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THE DSU MARKS MI’KMAQ HISTORY MONTH
NORTH AMERICA’S OLDEST CAMPUS NEWSPAPER, EST. 1868
Eleanor Davidson, editor-in-chief editor@dalgazette.com Sabina Wex, engagement manager sabina.wex@dalgazette.com
It’s Mi’Kmaq History Month! October is the official month to celebrate Mi’Kmaq history and culture and it provides an opportunity to think about our roles as treaty people on this land. We are all treaty people, indigenous peoples and settlers new and old all have a responsibility to uphold treaty rights. One of the treaty rights is access to post-secondary guaranteed by Canada to Aboriginal people. This was first asserted in the Royal Proclamation of 1763, which dictated that Aboriginal people were to be provided an education, among other commitments, in exchange for settler use of their land and natural resources. However, barriers to these skills and knowledge are regularly erected. Until the 1940s, First nation’s people were forced to give up their status and rights in order to pursue higher education. For the past 20 years, successive federal governments have chosen to enact and continue a restrictive two percent funding cap on the Post-Secondary Student Support Program (PSSSP). PSSSP is the program which provides funding for Aboriginal students and each year, thousands of people are denied access to education that is their right because of this deficit. During the October 2015 federal election, Prime Minister Trudeau’s government committed in their electoral platform to removing this funding cap and adhering to all of the recommendations of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission which were revealed earlier that year. However, this promise was broken when the 2016 Federal Budget continued the two percent cap on the PSSSP. It is our responsibility to hold this government accountable for its responsibilities to the First Peoples of Turtle Island, which is one of the reasons we are going ALL OUT on November 2 to demand the government upholds its treaty respon-
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sibilities along with affordable and safe education for all.
Erin Brown, news editor news@dalgazette.com
“It is our responsibility to hold this government accountable for its responsibilities to the First Peoples of Turtle Island.”
Jennifer Lee, opinions editor opinions@dalgazette.com
On November 2 students across the county will hit the street and call on the Federal Government to: • Fulfill the federal government’s promise of $50 million in additional funding for the post-secondary student support program and ensure that every eligible First Nations, Inuit and Metis learner can access post-secondary education; and • Create a federal fund dedicated to preserving, promoting and honouring Indigenous languages and culture at the post-secondary level. To get involved in the November 2 Day of Action and help us go ALL OUT come to the next External Action Committee Meeting on October 13 at 4pm in the DSU offices on the 2nd floor of the SUB or email or Vice President Academic and External at vpae@dsu.ca. If you are an indigenous student who is looking to connect on campus contact the Dalhousie Indigenous Student Collective by emailing their President of Campus Affairs, Aaron Prosper at aaron.prosper@dal.ca or join the group on facebook!
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Kaila Jefferd-Moore, arts editor arts@dalgazette.com Alex Rose, sports editor sports@dalgazette.com Jayme Spinks, art director design@dalgazette.com Patrick Fulgencio, visual editor photo@dalgazette.com Elyse Creamer, business and advertising manager business@dalgazette.com Contributing to this issue: Alexandra Biniarz, Rachael Bishop, Rachel Collier, Qi Chen, Alexandra Conway, Rob Csernyik, Diana Foxall, Shawna Guenther, Madi Haslam, Alexander Johnson, Kathleen Jones, Katie Keizer, Drue MacPherson, Bronwen McKie, Thomas McNeil, Zack Smart, Matt Stickland Geordie Summers-Lubar, Josh Young
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THE FINE PRINT The Gazette is the official written record of Dalhousie University since 1868. It is published bi-weekly during the academic year by the Dalhouse Gazette Publishing Society. The Gazette is a studentrun publication. Its primary purpose is to report fairly and objectively on issues of importance and interest to the students of Dalhousie University, to provide an open forum for the free expression and exchange of ideas, and to stimulate meaningful debate on issues that affect or would otherwise be of interest to the student body and/or society in general. Views expressed in the letters to the editor, the Streeter, and opinions section are solely those of the contributing writers, and do not necessarily represent the views of The Gazette or its staff. Views expressed in the Streeter feature are solely those of the person being quoted, and not the Gazette’s writers or staff. This publication is intended for readers 18 years of age or older. The views of our writers are not the explicit views of Dalhousie University. All students of Dalhousie University, as well as any interested parties on or off-campus, are invited to contribute to any section of the newspaper. Please contact the appropriate editor for submission guidelines, or drop by for our weekly volunteer meetings every Monday at 6:30 p.m. in room 312 of the Dal SUB. The Gazette reserves the right to edit and reprint all submissions, and will not publish material deemed by its editorial board to be discriminatory, racist, sexist, homophobic or libellous. Opinions expressed in submitted letters are solely those of the authors. Editorials in the Gazette are signed and represent the opinions of the writer(s), not necessarily those of the Gazette staff, Editorial Board, publisher, or Dalhousie University.
Student issues are municipal issues. Your voice matters, so get out and vote!
Election
October 7–20, 2016
The Dalhousie Gazette
5
“We are cam sh o w t h a t s p a i g n i n g t o tudent issu e s a re mu n i c i p a l e lection issu es.”
We are not the eight per cent
Government and student groups push to engage students in municipal election ELEANOR DAVIDSON, EDITOR-IN-CHIEF
In the last municipal election, eight per cent of eligible voters between the ages of 20–29 cast their ballots. Compared with 37% overall turnout, young people in Halifax were poorly represented. In the lead-up to this election, there has been a push not only to encourage young peple to vote, but to inform them about how municipal politics affect their day-to-day lives. “It is a challenge in any level of government to reach out and engage youth in elections, and hopefully this time around we can have some initiatives that will appeal to a younger audience,” says Adam Richardson, a spokesperson for the city of Halifax. The city has turned to social media to pique student interest in the election. A new
Go vote, you crazy kids On October 15th, make your mark on Halifax that isn’t peeing outside of the Dome ERIN BROWN, NEWS EDITOR
Do you ride the bus? Do you like having your garbage picked up? Do you want to pay less rent for your apartment? Do you like the fact that you can call 911 and receive emergency services? Great. Then municipal politics matters to you. As a Dalhousie student, you presumably live in this glorious city for eight months out of the year. This means, you actually spend more time relying on the services of Halifax than wherever else you hail from. So on October 15th, vote. October 15th marks Election Day for the Halifax Regional Municipality, and to qualify to vote as a student voter (https://www. Photo by Eleanor Davidson
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campaign, Halifax Votes Because, challenges voters to submit a video about why they plan on voting, and to submit it to Facebook, Twitter or Instagram. The campaign has received many responses, but there continues to be a lack of awareness across much of the city that there is an election coming up. Richardson says many students are unsure if they are eligible to vote, due to changes in address, out-of-province hometowns and summers spent away from Halifax. Not sure if you can vote? Visit Halifax.ca/ election and click Voter Information, or call (902) 490–8683. “There was a lot of hype around the federal election, and students were able to easily make the connection, whereas municipal is blurrier about
which issues fall under the municipal umbrella as opposed to provincial or federal,” says Amina Abawajy, vice president academic and external for the Dalhousie Student Union (DSU). “We are campaigning to show that student issues are municipal election issues.” The DSU has partnered with the Nova Scotia branch of the Canadian Federation of Students to reach out to students on campuses all over the province. Their main initiative, Generation Vote, focuses on five key issues: Affordable housing, fair wages, food security, arts and culture and public transportation. Generation Vote’s goal is to help students understand how municipal politics can have a direct impact on their lives. These five issues relate directly to realities that many students face each day. Charlotte Kiddell, chairperson of CFS-NS,
gives the example of a lack of food security at the University of King’s College. “I was tabling recently at King’s, right outside of the cafeteria, and these students came out and their bags were all full of fruit that they’d stolen from the cafeteria,” says Kiddell. “So I told them ‘students need food security so that they don’t have to just steal food from their cafeteria to get by. This is not what food security looks like for students.’ They wanted to talk about food security and pledge to vote for candidates who would prioritize food security so they don’t have to steal bananas from the cafeteria.” Advance polls open on Oct. 8, and election day is Oct. 15. E-voting is available from Oct. 4–13. Have questions about voting? Contact the Halifax Elections voter helpline at (902) 490-8683.
