Durham College - The Chronicle_Winter 2022

Photograph courtesy of Starr Domingue

Photograph courtesy of Crystal Garvey

Photograph courtesy of Nate James

Photograph courtesy of Nathaniel Boodhoo

Hollywood tropes and three Black actresses breaking the mould

Cheyenne Jarrett

The

Chronicle

When she first saw The Wizard of Oz, a young Starr Domingue watched in amazement as Judy Garland skipped down the yellow brick road with her dog Toto. Domingue pictured playing Garland’s role and she said to herself: “That’s it. That’s what I’m going to do.”

Domingue always knew she wanted to work in entertainment but she recalls a conversation she had with her mother in which she was told the opportunities for Black women to pursue a career in acting would not be straightforward.

“I think that there is this conversation that happens between, I guess, Black parents and their children,” Domingue said. “A similar conversation that happens for being a woman, which is you’ve got to work 10 times harder than your white, male counterpart.”

A 2019 research study done by Women and Hollywood, found that in the top 100-grossing films of that year, only 17 per cent of women and girls of colour were in leading or co-leading film roles.

Films with Black leads and majority-minority casts were released in the fewest number of international markets in both 2018 and 2019, according to the study.

“You can’t just be like, ‘I’m going to be an actor,’ and then you just go and do it,” Domingue said.

“You have to fight your community, you have to fight your parents, because your parents certainly don’t think it’s possible. And I can’t fault them. Because it’s not an easy road.”

Black women have been historically cast as these three tropes: the mammy, the jezebel and the sapphire.

If you’ve seen a picture of Aunt Jemima, you can picture what the mammy looks like: a loyal servant, heavier in weight, who takes care of others and negates her own needs or desires.

The jezebel is overly sexualized, her only strength is her influence over men with her sexuality. These characters are played by Black women with lighter skin and more

European facial features which adhere to westernized standards of beauty.

The sapphire is the most common stereotype. It is the “angry Black woman” trope that originated from minstrel shows which would have white men dress up as Black women and act angry, irrational, sassy, unfeminine and less than human.

Although these tropes have become less prevalent in films today, Black women are still haunted by these characters in their everyday lives because the tropes are so ingrained into society.

In September 2020, 1,400 Americans between the ages of 18 and 54 who were heavily engaged with pop culture, according to the National Research Group.

Two out of three Black Americans did not feel their stories were properly represented in the media, and 77 per cent believed the way Black Americans are portrayed in the media will influence people’s

perceptions of real-life Black Americans, according to the study.

Out of the entire study, 66 per cent of everyone polled believed the media depicts negative stereotypes of Black people, with 83 per cent of Black Americans polled believing that to be true. Why Tropes are bad

Aisha Evelyna is an actress, writer and filmmaker. She wrote and starred in her short film, ShoeGazer in 2018. Her film looks at negative internalized narratives told to Black women, inspired by her own experiences.

Evelyna recalls a time when she auditioned to play an African American woman whose husband had just died. She wasn’t made aware beforehand but when she went into the audition she realized all the women around her were more heavily set and wearing head wraps, essentially playing “the mammy” character trope.

Evelyna, being younger and thinner, realized that auditioning for this type of role was “a complete waste of time.” Around the same time, she decided to get into filmmaking for herself.

“I wanted to be more in charge of how I could portray and how I could get to act. Because I realized that I wasn’t acting because I didn’t fit into these tropes,” Evelyna said.

Evelyna avoided roles in which she had to play tropes, but even still she was occasionally told to act “more sassy” in scenes.

Evelyna said these types of tropes are damaging for Black women because they create a false and monolithic narrative about how Black women act.

“There’s so much more to experience of Black women than these three tropes,” said Evelyna.

In 2013, a research firm by the name of Cheskin Added Value partnered with Essence Magazine to survey 901 Black women on their representation in the media. Participants were asked to pay attention to the media images they saw of Black women for 10 days and make note of them.

Participants reported feeling “saddened” and “disrespected,” by the images they saw of their race through the internet, television and other forms of media.

Tokenism

Until 2020, Domingue said there were very few main character roles offered to people of colour, especially in Canada.

People of colour were often left with supporting roles that played into tokenism.

“A lot of shows are designed around white main characters, with tokens in mind,” Domingue said. “You play the stereotype to support the white lead.”

These token characters often look like the one Black woman, the one Black man, the one Asian, the one gay character, etc. Tokens usually don’t get more than a couple of lines and are typically cast to give the impression that there’s diversity and equality on a show.

Domingue said a lot of her 20-year career has been spent playing the token Black girl.

Continued on page 3

Photo courtesy of Starr Domingue

Starr Domingue, actress, dancer and creator and host of The Blacktor's Studio.

I realized that I wasn't acting because I didn't fit into these tropes.

We would hire more people of colour, but we just don't know if they're out there.

Photo illustration by Cheyenne Jarrett

These actors are creating change. From top down: Starr Domingue, Tonya Williams and Aisha Evelyna.

From page 2

According to a statistic from Statista on ethnic distribution between lead roles in top U.S. films, in 2020, 39.7 per cent of lead actors in top movies were made up of people of colour, while white actors still made up the majority of lead roles in films at 60.3 per cent.

Diversity quotas

After the Black Lives Matter (BLM) movement in 2020 and the Stop Asian Hate movement in 2021, more production companies were having to fill “diversity quotas” in order to get funding for their films/TV shows.

This means having to fill in a certain number of roles with diverse people.

Although having more diversity on a show or film sounds like a solution to the problem, it has still created more hurdles to overcome.

“While diversity quotas may seem helpful, it takes the responsibility off production companies to do the work properly,” Evelyna said.

Evelyna said the quotas can cause more marginalized people to end up playing token characters.

“No creative wants to feel like they’re checking a box,” Evelyna said.

Domingue said there is no “foresight” in the selection process for diverse characters. She believes when she goes into an audition searching for a “diverse person,” she isn’t being chosen by her talent but simply to fill a quota.

“It makes me feel like kind of a cog,” Domingue said.

Not only will she have to compete with other women that look like her, but she will then have to compete with everyone who’s not white.

Evelyna believes this is why Black people often feel the pressure of having to be ‘twice as good’ at what they do because if they fail it can become a reflection on the entire Black community.

“We would hire more people of colour,

but we just don’t know if they’re out there.”

This is the excuse Tonya Williams has said she’s heard time and time again from casting directors.

Tonya Williams is a Black Canadian actress who grew up in Oshawa during her teens, she’s best known for her role as Olivia Barber Winters on The Young and The Restless. Williams started a not-for-profit called Reelworld Film Festival and her charity Reelworld Screen Institute in the year 2000, both initiatives were created to empower and draw attention to racially diverse talent in Canada.

In 2020, Williams launched Access Reelworld, which is an online database and job board designed to help people of colour network and find opportunities.

“So creating the database really showed there’s a lot of people out there and they’re really talented,” Williams said.

However, in 2007, while working on set for a musical theatre production of Hairspray (a musical focused on white and Black relations in the 1960s), Domingue noticed one of the main characters, a member of the Black family, was being played by an Asian woman.

Domingue said she felt confused and when she asked about the decision, was told: “We just can’t find any more Black people. So we cast an Asian person for the role.”

Domingue decided to start her own project: The Blacktor’s Studio, a digital talk show in which Domingue interviews BIPOC actors about their careers and their journey to where they are today.

“It was my attempt at highlighting the diversity in the community so the industry can see them,” Domingue said.

“Let me show you all these amazing actors that are doing big things or small things, but in their own right are changing the landscape of entertainment, just by being there.”

Evelyna said production companies are going to suffer in the future if they don’t continue to evolve and create more signifi-

cant roles for people of colour.

“They’re going to have to start staffing crews, writing rooms and casting shows with people of colour. In roles that are not just tokenized. Or it’ll affect their bottom line,” said Evelyna. Canada needs to catch up

In the U.S., Nielsen TV ratings tracks what American audiences are watching through cable or streaming services. Canada does not have a rating system like this.

“So in Canada, we don’t understand our audience, we don’t know what their makeup is, or what they like to watch,” Williams said.

Williams said in Los Angeles, there is a bigger push for hiring people of colour as casting directors, managers and agents, which in turn creates room for more roles and better stories being told through film by people of colour.

“Hollywood made a real push to change that infrastructure. And that’s why you see a lot more movies with Latino leads in them, or Black leads in them or whatever, because they understand the audience.”

Canada doesn’t have as many people of colour in power that have the resources and money to finance quality productions, according to Williams.

“To make a great television show, and to make a great movie, the money is really in the post-production. It’s colour-correction, sound engineering, composers. It’s in the post where all the glitz and the beauty comes from,” Williams said.

This leads to a vicious cycle: if film and television content for people of colour isn’t being made then networks and funders think there isn’t an audience for that market, which means BIPOC filmmakers don’t receive enough or any funding.

“If you give one group of people $100,000. But you give another group a million dollars, there’s no way there can be a comparable project,” Williams said.

Funding for Black artists

Williams said that out of the 21 years that Reelworld has been around, 19 of those years they were underfunded.

According to Williams, Reelworld is now receiving the same kind of funding that other not-for-profit film organizations are and because of this, they have become more successful.

