Et Cetera Vol.67 No.11/ April 18, 2024

Méchant makes dark delectable

Niharika Nayak Culture Reporter

In an era where sustainability is increasingly becoming a priority, Humber College’s Méchant fashion show stands out as a shining example of how style and eco-consciousness can seamlessly intertwine. Méchant showcased cutting-edge designs on April 11 and highlighted the imperative need for eco-friendly practices within the fashion industry.

The fashion show, hosted by a collaboration between Humber College students and the Salvation Army, featured a myriad of eco-friendly designs that reduce environmental impact while still exuding style and sophistication.

A key theme of the event was the reduction of carbon emissions and textile waste through thrifting.

Tristan Williams, Méchant project manager, said the term Méchant translates to villain and the overarching theme resulted in a thrilling and dark aesthetic.

“We named our show Méchant because we’re delving deep into the psyche of the complex characters, exploring their multifaceted nature,” Williams said. “Through Avant-Garde layering techniques, rich textures and unexpected details, alongside makeup that exposes humanity and vulnerability, we’re set to challenge perceptions and celebrate the inner complexities of these intriguing personas,”

Interviews with participants

revealed a shared passion for both fashion and sustainability, with many models citing personal motivations for their involvement in the show.

Culinary management program student and model, Archie Khemani, said he was nervous about walking the ramp but received encouragement from a close friend. Khemani said it’s important to rest, eat well and stay energized on the day of the show.

“My advice to aspiring models is to just get out there and do it. Follow your dreams. Just put your heart into it and get out there,” Khemani said.

Upanya Bhatt, a business management student at Humber, said she first decided to model after a makeup artist friend approached her.

“While preparing for a show like this, it’s important to practice and coordinate with the management team to ensure we’re on the same page,” Bhatt said.

Bhatt said she had a tight schedule and a presentation due on the event’s same day.

Despite the challenges, she said aspiring models should seize the opportunities they’re presented with.

For photographers, the event presented a unique opportunity to capture the essence of sustainable fashion while honing their skills behind the lens.

Fiona Vandermyden, a professional photographer and photog-

raphy student at Humber, said it wasn’t her first time collaborating with Humber fashion students. She said she’s worked with them for two years.

“One time the entire class made different concepts for photoshoots, and we spent an entire weekend shooting together,” Vandermyden said.

Vandermyden said her biggest advice to aspiring fashion photographers is not to compare themselves to other photographers.

“Go all out with your portfolio. Have fun with your art and take it easy on yourself. Don’t think

you’re a terrible photographer because someone else is good,” she said. Learn from them instead of tearing yourself down.”

In addition to showcasing sustainable designs, the event served as a catalyst for discussions surrounding the future of fashion and the importance of sustainable practices within the industry.

Participants demonstrated that fashion can be both aesthetically pleasing and environmentally responsible by combining style with sustainability, paving the way for a more sustainable future in the world of fashion.

Humber College’s Méchant fashion show, organized on April 11 in collaboration with the Salvation Army, showcased sustainable fashion.

NIHARIKA NAYAK

Méchant aims to be a conversation starter around the future of fashion.

NIHARIKA NAYAK

STUDENT SPOTLIGHT: A PURPOSE FOUND IN PHOTOGRAPHY

Samhara Szesycki, a firstyear photography student, has been surrounded by the arts since birth.

“I’ve always been around creativity,” Szesycki said. “My mom loves to draw and my dad is a photographer.”

While Szesycki was exposed to photography at an early age, she originally pursued a career in film as a production assistant. “I took a two-month course that taught me the basics of film and thought that that was what I wanted to do,” she said.

While Szesycki said she enjoyed the course, finding a job in the film industry was difficult. She decided to change paths after advice from her father.

“My dad was the reason I got into the photography program,” Szesycki said. “He said I had an eye for photography and I was like ‘Okay, I’ll try it out.’”

While Szesycki faced hurdles upon starting the program, she found her footing. “The first semester was a little daunting, but I’ve been enjoying the second semester,” she said.

Szesycki said photography has helped her develop her self-esteem.

“I’m a shy person so I feel like photography has helped me be more confident,” she said.

Szesycki’s future looks bright as she has developed a love for product and commercial photography. She is grateful for a change in career paths as it led her to where she needed to be.

“I feel like this program has helped me find myself,” Szesycki said.

Humber’s 5k runners defy the rain

David Madureira Senior Reporter

Last week Humber held its 17th Annual 5k Run and the runners had to deal with the heavy rain that day.

Despite the weather, all of the runners made it back happily.

Blaise Uglow, in the Fitness and Health Promotions program, who is the winner of the 2023 OCAA bronze medal and became the second Humber men’s cross country runner that was given the CCAA All-Canadian award, needed only 15:36 to finish, a pace of 3:12 a kilometre.

Uglow said he wanted to get back in that time.

“I was hoping for the time I got, feeling better than expected, it was solid,” he said. Uglow also said that despite the weather, he enjoyed the event and that he’s used to this because he’s an athlete.

“It was a bit rainy today, but it was a nice little fun little route to test fitness and support Team DeLisle (the runners were on teams) and the charities here. I’m a full time triathlete so it’s kind of my job to run fast. I just enjoy it,” Uglow said. He said the most important parts of an event like this should be the community and the mindset someone has.

“The community, the environment, and the attitude that people have. It Promotes people to run

more and to get outside and be healthy and active,” Uglow said.

Daniel Nguyen in the Justice Studies program was another runner who said he liked the bad weather.

“The weather wasn’t that good at the start, but it made it much better. It’s a little bit more challenging with the rain, puddles, and mud, but, you know, it’s good to have a challenge in your life and try to overcome it,” he said. Nguyen said not giving up and overcoming obstacles is what he took away from the event.

“You should never give up, you keep going no matter the obstacles that come in your way and just overall just push through,” he said.

Nguyen said he doesn’t run often and that he ran here because of the charity aspect of the run.

“I don’t run too often, this is like a more spontaneous decision,” he said. “I saw it for Stella’s Place, I was like, sure, ‘why not?’ It’s for charity, why not show up and run.”

Jade DeLisle, in the Fitness and Health Promotions program like Nguyen, said the weather made the event worth more.

“Life’s too short. It’s not easy. You’re going to face challenges in life, and a challenge just makes the reward that much greater. It’s about getting uncomfortable, getting out of your comfort zone, and just pushing through when times

get tough,” he said.

DeLisle said running has had a big impact on his life and values the opportunity to share this passion with people, and says that it’s an outlet to help him through tough times like the COVID-19 pandemic.

“As someone who’s struggled with mental health over the years, COVID could have made or broken me and I chose to use running as my outlet and help me through, I wanted to share that passion and share what running has done for me with everyone by bringing everyone together,” he said.

Chrysanthe Nikolaidis, in the Kinesthetics Program, said this was her first 5k run and she ran the race to support her brother.

“I actually decided to run the race because it’s my brother’s 18th birthday and he really struggles with mental health, so I did this for him because he’s about to graduate high school, I just want to support him in any way that I can,” she said.

Nikolaidis said she was initially afraid of the weather that day but the support of her team and the community helped her push through.

“I don’t like the rain,” she said. “I screamed every puddle I stepped in, but I realized that when I found running buddies on the trail and we just pushed each other to keep going, we maintained the same pace, If one of us stopped, we made sure to push each other and keep going.” She said she would “absolutely” be attending the run next year.