halifax.ca/election/voting.php#student), you only need to have lived in Nova Scotia for six months, and be a resident of Halifax the day before October 8th. This means that the majority of second, third and fourth year students are eligible to vote, and also a lot of first year students too if you’re from Nova Scotia. Even if you can’t vote, this election should matter to you. Students are affected by municipal issues everyday. This is especially true at Dalhousie, where many students commute to school. These issues include parking, public transportation, bike lanes, quality of sidewalks and snow removal (RIP the icy winter from hell of 2015, may we never meet again). We know that students care about these things because of the amount of complaining that goes on about the lack thereof in the city. It’s one of the oldest sayings, but it’s true, “if you don’t vote, you can’t complain”. Luckily, even if you don’t vote and you live in this city for school, councilors
still kind of have to care about why you’re upset. And if they don’t, they run the risk of being swept up in the great power of public shaming on social media. Almost every candidate in this election has a website, a Twitter account, a Facebook page, even some have gone full millennial and got Instagram pages. These candidates are not putting themselves out there on these mediums because they’re hoping that the folks at Northwood will sauce them some “likes”. If you haven’t figured it out yet, they’re trying to reach you! If you don’t believe that any candidate this election wants to see the student vote increase, then contact them. Call their campaign office, even DM them on Twitter. They will get back to you because, to a lot of politicians, reaching out to youth can be a bit of an enigma. The people who run for council care enough about the city that they’re putting their name on a ballot, going to doors, and trying to figure out what will make the Halifax Regional
Municipality a better one than yesterday. Students bring life to Halifax every September, and with this mass flow of young people coming here every year, it’s time we started using our voice to help shape the city. This is an entire generation of future engineers, doctors, urban planners, architects, lawyers, writers, political policy wonks; we could be an invaluable source to help jumpstart the ideas of greener communities, promotion of small businesses, and building a more vibrant Halifax. I’m not saying that we’re as smart as we sometimes think we are, but I am saying that youth can be a stronger force for positive change than we seem to realize. If you are passionate about affordable housing, ending poverty, or even just having your Metro bus actually arrive as scheduled, then this municipal election matters to you. So, vote. To know if you are registered to vote, please visit www.halifax.ca/election. Election
Election
6
October 7–20, 2016
The Dalhousie Gazette
Questions on the street
What changes would you like to see in Halifax? The real needs of our generation ALEXANDER JOHNSON
Will the municipal election be bad news for your landlord?
Election season in Halifax has arrived, and with it come the discussions of what should be done to make Halifax a better place. In the spirit of the municipal elections, we decided to ask university students in Halifax what changes they would like to see in the city.
October’s election could impact tenants’ rights
Kathleen Mifflin (right): “Definitely a huge improvement in public transportation and improvement in bike lanes and bike safety.” Angela Moores: “There is a lot of the downtown area that is so underdeveloped right now. There’s so much space right on the waterfront that could be turned into a productive space for businesses.”
Alex Mangelli: “There’s the cross-
Erin Thorne: “One change I would like to see in Halifax is more enforcement on the separation of the garbage. They have really great rules about organics versus recyclables and garbage and all that stuff, but I don’t really see it enforced a lot.”
Enze Yang: “I want to see more things Cambria Huff: “I’m not a big fan of that engage young people, you know the fact that people can talk in the what I’m saying? Like music events. public library.” I feel that a lot of local artists, local events, there’s not much participation. And of course, engage the student body, musically and otherwise. Especially this radio station (CKDU 88.1). We’re up here at the top of the student union building, but not many students actually know about us. The majority of our members are alumni that have already graduated or are old people from around the HRM. So we’re really trying to get the student body in here [. . . ] And turn the city into a place that is really friendly to young people and where young people can have multiple opportunities career-wise and extra-curricular wise to flourish.”
walks here where cars are allowed to go into them when there’s a crosswalk sign. I feel like it’s a little bit going against what the purpose of a crosswalk is, ‘cause cars will go even if you’re in there.”
THOMAS MCNEIL
It’s well known around Halifax that undergraduate students are financially naïve—especially when it comes to dealing with landlords. Whether you’re away from home for the first time, or maybe just strapped for cash, finding a cheap place to live can be treacherous. It’s all fair game for the landlords in this city, and before you can say “can I get that in writing?” you’re spending your night scraping mold off your walls. If you’re feeling frustrated by your living situation, it might be a good idea to keep one eye on the municipal election happening on Oct. 15. In Halifax’s District 7, spanning the south end of the city to downtown, candidates are proposing a number of measures to strengthen tenants’ rights. City counselors have a real influence over the legislation that governs how landlords are allowed to act, and how they’re punished. Regulating landlords has become a hot-button issue this election: Halifax’s South End has no shortage of century-old houses in disrepair, not to mention converted basement apartments, which are becoming a common sight downtown. District 7’s incumbent, Waye Mason, points to the progress he’s made so far as city councillor. “One thing we’ve done in the past few months is we’ve replaced the minimum standards bi-laws. That’s strengthened the rules around minimum safety and increased the penalties for landlords” Mason says these changes could set the stage for even stricter regulations, such as new by-laws requiring all landlords to be licensed by the city. Photo by PT Money
One of Mason’s competitors, former District 7 city councillor Sue Uteck, thinks that Mason’s reforms don’t go far enough. While she agrees that new regulations should be a “combination of licensing landlords and municipal inspection”, she wants the city to reinstate rent control measures. Rent control—which sets limits on the amount a landlord can raise the rent—was abandoned by the city in 1993. But strengthening tenants’ rights might not be as simple as imposing stricter regulations. Vincent Calderhead of Dalhousie Legal Aid says that while landlord licensing and rent control could protect vulnerable tenants, city council needs to make landlords responsible for health and safetyrelated closures. “The city needs to use its powers to enact bylaws that would impose liability on landlords—not just fix their properties—but also to require landlords to cover the cost of temporary housing for tenants who have been left homeless when the city closes buildings for health or safety reasons.” Calderhead points out the fact that many tenants are in the desperate situation of having already paid their rent a month in advance. With no money and nowhere else to go, they end up suffering for the crimes of their landlords. Reform is further complicated by the fact that by-law enforcement is a complaint-driven process. For the system to work, tenants need to know exactly what the responsibilities of their landlords are. But the issue of educating people about their rights remains a gray-zone. At present, the responsibility for informing tenants of their rights tends to flip back and forth
between the city and other private and civil organizations. Dominick Desjardins—another contender for the District 7 council seat—thinks that more could be done to inform tenants. “Students need to know what their rights are, and I definitely think universities have a role to play in education.” While education measures at universities may be important, it’s hard to deny that Halifax needs a more cohesive plan. Calderhead thinks more could be done to help educate the public, especially those who are economically vulnerable. “The city could develop a tenant’s rights manual in collaboration with tenants groups, and ensure that when landlords begin a new tenancy, they provide every new tenant with the handbook.” Challenging a landlord might seem like a grueling bureaucratic process, but it can sometimes be as simple as calling up the municipal building inspector. By partnering with civil groups to create accessible resources, city councillors could potentially stop abuses before they happen. Ultimately, Calderhead thinks that if tenants aren’t put in a better position, they’ll continue to suffer at the hands of abusive landlords. The real victims won’t be students, but those on government assistance, who struggle with the rising cost of housing. “For the poorest of the poor in Nova Scotia—those people in receipt of social assistance—shelter allowances haven’t gone up in a decade. In fact, for single, disabled people who must rely on social assistance, their shelter allowance hasn’t been increased in 15 years. Leaving housing affordability to the market simply hasn’t worked for way too many tenants.”