“The fact that we existed, made a lot of the white, organizations and funders realize, oh, there must be a need, because they actually saw from the data we were collecting,” Williams said.

It wasn’t until 2018 when Black Panther was released that the world finally saw a universally successful movie with an all-

Black cast.

Although the road ahead is still long, there has been significant progress in the opportunities available for Black actors and filmmakers, and a change in the narrative about Black women in general.

“The perception of Black women is changing, because of people like Shonda Rhimes. She’s allowing different people to be in her work and therefore, it’s normalizing those people to society as a whole,” Domingue said.

Black producers like Issa Rae, Shonda Rhimes and Michaela Coel are creating popular shows such as Insecure, How to Get Away with Murder and I May Destroy You, with Black characters who are multidimensional.

“We found more nuance within the Black woman and when I say that, it just means we’re seeing more versions of a Black woman on-screen now than we saw once upon a time,” Evelyna said.

“There’s never been a better time to be a person of colour than right now. There’s an awareness like never before, if anything, people just don’t know what to do. People want to make the change, but they don’t exactly know how to make it happen,” Williams said. “The industry works by money,” Domingue said. “If we start supporting more diverse work, then the networks, the producers, the directors will start to say, ‘oh, wait a second, there’s a market for this.’”

“People are going to look back at our conversation we had right now and go, ‘isn’t it weird that people talked that way or even thought that way?’” Williams said.

Photo courtesy of Aisha Evelyna

Aisha Evelyna, actress, filmmaker and festival programmer for Reelworld Screen Institute.

Photo courtesy of Tonya Williams

Tonya Williams, actress and creator of Reelworld Film Festival.

A shift in the film and television industry is already happening

People are going to look back at our conversation we had right now and go, 'isn't it weird that people talked that way or even thought that way?'

Corbier's passion turned into research project

Vandita Kumar

The Chronicle

Teaching and becoming a college professor wasn’t a career goal Kay Corbier had in mind but years later, it’s something she does and loves.

Corbier always wanted to serve and help people with disabilities advocate for their rights and have a better quality of life.

She graduated from York University with an undergrad degree in psychology and sociology then graduated with a Master's of Education in Counselling Psychology from the University of Toronto.

It has always been her calling.

“Working directly in a way that helps people who are marginalized in society, I think that's always been my calling, that's been my passion.

"So, I'm one of the people who’s fortunate enough to say that I spent my career doing what I wanted to do or what I love to do,” says Corbier.

Corbier started teaching at Durham College (DC) in 2012.

“The position found me. I didn’t find it,” says Corbier who decided to apply because she thought it would be a huge privilege to impart knowledge to students who are just starting out in their careers and wanting to work in the field of disability.

Corbier teaches in the Developmental Services Worker (DSW) program at DC and is the coordinator of the program. She is also chair of the Research Ethics Board (REB) for the college.

A member of the REB, Lynne Kennette, is a professor at DC teaching in the School of Interdisciplinary Studies where she teaches psychology and also does research about how students learn.

She and Corbier trained together when hired at DC and then also gave a number of talks to faculty about research ethics, types of research, and the research ethics board throughout the years.

Though Kennette hasn’t done any research with Corbier, she says Corbier is “great to work with, very knowledgeable and professional.”

Kennette is a part of the community that reviews research applications to see if there are any ethical concerns with anything the researcher proposes to do in their project.

Corbier is co-lead, with Amanda Cappon, and lead researcher on a three-year project called Raising Resilient Families: Empowering Parents with Cognitive Challenges. Cappon teaches in the Social Service Work Program at DC.

Corbier and Cappon's research is fully funded by the College and Community Social Innovation Fund (CCSIF).

People with disabilities are also part of the research committee for Raising Resilient Families.

This project also has an advisory research committee.

Corbier and Cappon consult with them on various aspects of the project and have four participants with who have live with a disability.

The co-production and community-based participatory research will be used to investigate challenges and barriers for families impacted by an Intellectual Disability (ID), or Developmental Disability (DD).

The goal is to ultimately eliminate the need to remove a child from their family or cultural community.

The project will be completed in 2024.

In the future, Corbier hopes to connect to what she liked to do as a child. She says she has “always been a life-long learner who loved learning in which school came easily” to her.

“Different people create in different ways and my creative side is to really write. To write my thoughts, or you know, blogs ... but I haven't gotten around to doing that, but maybe one day I will.”

Not only does she think about creating a blog in the future, but Corbier also hopes to write her own book.

She wants to inspire people and give them hope and “help them see this crazy world in a better way and ... inspire people to identify what their path is and their purpose.”

I spent my career doing what I wanted to do or what I love to do.

Developmental Services Worker program professor and chair of Research and Ethics Board at Durham College, Kay Corbier.

Photograph courtesy of Kay Corbier

Teens should be taught more politics in school

Safa Hussein

The Chronicle

Almost 17 million Canadians voted out of 27.4 million eligible voters. Turnout was down from 67 per cent in 2019, according to Elections Canada. Research has demonstrated that some groups of electors tend to vote less than the general Canadian population.

In order to get more people voting, youth need to be educated early so they understand how important their vote is.

Parents need to educate youth and teens on topics involving politics as many young adults did not vote in the most recent federal election.

Many teens determine their opinions based on their parent’s point of view as well as input from social media spheres, especially when it comes to politics and government issues,

according to the Pew Research Centre, which says young people are less concerned with politics and do not participate in social or political activities.

Teenagers who have a strong attachment to their community are more likely to vote compared to those with weak attachments, according to statistics Canada. The highly attached are much more likely than the less attached to closely follow politics.

Teens feel that politics does not affect them, perhaps because they have not yet developed the responsibilities which are the subject of political issues.

In Canada, one study demonstrated that 14 per cent of Canadians above 15 years of age expressed views on a political or social issue through an internet forum or news website and five per cent participated in a demonstration or march.

Parents and education play a huge role in a teen’s life and the decisions they make. Without an educated electorate and special interest groups, it can easily lead to making poor decisions.

Youth and teens need to be educated on topics involving politics.

Young voters need to go to the polls and vote for what they believe in and not just vote based on their parents’ point of view because their opinions and political party’s opinions will get overlooked and disregarded.

In fact, many teens worry about the future of their country. However, if they want a change or expect one, they need to vote for it.

A new psychology study shows more than half of caregivers indicated their child experienced at least one relevant worry on topics related to politics.

However, many parents try to instruct

their children and impart their views, perhaps hoping their kids become the people they wish they were themselves.

Teens need help to engage with the community and be taught how to make decisions based on research rather than misinformation posted on social media.

Teens should be taught more than just the CIVICS course in grade ten and parents should also educate their young children on topics related to politics because every vote matters.

The voice of young people is important, and we need to encourage them to recognize the importance of voting and make their voices heard in the democratic process.

The only way to make sure this happens is to educate the young generation to about the importance of voting and remind politicians youth vote in each election.

Safa Hussein in downtown Toronto on a sunny morning.

Photograph by Wafa Hussein

DC employee loves helping students enjoy college to the max

Shaleel Griffith-Ross

The Chronicle

Elizabeth Morris, 25, loves making the college experience the best for students.

Morris, who goes by Liz as well, has been with the Durham Collage Student Association (DCSA) for the past two years.

She began at DCSA (formerly known as DSCI) after graduating from Durham College in 2019.

“I've been with them for the past few years in different roles,” said Morris, “they can't seem to get rid of me.”

Recently, DCSA made a new role for her.

“I’m really excited about it,” said Morris. “So, they introduced a new role for me, which is exclusively student network and student engagement coordinator.”

Morris was involved in school government before college.

She attended Eastdale Collegiate Vocational Institute (ECVI), in Oshawa, Ont.

She had a lot of school pride.

Her time at ECVI was spent being involved in student government and a few clubs.

“When I was at Eastdale, I was the head of the arts club and then I went on to become the Deputy Prime Minister of the school,” says Morris. “I really loved my experience working in student government.”

She loved getting other students involved in what was going on around the school.

Originally, she thought she wanted to go into interior decorating after high school.

“I did take a little stumble where I tried to go for interior decorating, which wasn't quite

my thing, but I discovered PR,” said Morris.

“It was absolutely perfect for me because it has a lot of elements of promoting the organization versus just selling a product, which is something I've always really loved to do.”

She worked for Riot Radio (RR),

DC's radio station, as well during her college years.

Dan MacInally, the RR station manager, recalls how helpful Morris was during her time at RR.

MacInally and Morris first crossed paths in 2018, while Morris was volunteering as an assistant technician at RR.

"We had a vacant full-time position and were right in the middle of a busy semester with many student shows and college classes scheduled weekly," says MacInally.

"We needed help quickly and we hired Liz as a part-time student to help," says MacInally.

"We were extremely lucky to have her during that time, she helped keep the studio up and running and brought an infectious energy to the studio that students and staff greatly appreciated."

She started her own club, Mad Youth Durham, while in college after seeing so many talented students.

“So, I decided that it'd be great if we could all connect and really get to know each other, but be able to help each other,” said Morris.

“So, from there I started up that club and we started having art shows, which was really cool.”

She had around 10 art shows in the Durham Region, which were able to highlight the different artists and give them that confidence.

That is where she fell into the interim role at DSCA as the event planning and club management role.