Gold heist steals national attention

Aaliya Fatima Senior Reporter

Nine arrests, three warrants and 19 charges were laid in connection to the 2023 Toronto Pearson airport gold heist, Peel Regional Police announced in a news conference on Wednesday.

Peel Regional Chair Nando Iannicca said although headlines may read that it was a $24 million gold heist, the story is about reverse alchemy.

“This isn’t just about gold, this is about how gold becomes guns. It isn’t about stolen vehicles, stolen vehicles become guns,” he said.

A year ago, on April 17, 2023, a flight from Zurich landed at Pearson International Airport, containing a cargo of 6,600 bars of .9999 per cent pure gold, weighing 400 kilograms, valued at over C$24 million, and C$2.5 million worth in foreign currency, police said.

The cargo was offloaded and transported to an Air Canada warehouse at Pearson Airport, police said.

Police said the report of the missing cargo was received during the early hours of April 18, 2023.

Detective Sgt. Mike Mavity said a fraudulent airway bill was one of the tools used to carry out the heist. He said the airway bill was for a legitimate shipment used the day before, after which a duplicate one was printed.

Mavity said surveillance videos showed a forklift was used to load a container with the gold and foreign currency onto the suspect’s truck.

The transport truck used to store the stolen goods was recovered by police officers and was present at the media conference.

Project 24K was launched as a joint task force with Peel Regional Police and the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms (ATF).

The funding for this investigation comes from the Ontario Government, Ministry of the Solicitor General and is supported by the Criminal Intelligence Service Ontario, the police confirmed in a

media release.

“We have arrested nine people, issued three Canada-wide arrest warrants and have laid 19 related charges,” Peel police Chief Nishan Duraiappah said at the news conference.

The arrested include Air Canada employees and a warrant issued on a former employee, who at the time of the heist was working there, police said. Police confirmed the two employees played crucial roles in the theft.

Among the six arrested is a 54-year-old Brampton man who worked for Air Canada. The others live in Toronto, Oakville and Georgetown. They were released on conditions and are to appear at the Ontario Court of Justice in Brampton at a later date.

Runners made it for Humber’s Annual 5k run despite the downpour. DAVID MADUREIRA

Peel Regional Police have made arrests in the gold heist incident.

COURTESY/PEEL REGIONAL POLICE

Women in trades, changing the industry

Eleanor Kate Iglesia Culture Reporter

Olivia Dawn Barrow, a welding technician at Humber College Carrier Drive campus, said she has been working at Humber since 2021 and there is a slow change in gender dynamics.

“We do have quite a few female teachers,” she said. “We have a welding teacher here. In the carpentry lab, one of the teachers is female [and] in every semester I am seeing more and more women.”

Men have been, and are being, much more supportive of women in the trades, Barrow said.

“I think people like to paint this picture that women aren’t really accepted in the trades,” she said. “But I’ve never met anyone that said I shouldn’t be here, if anything thing they have always been like women bring a different set of skills to the trades.”

Humber College opened a 95,000-square-foot Centre for Trades and Technology facility in 2009. The college extended the centre by opening a Carrier Drive campus, near the North campus, specifically for the skills trade industry.

As Humber expanded the Centre for Trades and Technology facility, they have been hiring female professors and technicians.

Michael Auchincloss, an asso-

ciate dean of Skilled Trades and Technology at the Humber Carrier Drive campus, said through the many years he has been working for Humber’s applied technology facility, there has been an increasing number of women working.

Not only has he seen more women working in the trades at Humber, but he’s also recognized the skills women bring.

“There’s a difference between the way males think and females think when it comes to thought process,” Auchincloss said. “There’s more effort being put on the front end, and planning, and how to put things together in the way of planning that females do, that sometimes males don’t do.”

Humber works towards adding more female representation in the Carrier Drive campus so that women interested in the trades aren’t hesitant in their environment, he said.

Alexandra Zita Gal, a first-year student in the welding techniques program, said her father was why she wanted to be in the trades.

“My dad is a tool and dye maker,” she said. “So, I grew up watching him fix things, and working on things, and doing little projects here and there.”

Being in the trades was something she knew she wanted to do even after doing a gap year from graduating high school, Gal said.

Being back in school with males being the majority of her classmates, her experience in class isn’t the way she expected, she said.

“It wasn’t as intimating as I thought it was going to be,” Gal said. “I think having some sort of background knowledge definitely ... made me feel more confident coming into a shop knowing that I’m going to be around a bunch of men.”

Advertising that the trades can be for women might help other women consider working in the industry, she said.

“It’s a welcoming environment and [women] shouldn’t be scared, they should bite the bullet and do it,” Gal said.

Alexandra Zita Gal, a student at Humber Colleges, is one on the few females in welding techniques program.

Olivia Dawn Barrow, a welding professor at Humber’s Centre for Trades and Technology, is turning a torch that is used for cutting metal. Humber opened this Centre in 2009.

Humber celebrates students’ achievement

Isabelle Ferrante

Senior Reporter

Humber held its 2024 Scholarship Celebration at the Universal Event Centre in Vaughan Monday night.

The special reception and dinner allowed students to pick up their awards and celebrate their accomplishments with faculty and the donors who made the scholarships possible.

Luna Reza Ramirez won the Champion of Public Relations Excellence award and said it meant a lot to be recognized.

“Heading to graduation with the scholarship is the cherry on top. It gives me the confidence to step into the workforce,” Ramirez said.

“I am really proud of myself because it really demonstrates all the hard work that I’ve been doing for these four years.”

Ramirez applied for the award when she heard about last semester, and wrote her application essay about how she would advise a client working as part of the communications team.

She was excited to spend time Judy Lewis, a representative of the Canadian Council of Public Rela-

tions Firms, which sponsored the scholarship. “Being able to speak with my donor, someone who has

been working in the PR industry for so long, I get to learn a lot of those experiences through talking

to her,” she said.

Lewis said her organization believes education is the key to advancement, and was thrilled to acknowledge a student like Ramirez.

“Given that the recipient won a merit award, it means that she is supporting the profession, and is striving for excellence in everything that she does,” she said.

Humber gave out 824 scholarships and bursaries last year.

Humber’s President, Anne Marie Vaughan, spoke about the importance of donors.

“You recognize the unlimited potential and you continue to lift them and provide them with motivation and confidence for them to carry on their studies,” she said.

Ramirez said she would advise future students to apply for the variety of scholarships and bursaries available at Humber.

“My advice to people is don’t do it for the scholarship and the award, but because of the opportunities this will open for you.”

Misinformation creating distrust in media

Megan Smith Senior Reporter

Canadians interact with social media platforms and apps such as Facebook, Snapchat, and Instagram, which are designed to capture and hold attention spans for as long as possible.

The advancements in Artificial Intelligence (AI) have made it easier for misinformation and disinformation to be created and spread.

Tiffany Kwok, a policy analyst at The Dais, a platform based at Toronto Metropolitan University, said the rise in AI-generated content means it will become increasingly difficult to discern whether content is genuine. She said simply nothing can be done even through multiple efforts to curb the spread.

“Though efforts like watermarking and platforms looking to label AI-generated content are on the rise, these efforts are not 100 per cent foolproof and have limitations. The use of AI tools can also increase the spread itself, through the continued use of bots and coordinated inauthentic behaviour,” she said in an email.

Artificial intelligence can be used to create funny images and videos for entertainment with just a few clicks, said Jeffrey Dvorkin, a retired journalist now a senior fellow at Massy College at the University of Toronto.