Sebastian Gomez: “I want Halifax to be kind of like an island nation, like an old Greek-style island nation. I would actually separate Halifax a little bit further into the sea, like surround it entirely, so that one couldn’t escape—no bridges. We would just sort of move it over to the side and it would just be in water and then Halifax people would have to interbreed eventually creating their own little mix of people. And no, no airports, we would blow that. There’d be no contact with outside world or boats. That’s what I would change about Halifax, I think it’s too attached to the rest of Canada. It could do it’s own thing and it could do it well.”
Photos by Alexander Johnson
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Mohammad Alsaleh: “I would like to see more entertainment here, I would like to see the streets around the city become wider, I would like to see more chances for students to have jobs after they finish their degrees [. . .] We want to see more festivals. We don’t want a Disneyland, but we want something that is similar to that. There are no games here. Entertainment, there is a lack in this field.”
Nikko Sancedo: “I’ve liked the changes we’ve been doing to the infrastructure and city. I’ve noticed that a lot of the roads and areas in the communities, even Robie, they’ve been working on that to fix the cracks, the bumps, because of you know it’s a problem during the winter. I like that we’re working on [the roads], our tax dollars are being used sufficiently at least.”
Jay Patel: “I want to see more [technology companies]. There are some start-ups [here], but not as much as we get in Ontario. If you go to Waterloo, you will clearly see the difference. Or in Toronto or in Montreal or in Vancouver, in British Colombia. You will see a significant pay difference. You will get more pay there, compared to what you get here. In order to get like $50, 000 a year [here], you have to work hard. In Ontario, you will start from fifty to sixty very easily.”
Election
Election
October 7–20, 2016
The Dalhousie Gazette
Candidate profiles
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Candidate profile
Lil MacPherson
Mayoral candidate wants to bring climate change to the forefront of mayoral race ROB CSERNYIK
Lil MacPherson excuses herself to answer her phone. Though it’s mid-interview, her campaign manager is on the line. There is silence, then, “Oh shoot.” “Did you know about the bomb threats?” MacPherson, the only challenger to the incumbent mayor Mike Savage, is getting a taste of the situation room. The setting is a corner table of her Downtown Halifax restaurant, The Wooden Monkey. She tells her campaign manager, Lia Renaud, that they’ll think about their response before issuing a statement. “That’s crazy.” MacPherson hangs up. “It’s a disruption,” she says of the bomb threats. “People are going after the disruption.” Faced with this news, MacPherson is calm and thoughtful, and more subdued than she is when discussing her platform. There are many questions about her—an untested politician known locally for her environmentally conscious restaurants as much as her public statements on the effects of the Nova Centre’s construction on small businesses. MacPherson has offered insight into how she can keep calm in a high stakes emergency, but the more compelling question is if she can ascend to the office of mayor with a platform that focuses on green ideas and a message that eschews tradiPhoto by Gianpaolo Cardellini
Photo by Rob Csernyik
tional politicking to focus on ideology. The number one priority on MacPherson’s electoral platform is the environment. Many of her ideas, in one way or another, intersect with affecting climate change or “greening” the city in some way. MacPherson says that at conferences she’s attended, municipalities are being challenged to take on a leadership role in fighting climate change. She wants Halifax to take up the challenge and sees economic benefits in the process. But thinks “We’re not ready to accept this innovation.” MacPherson points out that innovations made to fight climate change centre on creating a variety of efficiencies. This includes financial benefits and creating green jobs. MacPherson is surprised at the suggestion that climate change and green issues might be a minimal part of the mayor’s remit. “I completely disagree,” she says, her voice rising. “I’m actually quite shocked that a young person like you would say that.” A lot of the young people MacPherson speaks with, she says, are green-minded and she believes
there is a disconnect between them and City Hall. “I really want to champion the youth because you guys are my future,” she says. Two issues facing post-secondary students that she identifies are affordable housing and food security. To spur affordable housing, MacPherson wants to make it easier to allow single-family homes to add rental apartments. For food security, she suggests increasing urban gardening in Halifax and offers that groups of people—farmers, refugees, and students—could grow whatever they want on municipal plots and even sell their crops. MacPherson paints her visions for the city in broad strokes, which at times omit finer details. “Our bylaws are archaic and not working,” she says, though when asked which ones, the response was simple. “All of them.” “Young people are talking about jobs and environment,” MacPherson says of those she speaks to. She says people thirty and over talk mostly about development. “Everyone’s terrified that we’ve lost control of our city,” she says.
I really want to champion the youth because you guys are my future
Small business is important to MacPherson. “We are the engine that makes the city run,” she says. Though she has won acclaim for her restaurants, she has also been frustrated with the city. She says one of her first acts as mayor would be to create a small business committee and to appoint an ombudsman specifically to help entrepreneurs have easier experiences applying for permits and interacting with the city. MacPherson’s vision of a utopian Halifax is a green one and her platform presents a city that many residents would be happy to live in. It’s not without precedent that a mayor has been elected with a green vision for their city. In Vancouver, Gregor Robertson, an organic juice entrepreneur and green advocate, has been mayor since 2008. MacPherson’s campaign reflects how she lives her life and runs her business. “I’ve got proof right here that we can actually do business - be healthy, be well - and we don’t have to destroy things along the way.” MacPherson’s business approach has been “planet, people, profit,” but whether it can work as the cornerstone to a successful mayoral campaign remains to be seen until the polls close on October 15. “If people think that’s too green, then don’t vote for me.” Election
Election
October 7–20, 2016
The Dalhousie Gazette
Young candidates on the peninsula
Young candidates on the peninsula
District 8 candidate passionate about urban planning and diversifying council
Born and raised in the North End, Lindell Smith wants to bring change to District 8
GEORDIE SUMMERS-LUBAR
ELEANOR DAVIDSON, EDITOR-IN-CHIEF
Brenden Sommerhalder
Brenden Sommerhalder could talk about urban planning all day. The 30-year-old came to Halifax nine years ago for his Masters in Applied Psychology at St. Mary’s University. After graduation, he moved to the north end, the area he calls, “the most Halifax of Halifax.” He is now looking to represent that area, District 8 – Peninsula North, on the Halifax Regional Council. Sommerhalder is a good example of how someone “from away” can get heavily involved in the Halifax community. Since arriving in Halifax, he has become a regular writer for local media publications, founded a Halifax based blogging platform, served as Chair of the District 7 & 8 Planning Advisory Committee, and now works for the Downtown Halifax Business Commission. His role as Chair of the Planning Advisory Committee is what got him to start researching urban planning in-depth. He says “I didn’t want to be faced with options that I didn’t understand.” After years on the committee, he is quite comfortable discussing the policy and ideas of Photo by Geordie Summers-Lubar/Sommerhalder campaign
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urban planning. He speaks at length about the strong business case for a protected bike lane network, the need to get rid of “food deserts” and the importance of designing cities for people, not cars. One of the big concerns Sommerhalder is facing in the North End is gentrification. The idea of “hipsters” coming to the North End to start microbreweries and yoga studios has long time residents worried about being priced out of the area. Sommerhalder says that one solution to this issue is inclusionary zoning. “We can say to developers, ‘ok, you can build here, but if you do build here, a set percentage of the development has to be affordable’.” His most original idea is his plan for discretionary funding. Discretionary funding is money—about $94,000/year—that each district gets for infrastructure and capital development projects. Sommerhalder says he wants to see 30% of District 8’s discretionary funding go to First Nations projects, 30% to African Nova Scotian projects, and the last 40% go to projects for the general community. He doesn’t seem to be worried about
possible backlash for reserving the majority of this money for certain groups within the district. “If I’m elected, I’m going to do it this way. I don’t care. I know people aren’t going to like it, they’re going to say all sorts of things... but it’s literally non-negotiable to me. We need to create opportunities for minorities.” The race in this District 8 has received media attention due to the decision by the current councilor, Jennifer Watts, not to seek re-election. Watts made this decision in order to create room for diversity and new voices on Council. With no incumbent, seven people have decided to run for the seat. Of the seven, four are white, two are African Nova Scotian, one is British African and all are male. Sommerhalder finds himself in the position of being a white candidate in an election where much of the attention has been on the lack of diversity on council. His solution to diversifying council is to improve the way the city engages with different communities and to create more opportunities for new people get involved at the top levels of municipal government. “It is not excusable to see such a homoge10
neous council.” Creating opportunity for new voices on council is why Sommerhalder and several other candidates have publicly supported mandatory term limits. He says that since it is next to impossible to beat an incumbent, the only way to get new voices on council is force councilors who have served two terms to retire from council. Sommerhalder and other supporters of this idea believe that increasing opportunities to run for council seats will eventually lead to a more diverse council. Whoever wins in District 8 will end up representing the patchwork of different communities that live there. Sommerhalder says “If you want to represent something this diverse, you need to extend your empathy, no matter who you are.” Sommerhalder encourages students to get involved in this election. “Even if you are here for only three to four years, we can do something within a year to make your life better as long as we hear from you, so vote.” Election day is October 15th. Voting booths will be open throughout the city.