"So, whatever I can do to expose students to the best opportunity to get involved and the best opportunity to really get the most out of their college experience," says Morris, "is what brings me so much joy."

Photograph courtesy of Elizabeth Morris

Liz Morris (third from right), with five Durham College students.

Photograph courtesy of Elizabeth Morris

Liz Morris, student network and engagement coordinator for the Durham College Student Association.

Meaningful ideas for meaningful objects

Brazilian immigrant works with fish leather to create sustainable jewelry

Sofia Bircke

The Chronicle

The day Fabiana Papaleo handled a piece of fish leather while working at The Bay, she knew that was going to be part of her life and career. The texture, colours and resilience of this material inspired her as a designer and a person.

Papaleo loved being a designer for big companies, which she just recently went back to doing. But she also had other dreams. Being a mom had also been in her plans and, after years of trying, her son Luca was born.

At that time, Papaleo was a fashion trend forecaster which required her to travel and be away from home a lot.

She decided the corporate world’s travel requirements weren’t for her after becoming a mom. That was when she created the MIMO Store. MIMO means ‘meaningful ideas for meaningful objects.’

It is a one-of-a-kind fish skin and leather jewelry line designed and produced in Toronto.

The leather used is made from fish farmed for consumption, but the skin is purchased then used by designers like Papaleo to create eco-friendly products.

While MIMO is eco-friendly, the brand also focuses on social inclusion. It supports the Brazilian “Amor-Peixe” Association, a women-only organization with the goal of empowering women to provide for their families.

As a Canada-based company, Papaleo has also chosen to support local Canadian suppliers for fish leather and other materials.

Papaleo is the one responsible for the design and production of the items.

“I find in nature the inspiration for most of my collections. The creative process is entirely organic. My background as a trend forecaster serves as a baseline for all my creations. After I have decided on the idea or theme for the season, I immerse in an image search and build an inspiration board to wrap my thoughts around the concept. Then, I start drawing, designing, and building the prototypes,” she explains.

Papaleo is very passionate about women becoming entrepreneurs and gives as much advice as she can.

“ If you have a road map, you can always refer back to your overall business objectives and pivot in the right direction when necessary," says Papaleo.

She goes on to say it is important to be creative and understand that change will be a constant.

She advises not to be afraid of judgement but rather to be patient, persistent and willing to invest a lot of time and energy into the new business.

"The road ahead can be long and bumpy, but also beautiful and fulfilling,” she says.

Papaleo has also counted with her niece Camila’s help in her brand. Camila has worked in both the backstage and main stage.

“Aunt Fabi has been to many markets and events promoting the brand. She really deserves to have success, the times she spends designing and producing everything… It’s amazing how committed she is to everything she does,” Camila says.

Papaleo isn’t only a mom, brand owner and designer.

As the holidays approach, her other function is being extremely required.She works at Canadian Tire as Christmas Designer. She designs ornaments, decorations, lights, and everything Christmas-related.

This means while people think about presents and Christmas dinner, she runs around like crazy trying to finalize the season.

“Fabiana’s ornaments are absolutely gorgeous. We are so lucky to have a supplier for this year’s Christmas,” jokes Maria Tereza Papaleo, Papaleo’s mother-in-law. “She always does an amazing job with handling everything, especially having a seven-yearold son. And of course, MIMO is my favourite jewelry brand, I have my own pieces that I never take off.”

As for her next steps, Papaleo hopes to continue expanding MIMO and increasing the number of design jobs she does.

As a person who never gets Christmas out of her mind, the 2022 holidays are already being planned.

Photograph courtesy of Fabiana Papaleo

Fabiana Papaleo, owner and founder of MIMO.

'Real people, real victims'

The

history of people's dark curiosity with true crime

Emily McPhail The Chronicle

Detective Eva Reti was working in the homicide department with the Durham Regional Police Service (DRPS) in 1998, when her boss handed her a file containing a 1974 cold case of a missing Jane Doe.

The case had come from another unit and they didn't think anything could be done after almost 25 years. So, Reti's boss needed her to sign off on it being filed away, unsolved.

"I said, 'well, you know, I'm not going to sign off on this," Reti says.

Forensic, investigation and even communication technology evolved so much in the years between 1974 and 1998, Reti had access to techniques unknown to the previous investigators.

By autumn 1999, the DRPS had a cold case team put together.

Reti's team sent out packages containing photography, dental records and a summary of the investigation to all provinces, territories and American states.

The case was solved in March, 2000, when a call came into the DRPS from a forensic pathologist in Jacksonville, Fla. He had removed a jaw from a Jane Doe killed in a hit and run, and it was a match for Durham's missing woman.

"She had been a Jane Doe in a grave all those years," says Reti.

For people who don't work in police services, stories like Reti's can be a source of intrigue, fascination and even community.

From Netflix documentary series, to books written on a variety of cases to the endless catalogue of podcasts on the topic - it's not only detectives who are interested

in true crime.

It may seem like a modern day trend but evidence suggests this fascination with stories of true crime has always been a part of society.

Steven Downing is a criminologist and professor at Ontario Tech University, who grew up in Dallas, Texas. As a child, Downing remembers going to reenactments of a shoot-out between federal agents and the infamous outlaw couple Bonnie and Clyde. An event that originally took place in 1933.

"It's not necessarily a new phenomenon," says Downing. "I think there's always been a fascination with crime."

In 2021 there is no shortage of true crime content for people to consume.

A Google search will bring up countless list-based articles highlighting the best documentaries and series to watch on Netflix or the top ten podcasts to listen to, all with a focus on true crime.

The relationship between the criminal justice system, prisons and the public, is part of what is studied in criminology, according to Downing.

The Tower of London is lo -

cated in central London and was used as a prison for more than 800 years. At one time it was common for prisons to be "located in places where people could seen the prisoners," says Downing.

Downing says there has been a "historical shift" away from executions and punishments being big public events that would draw a crowd.

"Now we've kind of been separated from that," says Downing, "most prisons are out in the middle of nowhere."

Downing says crime-based media (be it fact or fiction) has filled the gap in human curiosity. TV shows, movies and even documentaries focused around prisons or the criminal justice system have become popular, Downing says it is because "people want to gaze into that world."

The cases that are made into documentaries or told as stories on podcasts are most often what Downing calls the "high-profile, sensational crimes" but those make up a small portion of the cases criminologists actually study.

Detective Reti says true crime documentaries and podcasts often aren't reflective of the way an investigation unfolds but are produced in the interest of creating

condensed and exciting content.

Some podcasts and documentaries act as avenues to tell the story of lost loved ones or, in other cases, work to help bring justice to an unsolved case.

Sandra Toteda and her sister Cristina decided to start their podcast, Sisters, Coffee and Crime, in November of 2019 because a family member was murdered a year earlier. They wanted the story to be heard.

"We thought maybe other people would want their person's story out there," Toteda says.

Since starting their podcast, the sisters have recorded almost 50 episodes and have gained more than one-thousand Instagram followers. The majority of which grew during the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic, Toteda says.

For Toteda the curiosity around true crime comes from the fear of the unknown.

"You want to know, how can I help? What can I do? How do I make this not happen to me or my family?"

The sisters wanted to start a podcast that would tell the stories of the victims instead of the stories of the criminals behind the violence, Toteda says.

It is important to have these

difficult conversations to bring awareness and "to not forget the victims," says Toteda.

Part of what Toteda does with her sister on their podcast is inspired by Sarah Turney's work on her own podcast, Voices for Justice.

"I think listening to her really has helped us to remember that they're real people and real victims," Toteda says of Turney's podcast. "It's not always entertainment, there are real people and real families who need help."

Two years ago, Detective Reti heard from the forensic pathologist in Florida who helped the DRPS identify their Jane Doe from 1974. The pathologist reached out "to make sure that we don't forget about her," Reti says.

The news cycle moves so quickly and there were other things going on, says Reti.

The story of the cold case solved 25 years later by DRPS made local news at the time but it soon disappeared.

The parents of the missing Jane Doe at the centre of Durham's first cold case died without knowing what happened to their daughter. However, when the case was solved in 2000, Reti was able to give a sister some closure "after all those years."

Photograph courtesy of Eva Reti

Homocide Detective Eva Reti early in her career.

Photograph courtesy of Apple Podcasts Sisters Coffee and Crime podcast art.

It's not necessarily a new phenomenon.

Invasion of the resource snatchers

Joey Cole The Chronicle

Agroup of 14 Eurasian wild boars were spotted in Pickering on Nov. 2. The city and public tracked the hogs closely for six weeks, until they were finally captured using marshmallows and peanut butter sandwiches as bait. They were humanely euthanized, the Ministry of Natural Resource and Forestry confirmed.

Eurasian wild boars are listed with all wild pigs under the Invasive Species Act as a restricted invasive species, making it illegal to release pigs of any sort into the wild in Ontario.

Wild boars are one of the widest-ranging mammals in the world, due to their ability to quickly adapt and impose themselves on any ecosystem.

Standing at about 1.2 meters tall and weighing 100 kilograms or more, wild boars are not as susceptible to native Canadian predators as they would be to natural predators in Eurasia.

“They are considered one of the most damaging invasive species in the United States and have been called an ‘ecological train wreck,” said Morgan Kerekes, a spokesperson for the Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry in a recent statement.

