A PUBLICATION BY HUMBER COLLEGE JOURNALISM STUDENTS
VOLUME 56, ISSUE 9
FRIDAY, DECEMBER 8, 2017
‘Young women are at the most risk’ TO BEE OR NOT TO BEE P2
CLASS ACTION LAWSUIT AWAITING COURT CERTIFICATION P3
Ceremony remembers victims of gendered violence p4
Humber Et Cetera
2 - News
December 8, 2017
Seminars help students get back on track Overwhelmed
students offered lifeline
Cassandra Ryan LIFE REPORTER
Students have been back in school for about three weeks from the Ontario colleges strike and some aren’t adjusting well. Humber College has been hosting workshops to help students get back into their school habits, because it can be difficult. The latest one was on Dec. 1, 2017, and it was all about teaching students how to get themselves back on track. Andrew Oh, a third-year business student at Lakeshore for admin co-op, led the presentation. “Students feel overwhelmed,” Oh said. “I believe that most my classmates didn’t spend that five weeks the way that they were supposed to.” Oh said he believes most students didn’t have the motivation to work throughout the strike because of how long it was and as a result, students fell behind. “We can’t control what happened. We’re going to focus on things that you can control,” Oh said. “The more you stress about things that are out of your control, the less pro-
Ross Lopes LIFE REPORTER
CASSANDRA RYAN
Third year student Andrew Oh running the Get Back on Track workshop.
ductive you’re going to be.” Oh said students need energy and time to get back on track, and stressing about things that they can’t control, such as time, won’t be helpful. Second-year occupational therapist assistant Christine Pagliaroli feels rushed because of the crunched time, but isn’t overly stressing about it. She kept herself busy during the strike and kept herself up to date. “My friends and I would do our assignments that were going to be due when the strike was over,”
Pagliaroli said. “We also tried to study material that was going to be covered once the strike ended.” Pagliaroli said the workshop helped her tremendously and that she’s not stressing the remainder of this semester. “It’s next semester that worries me,” she said, as she’s on placement this semester. “It might be more condensed as well.” But as Oh said during the small seminar, it’s best not to overthink things and to map out a plan.
Humber College offered students the chance to help manage their stress in a workshop run by the peer assisted learning support team. “Today, more than 30 per cent of first year students report frequently feeling overwhelmed, which is double the rate of what it was in 1985,” said stress management presenter Zamin Mohsin at the Nov. 30 event. Humber student Mackenzie Girdler said because of the new condensed school curriculum, implemented after the end of the strike, caused her to feel more stressed than she would normally. “The projects are being worth more, making me feel like I’m not going to get a good mark,” she said. “I feel like I’m going to fail.” Stress can come in both positive and negative forms, Mohsin said. The positive form can help im-
prove motivation and efficiency, whereas the negative form can cause unpredicted anxiety and led to physical illness. “Stress is inevitable, you can’t avoid it,” he said. “You will experience it in your life, but the important thing is learning how to manage it.” One of the ways Girdler manages her stress is by taking breaks when she is doing her homework or assignments, which helps space out the material instead of doing it in one whole chuck all at once. Another strategy she uses is not doing her homework at home. “If I am home, I am stressing that I won’t get it done in time or won’t have enough time to finish,” Girdler said. “When I’m in a school environment, I feel more productive.” Other general strategies students can use are not to stress about unnecessary stuff, adapt to the stressor and prepare for it, accept the things one can’t change, adapting to a healthy lifestyle, and to give time for leisure activities, Mohsin said. “Remember to have fun and enjoy your life,” she said.