The Internet has allowed for more jokey things to be passed along, he said. And sometimes it’s not all done with bad intentions, Dvorkin said.

It’s usually done not in a spirit of maliciousness, while disinformation is more serious, he said. It’s the deliberate sharing of information known to be wrong, destructive, racist or damaging, and it’s usually done anonymously, Dvorkin said.

Kwok said there are many problems arising with the spread of some potential dangers of misinformation and disinformation, including a sense of distrust towards democratic institutions

and media sources.

Tricia Grant, director of marketing and communications at MediaSmarts, said online misinformation has been shown to lower people’s trust in the media.

“The struggle is that when so much misinformation is being spread, it can become hard to know who or what to trust. People can then become disengaged and throw up their hands and say, ‘Well, now I don’t believe anything,’” Grant said. According to Statistics Canada in 2019-20, as part of Canada’s approach to protecting its democracy, Canadian Heritage contributed $7 million over nine

months to the Digital Citizen Initiative (DCI). It involved 23 projects to strengthen citizens’ critical thinking about online disinformation and be more resilient against online disinformation, including elections and COVID-19.

The DCI provided funding for civic, news, and digital media literacy, ranging from awareness sessions and workshops to the development of learning materials. These projects reached more than 12 million Canadians from coast to coast to coast including youth, seniors, minority communities, official languages minority communities, etc.

Since the rise of artificial intelligence, media literacy has been important in spotting fake news. Grant said the best way to make sure you’re not spreading false information is to check the story every time and many can do this by finding the source of the story, “Making sure that source is reliable, looking to see what other sources are saying about it, and also by looking at fact-checking sites like Snopes.com they might have already done this work previously,” she said. “Our Break the Fake videos and tips (featuring the house hippo!) share easy ways to make this a regular habit.”

Humber hosts special reception and dinner celebrating 2023-24 student scholarship recipients and donors.

IMAGE COURTESY OF HUMBER COLLEGE

Extreme climate makes insurance soar

Carlo Cantisani Senior Reporter

Insurance damage for severe weather events due to climate change cost more than $3.1 billion in Canada last year, making 2023 the fourth worst year for insured losses, according to the Catastrophe Indices and Quantification Inc. (CatIQ).

The report, published by the Insurance Bureau of Canada (IBC), also found that 2023 was the second straight year Canada surpassed the $3-billion threshold.

The majority of the cost was due to the wildfires in Okanagan (McDougall Creek) and Shuswap (Bush Creek East), B.C., with over $720 million in insured losses, which resulted in the costliest insured event ever in British Columbia and the 10th in Canada’s history.

Ontario summer storms and flash floods damages followed by more than $340 million in insured losses, according to the IBC report.

Canadian home insurance costs are expected to rise this year by an average of 7.7 per cent — 6.32 per cent in Ontario — this year, despite inflation settling at about two per cent by 2025. A major cause is the soaring costs of increased climate-related disasters that “have set the stage for this inevitable

price recalibration,” according to data from MyChoice, a leading insurance comparison website.

Director of Resilient Homes Canada Chris Chopik said extreme events like flooding and wildfires are lowering property values, creating a stigma within marketplaces.

“The reality is everywhere it rains, there’s a risk of flooding. That’s just true because the storms are more intense,” he said. “The risk boundary is expanding, and the severity is more distributed than it was before, which is concerning.”

The IBC report found affordable flood insurance is out of reach for

more than 1.5 million households in high-risk areas.

“We have 10 per cent of the Canadian population living in places that are at high risk of flood, and one per cent in places that are very high risk of flood,” Chopik said.

“The real questions for the marketplace are how do we price that very high risk? If it gets more expensive for that insurance in that location, can the people afford it?”

He said homeowners and municipalities share responsibilities regarding property-level interventions, like resiliency investment that include technologies like backwater valves that stop water

or sewage from flowing into the house should the main sewer line become overloaded avoiding basement flooding.

“Anyone who lives in Toronto is susceptible to flooding. A backwater valve is a very good investment, and the city covers two-thirds of the price,” he said.

“Different municipalities have different programs, but a lot of places where there’s an urban flood risk do similar things.

“Every dollar spent on resiliency recovers in saved losses by four to 11 per cent for a home-based resiliency investment,” he said.

“It’s that old attitude, you only get one chance to do it right the first time,” he said. “If you make a mistake in the design and the construction, and you put in some equipment that is not energy-efficient, then that’s going to stay there for 20 years.

“There are many examples of social housing projects in Toronto that are not very efficient due to inappropriate equipment, and they ended up with quite high heating bills,” he said.

He said geography and local conditions play an important role in determining the sustainability features that homeowners want to include in their properties.

“It’s not just about the house, it’s about the land around it as well,” he said.

“The land is so outrageously expensive in cities like Toronto and Vancouver, so it’s very difficult to talk about affordability in that context,” he said. “If you’re a low or middle-income person in the city of Toronto, it’s highly unlikely that you’re going to be able to afford a resilient built house.”

Sustainable Buildings Canada Executive Director Mike Singleton said resiliency and sustainability for buildings might mean different things in different parts of Canada, but it’s crucial to plan sustainability goals at the beginning of a design activity.

TDSB proposal to close schools rejected

Sam Belton Senior Reporter

Ontario Education Minister Stephen Lecce has rejected the Toronto District School Board’s (TDSB) proposal to close some schools.

On April 4, the TDSB announced they were calling on the Ministry of Education to remove the moratorium on closing schools.

“During a special board meeting today, trustees voted in favour of the motion that will help address growing costs to maintain underutilized schools across the TDSB and facilitate long-term planning,” their statement said.

The board asked the ministry for an exemption permitting them to consolidate up to four schools a year if the ban was not lifted.

“This would enable the TDSB to review schools with low enrolment that face programming challenges and limit students’ choices and replace them with a smaller number of state-of-the-art schools with higher enrolment that would result in a larger variety of programming and more opportunities

for students.” they said in the statement.

They also approved a $17 million budget cut for 2024-25 , including $5 million each for central staff and for school renewal, as well as $7 million from initiatives such as in-house training.

In response to community feedback about some proposed cuts, the board decided to delay the implementation of them so they could discuss them with stakeholders. These include international language and African heritage programs, general interest/ seniors’ daytime courses, outdoor education and fees.

John Weatherup, president of Toronto Education Workers which represents 17,000 workers on the school board side, disagrees with consolidating schools.

“We don’t think they should be closing the small schools to begin with. We don’t agree with what the board has done,” Weatherup said. “Closing the small schools is detrimental to learning, student achievement...”

Weatherup credits smaller schools with helping students’ achievement which is supported by research.

The Elementary Teachers’ Federation of Ontario said research

shows smaller classes let teachers give students more individual attention, as well as improve their behaviour, friendships, student engagement and success early on.

“Student achievement goes down, not up when you start to consolidate schools and make them bigger. The further the parents are from the school and principals knowing students’ names, it brings students’ achievement down,” Weatherup said.

However, Weatherup said he recognizes the board is cash-strapped for reasons not their fault. He said the TDSB must pay Canada Pension Plan (CPP) and Employment Insurance (EI) benefits, and those payments have risen to $30 million a year.

“The provincial government, since it’s the funder, does not pay it. So, now the board has to go cut $30 million from its budget because the provincial government doesn’t pay its bills.” he said. “And the board has no choice. It’s federal law, to pay CPP and EI and then the provincial government doesn’t pay it and that sends the boards

back to find $30 million because they say they’re running a deficit. But if the government actually paid their bills, there would be no deficit.”