These beasts reproduce quickly, can carry up to 80 diseases, viruses and parasites, and are expensive to control. On average in the U.S., they cost an estimated 1 billion dollars annually to the agricultural industry through crop damage, livestock predation and damage to equipment.

The wild boars in Pickering gained national attention and concern but there are dozens of other invasive species in the Durham

Region that fly under the radar.

Invasive species and plants are often able to blend in with native species but the unseen damage they cause can be detrimental.

According to the Invasive Species Centre, damage done by invasive species costs municipalities and conservation authorities in Ontario an estimated $50.8 million a year.

Phragmites is a prime example. Common in wetlands, phragmites releases toxins from its roots into the soil that can hurt and sometimes kill nearby, native plants.

“Sometimes people see it and they just think it’s native because they see it in such abundance on the roadsides and in the wetlands but it’s one of Canada’s worst invasive plants,” said Diana Shermit, a Natural Environment Coordinator for the City of Richmond Hill and member of the board of directors for the Ontario Invasive Plant Council.

In addition to taking resources from native plants, phragmites can also be damaging to local wildlife.

“It provides really poor habitat for wildlife. It’s hard for a person to walk through, so you can imagine, there’s some smaller species like turtles that have a really hard time moving through those plants in their own habitat,” said Wioletta Walancik, member of Friends of Second Marsh (FOSM).

FOSM is a charity in Oshawa that focuses on education and preservation of the second marsh and surrounding areas like the McLaughlin Bay Wildlife Reserve and Darlington Provincial Park.

They are currently in year two of their ‘Let’s de-Phrag the Marsh’ project, which hopes to cut the phragmites population in Second Marsh by 50 per cent by July 2022. However, phragmites

aren’t the only invasive species in the area.

Garlic mustard, emerald ash borer beetles, buck thorn and dog strangling vine are just a few other invasive species taking over the local eco-system.

Some invasive species can be dangerous to humans. From a distance, giant hogweed resembles a flower, but a sap is released on contact with skin that causes painful burns and blisters when exposed to sunlight. Wild parsnip has a similar effect.

Mary-Kate Whibbs is the Central Lake Program Coordinator at the Toronto Zoo, she said she’s come across multiple invasive species in the great lakes.

Invasive aquatics like round goby, water fleas and zebra muscles have taken over local bodies of water, while massive Asian carps remain a ‘pending threat.’ Zebra mussels are known to colonize and wipe out native freshwater muscles but to the untrained eye the two species look identical.

“Once they spread, it’s very hard, if not impossible, to get rid of them,” said Whibbs.

Invasive species like zebra mussels can spread in a number of ways but humans are almost always involved.

“Humans definitely play a huge role in the spread of invasive species,” said Shermit.

While wild boars were brought into captivity in Ontario intentionally, most likely for farming purposes, humans spread many invasive species completely unintentionally.

Invasive plant seeds can get stuck in the tracks of hiking boots, bike tires or other outdoor equipment and be spread to new areas. Similarly, species like zebra mussels often latch onto boats, kayaks and fishing equipment and

are transported to new bodies of water. Emerald ash bore beetles hide in firewood, waiting to invade new areas.

For this reason, it is suggested that any and all equipment being carried from one area to another is thoroughly cleaned before and after transportation.

Firewood and fishing bait should also be purchased in the same area it is used to prevent the spread of invasive species, according to Whibbs.

Horticulture also plays a big role in the spread of invasive species.

“Know what you’re planting, if you’re unaware, plant it in a small pot first and see what its growth habit is and how it will spread. If it looks like it has a tendency to be

invasive, then avoid planting it inyour garden,” said Shermit. Another way individuals can combat invasive species and help empower native plants and wildlife is by educating themselves on native species.

“Be familiar with the native species that are in our area and what’s supposed to be there, then it’s really helpful in identifying what is out of place,” said Whibbs. Invasive species may not all look like giant, tusked hogs on the run, but the impact they have on the eco-system can be just as damaging, or even more so.

“Any invasive species poses a lot of issues for the eco-system,” said Whibbs, “we have to be aware of these things and stay informed.”

Photograph by Joey Cole

Phragmites are one of the most common invasive species.

Photograph by Joey Cole

Zebra mussels are a common invasive species in Ontario lakes.

Food insecurity: A hungry snowball

Mitchell Reid

The Chronicle

There is no choice in food insecurity, only poverty and starvation.

One in seven people in Durham can’t afford food, don’t have access to healthy food or lack access to transportation to reach grocery stores. How much food does it take to help people in such a bad way?

The amount is staggering.

"Every week we take in and process and share back into the community 40 to 50 thousand pounds of food," said Robyn McKibbon, community engagement coordinator at Oshawa's Feed the Need food warehouse. "Our volunteers work very hard...to get that out to our frontline emergency food providers."

Everyone has a right to basic living standards, a defined human right by the United Nations. Yet in Durham Region more than 14 per cent of residents live with some form of food insecurity.

Tiffany Kift, administrative coordinator of Simcoe Hall Settlement House, and Ben Earle, CEO of Feed The Need Durham, both confirmed their food banks are seeing more use than ever before.

It would be reasonable to think this is solely due to the pandemic and things will return to normal once life returns to normal but Earle warns that is not the case: the rise in food insecure people from an economic crisis never returns to pre-crisis levels.

“People get behind on expenses,” Earle said, “and they never come back.”

There are many factors that contribute to food insecurity, such as access to nutrient dense food and transportation to acquire the food, but the driving forces of food insecurity are education and income.

According to Jenny Cortez-Cordova, a professor in the School of Science and Engineering at Durham College and part of the region’s food security task force, the closure of GM’s Oshawa plant in 2018 sent a ripple through the city’s community: workers lost their jobs, small businesses that relied on the business of those workers closed, and suddenly there were a lot more people food insecure.

When income falls, food quality follows.

“One of the issues we discussed in the task force was people with low income,” Cortez-Cordova said.

“They don’t have access to fresh food, vegetables, milk, cheese, food that is dense in nutrients…The food they are consuming is pretty much to sustain themselves.”

For families and individuals struggling to survive, education is another huge cost on an already tight purse.

“You have the systemic issue of low income families not being able to have the opportunity to go to higher education,” Cortez-Cordova said. “Not being able to go to college because you have to prioritize, you have a certain amount of money. You have to pick: do I need to pay my bill or get something to eat? It's not enough money to pay for education.”

According to Cortez-Cordova, people settle for minimum paying jobs just to make ends meet, forgoing education just to survive. Without education, food insecure people have difficulty landing a well paying job.

“One of the biggest conclusions was that not having a decent paying job will affect the type of food you can put on the table,” she said. Without proper income, the reliance on food banks and storage facilities like Feed the Need grows.

Cortez-Cordova confirmed that food insecurity creates a cycle of poverty. The problem gripping Durham Region is self perpetuating, and the COVID-19 pandemic pushed more people into food insecurity due to their loss of employment.

Earle, who has worked at Feed the Need Durham for more than six years, said: “From March 2020, when everything shut down really quickly, we definitely saw that immediate uptick in individuals who were needing access to emergency food supports, because they were, all of a sudden, literally without income.”

According to Earle, who previous to his job at Feed the Need was the general manager at Basic Income Canada Network, the exacerbation from the pandemic showed how many people lived on the cusp of poverty, only to be pushed over the edge in a time of crisis.

“It's going to be a struggle for them to ever get caught up because they just don't have the income to get caught up,” Earle said.

Furthering the cycle, Cortez-Cordova said food insecurity leads to developmental issues as well.

“There is a physical effect that

is the incapacity to develop fully,” Cortez-Cordova said. “As well as their mental capacity…so you have a child that goes to school with maybe a couple of spoons of sugar and then sits for hours." That affects how much they can concentrate on school, according to Cortez-Cordova.

"That means the chances to graduate also decreases and that means they will not be able to get a better job and that keeps going. So now their families have also become poor and it just keeps going generation after generation.”

Food insecurity is trapping families in poverty and perhaps the worst part of it all: the situation is poised to get worse.

The 12th edition of Canada's Food Price Report, released in December, said food prices will rise between five and seven per cent because of supply chain interruptions caused by COVID. This creates even more problems for those living with food insecurity.

While COVID exacerbated the problems around food insecurity, food bank organizations received more help during the pandemic.

Feed The Need Durham, for example, received more donations from Ontario Power Generation (OPG), Walmart, the Region of Durham and others.

"We have received a lot of support during the pandemic," Earle said, "and actually an uptick of support with food and funds to do the work that we do."

But what happens when the pandemic is over?

"What our biggest concern now is that we see a contraction of that support going back to what, for lack of a better term normal, prior to the pandemic support," said Earle.

Earle said the immediate support was to combat the immediate threat caused by the sudden influx of food insecure people "but that need is not going away."

According to Earle, that contraction of support means less food going to Durham Region's most vulnerable people already suffering from food insecurity.

Mary Martin, a member of the Stewardship Committee of the Durham Food Policy Council (DFPC), said they are working on methods to gain community insight on food insecurity to form solutions.

Using the information they learn, the DFPC then advocates to Members of Provincial Parliament (MPPs) to address food insecurity matters. They have collaborated with Durham Integrated Growers (DIG) to research methods for improving urban agriculture, and have promoted more sustainable foods locally.