Bee population in decline and Humber students want to help Ross Lopes
the primary things one can do, Freeman said. “Bees are vegetarian, and are lookThe public relations post-graduate ing for pollen for their protein source,” program class hosted a Sustainabil- she said. “Part of what makes bees ity Awareness Vendor at the Lake- such great pollinators is their hair. shore campus to teach students “With their branched hairs, pollen about the vital role pollinators like jumps on the hair and the bee grooms bees play in the environment. itself, and then takes the pollen back The event held on Dec. 4, also to the hive or nest,” Freeman said. demonstrated how students can The event also brought focus on help save the bees. other sustainability issues, such “Bees are absolutely essential as transportation options that are pollinators,” said Fran Freeman, an more sustainable for the earth. urban beekeeper and vendor at the “We brought the drop bike to event. “There are other insects and Lakeshore and North campus,” Macreature that pollinate, but we are re- lik said. “It provides students an opally dependent on bees for are food.” tion to travel between campuses in a Honey bees armore sustainable en’t the only ones way of traveling.” that pollinate, Humber Colbut there are a Native bees are almost lege has a five-year number of native sustainability plan bees found in and invisible to us, we don’t even that lasts until around Toronto realize they’re out there.” 2019, which covthat are also exers different areas, cellent pollinators, Fran Freeman including engageFreeman said. campus URBAN BEEKEEPER ment, “Native bees are footprints, and almost invisible to us, we don’t even curriculum integration. realize they’re out there,” she said. “We’re hoping that there is some Having a sense of appreciation for outreach at every level of student life,” what pollinators do allows students Malik said. “We’re doing things such to live a more proactive life and as ensuring that the lakeshore campus make decisions that positively affect is a fair trade certified campus.” sustainability, said sustainability The Office of Sustainability wants manager Roma Malik. students to be a little bit more con“Giving thanks and gratitude to scious of how they can contribute to pollinators [is a way of helping bring a better environment, she said. awareness] because without them, “We don’t see it as an all or nothwe wouldn’t have the food that we ing, but we see it as a little goes a have today,” Malik said. long way,” Malik said. “If you take Some good ways to help the bees one decision toward sustainability, is by planting flower gardens with- that means you can start educating out the use of pesticides, which are it and influencing your peers.” LIFE REPORTER
ROSS LOPES
Urban beekeeper informs student about the ways bees pollinate the Earth in order to provide us with our food.
ROSS LOPES
Humber Arboretum set up a vendor at the Sustainability Awareness Event at Lakeshore campus on Monday, Dec. 4, 2017 to inform students about the benefits they provide for our environment.
Humber Et Cetera
December 8, 2017
News – 3
EA suffers major financial loss after lootbox backlash Patrick Kennedy ARTS REPORTER
Electronic Arts, one of the largest video game companies in the world, has lost more than $3 million in stock value because of one bad marketing idea. Its use of the so-called “loot box” system, where gamers pay for randomly generated in-game rewards, such as extra weaponry and special abilities, is considered as illegal gambling by both the Hawaiian state government and by Belgium. The Belgian gaming commission wants loot boxes in games, often played by youths, to be considered as gambling and wants to ban them across Europe. A Hawaiian legislator described loot boxes in one particular game as a “Star Wars-themed online casino.” Loot boxes can allow players to unlock purely cosmetics upgrades. Some developers will provide the base game for free and charge for new content. Blizzard’s Hearthstone
DAVID WEISZ
Hearthstone is a mobile card game that uses a variable reward mechanic that requires players to purchase packs to build the best team.
