Born Ruffians, Rich Aucoin and the delightfully named The Shawn Connerys. Bonus road trip adventure — rather than have to make the drive back, you can spend the night at camping at Elora Gorge.

Bissell Park, Elora $40 advance/$45 at the gate August 17 @ 2 p.m.

Arts The Artist Alley in Uptown Waterloo The Artist Alley is an outdoor art exhibition hosted by the Button Factory, which has featured work from local artists on various Friday and Saturday nights this summer.

This event is a great opportunity to make art easily accessible to the public and while raising the profile of local artists. Twenty artists will have their original art on display in a variety of forms such as printmaking, jewelry, fiber art, pottery, original paintings and more. There will also be a busker performing. The Artist Alley is held in Uptown Waterloo, adjacent to the Button Factory and across from the Waterloo Parkade.

The Button Factory, 25 Regina St. S. August 2 and September 6 @ 5:00 p.m.

August 2 Elora Festival – Steve Bell & Trio The Gambrel Barn, 7454 Wellington Road 21, $40 ADV, 7:30 p.m.

Indie Hour Waterloo Public Square, 75 King St. S., 12:00 p.m.

Mill Race Festival of Traditional Folk Music Mill Race Park, 36 Water St. N., Cambridge, 7:00 p.m.

August 3 Elora Festival – Circle the Sea: Sonic Escape St. John’s Church, 36 Henderson Street, $35 ADV, 3:00 p.m.

August 4, every Sunday Summer Music Series Waterloo Region Museum, 10 Huron Road, $10, 1:00 p.m.

DJ Czech Starlight Social Club, 47 King St. N., $5 ATD, 10 p.m., 19+

August 6, every Tuesday until Sept. 10 Music at Vogelsang Green Vogelsang Green, 29 Duke St. E. Kitchener, 12:00 p.m.

August 7 DJ Gold Soundz at The Jane Bond The Jane Bond, 5 Princess St. W., 10:00 p.m., 19+

August 8, every Thursday Live Music & Food Trucks Kitchener City Hall, 200 King St. W., 11:30 a.m.

August 9 Starting from Scratch – DJ Twist Starlight Social Club, 47 King St. N., Free

August 2

August 2

Rotunda Gallery August Exhibition: Ob-

Legends of Harmony: A Tribute to Great Guy Groups St. Jacob’s School House Theatre, 11 Albert St., St. Jacobs, 8:00 p.m.

jects of Value by Adam Matak Kitchener Rotunda Gallery, 200 King St. W., 1:00 p.m.

August 2, every Friday night Movies Under The Stars at Shade’s Mills Shades Mills, 450 Avenue Rd., $10 for group of 6, 8:30 p.m.

Ballroom Dancing in the Square Waterloo Public Square, 75 King St. S., 8:30

May 10 – August 18 An Immovable Object Kitchener-Waterloo Art Gallery, 101 Queen

before 11 p.m., 19+, $5 after 11 p.m.

August 10 Federation of Canadian Music Festivals National Music Festival Maureen Forrester Hall WLU, 75 University Ave. W., 7:00 p.m.

August 11, every Sunday Drumming Circle Waterloo Public Square, 75 King St. S., 7:00 p.m.

August 22 Saigon Hookers Starlight Social Club, 47 King St. N., $10 ATD, 8:00 p.m., 19+

September 5 Jim Gutherie Starlight Social Club, 47 King St. N., $14 ADV, 8:00 p.m., 19+

August 2, and everyday in August Gallery Activities Waterloo Region Museum, 10 Huron Road, $10, 10:30 a.m.

August 8, runs until August 10

Street North

All in the Timing The Registry Theatre, 122 Frederick St., $20

May 10 – August 18

ADV/$22 ATG, 7:30 p.m.

Entre le Chien et le loup: David Harper Kitchener-Waterloo Art Gallery, 101 Queen

August 24

Street North

Community

–Compiled and written by Chloe Stanois

MUSIC

ARTS

p.m.

Aviation Fun Day In support of Big Brothers Big Sisters Waterloo Region, The Waterloo International Airport, Waterloo Wellington Flight Centre and Great Lakes Helicopter is hosting an Aviation Fun Day. This free family-friendly event is a great opportunity to learn, explore and experience the world of aviation. Attendees will have the chance to get up close to airplanes, talk to pilots, sit in the airport fire truck, watch airplanes and helicopters in flight, children’s activities in the Big Blue Hangar and an aviation career expo. There will also be a BBQ. The event will be held across the parking lot from the terminal.

Waterloo International Airport, 4881 Fountain Street N., 9 a.m.

August 10 @ 9:00 a.m.

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KW Urban Sketchers will Sketch the Waterloo Buskers Carnival Waterloo Town Square, 1:00 p.m.

COMMUNITY

August 3

August 7

August 10

Memorial 2K Walk/5K Run for Epilepsy Waterloo Park Pavilion #3, 50 Young St. W., 8:30 a.m. Register at www. Memorialwalk-

Redemption Song: Perspectives on Bob Marley’s Life and Music The Museum, 10 King Street West

Growing and Using Herbs Workshop Waterloo Region Museum, 10 Huron Road, $10 ADV, 9:30 a.m.

A weekend of Laughs – Weekend Comedy St. Jacobs Country Playhouse, 40 Benjamin Road East, 8 p.m.

August 13

run.com.

August 4 Kids Cricket Max Becker Common Park Kitchener, 315 Max Becker Drive, $35 ADV, 1:00 p.m.

August 5 Kidsummer at Waterloo Region Museum Waterloo Region Museum, 10 Huron Road, 2 children with adult $10, 9:30 a.m.

August 9

4th Annual Turtle Jacks Golf Tournament for Grand River Hospital Dundee Golf Course, 1801 Queen St. N., $130 ADV, 10 a.m.

Uptown Waterloo Wedding Show Waterloo Public Square, 75 King Street S.,

September 7

1:00 p.m.

Seed Saving Workshop Waterloo Region Museum, 10 Huron Road, $10 ADV, 9:30 a.m.

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