According to Martin, basic income would go a long way.

"When people have an adequate and a stable income, that it's guaranteed, they know they're going to get it every month, they start to eat more fruits and vegetables," Martin said. "They start to live on foods that they wouldn't have normally bought."

They aren't alone in these solutions either. Earle suggests people in the region take time to become familiar with policies that support sustainable food growth. While learning, however, people still need to eat.

"The immediate thing people can do is get involved with a food organization, whether that's at a soup kitchen, or just donating, or doing something that's coming to understand Feed the Need and working with us," Earle said. "Learn about basic income...learn about Social Assistance Reform and why our social assistance system in the province creates problems and creates poverty, learn about it."

The issue, according to Cortes-Cordova and Earle, is that the region cannot solve such a wide problem by itself due to funding limitations and how widespread the problem is.

"That sense of a very close community helps a lot because what you don't have your neighbour may have," Cortez Cordova said. "That's what's missing here. Here you see your neighbour as a neighbour, not a friend and someone who needs help."

Want to help? In order to assist those in need, anyone can donate to Feed the Need on their website at https://feedtheneedindurham.ca or use the site's food bank finder to find a food bank nearby to volunteer food or time.

Photograph by Mitchell Reid

Hundred of pounds of food are donated to Feed the Need and transported to warehouses such as this one located in Oshawa. These pallets are donation from a food drive.

Photograph provided by Mary Martin Mary Martin of the DFPC.

Photograph by Mitchell Reid

Food donations are sorted by category before being shipped to food banks accross the region.

Mental health on and off the playing field

Kayla Jackson

The Chronicle

Clint Malarchuk, the former NHL goalie known for a 1989 tragedy when he was slashed with a skate to the jugular during a game, has come public with his battles with depression and mental health during his professional hockey career.

He came out with his story to try and break the stigma in sports.

Malarchuk said in a documentary produced in partnership with Religion of Sports on NBC Sports Regional Networks, he never wanted to admit he was struggling because of the stigma against mental health in athletes but he said: “Mental illness is real, and it’s out there.”

According to Mental Health in the World of Sport (CAMH), one in five individuals is affected by mental health. The stigma around mental health in sports is predominantly due to the need to appear physically and mentally fit.

Mental health concerns impact athlete performance in different ways, according to a statement put out by Montana State University.

Mental health challenges in athletes include stress, anxiety, depression, eating disorders, trauma, substance use, and loss of relationships. These all impact athletic performance.After Malarchuk’s injury, he suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder, along with alcohol abuse, depression, and OCD.

Montana State said that in a 2019 study, researchers found that about one-third of male student-athletes and half of female student-athletes reported being impacted by anxiety in the last 12 months.

Anxiety was also listed by student-athletes as one of their top

three mental health concerns. In the same study, about 21 per cent of male student-athletes and 28 per cent of female student-athletes reported they “felt depressed” in the last 12 months. It is worth noting, this study was conducted before the impact of COVID-19.

According to The University of British Columbia (UBC), the UBC Thunderbirds and 2016 Summer Olympian, Emily Overholt said, “I think being at the Olympics was a distraction,” reflecting on that time. “It was such a high. I put the depression to one side and just buried it.”According to Athletes for Hope, 33 per cent of all college

students experience significant symptoms of depression, anxiety or other mental health conditions. Among that group, 30 per cent seek help but of all college athletes with mental health conditions, only 10 per cent do.

Bryan McLaughlin, the Mental Performance Consultant for the Ridgebacks at Ontario Tech University, said elite athletes are going to be more susceptible to mental illness compared to non-elite athletes, based on what they must deal with from a day-to-day basis and their workload.

McLaughlin points to the experience of Naomi Osaka, a professional tennis player, who withdrew

from the French Open because of her struggles with depression.

“And you know, there’s an elitelevel athlete who’s very young and she’s able to express that. And, you know, she was criticized against it. So, there was, you know, as much as society says, like, you know, we’re ending the stigma, it’s really what they’re saying and what they’re doing are two different things. So that’s what’s causing this big disconnect and a large aspect of distrust between what people say and what they actually do,” says McLaughlin.

Crystal Garvey, Nursing Professor in the Bachelor of Science in nursing collaborative program

between Durham College and Ontario Tech University, says there is an increase in mental health issues in professional sports because of the expectations for athletes, and the competition between athletes to get into professional sports is very high.

She says it does have an impact on individuals’ mental health. Garvey says it depends on the athlete and their stance on mental health and coming public about it.

“It really goes down to individual perspectives what they believe about it. Culture plays a major role as well. Like Canadian culture, we are very open about it.

If you think about other cultures, it’s hard to grapple with what their stance is on it. And a lot of times some cultures don’t even believe mental health really exists,” says Garvey who has over 20 years of clinical nursing experience specializing in emergency nursing. and significant experience working in the community, mental health, and acute adult health care settings.

McLaughlin says despite the push to end the stigma around mental health, it is still a large problem within the elite sport world.

“I think also because they’re under the spotlight, they don’t want to appear to be weak in the eyes of, say, their coach or anybody that’s involved with athlete development because there is a power dynamic between a coach and an athlete, and if the athlete gives a coach a reason not to play him or her, then you know, it’s not ideal for that athlete,” says McLaughlin.

Personal mental health stories like those shared by Clint Malarchuk, Emily Overholt and Naomi Osaka can make a difference.

Athletes breaking the stigma will lead others to find the strength to get help themselves.

Photograph sourced by Justin Christie

The 2014 Durham College Lords men's basketball team. According to The Centre of Addiction and Mental Health, one in five individuals is affected by mental health.

Photograph sourced by Crystal Garvey

Crystal Garvey has more than 20 years of clinical nursing experience.

Durham's Semenko loves animals

Jonathan Wilson The Chronicle

Keri Semenko, a professor in the Animal Care program at Durham College, has learned the value of a life spent with animals.

Semenko, who has been teaching her students remotely for the better part of a year now, spent most of her childhood with her grandfather working on his farm in Saguenay, Que.

Semenko's grandmother had a vegetable garden and Semenko would spend her summers and part of her winters there.

She did things to help like chop wood, assist with the animals and help with her grandma's garden.

Semenko learned a lot from her grandparents.

"(They) were quiet people – and so I think they taught me the value of listening and absorbing life instead of racing through it. Our world moves very quickly and I often think that most people spend their time reacting to things and never even knowing what is happening," Semenko said.

According to her fellow coworkers, Semenko has applied that philosophy to her work.

Megan Koressis is an instructor in the Animal Care program. While she's only part-time, she has still seen firsthand what Semenko is like

"She likes to set up little get-togethers. There's usually a lunch or dinner, or some kind of hang out for all the program teachers and admin to come and just relax as a team. You know,

the usual sharing of stories, venting frustrations, and general catharsis that happens amongst faculty after a long and trying semester," Koressis said

This has also translated into Semenko's approach as a teacher.

Last year, Semenko was selected as the Program Chair for Humane Canada's National Animal Welfare Conference, which is the largest conference of its kind in Canada.

This was the first time someone outside of the organization was selected.

When she is actually teaching, Semenko's approach is to let the students do their thing, especially when students do not turn on their cameras.

"You know, I don't want to twist people's arms about it. I understand some people are concerned about privacy and just don't feel comfortable and I'm OK with that," Semenko said.

With the animal care program being hands-on, there have been challenges with the transition to online.

However, Semenko is handling

it with a positive attitude.

"So I had to investigate and figure out a different option because I live in a rural area so it's not as easy as it is for people who live in the city.

" So yeah, it was not the easiest transition, but I think it has actually brought about some interesting changes for the program and the redevelopment of some courses gave us some opportunities that we maybe hadn't thought about before, so it was a bit of a bumpy start but I think it's going better now overall," Semenko said.

Semenko currently has a rescue dog and she appreciates the time she can spend at home.

"I'm not gonna lie, I like being home with my dog in some ways. It's been nice because it's made my life really flexible in terms of being at home but it's difficult because my students don't engage that much online so they don't turn their cameras on. I don't see them, they don't talk much."

Semenko has taught at Durham College for 10 years

Semenko will be teaching online again in January and she won't be back on campus until September.

As to why she wanted to work at Durham College and teach in the animal care program, Semenko said it's a matter of convenience.

"I specifically had an interest, you know, a lifelong interest in teaching animal care, but my animal welfare interest goes back to my childhood and I worked in the industry, and the opportunity came up.

" You know, to be a professor in this program, and was a pretty

good fit for me in terms of what I wanted to do at that time. And so that's how I ended up teaching in it," Semenko said.

For her future plans, specifically retirement, Semenko is hoping to live on a beach somewhere.

"I'd like to sit on a beach or something in my retirement, so I'll probably keep busy doing things, and I'll probably still have pets when I'm retired, so probably still be out walking a dog and that sort of thing," Semenko said.

She currently has a dog and four cats.

You know I don't want to twist people's arms about it.

I understand some people are concerned about privacy.

Photo courtesy of Keri Semenko

Keri Semenko, professor in the Animal Care program at Durham College.

Keri Semenko teaches in the Animal Care program at Durham College.