Lindell Smith
Walking down Gottingen Street with Lindell Smith is a social event. Drivers honk and wave out the windows. Passersby give thumbs up, while others stop for handshakes, hugs and high-fives. “I didn’t think I would have so much support, and that people would be so welcoming and excited to see a young person from the district run,” says Smith, one of seven candidates running for District 8 – Peninsula North. “So that’s been a great surprise, and I’m very thankful,” he says. Smith, 26, grew up in Uniacke Square, and understands the complexities of the diverse North End district. “This is my area. This is my place.” He works as a community library assistant at the Halifax North Memorial Public Library, where he focuses on community outreach and youth engagement. He also co-founded Centreline Studio, a not-for-profit recording studio for youth in Uniacke Square. “Lindell is a staple in the community. He’s not just doing it because he’s running—he’s really invested, and he’s always been invested,” says Alyssa Gerhardt, a volunteer on his campaign. Smith greets each person he sees on the street with a wave and a smile; he usually knows their names and asks about their family, work or a recent milestone. This genuine enthusiasm extends to people far beyond Smith’s friends and supporters. Photo by Eleanor Davidson
“It’s Brenden! Let me go say hi!” says Smith as he darts across Cunard Street. On the other side of the road a man is unlocking his bike: Brenden Sommerhalder, one of Smith’s six competitors for the District 8 seat. Smith greets Sommerhalder with an enthusiastic pat on the back, and the two joke like old friends. The crowded field means that every vote will count for these two men, but they have not let rivalry spoil their campaigns. Sommerhalder and Smith even delivered a joint presentation to a Grade 6 class at Saint Joseph’s-Alexander McKay Elementary School. Briony Carros, a parent at the school, says she has been impressed with Smith’s “positive message” during the campaign. “Some of the concerns that he had about what’s going on in the North End were really in line with things that I had been thinking about,” she says. Smith’s campaign promises include promoting responsible development in the North End, making the community safer and more accessible, and creating opportunities for young people in the area. The community feel of the North End is visible throughout Smith’s campaign; at each door where there’s no answer, he leaves behind a leaflet, a magnet, and a hand-written Post-It note saying “Sorry I missed you.” These personal touches form the heart of Smith’s message.
His bid for District 8 was inspired by his own experiences growing up in the community, and by a desire to give a voice to “a community which has been not part of the process and has been yearning to be part of it,” he says. Throughout the district, Smith has received encouragement. His campaign manager, Jalana Lewis, recalls walking into a neighbourhood coffee shop with a stack of Smith’s campaign signs, and seeing “a man who’s always at the coffee shop, who everybody knows.” As Lewis walked in, the man said, “whenever I see those signs it just calms me right down.” One of Smith’s proposals is to eliminate registration fees for recreational activities, so that all young people in the community can participate. “I want recreation to be free, where kids can look at recreation as something they can do, not something they want to,” he says. “Even as a youth I focused on youth, because we need that encouragement. When you start encouraging people to be involved that’s when you build that (sense of), ‘oh, maybe I really do matter.” The focus on youth stems not just from Smith’s experience with teenagers and children in the area, but also from a desire to help the community where he is raising his young daughter. He wants the community to be “safe, where she can walk or bike to school without the fear of cars speeding down the street . . . I want her to feel welcomed in her city, so that she can flourish.” Election
Election
October 7–20, 2016
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Young candidates on the peninsula
Mayoral candidate profile
Halifax South–Downtown candidate combs all corners of the district for campaign input
Incumbent mayoral candidate pushes for arts funding, reconciliation with First Nations and cutting red tape
ELEANOR DAVIDSON, EDITOR-IN-CHIEF
ERIN BROWN, NEWS EDITOR
Dominick Desjardins
Every other Friday night, Dominick Desjardins plays Bingo at the Joseph Howe Manor. At 24 years old, Desjardins is younger than many of his Bingo companions by at least 50 years. No matter if he wins or loses the election for District 7–Halifax South Downtown- Desjardins plans to continue his Friday night Bingo ritual. Desjardins is a graduate of Saint Mary’s University and works as a theatre manager at Cineplex. His race for District 7 is a contested one, against incumbent councillor Waye Mason and former councillor Sue Uteck, who held the seat from 2000 until 2012. While his two opponents have more age and experience, Desjardins is resourceful about gathering input from people all over the district. Friday night Bingo at the Joseph Howe manor is not just about some healthy competition, but about gaining insight from a demographic far different to his own. “They’ll ask you what your platform is,
and you’ll say it, and they’ll say ‘30 years ago (the city) did that, and this is why it didn’t work.’ It puts what I’m saying in perspective,” said Desjardins. After nearly 10 months of campaigning,
get out of that. We did the same with street corners. We also went to manors, schools and universities and held info sessions to get all of this feedback,” he said. From all of these interactions, Desjardins identified several key issues:
I knew at some point, whether it’s municipal, provincial or federal, Dominick Desjardins’ name would be on a ballot
Photo by Eleanor Davidson
The Dalhousie Gazette
— Lack of affordable housing — Need for landlord licensing — Improving public transit — Stopping unrestricted development — Better snow clearing — Keeping graduates in the city While this list of tasks could seem daunting, Desjardins’ campaign rep, Chris Landry, disagrees. “(Desjardins) is knowledgeable. He’s a go-getter. He would do the city the big change that it requires,” he says. Desjardins’ knowledge of politics was obvious during his time at university, where he helped revive the Saint Mary’s University Young Liberal Society after years of inactivity, and served as society president. Pat Burton, current president of the SMU
Desjardins has knocked on over 9,000 doors and worn down three pairs of shoes. The first months of his campaign were focused on research, and on getting to know the people in the district. “We’d go to Tim Hortons, we’d go to the busiest area, and ask people what challenges they face, and ask how they think we can 12
Young Liberals, worked with Desjardins to bring back the society, and has known the candidate for four years. “Dominick will act on what he says if he makes it on the city council. If, and hopefully when, he gets that job change is going to happen,” says Burton. Burton was not surprised when he learned about Desjardins’ candidacy. “I knew at some point, whether it’s municipal, provincial or federal, Dominick Desjardins’ name would be on a ballot.” While policies focused on change and community outreach have formed the foundation of Desjardins’ campaign, the candidate faces two significant hurdles: he is relatively unknown, and he is young. Desjardins doesn’t seem worried. “I think my opponents really underestimate the young guy, but lawn signs don’t vote. What we’re hearing at the door is absolutely amazing, from their own neighbourhoods. I’m just going to let them keep underestimating,” he says.