An example Weatherup used was the hiring of 100 extra teachers.

“Well, they [the government] don’t pay for 100 teachers. They pay for 90 because their wages are on a provincial average and (the government) doesn’t cover all the benefit,” he said.

The TDSB is then left to find funding for those 10 remaining teachers which may be more than a million dollars.

“So, well it sounds like a great news story that they’re getting 100 math teachers or ESL teachers, which is good news. The fact of the matter is they gotta go find $1.5 million to pay for it.

So, even when they announce a good news story, hiring staff, it’s actually bad news on a financial basis.” he said.

The board must cut in other areas of the budget because of the lack of revenue to cover the cost of those new teachers.

PIXABAY/YLVERS

Wildfires in Okanagan and Shuswap B.C. insurance damages last year with $720 million in insured losses.

PEXELS/RDNE STOCK PROJECT

Ontario has rejected TDSB’s school closure proposal to save money.

Proposed GO Station near Humber College

Sam Belton Senior Reporter

A planned GO Station near Humber College’s North campus is expected to increase the number of visitors to the Woodbine Districts to more than 16 million per year.

“We are committed and excited to bring mass transit to Woodbine that will benefit the horse racing industry, our entire property, and the larger Rexdale community, including Humber College,” said Jamie Dykstra, Vice President of Communications and Coordination at Woodbine Entertainment, in an email statement to Humber News.

“We are continuing to work closely with the various stakeholders involved and look forward to sharing more news in the future,” the statement added.

The opening date is not confirmed at this time.

The station is proposed to sit along the existing Kitchener Rail Corridor, where GO trains run between Toronto’s Union Station and the Kitchener GO Station.

The Woodbine Race Track said on its website that Highway 27-Woodbine Station will provide safe, accessible, and efficient modes of transportation to people who live in the Etobicoke community and areas around it.

Also, with the province’s “One Fare” launch in February, riders will only pay once while transferring for free between the TTC and other GTA transit agencies, including GO Transit.

This may allow commuters to ride from downtown Toronto to the Woodbine Racetrack, and freely

transfer to a bus to Humber College.

Gabi Hentschke, Communications & Engagement Coordinator at Humber College’s Office of Sustainability, said people should have more sustainable transit choices.

“Opportunities for people to take whether it is [the] bus, subway, or other forms of transportation that are a group, collaborative or things that are not like a single person inside a vehicle... ways to make that more of a carpool or just in general reduce that environmental impact,” Hentschke said.

But she said people should understand certain projects may have their environmental impacts.

“So, it is a give-and-take, right? It’s not fully 100 per cent green, there will be some impacts as well,” she added.

The bulk of GO trains run on diesel.

Metrolinx, partnered with Woodbine Entertainment, released the Highway 27-Woodbine Station Environmental Project Report in Feb. 2020, and it said they have completed assessments and evaluations of possible effects the project may have on the natural environment, geology and groundwater, cultural heritage, air quality, and others.

Consulted people and groups include but are not limited to members of the public, property owners, review agencies, and Indigenous communities.

Further work to make GO Transit more environmentally friendly in general may be taking place.

In April 2022, the provincial government gave out a contract

for a project that would electrify more than 600 kilometres of track, and a high-speed electric train fleet that may let trains reach 140 kilometres per hour. But as of then, not all the money and approvals required to create the entire system had been finalized.

With construction set to have started last year, and smaller projects that “could result in incremental increases to GO Transit service in 2025 or 2026,” it was estimated that a fully electrified system would not be in place until 2032, CityNews reported. An example of a another project to increase GO Transit service incrementally was announced just on Monday.

Starting April 28, there will be over 300 new GO Train trips each week, “supporting two-way, all-day GO service on some of the province’s busiest train routes,” Ontario Premier Doug Ford said at a press conference on Monday.

“This means more options and greater convenience on Milton, Lakeshore West, Lakeshore East, Kitchener, Stouffville, and the UP Express lines,” Ford said.

There will be an estimated 15 per cent increase in weekly trips.

“I know the leadership of Premier Ford, our government has the most ambitious public transit infrastructure plan in our province’s history,” Ontario Minister of Transportation Prabmeet Sarkaria said at the press conference.

“We’re making historic investments over the next decade to build the roads, highways, and transit our growing province desperately needs.”

Doug Ford announces GO transit upgrade

Premier Doug Ford announced the largest GO train service expansion in more than a decade at a press conference in Milton, Ont, on April 15.

Ford and Ontario Minister of Transportation Prabmeet Sarkaria said Ontario is enhancing transit service by adding more than 300 trips per week linking Kitchener, Milton, Lakeshore West, Lakeshore East and Stouffville lines to Union Station.

This announcement comes after the implementation of the One Fare Program in February, which allows transit riders to only pay once when connecting between the Toronto Transit Commission (TTC), GO Transit, and regional transit.

“Today’s announcement, along with our recent introduction of free transfers between different transit systems through One Fare, will help get people across the region where they need to go faster while saving the average transit rider $1,600 every year,” Ford said.

Weekend train frequencies will double from every 30 minutes to every 15 minutes during the afternoon and evening hours on the Lakeshore West and Lakeshore East lines starting April 28, he said.

Kitchener commuters can also expect to see a new 30-minute weekday service for the first time, Ford said.

These initiatives support the 2041 Regional Transportation Plan (RTP), which facilitates the integration of transit services and fares while reducing barriers and promoting cost savings.

Sarkaria believes the addition will help Ontarians.

“As Ontario’s population continues to grow, our government is

investing in a world-class transit network that connects communities and people to good jobs and affordable housing,” Sarkaria said.

Milton’s Mayor Gordon Krantz said the expansion of GO rail service provides more access to jobs and stimulate economic growth.

“Additional GO rail service trips in Milton further connect people to jobs, students to learning, stimulate our economy, fosters housing builds in our transit corridors and improves connections to other transit services,” Krantz said.

“We thank the Government of Ontario for this investment,” he said.

With by-elections around the corner, Ford said this announcement was not about getting votes but helping Ontarians.

“No, we’re out here making announcements every single day in every region of this province and this is a great announcement for the folks in Milton and everyone that rides the GO train,” he said.

The electoral districts of Lambton-Kent-Middlesex and Milton have an upcoming provincial by-election that is set for May 2, 2024.

A recently published poll conducted by Liason Strategies regarding the by-election in the Milton riding reported the Provincial Conservatives and Ontario Liberals are neck and neck.

Ford thanked Ontarians for their efforts in building a better province.

“We are building hospitals, we are building schools, building transit, we are expanding highways, and building long-term care,” Ford said.

“It is only thanks to each and every one of you, it’s about every person in Ontario that is pitching in.”

Ally Sheedy Senior Reporter

PEXELS/VLAD VASNETS

Doug Ford has announced a new transit plan for Toronto commuters.

OCAD University is the latest post-secondary institution to cut funding for its student-led events in the wake of funding reduction from the provincial government.

This is just one recent example of colleges and universities cutting extracurricular activities.

Artist Alley is the only student-led event meant to give OCAD students a space to sell their art to the community. This year was the first that the school considered charging Artist Alley organizers and students rent for the use of the OCAD campus for the daylong event.

The cost for these services for the latest Artist Alley event, held on April 6, was $535, according to a statement from Artist Alley organizers.