game is a free game that charges approximately $1.99 for a five card pack. In order to play at a high level, players need to buy multiple packs. Similarly, EA’s loot boxes unlock in-game content needed to win or advanced in the game. The boxes function as a variable reward system, where the user doesn’t what item they’ll recieve in the box. The uncertain nature of the reward system has prompted a backlash in the gaming and international community. The flashing lights and the thrill of rewards from earning and opening loot boxes make it similar to a slot machine, according to Hawaii
and Belgium authorities. Officials are calling in addiction advisors for help. This also raised ethical questions in the video game industry and has started to worry Humber students who aim to work in the video game field, like first-year game design student Sam Hamilton. “I can kind of understand how in [Star Wars] Battlefront 2 it can be seen as gambling,” he said. “Because to advance, you have to essentially pay to play the game. “I do see how it is gambling, but at the same time, people buy into it anyways,” Hamilton said. He said this may change the future of the gaming industry, but
only that companies would simply have to change loot box systems. Whether or not this effects how and where Hamilton works would “depend on who I end up working for, or if I start my own company.” Second-year animation student Kate Xagoraris doesn’t agree. “I’ve mostly heard about how people are cancelling their subscriptions for the game because they didn’t want the game after that controversy,” she said. Xagoraris, while not an avid gamer like Hamilton, has been keeping up with trends in the international gaming community. As an animation student, she
would design the characters and locations in video games and is worried that this might impede others in the field. While game designers don’t have much input in how loot boxes are used, they are usually responsible for how the boxes act when rewarded. “For a lot of games, like [Blizzard’s] Overwatch, loot boxes are a huge thing and people enjoy them,” Xagoraris said. “But EA is a massive, massive gaming company and they control of a lot of the Triple A games out there. “If they get taken to court over this, it might change their whole production line of video games forever,” she said.
Class action lawsuit awaits court certification as refund deadline passes Justice McCormack LIFE REPORTER
Tuition refunds or a $500 rebate weren’t enough for some college students affected by the recent fiveweek faculty strike. A province-wide class action law suit on behalf of students is continuing seeking certification from a court. Having spent almost more time on strike than they did actually in class, a lot of students feel that they are being handed the short end of the stick. For those that are seeking compensation for their lost time and any financial concerns that may have arose as a result of the strike, Humber, and the rest of the colleges across Ontario were offering two options. The first college option allowed students to drop out of their program by Dec. 5 to receive a full tuition refund. But for students who choose to stay in their programs, they had a chance to receive up to $500 in financial aid. Students should be aware the $500 rebate to cover hardships and unexpected expenses worked like a scholarship and was not guaranteed to everyone. Anisten Dunsmore, a landscape
technician student at Humber North, is not on board with the colleges’ offer. He said $500 rebate amounts to “nothing.” “There are people who still had to pay for rent and food during this time, $500 is two weeks of groceries for these people,” Dunsmore said. The class action is a third option. Acting on behalf of a group of college students, the law firm Charney Lawyers launched the suit against the Ontario government. The firm has also launched unrelated class action suits involving junior hockey for wages and Ashley Madison, the dating website for cheating spouses that was hacked. “We are seeking damages on behalf of all students affected by the college strike; both those who stay enrolled and those who drop out,” said Glenn Brandys, a representative of Charney Lawyers. It has to be certified by a judge in an official court in order for the case to proceed. The law firm states there is a possibility students who accepted a hardship fee might not be eligible to join the suit if certified. Jasminka Kalajdzic, an Associate
Humber Et Cetera is the Humber College journalism program laboratory newspaper, publishing 12 times per term in fall and winter. Humber Et Cetera serves to inform the Humber community and give its readers well rounded coverage on the things that matter to them. @humberetc etc.humber@gmail.com humberetc.com
MATT OWCZARZ
College faculty flooded the lawn outside of the Queens Park for a protest during the five-week college strike .
Professor of Law at the University of Windsor, explained class action lawsuits often take time to be certified. “Class actions take a while to resolve. It could take many months, maybe even a year for this to go through certification,” she said. However, Kalajdzic said in cases like this, it is standard practice for the lawyers to negotiate a resolution
in order to speed up the process. Charney Lawyers gathered 14 student representatives and are trying to get one for each of the 24 colleges across Ontario to build its case. They currently have one for Humber College, Korinne Horkey. As a security and investigation student at Lakeshore campus, Horkey is dedicated to protecting the rights
Editorial Team Managing Editor - Dan Caudle News Editor - Elvin George Business Editor - Sully Akbari Arts Editor - Brett McGarry Life Editor - Matthew Owczarz Sports Editor - Ed Hitchins Opinion Editor - Sanzana Syed
Faculty Adviser Rob Lamberti Creative Adviser Marlee Greig
of students who were affected by the strike. Brandys said Horkey was one of the first students to approach the law firm for help in putting together the lawsuit. If the class action lawsuit proceeds, this could guarantee all students to receive reimbursement from their college.