Mike Savage
The walls of Mike Savage’s Dartmouth campaign office are covered with t-shirts reading “I Like Mike.” Tweens, senior citizens, political veterans, optimistic newcomers, and even a little dog fill the small office with banter, laughs and the smell of the coffee. Everyone is coming together for the purpose of getting Savage reelected as Mayor of Halifax on Oct. 15. Not everything will be the same this time around, as Savage stated that there are some big differences this election. “I didn’t realize how much you continue to be Mayor, while you’re campaigning.” Savage balances the responsibilities of council, committees, and other mayoral duties while also campaigning across the municipality. “The city has changed a lot in four years. Economically, we’re stronger. Environmentally, we’re greener. We’re much more diverse than we were four years ago,” said Savage. In the last four years, Savage is especially proud of his achievements in business, immigration, and also in how council conducts itself. “We’ve welcomed a thousand Syrians, but we’ve also had other immigration to the city, which is great.” “We’re not just sitting back and waiting for issues to come to us, we’re being proactive on issues like housing, and immigration, which the city has never done before,” Savage said. Savage believes Halifax is headed in the right direction Photo courtesy of Mike Savage campaign
in terms of business, but has a plan on how the city could do better in cutting red tape. “Our plan is to have an ‘open for business’ attitude, particularly (for) new businesses. We need a more aggressive small business team to help with red tape to streamline all of our processes on things like development.” Savage hopes to use his political experience to balance short-term plans with ones that he hopes to have completed in four years time. A member of parliament for seven years, and the Mayor of Halifax for four, one of Savage’s priorities during his time in the House of Commons was education. “I’ve spent a lot of time with student unions across the country, meeting students campaigning for things like forgivable loans, students grants for low-income Canadians, and for Canadians with disabilities; so I’ve always been attuned to the issues in the student realm.” This experience helped Savage understand what affects students in Halifax, and makes him proud of the city’s initiatives such as the “Bridging the Gap” program, which hires recent grads to municipal jobs to gain work experience, and the International Students Welcome Reception at City Hall. Savage identified the main student issues in Halifax as “affordable housing, transit, forms of transportations like bike lanes, and issues that touch on human rights; LGBTQ+ issues as a city I think we have been strong on, we have one of the
best Pride festivals, we put in Pride crosswalks to get people’s attention, but we still have more to do.” Savage also recognized that the nature of crime in the city is changing: “with social media, there’s too much violence against women and girls. I think that’s an issue that has an impact on campuses.” While Savage acknowledged that affordable housing is an issue that students are passionate about, his plans to improve the affordability of housing in Halifax extend beyond the city’s students. His goal is to build 3000 affordable housing units, and upgrade 2000 existing affordable housing units. This project is one that he wants to see completed in the next four years. “It’s going to take a lot of cooperation, and it’s not something the city has really been involved in before, but I think that’s one thing I would want to see completed.” Savage has a plan for Halifax, and he wants students to be a part of it. “I’m really excited that we’re starting to see a turn in demographics and for the first time, last year, we actually had growth in the 25–39 age group, which was 2600 people came to Halifax and chose not to leave, which hasn’t been the norm’.” When asked if there was one message that he could share with students, Savage said: “There’s a place here for you. We’re becoming a different city. A more diverse city, a more cultural city, a prosperous city, and a place where there’s room for everybody.” Election
Opinions
October 7–20, 2016
A look at the DSU farmers’ market
The Dalhousie Gazette
Passwords with CaPitals, numb3r5 and punctu@ti*n marks are bad Your password is bad and you should feel bad
QI CHEN
The DSU farmers’ market is committed to providing fresh, local, affordable, spray-free, and organic fruits and vegetables for students. They are located at the Studley Campus on Tuesdays and Wednesdays from 10:00am until 3:00pm at the Student Union Building lobby and the Sexton Campus on Wednesdays from 11:00am until 2:30pm at the Alumni Lounge B Building. Kate Ashwood, market coordinator at the Studley Campus, says all the fruits and vegetables are purchased at wholesale prices from Noggins Farm and Abundant Acres, both located in the Annapolis Valley. The DSU market also offers weekly food boxes for $20 that students can preorder on Thursdays and pick up the following Tuesday at the two campus locations. There is also the option of getting it delivered anywhere on the Halifax peninsula for $3. If the regular food box is too much, there’s a mini option for $12. The food boxes entail approximately 13–16 pounds of various seasonal produce. Customers find that the regular food boxes are the perfect amount of food for one week or can be shared between two or three people. The market sells about 200 boxes each week. Fruits and vegetables that are left over from the market at the end of the day are sold to the Loaded Ladle so that no produce goes to waste. This relationship contributes to the sustainability of the market and to providing nutritious meals for students. Ashwood believes that the DSU market is integral to students’ health. By providing students with healthy options, it expands their fruit and vegetable pallet; it also introduces students to vegetables that they are not accustomed to eating and cooking, such as Swiss chard, tomatillos and spaghetti squash. “When you consume healthy and wholesome foods, you have more energy to get through your day,” said Ashwood. In addition to consuming nutritious foods, the market also allows students to connect with the Nova Scotia farming community by supporting local farmers. That level of engagement not only broadens students’ vegetable palate, but also opens up new opportunities for students to try different types of healthy dishes. With the growth of the food boxes and the DSU market, students are able to develop knowledge about economic sustainability as well as connect with the local community through buying locally sourced produce. Learn more about the DSU market at www.dsumarket.ca. Photo by Cameron Edwards
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MATT STICKLAND
Math gets a bad rap these days, although I’m not sure it ever really had a good one. I’d blame a lack of role model—except for maybe Alan Turing—but he w@s only made popular by Benedict Cumberbatch in The Imitation Game. Turing, despite breaking the code for the enigma machine and laying the ground work for modern computing, remains unsexy. And so does math. But math is the foundation for encryption, and for why we need passwords. Despite what websites will ask of you, having a password like HunTer2! is not a very good p@ssword. In order to understand why that’s not a good password, you need to understand how your password-protect3d accounts can be compromised. The first and most basic way to get into someone’s account is by something called social engineering. Social engineering is based on the premise that it’s easier to use
or, if it’s a shared computer, set up your profile so that the computer goes to sleep quickly and requires a password to g3t back into your account. Also, don’t leave your password on a Post-it note on the monitor. A computer does not care about what char@cters you use in your password, it just car3s how many there are. With the HunTer2! example above that’s just eight characters that a computer needs to guess. I’m not going to pretend to be a mathematician, but I’ve been told by those with a higher math aptitude that myself that this password would be guessed by a computer within a week. Not only th@t, but we humans are—by nature—lazy creatures.
Since passwords with random characters are hard to remember, I’ll lik3ly do one of two things. 1) Use th@t password over and over again which means once it’s compromised, all my accounts are compromised. And 2) I’ll post it to my monitor so that I don’t have to remember it. What’s a good password? Four random words. Could be anything. MousePianoBottleApple for example. Now you also have a neat little picture in your h3ad of a mouse playing the piano drinking @n apple out of a bottle. So that’s easy to remember and it would take the computer from the @bove scenario a couple hundred years to guess. But to best summarize this article, here’s a relevant XKCD.