While OCAD eventually agreed to fund this event, future funding remains unclear.

“It’s a shame because this could be a really amazing extracurricular activity, an opportunity for students to learn skills that aren’t necessarily taught in class,” said an Artist Alley organizer who wished to remain anonymous because of fear of reprisal from the school.

OCAD students deserve to host events on their campus without financial concern, especially when there are already so few that provide a space to learn outside of the class-

EDITORIAL

Keep post-secondary extracurriculars funded CPL must thrive for Canadian team growth

The Canadian Premier League (CPL) has gone crawling back to Mediapro as the 2024 season approaches.

In January, the CPL’s business side, the Canadian Soccer Business (CSB), which represents the national teams and their broadcast production and distribution partner, Mediapro, filed a notice of action to terminate their contract.

In a statement, CSB said Mediapro was defaulting on contractual obligations like payment of rights fees.

In its statement, Mediapro said CSB was unable to sustain its end of the agreement.

However, Onesoccer, the website created for the Canadian market by Mediapro, will broadcast CPL games in April.

There is no mention by either party as to the long-term propriety of Canada’s soccer rights.

If this is to be the last year CSB works with Mediapro, then they need to take this season to come together with the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) to build soccer viewership in Canada and push Canadian soccer forward.

Without a thriving CPL, Canada’s hopes at the Olympics and the FIFA World Cup will continue to stagnate.

room. The McCall Street school was one of several universities that ran on a deficit in 2023, according to their 2022-23 Operating Budget report.

“At least 10 Ontario universities are currently projecting an operating budget deficit for 2023-24 for a combined total of more than $175M, growing to $250M in 202425,” said a statement from the Council of Ontario Universities. The statement said the provincial government’s underfunding of universities forced cuts to student support and services. The council said universities need increased funding to prevent further cuts in services, extracurriculars and athletics.

This means that future events could see less funding from universities and colleges due to government budget reductions.

“The school should be funding it, they should be fully supporting it because it’s a showcase of all the talent that’s at the school,” OCAD student Asia Ruggiero said.

OCAD has covered Artist Alley facility fees for the last six years.

“We have not, until this coming year, had a funding program for student groups, they are self-funded through whatever choices they make,” said Sarah Mulholland, manager of student affairs at OCAD.

“We do have another funding program coming in our next fiscal year which

will provide a modest amount of funding through an application process that we are developing right now,” Mulholland said.

OCAD is one of many universities that cannot afford to cover incurred costs for extracurricular events. This problem involves the need for funds from the provincial government, but also a proper distribution of those funds on behalf of the OCAD Board of Governors.

“Budgets reflect priorities. In recent years OCAD U has adopted an austerity agenda that compromised the student learning experience, our academic integrity and working conditions for faculty and staff,” read an open

Canada needs the eight-team league to create opportunities for young players to get experience and improve enough to compete internationally.

The CPL’s mission statement said they were there to create a “pathway for our homegrown players to develop and showcase their skills.”

We see the effect of a strong domestic league in Japan, a nation that moved to 18th in the FIFA world ranking from 66th in 1992

when they created their professional league, the J League.

Partnering with the CBC will increase its exclusive content that they can market as Canadian content.

This is part of the CBC’s mandate.

The corporation was designed to inform,

“OCAD University’s Academic Plan champions the humanist and social dimensions of higher education, but its Operating Budget reflects a cut-throat market logic,” it said. While the Board of Governors develops a plan to run their school on an operational deficit, students pay the price.

Supporting students by funding extracurricular events is just as important as funding those taking place during operating hours.

The provincial government and post-secondary school boards should provide a place for students to host their events safely and without financial concern.

enlighten, entertain, contribute to a shared national consciousness and identity, reflect the regional and cultural diversity of Canada, and contribute to the development of Canadian talent and culture, according to the government.

That includes Canadian sports.

The CPL will in return receive production help and a platform for their content with a partner experienced with promoting Canadian content and Canadian sports.

The CBC has built up experience producing Hockey Night in Canada on Saturdays and with the work they are currently doing with the Professional Women’s Hockey League (PWHL). The PWHL is an excellent example of a recently developed league using the CBC to promote its content and increase its viewership.

The PWHL said in a release they have partnered with CBC and Radio-Canada, TSN and RDS, and Sportsnet, to broadcast national content in Canada.

letter from OCAD’s student union.

OCAD University is just one example of colleges and universities failing to fund activities.

THE CANADIAN PRESS/ GALIT RODAN

PEXELS/ LUCAS ANDRADE

The Canadian Premier League needs to be strong for national success at the World Cup.

Fool me once with fake pictures, not again

Etti Bali News Editor

Understanding photo manipulation is one rabbit hole I was not prepared to climb down.

But when the Mother’s Day photo of Kate Middleton with her three children sparked Photoshop debates, I sought out to understand the impact of photo manipulation, especially on media organizations.

When the photo was found to be doctored, Kensington Palace

OPINION

acknowledged it with a tweet signed by Kate, but by then, trust had been breached.

A breach of trust between journalists and a place of authority is not to be sidelined. For journalists, trust is a currency that holds great value. News syndications such as Reuters, AFP and AP, had used the photo and then recalled it from circulation.

Professor Kevin Brandon with Humber’s Faculty of Media and Creative Arts helped me understand the gravity of the distrust these incidents could propel.

“If Kensington Palace puts out another photo, are people going to be looking at it more closely before they post it? You have eroded trust between journalists and the Kensington Palace. How much time do you have to go authenticate everything? And when you find out something is not authentic, then what happens?” Brandon asked.

More recently and closer home,

the “Can’t afford to pay” campaign by TTC was edited and circulated on social media with a tagline that said “not our problem.” TTC issued a clarification with the original photos.

To me, a regular TTC user, this appeared to be rude. But I knew that not everything on social media could be trusted. Brandon shared some advice to verify photos.

“Always check the source where the photos came from,” he says. “One of the things that’s happening in terms of a non-profit collaborative idea between a number of companies is the Content Authenticity Initiative.

“It doesn’t tell me exactly what was used but just that this image had some AI. It’s a start,” he said.

But there’s a catch here. Even with tools like these, it could be difficult to verify the photo if the original photo didn’t have its content credentials stored on a cloud.

Right now, it looks like we are

trying to catch up with photo manipulation technologies. Some of the risks can be forecast and mitigated but we can’t foresee how people will use the technology.

“We always bring the technology out first and then put the rules around it. Even if we foresee it, how do we stop it?” Brandon asked.

If a company like Apple brings out a holograph of its late founder Steve Jobs at the next iPhone launch, I would definitely know technology is at play. But if a photo of Kate Middleton is doctored, or a

TTC campaign is altered, how do I even begin to plant that seed of speculation to check it?

That’s where a universal digital library of data files comes into the picture, don’t mind the pun.

These data signatures in the files would record that the photos have been modified. But, should a universal policy like this be made mandatory? Should every photographer or photo agency be made to upload these content credentials?

Until the guidelines are agreed upon, we should regard all images online with a lens of scrutiny.

Project Nimbus raises ethical concerns

Anusha Siddiqui Senior Reporter

Google’s New York office witnessed an unusual sight on April 16, when some employees and others staged a sit-in protest at the company office against the tech giants’ work with Israel.

At the heart of the protest is the joint US$1.2 billion contract between Google and Amazon with Israel called Project Nimbus.

Under the contract, the two companies provide cloud services to the Israeli government and set up data centres in Israel, as reported by The Times of Israel in a 2021 report.