© 2017 All rights reserved Humber Et Cetera is a publication of the School of Media Studies & Information Technology at Humber Institute of Technology & Advanced Learning 205 Humber College Blvd., Etobicoke, ON, M9W 5L7
Humber Et Cetera
4 - News
December 8, 2017
Ceremony honours Montreal victims Demetre James Politis LIFE REPORTER
Rabia Khedr was doubly invested in Humber’s memorials that both honoured the 14 women killed in Montreal’s Ecole Polytechnique and disabled persons who are victims of violence. The commissioner with the Ontario Human Rights Commission is legally blind and a woman. “I am a Muslim, Punjabi, Pakistani, Canadian, woman, wife, mother, activist, advocate, and I happen to have a disability,” said Khedr, who is also a founder of the Canadian Association of Muslims with Disabilities. She was the keynote speaker at the Day of Remembrance and Action on Violence Against Women and Persons with Disabilities event on Wednesday at the IGNITE Student Centre. Khedr recalled the dramatic mo-
ment from her past when she found out about the Ecole Polytechnique massacre of 1989 where 14 women were killed by an armed student. “I remember when the shooting rampage happened, and I remember this ugly, ugly feeling of ‘Why those 14 women?’” she asked. “It took the government two years to declare a national day of remembrance. Two years is a long time.” “We know that there is a substantial number of missing and murdered Indigenous women and still we can't get our act together on in terms of a national inquiry,” Khedr said. “Young women are at the most risk. Women in school spaces, colleges, universities and high schools are at the greatest risk of violence,” she said. The event included a segment intended to symbolically demonstrate Humber's commitment to ending gender-based violence with a ban-
DEMETRE JAMES POLITIS
Roses were handed out to people in attendance at the ceremony held on Wednesday in the Student Centre.
ner signing. Zahra Brown, Equity Generalist at Humber’s Human Rights, Equity and Diversity office who has a
hearing disability, told the audience about the importance of change. “When it comes to change, we must look at the differences of our
reality regardless of our race, our sexuality and ability,” Brown said. “It's really, really important for us to make change and take some action.”
think it’s a positive thing that he and his classmates were able to take part. He said he’d like to continue to pursue this field after high school ends. “It was fun. The trainers motivated me, they pushed me,” the grade 12 student said. “I think I’d like to pursue this avenue when going to college. Maybe help little kids get their fitness levels up.” Trainers like Gabriella Nietchovzek, a final year student in Fitness and Health, loved how she was able to help the participants achieve something that for some would normally not happen. “It’s really great to help and motivate people,” she said. “Especially when sometimes people are unsure of whether or not they can do it. We also have modifications, like doing modified push-ups instead of regular ones, to help them. “I’m very happy to be able to help out,” Nietchovzek said.
Vaughan’s Maple High School teacher Tania Pitamer brought a number of her students to the event held in the Athletic Centre on Friday.
Ninth annual Humber Olympics raises money for scholarship Ed Hitchins SPORTS EDITOR
While the 2018 Olympics are still at least two months away in South Korea, Humber students got the chance to participate in a very different style of multi-sporting event. The ninth annual Humber Olympics was hosted by the Humber Athletics Centre on Dec. 8. About 200 people donated $2 to put themselves through a strenuous workout organized by final year Fitness and Health Promotion students. Proceeds went toward the Kyle Hoseman Scholarship, which is dedicated to the former Humber health and fitness wellness student who passed away last year after a long battle with leukemia. The award named after the 24-year-old is presented to a student who overcame personal obstacles, and has a good work ethic and a healthy lifestyle.