Turn5 *ut y*ur Aunt B3tty wh* d*35n’t und3r5t@nd c*mput3r5, und3r5t@nd5 h@cking b3tt3r th@n you d* someone’s personal failings to get into their accounts than it is to g3t the necessary hardware, software and training to do so using a computer. Simply put, you get someone to let you into their accounts by tricking them or by using their lazy personal security measures. Phone scams use social engineering. They call you up, say they are from a reputable organization and ask for your account information or your credit card information. This is successful because idiots willingly give over this information. To avoid this, ask the person on the phone if you can call them b@ck. Then Google the reputable organization and call their 1-800 number and ask about the phone call. If it was legit, th3y’ll be able to tell you about it. If it’s not now they know there’s a scam involving their organization and they can take action. I’m sure you’ve seen a F@cebook post before by someone who has been ‘hacked’ by a ‘loved one’ from a shared computer in a personal space. Generally the rest of the family rolls their eyes and says that it wasn’t hacking, but . . . Turns out your Aunt Betty who do3sn’t understand computers underst@nds hacking better than you do. The way to avoid this is to log out of computers in shared spaces
https://xkcd.com/936/
Opinions
The Dalhousie Gazette
17
> More than a party What does it really mean to be an ally of the LGBTQ+ community? DRUE MACPHERSON
See well. Study better.
Look and perform your best this school year.
BOOK YOUR EYE EXAM NOW
There’s an important and inevitable topic that is circulating within the LGBTQ+ community: what it means to be an ally. Surges of people in the LGBTQ+ community have begun to speak out against individuals who attend LGBTQ+ events put on within and for the community without any knowledge of the true intent behind them. This growing concern extends to events such as the Halifax Pride Festival, which is often misinterpreted as one big party, or those who attend shows at local cabarets and do not respect the traditions of the establishment. On the surface there is no harm; every individual, within the community and outside of it, has fun and takes part in the action. However, all actions have consequences. Taking part in these events means that the individual is a supporter of the LGBTQ+ community. Being an ally to the LGBTQ+ community inherently means one takes on the
role as part of the corresponding movement, which is historically, societally and culturally relevant to pressing matters in a world we all belong to. There’s a social responsibility involved that cannot be ignored. I know this because on July 23 of 2016, I attended Halifax Pride’s wrap-up party, WetSpot, one of the week’s biggest events in lieu of being present at the Pride Parade that took place earlier that day. As someone who classifies themselves as an ally, this is very problematic. So many people do this. They indulge in all of the fun, entertaining parts of these events while being completely unaware of the political significance. Beneath the surface of the lively cabaret experience holds a place that has provided refuge to a group of people who for ages had nowhere else to express their identity. Pride, in Halifax and cities across the world, is symbolic of both how far the LGBTQ+ community has come in terms of rights and
social tolerance while acknowledging the ongoing battle for equality. My actions on that day are emblematic of a larger problem. There has to be a sense of accountability in all who take part in an event held by the LGBTQ+ community, as so many are held sacred. When this fact ceases to be active, so too does the foundation of the movement these events support. When the political importance of events meant to embrace both the success and ongoing struggle of a community of people becomes diluted, that in turn means the associated historical marginalization of said community becomes diluted as well. The attention brought to this issue is not to place guilt or direct anger towards anyone, but rather to reflect on the sense of responsibility one should feel in not taking advantage of all the celebratory parts of the Pride Festival while ignoring the importance of the community and the ideology these events solidify.
Education on the subject is essential when one makes the decision to take an active part in any particular group’s events, so the social, cultural and historical context are properly understood. More than anything, events in the LGBTQ+ community are about inclusivity and embracing differences—specifically those that go against what is considered the socially accepted norm, in an ongoing, oft-contested effort to have these differences recognized as the norm. That is why these events are open to the public and require endless support. Acknowledging the facts and respecting any significant institution in a community are what separates someone who is an ally from a passive objector. That is the principle of the matter. The important thing to remember is that these events, in Halifax or any other city, are not just a party: they are the cornerstone of an entire community whose endeavors to achieve equality are still in progress.
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Arts
October 7–20, 2016
A mixture of fresh aromas hit me as soon as I walked in— a combination of fresh bread, seasoned barbeque, sugared donuts, and just a hint of curry wafting through the air
Spoken word activist talks non-oppressive learning and accessible student resources MADI HASLAM
A Saturday spent at the Seaport market KATIE KEIZER
Photos by Cameron Edwards
sandwich and took a seat, I started to process the market and noticed a number of things in the bustling atmosphere. One, the size of the building is astonishing—it holds over 250 vendors on Saturdays when it’s open and also includes built-in shops and a restaurant. It has a very modern design, but melds perfectly with the historical brick buildings of the Seaport District that surrounds it. The vendors’ stands are all located inside, allowing the market to operate year-round. The main floor has food stands, with all kinds of fresh produce waiting for purchase. Whether you’re looking for sushi, German desserts, West African stews, or local wines, there is a stall selling it. The second and third floors are where you can pick up a handmade dog toy, jewelry or leatherworks as they cater more to the crafters and artisans stands. It seemed as though everyone in Halifax was at the market, and the two cruise ships docked behind the building 18
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El Jones advocates system change for universities
The Halifax Farmers’ Market experience
There are some things that are quintessentially Haligonian, and making a morning trip down to the Halifax Seaport Farmers’ Market is one of them. The prospect of waking up before noon on the weekend can be daunting for a student, but it can be worth it if you do. Armed only with my wallet and ravenous appetite, I went down to the market located along the water’s edge, directly between the boardwalk and Pier 21. A mixture of fresh aromas hit me as soon as I walked in—a combination of fresh bread, seasoned barbeque, sugared donuts, and just a hint of curry wafting through the air. It’s a scent that should confuse the brain’s senses but left my mouth watering for more. I joined the other market shoppers in the current of organized chaos that wound around the stalls, taking a lap of the marketplace. There is no shortage of options to pick from at the market. Once I bought a gargantuan Montreal smoked meat
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added an additional bustle to the crowd. People of all ages, shapes and sizes greeted each other in multiple languages, sitting among friends, and introducing much younger and smaller Haligonians to the community. Tourists remarked on how amazing the market atmosphere was—I had to agree with them. The Halifax Seaport Farmers’ Market is the oldest continuously operating farmers market in North America. Opened by royal proclamation in 1750, the market has always stood as a symbol of tradition and community for the city. Today, it also stands as a symbol of culture, where the differences among people and the differences among wares offered represent their distinct cultures, and yet, work in combination with the rest. The Halifax Seaport Farmers’ Market is open Saturdays from 7 a.m. until 3 p.m. and Sunday from 9 a.m. until 3 p.m. Information on vendors, events, and their workshops are on the Seaport Farmers’ Market website.
El Jones is advocating for non-oppressive learning environments at universities. “The fact that people are reacting to it is why we need to say it,” says Halifax’s former poet laureate, a spoken word activist and teacher whose work is committed to social justice. The campaign for anti-oppressive education promotes different learning styles to make classrooms accessible to a more diverse population. The movement does not have unanimous support on post-secondary campuses. “What people can’t handle is that the university is changing and that’s a good thing,” says Jones. “You have people from different communities coming in and you have more women’s voices. For some people, hopefully a small minority of people, that’s threatening.” Conversations around social justice issues such as racism, white privilege, colonialism, and sexism are frequently dismissed at executive levels of academic institutions. “It is immediately framed as anti-intellectual if you push back against racism or rape culture—that you’re against free speech, and that you just want your safe space,” says Jones. Jones, who has previously taught at Dalhousie, NSCC and Acadia, has returned from a writer’s residency in Iowa to teach at Saint Mary’s University and Mount Saint Vincent. Jones says some faculty members contest Photo by Gianpaolo Cardellini
making accommodations for students, such as trigger warnings, under the premise that they coddle students and inhibit free speech. For Jones, trigger warnings are not just a thoughtful consideration—they are a necessity. Jones has had at least one student disclose a sexual assault to her every year
Survivors aren’t being encouraged to report. “Why shouldn’t we understand that our students have histories of trauma that they’re bringing to the classroom? We can, as teachers, help people with navigating that. That’s not anti-intellectual or separate from learning at all—that’s part of it,” says Jones.