The contract was signed the same week Israel attacked the Gaza Strip that year, causing the deaths of about 250 people including more than 60 children,

as reported by Al Jazeera in 2021.

The anonymous letter by workers of Google and Amazon published in The Guardian in 2021 states the technology can subject Palestinians to increased surveillance and illegal data collection.

Amazon and Google employees have been protesting the ethical and humanitarian implications of such a partnership and their concerns may not be unfounded.

Time Magazine reported on April 12, 2024, that the cloud computing services are also being used by the Israeli Ministry of Defense, based on its access to a company document.

Under the Project Nimbus contract, Google and Amazon cannot intervene in the use of their technology by specific Israeli entities.

The companies are also contractually bound to continue the partnership despite any mounting pressures to boycott their relations with Israel.

Time magazine also cited a report by +972 Magazine alleging that Israel is possibly using the cloud computing infrastructure for an AI-powered system to conduct air strikes on Gaza.

Owing to issues of national security, the company document accessed by Times does not specify the purpose of cloud com-

puting applications by IDF.

The ethical concerns of this partnership are twofold: the question of the responsibility of technology moguls for the unchallenged use of their technology by sovereign states, and where we draw a line between state security measures and the potential for human rights abuse.

The lack of transparency in the works of the contract perpetuates a lack of accountability.

As Palestine’s humanitarian

crises continue to grow, the complicity of these corporations also becomes integral.

The employees of Google and Amazon have expressed concern over the partnership’s opacity and the threat of potential misuse of the technology to further Israel’s expansionist agenda into Palestine.

Nimbus poses invasive challenges to the right to privacy and dangerously blurs the line between national security and exacerbation

of power disparities.

It sets a precedent for other nations and other companies, legitimizing surveillance and propagating oppression.

Without a robust oversight mechanism, those with power will continue to have a disproportionate influence over the ethics of the world, or lack thereof.

The protesters at the Google office were arrested, but the struggle against human rights violations must continue.

PEXELS/ LUCASAMMARCO

Fake pictures malign the reputations of news agencies posting them.

ANUSHA SIDDIQUI

Project Nimbus could pose a threat to the freedom of Palestinians by increasing Israeli surveillance on them.

Passion, love and surplus ingredients feed the city

someone else.

It was past noon when Chef Jagger Gordon arrived at the Soup Bar by Feed It Forward on St. Clair Avenue West from his Etobicoke kitchen.

“I’m sorry I’m late,” Gordon said. He opened the door wide, rolled up the curtain, warmed a pot of vegetable minestrone and removed 16 sticky notes from the chalkboard like clockwork.

He wore a black cap with a Canadian flag. Above it, embroidered, in capital letters, is his title, “Rescue Chef.”

Gordon flew in yesterday from Ukraine, where he fed those in war zones and children’s hospitals, but wasted no time getting the Soup Bar ready for its grand opening on Saturday.

“I’m bringing this back to the streets because everyone should know that food is not a privilege,” said Gordon, founder of Feed It Forward.

According to the University of Toronto’s PROOF study, one in five households in Canada experienced some degree of food insecurity in 2022, from worrying about running out of food before they had enough money to buy more to not eating for days because there was no money.

Gordon’s Soup Bar wants to fill that gap by rescuing stock and surplus ingredients from his catering business and local suppliers, farms and grocery stores.

With the help of volunteers and staff, he turns them into delicious soups, stews and chilli that people can pay what they can or pay for

“Love is put into food when you make a recipe,” Gordon said. “I just have such a passion for finding items that I can create with anyone and put back into a meal.”

Having travelled to war zones for years, Gordon said it’s important to tackle food waste alongside dietary restrictions and cultural food insecurity.

He keeps the fridge stocked with what he calls “global creations”: tubs of beef fajitas with peppers, beef bone broth phở and vegan shepherd’s pie, to name a few.

“Ducking a few bombs and a few bullets and other hardships, I think, was worth every moment of my life,” Gordon said. “And it brought me here today because I’ve seen a lot of people strive and thrive and grow from free food.”

But Gordon is not alone in this fight. At Blazing Kitchen, a partner caterer, the kitchen crew rally behind Gordon’s cause.

Co-manager Cassandra Anderton said she’s always been a person who gives others what she’d like to see back, which are love and respect.

“It’s really important that people feel that they have access to things without feeling bad about themselves,” Anderton said.

Farah Hussain, who runs the salads and desserts station with Anderton, said people tend to throw out food, not knowing what to do with it.

“[Chef Jagger and his team] help us understand the value of a plate of hearty meal,” Hussain said.

According to Second Harvest’s “The Avoidable Crisis of Food

Waste” research, nearly 60 per cent of food in Canada is lost or wasted each year. About a third of it could be redirected to support Canadians.

So, Adam Spencley, driver captain of Feed It Forward, wakes up at 5:30 a.m. every day to pick up unsold or unused supplies from restaurants and food retailers and brings them to the kitchen, grocery store and soup restaurant.

Spencley said he doesn’t mind the routine and how much he has to carry in his truck.

“It feels really good knowing it’s not going to landfills,” he said.

Maja Kulpa, a student at Humberside Collegiate Institute, is also volunteering her time outside of class to help at the Soup Bar.

“Not everyone has a chance to [be part of the solution],” Kulpa said with a smile.

The Soup Bar has had a long history, even before Gordon studied culinary at George Brown College. Gordon said he got the idea after his daughter, Alexandra, who was around nine at the time, invited her friends to their home in Hillcrest Village, thinking there would be food in the fridge when there was none.

Actor Joe Flaherty leaves behind a legacy of laughter

Actor Joe Flaherty, known for his iconic roles in SCTV and Freaks and Geeks as well as being a comedy instructor at Humber College died after a brief illness. He was 82. He became a vital member of the sketch comedy show SCTV, showcasing his talent for character acting and improvisation Flaherty captivated viewers with his memorable portrayals and characters like the iconic Big Jim McBob, the mysterious Count Floyd, news reader Floyd Robertson, and the shrewd station owner Guy Caballero.

Joesph O’Flaherty was born on June 21, 1941, in Pittsburgh. He was the oldest of seven children. He worked as a production clerk at an electric factory before enlisting in the U.S. Air Force.

He moved to Chicago where he joined Second City in 1969 and seven years later moved to Toronto to help launch a Second City troupe.

Apart from his TV work, Flaherty appeared in various films, including Back to the Future Part II in 1989, where he played the Western Union man character.

Joe Flaherty portrayed Donald in Happy Gilmore 1996, where he played a fan of Shooter McGavin, portrayed by Christopher McDonald.

Flaherty taught a comedy writing course as an artist-in-residence at Humber College’s School of Creative and Performing Arts starting in 2004.

He served as the artistic director of the school’s comedy writing and performance program, which he helped found. Additionally, he was a member of the program’s advisory committee.

Andrew Clark, a faculty member and the coordinator of the Humber College comedy program, talked about Joe Flaherty’s contribution to Humber College.

“Joe Flaherty worked at Humber College, Comedy program since its beginning in 1997, and into the early 2000s,” Clark said.

“He also brought in comedians who were of a very high level, such as people he worked with at SCTV,” he said.

Clark said he was a good teacher who was very open to ideas and a positive human.

He was the voice artist for numerous animated projects, including series such as The Magic School Bus, The Critic and Family Guy.

He received the Primetime Emmy Award in 1982 for his work on SCTV.