Photo courtesy of DC

Photo Database

This Pickering teacher always puts others first

Peter Morgulis, uses his hardships to positively impact his students

Desi Huddy

The Chronicle

Peter Morgulis, current high school teacher at Pickering High School (PHS), uses his life experiences and hardships to positively impact those around him, especially his students.

“It’s the best none job I’ve ever had because it doesn’t feel like work and it’s rewarding beyond my wildest expectations,” said Morgulis.

Morgulis teaches many different classes at PHS including business, finance and entrepreneurship.

In March of last year, Morgulis fell off a horse while riding, broke his back in three places, compressed the vertebrae in his neck, sprained both wrists, injured his left shoulder, and damaged his right hip.

Despite this he didn’t want to give up on his students and

taught virtually from his bed at home while recovering.

Sixteen years ago, in 2005, right before he started teacher’s college at University of Toronto, Morgulis lost his mom to cancer and then lost his home, friends, wife, and kids to a divorce and was let go from his job – all in the span of one year.

“At that time, I really didn’t have much to live for, I’m just being honest,” said Morgulis.

He knew he couldn’t give up and he had to appreciate what he had.

He had to look long-term, which for him meant teaching.

He was determined to find a job once he set his mind to becoming a teacher.

Morgulis handed out over 90 resumes and cover letters but he didn’t get one interview.

“That took a lot to get through, graduating in 2006 was a horrible job market for teachers,” he said.

“There was an oversupply of teachers and very few openings.”

His determination paid off once he got his job at Pickering High School.

Morgulis began his first-fulltime teaching job on Jan 29,2009.

He knew from then he couldn’t fail his students as a teacher and always wanted to be there for them.

He now looks at his students as “clients” and tries to connect and adapt with each individual’s learning style.

“If the student isn’t in a place where they’re able to learn, curriculum’s meaningless,” said Morgulis.

“He cares, he goes that extra step to find out who you are so that you can do assignments and stuff that are relatable to yourself and that you’re actually going to want to do,” said Kirsten Thompson, a former student.

Thompson had Morgulis for her grade nine business class and it set the tone for her high school experience.

She still remembers one of the main assignments in this class and all the life lessons Morgulis shared.

She describes him as “inspirational” towards all his students.

“His approach to everything made you feel important,” Thompson said.

Thompson and Morgulis keep in contact to this day.

They check up on each other and are connected through social media.

“He always puts other people first,” said Hannah Morgulis, Peter’s daughter.

Hannah went through many struggles in her own life that her Dad helped her through, specifically in grade eight when she was struggling with mental health issues.

She was being bullied at school and her Dad supported her.

“He was the one who took me to the hospital in North York and sat with me the entire time,” Hannah said.

Peter made sure he was bringing Hannah her schoolwork, checking up on her, and putting her health before his own.

Han nah describes him as a "give the shirt off his back" type of man.

Morgulis believes he is a work in progress and always has room to improve as a teacher.

He wants to be vulnerable with his students and constantly change and improve who he is.

“They’ll forget what you did, but students will never forget how you made them feel and I always want to honour that by never creating a situation where a student doesn’t feel positive about themselves,” said Morgulis.

Peter Morgulis, Pickering High School teacher, in his Grade 11 entrepreneurship class.

Photograph by Desi Huddy

DC grad brightens elders' lives

Caitlin Bolt The Chronicle

Jacob Fonte, a recreational therapist at SunnyCrest Nursing home in Whitby, is a bright light for elders within the community.

Fonte brings smiles to residents. From consoling residents to playing bingo, he manages to bring comfort during the happy times and the hard times.

“There’s like one minute you’re jumping with an old lady and dancing with her and playing bingo, and then they’re like this person is suicidal, or this lady really misses her grandson,” said Fonte.

His career started at Anderson Collegiate Vocational Institute when he did his high school co-op placement at SunnyCrest Nursing home.

After successfully completing his co-op and graduating high school, he took the Recreational Therapy program at Durham College.

Fonte’s inspiration stems from his own grandparents, as well as the 100+ residents that have become his adopted grandparents.

While he loves what he does and cares deeply for the nursing home residents he works with, Fonte is interested in expanding his horizons.

“I mean, I do love what I do,

but I think there’s other things out there I can love,” said Fonte.

Fonte has concerns about who

will fill his role when he inevitably decides to leave, knowing that not everyone would be as caring for the

residents as he is

“I’m doing the right thing and there is suffering here, but these people are thankful for me and I’m making it easier for them over the years,” said Fonte.

As a front-line worker, he faced increasing intensities in his position as the pandemic hit.

He found it difficult to maintain positivity during the COVID-19 outbreak in 2020. SunnyCrest had one of the biggest among nursing homes across the province.

At the end of November, almost every resident had been infected. All but one of the 118 residents tested positive for COVID-19, including 61 staff members.

“I was one of the lucky, very few people who didn’t [catch COVID-19]. So, I was working there for like two weeks straight essentially, while those 41 residents passed away. Everyone else in my department had COVID or took the time off, they didn’t want to work in that area … which is fine,” said Fonte.

Fonte had to follow strict COVID-19 safety protocols given he was working with many people who had the virus. This made an impact on his day-to-day life.

To gear up for work, he wears his scrubs, a gown, hand protection, plus a face mask and shield.

He had to do temperature checks daily at the beginning and end of his shifts, COVID-19 swab tests every other day and when away from work, remain isolated in his room.

This became his new norm.

Christmas 2020 Fonte spent working at SunnyCrest, then came home to self-isolate. His two older sisters came home for Christmas and he was not able to spend quality time with them or the rest of his family.

Fonte made sacrifices for the safety of the vulnerable residents.

This behaviour is not unlike him. His mother, Sally Roberston, says he is “genuinely a good person and cares a lot about other people.”

Growing up, Fonte made sure to look out for younger children within his neighbourhood and included them whenever possible. He also gave a lending hand to local elders.

“He really inspires me about how much he looks for and cares for people with maybe a smaller voice,” said Robertson.

His attitude from a young age reflected nothing short of Fonte’s hard work and kind words.

On Dec. 10 of this year, another COVID-19 outbreak was declared at SunnyCrest.

Fonte’s work is not done.

Domestic abuse: It Ends with Us

topics that get dissected by the main character Lily Bloom and her charming love interests.

Upon beginning It Ends with Us, many may think they’re reading another romance novel about a woman falling in love but that is just where the story begins.

Readers get taken back through Bloom’s past: growing up in a toxic household and her relationship with a homeless boy at her high school.

Caitlin Bolt The Chronicle

Colleen Hoover’s It Ends with Us is a viral book that helps readers understand why it can be hard to detach from domestic abuse.

On the video sharing app TikTok, there is a niche community of book readers who share their must-reads through the hashtag #BookTok.

It Ends with Us is one of the most discussed and well-loved books on the app with over 248 million views. This is for good reason.

When picking up the book, nowhere does it tell you the deep

As she breaks away from her painful past, she meets a neurosurgeon named Ryle Kincaid in Boston. From their first witty interactions, readers are hooked.

Hoover does an amazing job of making readers fall in love with him. A handsome, wealthy, romantic and intelligent neurosurgeon, how could one not?

Through evoking these feelings for the male characters early on while slowly being introduced to abusive behaviour that worsens, readers so badly want to focus on their good sides.

At times the good or romantic sides of someone can be so enthralling that it can be easy to turn a blind eye to the abusive moments that get covered up by showers of love or affection.

Hoover has people both cheering for Bloom to stay with the love

interest and yelling at her to leave while flipping through the pages. It speaks wonders to why people in domestic abuse situations stay.

When a life is built with someone you love and when the good times can be so good, sometimes the bad gets justified … and it shouldn’t.

It Ends with Us helps readers understand why it’s hard to not only leave domestically abusive relationships but also why it is so important to turn away from them.

Despite the cycles and patterns of abuse, this book shows the strength of women and triumphs over the power imbalance of abusive men.

More than 640 million or about 26 per cent of women globally have faced abuse from their partners, according to the most recent statistics from UN Women.

This is why the topic of domestic abuse is very prevalent to our society and important to be educated about. Reading It Ends with Us can do so by helping break the stigma revolving around domestic abuse survivors.

The 376-page book is an easy read that keeps readers needing to know how the story unfolds.

With an extremely satisfying ending, It Ends with Us proves is worth the read through and through. When wondering what book to dive into next, with the advice of TikTok, readers are in good hands.

*If you’re experiencing domestic abuse, support can be reached through Assaulted Women’s Hotline at the toll free number (1) 866-863-0511*

Photograph by Caitlin Bolt

Photograph courtesy of Jacob Fonte

Jacob Fonte, recreational therapist at SunnyCrest Nursing Home in Whitby.

'There is suffering here but these people are thankful for me and I'm making it easier for them over the years,' says frontline worker at nursing home

More than 640 million women globally have faced violence with partners

From Pine Falls to Peru: Fortier’s decades of diplomacy

Joey Cole

The Chronicle

Patricia Fortier’s co-worker gave her the nickname Mrs. World Crisis, and after a lengthy career in government often handling crisis management, it’s not hard to see why.

Fortier was raised in Pine Falls, Manitoba along with her two sisters.

After finishing high school, she received a scholarship to the University of Winnipeg in a liberal arts program, which she attended for one year.