Games like the Spartan Race, Soccer Dash and All-Star Shootout were held the event. “I just want to have fun, and win, because I am extremely competitive,” fitness student Rachel McTeer said. Jason Garcia, who is one of the organizers of the event, said it was something that brought all walks of life together. “It’s pretty cool,” Garcia said. “I’ve never participated in organizing this event. There’s a lot of things about it. It motivates you as well because it helps kids get active and it’s for an incredible cause.” People like Vaughan’s Maple High School teacher Tania Pitamer brought several of her students. “This is torturous,” said Pitamer after the Spartan Race. “I consider myself in shape. I exercise. This was absolutely strenuous. It made my heart jump like crazy.” Kenny Chou, one of her students,
ED HITCHINS
Lakeshore students fill giftboxes for Kashechwan First Nation Umair Farooq NEWS REPORTER
Humber’s Lakeshore campus teamed up with I Love First Peoples (ILFP) to ship shoeboxes of joy and friendship to young students at Kashechwan First Nation near James Bay in northern Ontario. The charity, which focuses on Indigenous needs, started a campaign called gift-filled shoeboxes that represents an opportunity to engage with Indigenous communities. Each shoebox centres on educational gifts but donations such as clothing and any other quality items
are also accepted. Jennifer Bazar, a curator at the Humber Lakeshore campus’ Interpretive Centre, said she discovered what ILFP was doing through Twitter and decided to reach out to the Toronto chapter because she knew the First Nation’s Reserve of Kashechewan, which is located in the James Bay area, has a rough history. “They are always in the news because they are evaluated annually. They have had horrible crises year after year,” Bazar said. “It’s only a community of 1,700 people and I thought this was the way to support their kids.
“Humber is an educational institution and this seemed like a wonderful opportunity to educate people,” she said. Nadine Finlay, the curatorial assistant at the Lakeshore Grounds Interpretative Centre, said the response to gift-filled shoeboxes campaign received was outstanding and exceeded expectations. “The number of boxes is the way we can monitor the response but also the nature of the creativity involved,” she said. “We kind of poked to see what the boxes were, if they were properly labeled or not and stuff like that.
“People have really gone above and beyond in terms of the types of materials they are including, the thoughtfulness they are putting into the messages they are sending to the kids is remarkable,” Finlay said. Each shoebox is designated for a particular age group and gender. “You obviously wouldn’t get the same gift for a child that you would for a teenager,” Finlay said. The shoebox also contains a short letter that’s written to a child, as well as a $5 donation. The money covers shipping the shoeboxes to the community. They travel along an ice road that’s only open during the winter.
The community itself is otherwise accessible by either air or water. Lynn Wilson, a retired Early Educational Teacher at George Brown College, said she got involved with ILFP through people involved with the program Toronto’s Swansea Public School. “The Aboriginals of this land have had been treated poorly and we have great empathy with the indigenous children that are in the north, we have collected around 600 boxes from the Toronto area,” Wilson said. “The effort throughout the country has been outstanding in reaching out the indigenous children.
Humber Et Cetera
December 8, 2017
QUOTED
Misc - 5
How do you stay stress-free during the school year?
I try to study in groups and manage my study and free time. If there’s things I don’t understand, I use my friends to help me.
Keep all my assignments and notes organized throughout the school year. So when I do the exam, I know what I’m doing.
Harvant Singh
IT DATABASE DEVELOPMENT 2ND YEAR
PHOTO OF THE WEEK
The semi-annual poster sale, originally cancelled during the strike, was back on Humbers North Campus this week. Featuring hundreds of posters from fan favourite TV shows and movies, students can decorate their walls with their favourite characters. The two-day sale featured posters for as low as $3, and posters from a variety of famous artists. MATT OWCZARZ
Send your best photos to
etc.humber@ gmail.com or tweet us at @humberetc
for a chance to be published in next week’s issue!
I’m an international student, I usually talk to my friends and relatives in India. Whenever I feel stressed, they help me sort out my issues.