“Those students aren’t weak. They’re coming to class, sitting through those classes and they’ve been raped on this campus and they’re still showing up every day.” since she began teaching. “Those students aren’t weak. They’re coming to class, sitting through those classes and they’ve been raped on this campus and they’re still showing up every day.” “Women are being sexually assaulted and they’re still expected to finish their degrees,” she says. “The people who are assaulting them aren’t being sanctioned despite the fact that we have so-called policy. Men aren’t being removed from campus and there isn’t any kind of justice.
Jones believes the move towards anti-oppressive classrooms requires forming a new image of what education looks like. “Maybe school looks like showing a diversity of perspectives or collaborating with your students. Maybe it looks like different assignments. Maybe it looks like understanding a severe amount of students have mental illness and that that doesn’t mean it’s not the place for them,” she says, “You can have depression and anxiety and still come to
university and ask for structures for support.” Jones says these types of accommodations are necessary to open up post-secondary education to a more racially diverse population. “As a black woman, I experience racism on campus and I’m a privileged black woman—I’m a professor.” Jones says despite the fact she has been able to succeed within traditional structures of education, they desperately need to change. “I was served by these structures,” she says. “But that doesn’t mean I should only advocate for people who learn like me or read like me to be in this space.” Jones has worked with a wide range of students in various settings: with adults, through the arts and with people in prisons. “Learning is precious. It’s because we respect learning that we want people to have access to it. Learning isn’t some commodity that should only be doled out to so many people. People somehow feel like they own learning or that only people who look like them are the right kind of learners,” she says. “Why should knowledge only be hoarded? It’s this very capitalist idea that everything in society can only be allowed to a small amount of people, rather than saying this is valuable so let’s make it available to people.” Arts
Sports
October 7–20, 2016
Tigers get blanked at home
in opposite conferences that never face each other in the regular season. Head coach Chris Donnelly said this sort of emotion is to be expected. “Both teams have a lot of pride, you know they come down here representing their conference, and we are representing ours. And we hadn’t played in a while so we wanted to get right back into competition mode.” While the Tigers did not qualify for the AUS post-season last year, they finished strong with a 5–6–2 record in their final 13 games and are looking to build off of that this season. With most of the players returning to wear the black and gold, the Tigers feel confident that they can do some damage in the league this year. In addition, more than half the team is comprised of players in their first two years of athletic eligibility, so the Tigers should be strong for years to come. With all of the players coming from a Junior A or Major Junior background, the Tigers play a fast and exciting game. “Despite what the numbers say, we were actually very strong defensively last season, we gave up the fewest goals against for a Dalhousie [men’s hockey] team in 25 years,” Donnelly
Women’s hockey faces tough start to preseason JOSH YOUNG
The Dalhousie Tigers women’s hockey team dropped their second pre-season game 3–0 to the Saint Mary’s Huskies on Sept. 24th at the Halifax Forum. “I think we gave them a bit too much respect,” said assistant captain Courtney Sheedy. She added the Tigers were “maybe a bit intimidated”. The Tigers have 19 returning players this year and are looking to finish higher than their sixth place finish last year. “I think the expectations are that we are a winning team,” said assistant captain Rachel Carr. “We all deserve to be here because we have worked our asses off to get to this point and that’s enough to show we can do whatever we put our minds to.” The Tigers finished in either 5th or 6th in the league in many categories last year: goalsper-game, shots, penalty kill percentage, goals against average, and save percentage last year. Sheedy said the team needs to improve both offensively and defensively this year, but she emphasized creating offense and executing scoring chances specifically. There are reasons to be optimistic about this team. They are coming back with a veteran line-up but they are also impressed with how well the six new players in training camp are playing. “I see a lot of potential in the newcomers,” says Carr. “They can add a lot of dynamics to our team. They’re really hard skaters, they battle hard, and it is exactly what we need.” Head coach Sean Fraser said there is going to be a battle for ice time every night regardless of how experienced the players are. One of the new players who stood out was goaltender Fabiana Petricca. She stopped 39 out of 42 shots in her first ever AUS game. Petricca said she was a bit nervous at the start of the game but settled down as the game went on. The Tigers were outshot 42–15. Saint Mary’s put constant pressure on the team nearly every time they touched the puck and made it difficult for Dalhousie to exit their zone. The Huskies’ first goal came five minutes into the second period. Forward Sarah Rumbell burst into the Tigers’ zone, skated down the left wing and fired a shot over Petricca’s glove,
off the post and into the net. Four minutes later Caitlyn Manning redirected a Mary Worndl shot past Petricca to give the Huskies a 2–0 lead. In the third period the Tigers managed to get more offensive pressure on the Huskies. In the period forward Victoria Macintosh had one of the Tigers’ best scoring chances as she drove wide and cut across the crease but couldn’t jam the puck past Huskies’ goaltender Justine McIntosh. The Huskies stretched their lead to 3–0 at the 9:52 mark of the third period. Laura Polak had the puck all alone just outside the slot and shot the puck off the crossbar and down into the net. Even with the loss Fraser liked how the Tigers competed in the defensive end and accomplished their goals in the face-off circle. He thought the team still needed to improve offensively but he put the game in perspective. “It’s still early, so we still have a lot to learn.”
Université d’Ottawa
Dalhousie men’s hockey set to improve
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said. “For this season, we are focusing on changing the way the game is played, looking to produce more offense, but we have a great group of guys, the guys really care.” Going two for five on the power play certainly was a nice confidence boost for a team that struggled to score last season. The defence was also strong with Dalhousie going seven for seven on the penalty kill, and third year starting goalie and reigning first team AUS All-Star Corbin Boes making 31 saves for the shutout. “It was nice to start off the season with a shutout for sure, I was happy with my game,”I let out a few rebounds, but overall I felt pretty good,” said Boes. “We haven’t been in the playoffs for a while. We are definitely hoping to turn a corner in the league. The new guys coming in have been great, we have a pretty young team, so I have high hopes for this season for sure.” If the Tigers continue to play the way they did against the Golden Hawks throughout the season, then they should have no problem improving their spot in the standings and making the AUS playoffs for just the second time since the 2004–2005 season.
“It was a dream . . . If I was to make a bucket list I would never ask for this because I would think it was absolutely impossible.”
University of Ottawa
(L–R) Darryl Sittler looks on during the Maple Leaf’s alumni game at the Scotiabank Centre; Rick Vaive signs a Maple Leafs jersey as he leaves the ice at the end of the Maple Leafs’ alumni game.