Fans and colleagues took to Instagram and other platforms to mourn his loss and celebrate his contributions to comedy and entertainment.

Nihaal Damarala Senior Reporter

Annicca Albano Culture Reporter

ANNICCA ALBANO

Chef Jagger Gordon hands a cup of hot soup to a customer who said he forgot his wallet at home on April 16.

COURTESY OF SECOND CITY

Actor and Humber Faculty member, Joe Flaherty dies at 82.

Scan to read more.

Hamilton songster unveils new Indie tune

Elizabeth Hart Senior Reporter

Hamilton-based singer-songwriter Ariana Fig has been creating music since she was 13 and isn’t stopping anytime soon.

Fig began her music career at three years old playing the violin and eventually taught herself piano and guitar. When she began high school, she started writing lyrics to songs with simple chords to accompany them.

“I grew up playing in string quartets and orchestras, so my introduction to music was classical music,” Fig said.

She knew pursuing music was her passion, and accepted an offer to go to Western University for their popular music program. She completed a double major alongside English where she learned both hands-on music skills and songwriting techniques.

“Those English classes ended up being more helpful to me, I hate saying that but it ended up being more helpful to me in my writing,” Fig said.

Fig released her first single

I’ll Call You Later on streaming platforms in August 2020, when COVID-19 hit and her career as a singer-songwriter began. She released her first EP, Taboo, in 2021. She said she created it virtually with her friend and co-writer/producer, Ben Heffernan. In her second year of undergrad, she was connected with her now mentor, Sarah MacDougall. Her connection with MacDougall as a female mentor is especially unique. Fig said only two per cent of people who work behind the scenes in the music industry are female.

In her fourth year at Western, Fig began performing shows.

Her first solo performance was at a London, Ont. shop, Brown & Dickson Bookstore. After her first concert, she performed more in various London venues, including Western University’s campus, she said. She received a great deal of support from Western University for her second EP, Maroon and had a sold-out release show filled with friends and family in February 2023 at the TAP Centre for Creativity, she said. After graduating, Fig has transitioned to doing shows primarily in Toronto, having on average shows a month starting in fall 2023.

After finishing her undergrad degree, she began a master’s program at McMaster University in their New Media and Communications program, where she is expected to graduate at the end of this summer.

“My songs are mainly about relationships, love, finding yourself and being okay with dealing with a multitude of emotions,” Fig said.

Certain songs, like her most recent single Cherry Coke, are inspired by observing people in her life. Other ones, like her second-ever song Broken Foot, are self-reflective, she said.

Fig’s newest endeavour is a new song she is working on that will be released in June, which is part of a future new album, to release a 10-song album in 2026.

“I’ve never cared to be ‘famous’, my goal has just been to make things because I want to,” Fig said. “I’ve always been a creative person, and just to express myself musically, because it’s all I’ve ever really cared about.”

Western student Ariana Fig plays the guitar, she created her EP, Maroon, while in school, and released it in 2023.

COURTESY OF MIKE HIGHFIELD

PWHL players feel like stars in first season

Toni Canyameras Sports Editor

Victoria Bach used to struggle to juggle her busy schedule trying to make a living and a life for herself.

She balanced her marketing job in downtown Toronto, pursuing her teacher’s degree, and playing hockey.

Bach, a double world champion, and Olympic gold medalist with Canada had all the glory of being a professional player, but without the pay.

But in September her emotions ran high when Toronto’s new Professional Women’s Hockey League (PWHL) team selected her with the 38th pick in the PWHL Draft.

“I was excited, I grew up in this city, just wearing the name of Toronto in my jersey means a lot to me,” Bach said.

“Now I can focus on being a professional athlete. This is my job. It’s something special,” she said.

Many stars on Toronto’s roster can now finally fully devote themselves to the sport they love.

The new PWHL emerged in September as a league that aimed to allow women to become fulltime professional players, with salaries ranging from $35,000 to $80,000.

PWHL Toronto leads the league, that kicked off in January with fellow Canadian cities Montreal and Ottawa, as well as Boston, Minnesota and New York.

The previous competition, the Canadian Women’s Hockey League, failed to provide the players with the necessary conditions to be professionals.

Another Canadian hockey star, Lauriane Rougeau, was part of that competition.

The multiple world championship medalist and the Olympic champion in 2022 said there is a radical difference between both leagues.

“We have now a lot of resources available like physiotherapists, coaches, and supporting staff we didn’t have back then,” she said. “But also there is media availability, sponsorships, everything

that surrounded is very different.”

“We went through a lot of grinding. It was hard to finish the practice at 9 p.m. and then getting back to work and working 40 hours a week,” Rougeau said, who was working with Hockey Canada while she was playing.

PWHL Toronto plays in the Mattamy Athletic Centre and practices in the Ford Performance Centre, the same facility where the Maple Leafs and their AHL affiliate, the Toronto Marlies, train. The players also receive professional perks such as meals meal before and after the practice as well as work with the team’s Strength and Conditioning Coach, Jeremy

Once in a while, coaches stop the session and reunite the players in a huddle to show them plays in front of a screen.

The head coach, Troy Ryan, also serves as coach of the Canadian national team and when he can’t attend practice Mike Ellis, one of the assistant coaches, is in charge of the squad.

He said the founders of the league and the personnel at the helm of the teams are key factors for the rapid growth of the competition.

“The investors who started the league have a background in building big organizations, and

also owners know how to build franchises,” Ellis said. “Probably this is the greatest factor overall and this league hopefully is going to grow steadily and smart.”

“In terms of the next steps for the league, I think establishing the right buildings that fit with the team, that fit with the potential crowd that could come to the games is a big part of it, as well the growth on the marketing and merchandising size as awareness comes to the league,” said Ellis, an experienced coach who won the AHL with the Marlies.

And players like Rougeau said they’re impressed with the support they’ve received from fans, adding to the professional feel of the league.

“People chant, people come with posters, it’s nice to see that engagement and not just from girls, but also little boys,” she said.

Rougeau is the most veteran player on the team at 34 years old and has dedicated her entire life to hockey.

“It’s nice to see the next generation will have something, that they will get out of college and they will have a next place with this lease. It’s nice we can leave the game in a better place than it was,” Rougeau said.

“This league is the cherry on the cake to me after the accumulation of a lot of years, a lot of sweat and tears,” she said.

HoopQueens coming to Humber this June

Nicholas Prencipe Sports Reporter

Women’s basketball is on the rise in Canada, and HoopQueens has partnered with Humber College for the second straight year to represent and bring more exposure to the game.

HoopQueens was founded in 2022 by Kessa Koomalsingh and is the first paid Women’s basketball league in Canada. The main focus is to grow the game of Women’s basketball and provide opportunity for women to showcase their skills.

Koomalsingh said in an interview with CTV news that it’s difficult for girls to receive the recognition they deserve.

“Everyone needs this outlet,” she said. “There’s no really safe space for girls to compete and play competitively with other girls.”

HoopQueens are hosting their third annual summer league in the Humber Athletics Centre starting June 2. This is the second consecutive year they have partnered with the college to host this event.

COURTESY OF HOOPQUEENS

Hawks star Kia Watt (number five) participated in HoopQueens 2023, which will come to Humber on June 2.

Ceejay Nofuente, Humber College Alumni and current assistant coach for the Humber women’s basketball team, said she’s excited HoopQueens decided to re-partner with the school she achieved so much in.