Nathaniel Smith
JOURNALISM 1ST YEAR
Saurav Jha
POST-GRADUATE WIRELESS COMMUNICATION 1ST YEAR
STUDENTS NAVIGATE THROUGH A MAZE OF POSTERS
Humber Et Cetera
6 - Commentary
December 8, 2017
EDITORIAL
Post-strike: high number of dropouts for Ontario colleges
D
uring the extended college withdrawal deadline this past week, the flock of acrimonious students showed their frustration following the five-week strike. From Ottawa, where an estimated 500 students pulled out of La Cité collégiale, to St. Clair College in Windsor, where more than 11 per cent of their student population decided to leave their college, just shows everybody involved how sad and irate are over lost time. As for Humber, the numbers haven’t been released — and Humber’s spokesperson Andrew Leopold told HumberNews.ca the dropout number wasn’t available, although almost every other college showed significant losses. The province promised to release the official numbers next week, but the early numbers include
Cambrian losing 610 students, 239 leaving Sault College, 140 from Northern College, 126 from College Boreal, and 125 at Canadore. The initial welcome back was, for some students, a jump into the fire with the rigor of having to study and catch up on assignments at an accelerated pace. This also meant cutting corners, such as institutions delaying, or in some cases, cancelling, placement programs, or extending the fall semester into the beginning of 2018. The labour stoppage that was experienced left black eyes with administrators and faculty pointing fingers at one another in a game of “they started it.” It clearly left the most important people in the situation — the students — in the cold. College is already an overwhelm-
ing experience. Most students are away from home for the first time and experiencing the world as it is. They have to juggle classes, homework, studying, and in some cases, a part-time job. The pressure that mounts in numerous programs is one that cannot be ignored. According to a 2008 study by Statistics Canada, an estimated 25 per cent of college entrants won’t actually finish during an average college setting. This also includes an estimated 49 per cent holding down employment versus only 43 per cent of university students. Students need the careful instruction and guidance of college professors to succeed — which was painfully absent during the strike. While some organized rallies and chanted along-
side their teachers, there was protocol to follow in regards to formal contact. Students were left without a plan, or without an inevitable conclusion. For some, it was a vacation — but now, with school back in session, it could be detrimental toward their progress. It wasn’t mandatory to work on assignments, but rather an option. However, it was assumed that one made good use of their time. While some continued working to cover tuition and bills, which weren’t suspended, others tried to continue their studies, albeit blindly. The pressure cooker is starting to build up. Having a condensed schedule and no chance to be able to earn an internship and start the steady path to a rewarding career, students felt this might have been
the easy way out. Some students were already a bad exam, a missed assignment or in this case, a labour stoppage, away from throwing up the white flag and quitting school. They could recoup their money, regroup, and come again next year — if they do at all. When Ontario college professors were legislated back to work following their five-week strike, OPSEU President Warren (Smokey) Thomas made it as transparent as he could based on his reaction. “The fight isn’t over, it’s just starting,” he said. “Back to work legislation is the least desirable of the outcomes.” In this case, the statement is dead on. The fight is just starting — to keep students from leaving and to regain their trust of the post-secondary institutions.
Toronto FC seek redemption in High time for another MLS Cup final versus Seattle apology, Mr. Trudeau
Sully Akbari NEWS EDITOR
W
ith 12 minutes left in extra-time, Toronto FC striker Jozy Altidore pounced for a header from a cross from Tosaint Ricketts that could’ve been the goal to give Toronto an MLS championship last season. Instead, Seattle Sounders goalie Stefan Frei shot up at the last second and deflected the ball away. The events that followed after was arguably the biggest disappointment in TFC history. The game went into penalty kicks where the Sounders won 5-4. That was last year when Toronto FC hosted its first-ever MLS Cup against the Sounders. It was a game that had the entire city on the edge of its seat until the final penalty kick. Reds’ Anthony Morrow bounced the final penalty kick off the top bar and it bounced harmlessly away from the net. BMO Field became deadly silent and it was at this moment every player from TFC, as well as the fans, had the same goal; to do this year what they couldn’t do last year. They will get that chance as they face the Sounders in an MLS Cup rematch this Saturday. After last year’s defeat, the team
SOURCE: MLS
Toronto FC will host its second MLS Cup at BMO Field in Toronto on Dec. 9, 2017.