Quickly realizing she didn’t enjoy the program she was in, she took off on a hitchhiking trip across Europe in the mid 1970s with her sister, Verla.

The pair crossed through the continent and at the end of their escapade, Fortier made a decision that would change the trajectory of her life: she went to Africa.

“Your life can change quite dramatically based on experiences,” said Fortier.

Accompanied by a friend, Fortier hitchhiked through Africa and fell in love with the desert, catching rides in trucks with nomads through the Sahara, often with a camel’s head resting on her lap.

“No one knew where I was, my parents thought I’d died,” said Fortier, “but that changed my life.”

She began studying African History at Queen’s University.

Along with a bachelors in African History, Fortier received a Master’s in Public Administration from Queen’s University, where she discovered a passion for municipal government.

Fortier worked in Public Planning and Transportation before getting admitted to Foreign Services, after only writing the admission exam because her friend asked her to accompany them.

In the following years, she was posted across the world, including Chile, Costa Rica, America, India, Kenya and Zambia.

She recalls listening to bombs fall on Uganda during the civil war in the 80s and being one of the first to enter the Luwero Triangle during a genocide that took the lives of an estimated 300,000 civilians.

At the height of the AIDS epidemic, Fortier visited villages in Africa populated only by children and seniors after rebel forces carried the deadly disease through the continent, killing thousands.

“This all got me thinking about conflict,” said Fortier.

Fortier joined the United Nations division of Foreign Services in 1989, the same year the Berlin Wall fell.

“I was on the Security Council and suddenly we had a whole new universe to work with, and we did,” said Fortier, “once I had a taste of multilateralism and conflict management, it was pretty clear that this is what I was good

at.”

Fortier spent the next few years working in Costa Rica and Peru in various Peacekeeping, Security and Human Rights related positions, as well as serving as the Weatherhead Fellow at Harvard University.

She later became the Canadian Ambassador to the Dominican Republic, Bolivia and Peru.Céline Heinbecker worked with Fortier in Lima as Second Secretary in the Political and Public Affairs section of the embassy, she is now a director at Global Affairs Canada.

“It was wonderful to see Patricia

make close personal connections to everyone we met, she had a warm approach and people responded to that.

Her connections were very useful for Canada and moving our files forward.

I also appreciated that she enjoyed the local culture as much as she cared about politics,” said Heinbecker on her time working with Fortier.

As Ambassador, Fortier monitored relations between these counties and Canada as well as trade and safety, among other things, with a staff of over 100 people, on average.

“Some people call being an ambassador kind of lonely, there’s not really anyone you can talk to,” said Fortier, “and you have to be ready to work hard.”

Fortier started work at sunrise with meetings scheduled by the half hour through the day.

Her daily responsibilities included presentations, speeches, events, and often late night work calls from the president.

Through the stress of high-demand jobs and crisis management, Fortier said the best way to deal with stress is to ‘just breathe.’

She also found physical activity and time with her family helped her deal with the stressful parts of her various jobs, which were outweighed by the ‘marvellous’ parts, according to Fortier.

Fortier said experience is helpful

in dealing with traumatic situations.

On September 11, 2001, Fortier was at the Canadian embassy in Washington, DC. which is stationed in between the Congress building and the White House.

“One of the things I remember vividly was standing on the roof of the embassy watching the plane that hit the Pentagon explode, and Washington is a marsh, so you can feel it under your feet,” said Fortier.

One of her final missions was acting as Head of Operations for the Syrian Refugee Movement, helping to bring 60,000 refugees into Canada in three months.

Not long after, she retired in 2016.

Fortier continues to work as a director on various boards, as well as mentoring students.

David Graff is one of Fortier’s mentees.

He moved to Ottawa in 2018 to get his master’s degree in political science from the University of Ottawa, where he was paired with Fortier through a mentoring program.

He graduated in June 2021 and said he owes much of his success to Fortier.

“She really encapsulates serving above all else, service above self. Patricia is Patricia, and what that means is supporting, caring, and including everyone.

She helps you become the best version of yourself,” said Graff.

Photograph courtesy of Patricia Fortier

Patricia Fortier on a walk through the woods.

She really encapsulates serving above all else, service above self.

DC safety boss is former cop

Jonathan Wilson The Chronicle

Thomas Lynch is the man in charge of making sure everyone is safe at Durham College and he has lots of experience as a parent, as a son and as a police officer.

Lynch grew up in Markham, Ont. near Highway Seven. He attended Markham District High School with 2,000 other students. He then moved to Toronto after he was hired by the Toronto police. Lynch spent time as an undercover detective at the Toronto Police Service from 1981 to 2001. He had to wear plain clothes and pose as something he wasn't.

Lynch went back to school at the University of Cincinnati to get a graduate degree in Justice Services. He graduated in 2010.

Lynch is the Director Of Campus Safety at both Durham College (DC) and the University of Ontario Institute of Technology (UOIT). Lynch has held that position since January of 2012.

Before he started his role as Director Of Campus Security, Lynch was a part-time professor at Durham College. He used his experience as a 30-year veteran with the Toronto Police Service to teach students at the college in Police Foundations from January 2011 to January 2012.

"I thought I had a fair bit to offer to a classroom in that I understood the theory behind policing and Justice Studies and I'd also walked in my older shoes as a police officer so I thought I could really combine those two aspects to provide a good curriculum and lesson plan to the students here at Durham College,"

he said.

Outside of policing and campus safety, Lynch has done theatre performances at the Oshawa Little Theatre (OLT).

With Lynch being an undercover police officer, he felt like he was acting but in a real-life situation which meant he would pretend to be a gang member so his team could prevent a drug deal from happening. This, according to him, has allowed him to be able to be a natural actor and act in several different musicals and plays.

Lynch has been in plays such as Little Women with Kathryn Fraser, a graduate of the journalism program at Durham College, now

the Social Media Coordinator at the Oshawa Little Theatre (OLT).

"His acting is so connective. He's really able to cast into a role and engage with the character and he truly transforms," said Fraser.

Lynch grew up in a musical family who sang Irish pub songs after they finished dinner. Lynch is also a guitar player and 'the number one' fan of the Arkells.

He jokingly admits that if the Arkells ever found out their number one fan is in his late 50s, they would most likely be disappointed.

Lynch's childhood also played a role in his love for music. His father played the piano but not very well he would say, according to Lynch.

"I'd like to think we're a musical family ourselves but lots of good times," he said. He has two sons who, according to Lynch, have forced their father to put his guitar down and sing instead.

As to why Lynch put down the guitar, he says it was because he played for 30 years and his sons picked up the guitar and were able to play better than him in three weeks. Lynch lost his father a few years ago. His father used to say, 'I'm your father, not your friend." When he buried his father he said, "I showed you in the end because we were the best of friends."

Lynch has been keeping people safe on campus, as a police officer, and as a parent.He feels policing helped prepare him for those roles.

"Policing prepared me to come here because I knew that I wasn't going to be called for birthday parties. I was going to be called for people that were looking for our help."

According to Lynch, being a police officers means you are only called for when something goes amiss. He feels being on campus reassured him he will only be helping when someone is in need of help. Not just when something has gone wrong.

Lynch has learned throughout his career everyone has a role to play, including, defense lawyers, protestors, and police officers.

"I think when I look back we can't take a lot of things in life too seriously or personally. We really have to understand that everybody out there is out there for a reason and has a role. And the sooner you know and respect that, the better you'll be off when it comes to having professional relationships."

Photograph courtesy of Durham College Photo Database

Tom Lynch is the Director of Campus Safety at Durham College.

Photograph courtesy of Tom Lynch

Tom Lynch has been the Director of Campus Safety at Durham College since 2012.

I showed you in the end because we were the best of friends.

TikTok showcases different cultures through dance

Desi Huddy

The

Chronicle

Nate James, 24, is a member of TikTok’s The Basement Gang, a group who uses dance to show off different music and dance styles from all around the world.

The Basement Gang was never meant to blow up, according to James. In 2019, they filmed themselves dancing for the first time but it was not until 2020 when they decided to post the video.

In May 2020, the first video was edited and all the members of the group really enjoyed it and since they all thought it was funny a member of the gang decided to post it on his account with about 10 followers, according to James.

“Then (I) woke up in the morning (and) it had a million views,” says James.

The group knew right from the beginning they wanted to be inclusive and diverse with all their content. The first video they ever posted was to a Spanish song.

“We get inspiration from basically like being Canadian and also living in like Toronto Mississauga area you go to school it’s like people of every culture around you,” says James.

Growing up, this environment influenced them to be inclusive. They’ll dance using music from all over because they have friends who represent those cultures, according to James.

“Appreciate their culture and put our own little twist on it,” he says.

Using their platform to showcase

diversity felt like the right thing to do to help bring attention to other cultures, the same way you would want people to bring attention to yours, according to James.

Kadeem Hemmings, 24, another member of The Basement Gang, can’t remember when he started dancing with James because they’ve known each other since high school.

Hemmings believes the Basement Gang’s content showcases enough diversity compared to other content on the app.

“I feel like no one really does stuff like we do,” says Hemmings Hemmings believes their account helps people from all over relate to them especially in such a multicultural place like North America.

“If you need something to just kind of pick you up, uplift your spirits, I think our accounts just a good way to take that mental break and just laugh,” says Hemmings. Whenever a new TikTok is uploaded, the comments are always flooded with fans who love what they are watching.