“It’s a very special feeling for the

event to take place here with everything that has been accomplished in this facility and on this court,” she said. “I’m just happy that I get to experience this event on home court all over again.”

Last year, the event took place over a five week period, with all

games being played on a Sunday. Each team had ten players, with eight required to be paid post-graduate players.

Nofuente said last years event was a great for attracting more fans to the sport.

“Last year’s event went really well,”

she said. “Each week felt better than the last and by the time it got to the final game, there was a full house along with special guest appearances from NBA players as well as musicians and other notable people.”

Some notable figures that attended last year were Canadian NBA athletes Dillon Brooks and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, as well as musicians Havaih Mighty and King Cruff.

Last year was the first time HoopQueens presented the William Young Growth Fund scholarship, a $20,000 fund to support collegiate women’s athletes.

Teams and players are still being finalized for this years event, but Nofuente said she wants more competition than last year.

“There isn’t much i would see changed other than bringing in more teams and allowing more players to participate in the event.”

Summer is just around the corner, and HoopQueens are heating up the competition to make a splash.

Steinbach.

TONI CANYAMERAS

PWHL Toronto practices at the Ford Performance Centre with decorated coaches like Mike Ellis (third right).

Toni Canyameras Sports Editor

Emma Lynch, a Toronto Raptors fan to the core, celebrated her 18th birthday as the team hit its peak by lifting its first NBA championship in 2019.

Five years later, Lynch decided to attend the last game of the season at home against the Indiana Pacers along with two friends the day she blew out 23 candles on April 9.

Oakland A’s fans upset as team bets on Vegas move Raptors fans hopeful despite poor season

Not a trace remained of those boisterous Raptors that shook the NBA from the North. If something remained from that team, it was Pascal Siakam, but he was wearing the visiting team’s jersey.

It’s a cynical reminiscence.

“I wish Siakam was here,” Lynch said. “It wasn’t a good decision trading him amidst the season. But I guess the Raptors had to.”

“For young fans who have grown up seeing the Raptors winning, this is hard [to lose]. But we’ll come back.”

Toronto fans want to stay positive despite the dispiriting season of the stumbling Raptors, the most disappointing in more than a decade.

The team finished the season last Sunday with a lopsided loss in Miami by 118-103, finishing in the 12th seed in the Eastern Conference with a 25-57 record, their worst since 2012.

The franchise started its rebuilding process this season after the exit of Fred VanVleet in the summer and the in-season

trades of Pascal Siakam and OG Anunoby.

Scottie Barnes has definitely emerged as the face of the Raptors.

Andy Lu, a fan donning a Siakam jersey in the last game of the season, said Barnes is a reason to remain optimistic.

“I love Scottie Barnes. He is great, and he is probably (going) to be greater next year. This season wasn’t good, but we are going to be better next year,” he said.

While the Raptors shedded emblematic figures, the franchise hit home by incorporating Mississauga-native RJ Barrett and Toronto-native Kelly Olynyk.

Both of them are considered pieces of the new core led by Scottie Barnes, sneaky point guard Immanuel Quickley and sharpshooter Gradey Dick.

And Toronto is expected to sign between five and 10 new players this upcoming summer, General Manager Bobby Webster said.

Lu said it’s positive the Raptors are bringing more Canadians into the game.

“It’s pretty cool they could bring back Barrett and Olynyk and have Canadian boys from the GTA,” he said.

Ernest Johnson, a long-time Athletics fan, has been a supporter since he was a kid.

“I’m from Oakland, California, and I have been a fan for as long as I can remember,” Johnson said.

He said he’s seen a wide range of games at the Oakland Coliseum.

“There was one A’s game where it was a fireworks game and the fireworks actually shot in the stands and lit a small fire near where we’re sitting,” he said.

“I’ve been to World Series games, I’ve been to games where there was near no-hitters, you name it, I’ve seen it there,” Johnson said. “I couldn’t tell you how many games I’ve been to there, but it was a huge part of my early life.”

Unfortunately for Athletics fans like Johnson, this is the last year the team will remain in Oakland.

The storied Athletics organization announced on April 4 that at the end of the 2024 season, the Athletics are moving to Sacramento to play there for three seasons, with an option for a fourth.

Sutter Health Park, the home of the Sacramento River Cats, the Triple-A affiliate of the San Francisco Giants, will be the temporary home for the A’s until its new stadium in Las Vegas is built.

The stadium hosts about 14,000 fans, making it the smallest stadium in the MLB.

The owner of the River Cats and the NBA team the Sacramento Kings, Vivek Ranadive, has partnered with John Fisher, the owner of the Athletics, to make moving to Sacramento possible.

The Oakland Athletics President Dave Kaval said in a media scrum on April 4, that the team will be laying off hundreds of stadium employees when the team moves to Sacramento.

“There are going to be some reductions in our staffing,” Kaval said. “That’s just part of the situation and it’s a sad thing.

“We’re going to do everything we can to make sure that we have the right severance packages, we help people with placement, and we just do what’s right,” he said.

Johnson said the move to Sacramento is not good for baseball, but it’s good for Fisher.

“It’s definitely viable to see that it is good for Fisher. I think the Oakland A’s fan base is very aware of these facets and will not support it,” he said. “There will be people who go the game as a novelty, however, I don’t think they are going to draw well because of that.”

Las Vegas has become a hotbed for sports over the

past few years.

The Vegas Golden Knights joined the NHL in 2017 and made it to the Stanley Cup Finals in its first year. They recently won their first Stanley Cup last season.

The Las Vegas Aces of the WNBA moved to Las Vegas in 2018 and won back-to-back championships in 2022 and 2023.

The Oakland Raiders left California in 2020 to make the move to Las Vegas.

The Oakland Athletics will become the next team to move to Las Vegas, projected to be in 2028.

The Athletics has a nomadic history. The team began as the Philadelphia A’s in 1901 and became the Kansas City A’s in 1955. The team opened the 1968 season in Oakland after scouting possibilities in Seattle, Atlanta, Milwaukee, New Orleans and San Diego.

They are the last major professional sports franchise to leave the city.

Since the move to Las Vegas was announced in November 2023, fans have organized protests and reverse boycotts to urge owner John Fisher to keep the team in Oakland or sell the team to someone who will keep it in Oakland.

Opening Day of the 2024 season when the Athletics hosted the Cleveland Guardians, fans were boycotting outside the stadium and the crowd outside almost doubled the fans inside the stadium.

Johnson said he believes there will be more gatherings where fans will come together to protest John Fisher.

“I anticipate more reverse boycotts and something big happening on the last home game,” he said.

Johnson said fans are changing the narrative of how they’re perceived by the rest of the baseball world.

“What we [Oakland Athletics fans] have done is we’ve changed the narrative of ‘Oh, it’s the fans’ fault,’… and I think what fans have done is countered that narrative and now it’s mainstream discourse,” he said.

“People are discussing this in a way that counters this simplistic narrative of ‘Oh the team isn’t supported, they don’t want a team’, so that’s where we had success,” Johnson said. “I think we made it a black eye for Major League Baseball.”

The final home game for the Athletics is on Sept. 26 when they host the Texas Rangers.

Johnson said he made plans to see the final home game ever for the Oakland Athletics.

“I definitely plan to be there, it’s going to be a significant event in my life,” he said. “I’m going to be in one of the last generations of home-grown Oakland A’s fans and were going to go away and not be anymore.”

Nicholas Rego Sports Reporter

AP PHOTO/JEFF CHIU

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