not only prepped for this game, but also built a strong foundation for many years to come. It starts with stellar goalie Alex Bono. The 23-year-old led the team to back-toback playoff runs, and he has given up two goals in his past four playoff games. That’s important because the Sounders are the highest scoring playoff team with seven goals. One thing holding TFC back is its defence, but they have kept the team afloat throughout the season. They will have to keep the Sounders’ forwards from entering the box because Seattle has a potent offense and can score at will. Seattle suffered a major setback this week as defensive mid-fielder Osvaldo Alonso is ruled out for the championship clash. This major hole in the Seattle mid-field will allow for Toronto forwards to form a strong attack. Moving on to the mid-field. Toronto signed Victor Vasquez from Barcelona. He has played with the best, such as Barcelona superstar and former teammate Lionel Messi and Brazilian legend Ronaldinho. His experience in big games will help Toronto’s chances in winning the MLS Cup.
The big-bodied striker Altidore has bullied his way through defences all season, especially when he scored the series-winning goal against Columbus Crew. Italian maestro Sebastian Giovinco scored a total of 33 goals in the past two seasons, making him the third highest scorer in the MLS. That is the rundown of the squad, but there’s more to it than names on a piece of paper that makes this team special. Toronto FC was established in 2005 and were down-right terrible. They amassed a total of 70 points it their first two seasons, one less than what they had this year. TFC finished last in the Eastern Conference three times and only made the playoffs once between 2007 and 2015. Now after all those disappointing seasons, TFC is bound to build a dynasty. Certainly, back-to-back MLS Cup appearances help with that, but I believe Toronto will do all they can to keep their core. If it means paying big bucks for those stars then so be it, because the team that we have right now will keep Toronto at the top of the league for many years to come.
Matt Owczarz LIFE EDITOR
T
he new year is just around the corner and the times certainly are a-changin’. Recreational marijuana use will become legal in Canada and regulated like alcohol and tobacco as early as July 2018. Anyone 19 years or older will be able to hop over to one of the 150 stores run by the Liquor Control Board of Ontario (LCBO) across the province and legally purchase marijuana. It will be just as easy to buy pot as it will to buy a six-pack of beer or a bottle of wine. Consumption of marijuana will not be allowed in public spaces and work places, and, of course, one should never be driving while high. There has been no word, however, on plans for amnesty or blanket pardons for people with pot-related offences on their criminal records. Frankly, it would be pretty absurd for people to be hindered with records for something that will no longer be criminal. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, whose Liberal government ushered in the cannabis legalization bill, touched on the subject briefly in an interview with VICE in April.
“Until we actually change the law we can’t take steps towards moving retroactively,” Trudeau said. “We will start a process where we try to look at how to make things fairer for those folks [with pot-related charges].” Trudeau hinted at the possibility of general amnesty being in the works somewhere down the line, but there is no clear answer yet. Anyone currently burdened with a pot conviction on their record faces an array of difficulties in dealing with authorities, traveling outside the country or trying to find work. Those convicted of simple possession charges can currently apply for pardons after five years of completing their sentences, but this can be a lengthy and costly process, potentially requiring legal aid. Slightly more than a third of Canadians support a blanket pardon for people with marijuana possession charges along with 28 per cent of people who somewhat support the idea, according to a Nanos Research poll in May. This is compared to 23 per cent of people who oppose this move and the 12 per cent who somewhat oppose it, the poll showed. It’s been a long-time coming for the legalization of weed in Canada, but many thousands of people shouldn’t have to be haunted by no-longer valid charges and convictions and wait to have their records wiped.
VOLUME 56, ISSUE 9
FRIDAY, DECEMBER 8, 2017
faster, stronger... hang in there Fitness student Rachel mcteer laughs while struggling to maintain the roman chair during the humber Olympics on Friday P4
SPORTS
A PUBLICATION BY HUMBER COLLEGE JOURNALISM STUDENTS