Tigers look sharp in pre-season-opening shutout
Study Law in the National Capital
RACHAEL BISHOP
The Dalhousie Tigers men’s hockey team opened their pre-season on Saturday Sept. 23 with a 6–0 win over the Wilfrid Laurier Golden Hawks. Four of the six goals were scored in just under two minutes in the second period. The top line of reigning AUS (Atlantic University Sport) rookie of the year Phil Gadoury, last season’s leading scorer Fabian Walsh and second year forward Felix Page combined for 6 points. Second year defenceman and former Halifax Moosehead Jesse Lussier led the way on the back end with two assists. The Tigers outshot the Golden Hawks 41–31, but the shot totals belie the Tigers’ stout defence on the night—none of the 31 shots on second year goalie Corbin Boes were particularly high quality scoring chances. The animosity between the two teams was apparent, and surprising for two teams
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Maple Leafs alumni dazzle in Halifax Game raises $10,000 for military families JOSH YOUNG
Former three-time NHL 50 goal scorer Rick Vaive still has his touch as he scored a hat trick and added an assist to lead the Toronto Maple Leafs Alumni to a 12–3 win over the Halifax Mariners at the Scotiabank Centre on Sept. 25. A few of the notable Maple Leafs to play in the game were Darryl Sittler, Doug Gilmour, Wendel Clark, Tiger Williams and former Halifax Mooseheads star goaltender J.S Giguere. “It was great, it was a lot of fun, we had a great group of guys and we played against a great fun team to make it entertaining,” said Clark, an alumnus and Community Ambassador of the Maple Leafs. The alumni were in Halifax along with the current Maple Leafs who are holding training camp at the BMO Centre in Bedford from Sept. 23–26 to start their Centennial Anniversary. Nik Antropov scored the game’s first goal for the alumni 47 seconds into the game. He had the puck in front of the net, deked backhand, and shot the puck into the net. Almost a minute later Vaive passed the puck to Tom Fergus in the slot and he shot the puck over the goaltender’s Photos by Josh Young/Dalhousie Gazette.
glove and into the net. Fergus returned the favor 26 seconds later when he assisted on Vaive’s first goal. The alumni led 5–0 after the first period and carried the momentum on to a 12–3 win. Even though the alumni were playing against the Halifax Mariners, a team made up of military members from the different bases in Halifax, Vaive doesn’t believe that means the alumni should have taken it easy on them. “I think they (the fans) are thinking ‘I just want to get a glimpse of him playing now and see if it compares at all to what it was like 25 or 35 years ago’ so I think you put your best effort in,” said Vaive. Regardless of the score both teams had lots of fun. Bob McGill, who has the second most penalty minutes in a single season by a Leafs defenseman at 263, playfully got on top of a Mariner’s player and pretended to sucker punch him. Later, when Tiger Williams scored the fourth goal of the game he performed his famous goal celebration, skating to center ice, putting his stick between his legs, squatting and pointing toward his goalie. In the second period Gilmour lightly collided with a Mariner player that knocked both of them off balance. When the Mariner player got back up Clark playfully knocked him back down to the ice. The game was free to the public but the Leafs asked fans
to donate money to the Halifax and Region Military Family Resource Centre. It is a not-for-profit organization that helps military families deal with the challenges military life can bring. The alumni game raised $10,000 for the organization. “It means a lot,” said Warrant Officer Alan Arsenault, who played in the game. “There are so many families struggling . . . with people being deployed, PTSD . . . it’s so tough. It’s so great to see these events raising money to help the families because it’s definitely needed.” “Whenever we can help them in any way, shape or form it’s special to us because those are the people who put their lives on the line for us,” Vaive said. “It’s funny, I’ve played against them in a few games and they’re thanking you and I’m saying to myself hold on, I gotta thank you.” Even though the majority of the alumni are at least 10 years removed from their NHL days, Arsenault said it was obvious that they were NHL players. “Darryl Sittler . . . here is a guy who I think is 65 years old (Sittler turned 66 on Sept. 18) making passes like he is a 20 year old. They still have it.” Arsenault is a self proclaimed big Maple Leafs fan, and said it was amazing to play against former Leafs like Gilmore, Clark and Williams. “It was a dream . . . If I was to make a bucket list I would never ask for this because I would think it was absolutely impossible.” Sports
Sports
October 7–20, 2016
Catching up with cross country
Women’s team defend dominant season, men’s adjusts to life without newly graduated star DIANA FOXALL
Dalhousie Tigers cross country coach Rich Lehman grins as he maps out the year ahead for his women’s team. Lehman has high hopes for this year’s athletes following the 2015 season in which the Tigers not only claimed the Atlantic University Sport (AUS) conference title but also earned team victories and individual first place finishes at each of the AUS invitational meets. The majority of last year’s championship team returns to defend the title this fall, losing only Emily Clarke and Michelle Reddy—the former to graduation and the latter to injury. That being said, there don’t appear to be any holes in the roster. Lehman says co-captain Jenna MacDonald is gearing up for a very strong season to follow last year’s dominant performance, as is UNB transfer Sarah Myatt. Seemingly the biggest problem the coach faces at the moment will be trimming his roster for championship season, when only seven athletes of the twelve named to the varsity squad make the cut. “We’re pretty close from about two to nine which makes cutting down to seven hard—but it’s a much better problem than not having seven good runners,” says Lehman. Lehman is similarly confident in his team’s leadership, appointing MacDonald and Melanie McKenna as first-time co-captains following the departure of last year’s captain Emily Clarke. “Emily was the captain for 4 years, and she did a good job, and that’s where there was a hole to fill. These two really stepped up, and beyond them, the whole team stepped up and that role has been filled and then some, in my opinion.” The three-time AUS coach of the year is quick to highlight his team’s work ethic and willingness to put in the miles, stating that his female athletes—unlike the men’s team— have not been heavily recruited. The vast majority of his top runners were not winners of their respective provincial high school cross-country titles, “just incredibly hard workers who came in their first year and never stopped coming.” The Tigers are two meets into their 2016 season, and so far, no surprises. The team did not race three of their top five athletes in the first meet at Acadia, but nonetheless took the overall title by a landslide. Colleen Wilson, named a CIS Second Team All-Canadian last year, won the individual title and beat the second place runner by almost 40 seconds. The women continued their winning ways at the Moncton Invitational on September 24, taking the team title with Wilson again claiming first individually, followed over the line
by Myatt and MacDonald in third and fourth respectively. On the men’s side, things look a little different than last year with the loss of graduating athlete Matt McNeil. The 2015 AUS Athlete of the Year and CIS First Team All-Canadian was a powerhouse up front all season, and Lehman says he will be sorely missed. Looking ahead, the coach expects senior runners Will Russell and Jake Wing to lead the men both on and off the course, saying that Russell has been “the vocal, emotional leader on the team for a while now,” with the potential to be a top 30 athlete at CIS championships after having a great track season this year. Wing, like Russell, is also more of a track athlete, having placed in the top eight nationally in the 1000m for the past few years. “We’re definitely worse at the number one spot than we have been but from two down to seven, we’re a step better than we were last year, and last year we were a step better than we were the year before, so it’s coming.” On the whole, Lehman is optimistic about the men’s team. He secured the two top graduating runners in Nova Scotia, Trent Lynds and Owen Bishop, who placed third and fourth at last year’s high school provincials. The first and second place runners were both in grade 11, and the Tigers coach is hoping to get at least one of them when it comes time to recruit. “I don’t want to put a ton of pressure on [Lynds and Bishop] to suddenly be world-class 10k runners—it’s a long way to go. But I suspect one of them will end up on the line at the AUS championships this year as part of the top seven.” He reiterates the difference between women and men making the jump from high school to university competition—women race 6 kilometres in CIS meets compared to 5 kilometres in high school, while the men go from 7 kilometres in high 22
school to 10 kilometres in university. “The front end of the pack at nationals in the men’s race is coming through 7k about three minutes faster than the Nova Scotia high school 7k is won, and then they go for 10 more minutes so it’s a big ask to say to a 17 year old ‘I need you to PB [run a personal best time] through 7k and keep going,’ whereas I’ve got no problem asking the girls to PB through 5k and keep going—and I do do that.” The men are off to a strong start this season, placing second as a team at Acadia with third year Angus MacIntosh also taking second individually. Lynds and Bishop placed well in their first university meet, in eighth and fourteenth respectively. At the Moncton Invitational, the Tigers took second again—and this time it was Russell leading the men’s team, placing fifth, with MacIntosh, Lucas Drever, and Lynds hot on his heels. Next up is the Dal/SMU Invitational on October 8, where the Tigers look to use home turf advantage. The men hope to put some pressure on StFX, while the women continue their AUS title defense for a third consecutive year.
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