“As a minority going on TikTok, it’s not very common to come

across an account like that where they do show a lot more diversity and incorporate different cultures, it’s really refreshing,” says Amanda Lee, a Basement Gang follower who identifies as Chinese.

Lee points out being Canadian makes The Basement Gang’s content so “impactful” because of how many different ethnicities there are in Canada.

“Having an account like that is so important, their content is so positive, and it brings people together,” says Lee.

“As a whole they’re bringing together a community and using their platform to help spread an important message with a solid fanbase.”

James doesn’t have future plans for the group. The Basement Gang members just like to “go with the flow” because that’s what they have done so far and so far it has worked.

As of December 8, their account has 4.1 million followers.

Some ideas for future plans include events to meet people such as followers who helped the gang blow up on TikTok. Then there are the wedding invites.

“No word of a lie like 300 plus direct messages like ‘Hey, my wedding is this weekend, come’ or ‘My wedding is next year’,” says James.

As the account continues to gain momentum, The Basement Gang’s appreciation for their followers grows as well.

“If I had to say what I want people to feel after they watch our videos … (it’s) happy I guess and just taking away from the bad parts of the world,” says James.

Nate James, from his Instagram account.

Photograph courtesy of Nate James

Photograph by Basement Gang

The Basement Gang modelling the first collection of their merchandise.

'Then (I) woke up in the morning (and) it had a million views,' says James

U SPORTS hockey: Overlooked

Corrado Distefano

The Chronicle

Imagine you’re a major junior hockey player who has just finished your final year of eligibility and you are not taken in the National Hockey League Entry Draft. You now have a big decision to make: one that will shape your future.

You can either test your luck on lower-level pro leagues, if given the opportunity, and try to play your way to where you want to be or you can take the U SPORTS path and return to school.

The biggest difference between the two paths is that one relies solely on your on-ice ability to be able to make a living and the other puts a university degree in your back pocket.

U SPORTS hockey sometimes gets overlooked as a high-level league such as the Ontario Hockey League (OHL), Western Hockey League (WHL), and Quebec Major Junior Hockey League (QMJHL) because it consists of former junior players who didn’t go pro.

U SPORTS has improved rapidly in recent years, in terms of competitiveness.

Ontario Tech University’s men’s hockey head coach, Curtis Hodgins, has been coach of the team for five years and is his sixth year currently.

“I mean, the stigma is slowly starting to go away at the source level because people are now realizing just how good the hockey is and the talent level each year just continues to grow,” said Hodgins.

Most players played at a high level prior to starting their U SPORTS careers, except now they are growing and getting stronger, and faster as players.

Junior hockey consists of ages 16 to 21. Once a junior career is over and a player decides to play in U SPORTS, they become one of the younger players on the team.

University of Toronto head coach, Ryan Medal, also played U SPORTS hockey prior to becoming a coach.

“Junior hockey is a great development

league and it's really good hockey. But when you look at university hockey, it's 21to 25-year-old men playing,” said Medal. Players are no longer still teenagers and growing anymore, they’re adults playing other adults.

Cameron Hough, first-year player at Ontario Tech University where he is also studying Commerce, played both Major Junior and Junior A hockey before joining Ontario Tech.

“The main difference would be age, you know, you’re kind of back in that youngest guy position, usually when you start major junior you’re one of the youngest guys, there’s kids that’ll be four or five years older than you… and then when you go to university as a first year like I am you’re kind of back at the start again, there’s guys that are five or six years older,” said Hough.

James White is another first-year, com-

merce student playing on Ontario Tech.

With the age difference players have had more time to develop their skills, especially when practicing with older players.

“You have to make decisions more quickly and you don't have as much time. Everyone's so much older, right? You're going from 16 to 20 to 21 to 26. Everyone just has those like five extra years,” said White.

U SPORTS Hockey in Ontario also takes a bit of a back seat to the abundance of other hockey leagues in the area, whether it be professional or junior.

In Ontario, there is an abundance of junior and professional leagues that are more centred in the hockey world.

“I think that, you know, at times like we definitely get lost in the shuffle. I mean Ontario, but especially in the GTA, you know, you have the Leafs, and then you have the Marlies… and then you have the CHL.

There's I think seven teams, maybe within an hour and a half of Toronto. So, you know, the CHL is a big part of that,” said Medal.

U SPORTS falls behind in exposure also. People will have heard more of the OHL teams in the area instead of the U SPORTS teams.

Other places in Canada don’t have this issue. The University of New Brunswick hockey team is on another level to locals over there. Head coach of the team, Gardiner MacDougall, has been with the program for 22 years.

“You know, like it has a really good reputation here and in the league is very competitive and, you know, a good attendance in most of the arenas… They come Friday night. We have 3500 people at the game where probably, you know, you guys would get a couple hundred for a U SPORTS game,” said University of New Brunswick head coach, MacDougall.

The hardest part of U SPORTS hockey comes off the ice. While these players are practising four to five times a week and playing two games every weekend, they are also full-time students in university.

“I think for any university hockey player you definitely have to have time management skills and it's a balancing act. And you know, not only are you in class but, obviously you have a fair amount of work outside of class in terms of assignments and then, you know, preparing for midterms or finals or whatnot. But you're still on the ice,” said Medal.

“So far I found it not bad actually which, you know, I’ve stayed on top of my work which is good so it hasn’t been too much of an issue but for me and a couple of the other guys in the business program, there are a couple classes that consume a lot of your time,” said Hough.

U SPORTS hockey is not just about being able to perform on the ice, you need to find a balance between playing at the top of your game and staying on top of your studies.

Photograph by Corrado Distefano

Former Ontario Tech Ridgebacks forward, Cameron Hough, taking a shot on goal.

Photograph supplied by usports.ca

The University of New Brunswick after winning 2019 National Championship.

Getting Hired

This joint project between Durham College's Journalism - Mass Media program and the School of Justice and Emergency Services (SOJES) tells the stories of people working as police officers, security guards and with border services and their best advice on how to get hired. The Chronicle thanks those who shared their stories and Brendan Kennaley of SOJES for his work on this project. The Chronicle hopes the advice found on the following pages is beneficial not only to SOJES students, but to any students seeking help 'getting hired'.

A special Chronicle section, pages 19-31, aimed at giving students practical job hunting advice.

Durham Regional Police Services officer and Durham College graduate, Nathaniel Boodhoo. His story, page 22.

Flexibility key to 2022 job hunt, DC career coach says

Emily McPhail The Chronicle

Durham College (DC) career coach Alix Chasse has some advice for students graduating this spring – be open to options.

“That flexibility is going to help us also to navigate the uncertainty of what’s going on with COVID,” she says.

If a student is open to working in virtual, in-person or hybrid positions, Chasse says that will “add to their success”.

Don’t be afraid of contract positions and paid internships either, Chasse says. Anything that will give you experience and exposure in the industry is a good place to start.

Chasse says her work as a career coach involves anything that leads students “towards getting a job and being successful through the interviews.”

Career coaches at DC help prepare students to enter their field of choice and feel confident during the process.

Whether it’s help with writing a cover letter and resume or preparing for an interview, Chasse and her colleagues are there to help DC students.

“We also bring employers, and now normally I’d say on campus, it’s now virtually,” Chasse says, “but we connect with employers.”

Chasse has been a career coach with the DC’s Career Development office for more than 15 years.

Chasse found her way to career coaching later in life, she left a full-time job and went back to college the year she turned 30. She says college was perfect because she loved the practical experience it provided.

“I like supporting people,” Chasse says, “I want to see them grow.”

For students looking for work in the pandemic, one thing that remains almost unchanged is interview etiquette, Chasse says. Whether it be in-person or over a video chat function like Zoom, Chasse’s advice for preparing is very similar.

Going into an interview (whether in-person or Zoom)

Chasse says it’s a good idea to be aware of your own strengths and weaknesses in the workplace.

It’s also smart to have a few things prepared to respond to behavioural, scenario-based questions, Chasse says.

“The way that you would respond to the person interviewing, it’s still going to be eye contact, it’s still going to be, you know, smiling, your body language is still going to be there,” Chasse says.

The ability to place post it notes and personal reminders beside your computer is one of the bonuses a virtual interview has over an in-person one, she says. However, in a virtual environment, Chasse says it is important to think about your interview background. She suggests making sure the background of your Zoom shot is clear of clutter.

“You want to set it up so that it doesn’t look odd and

distracting,” Chasse says. “So it’s sort of looking at your surroundings where you’re going to be, are you going to have some privacy.”

It’s good to be prepared ahead of the interview time to make sure your technology is working smoothly as well, Chasse says. In that way, a virtual interview is a bit of extra work.

Not only do young people have to flexible in their search for employment in 2022, but employers have realized the importance of their employee’s work-life balance, Chasse says.

“I find that there are more virtual opportunities, right now, employers have realized that for their own employees to be satisfied and be happy,” says Chasse. “They have to have that flexibility, they have to provide some of the work-life balance.”

Photograph courtesy of Alix Chasse

A screen shot of career coach Alix Chasse taken via Zoom.

Photograph by Kathleen Hepworth

An exterior shot of the Student Services Building where Alix Chasse and colleagues work when on campus.

9-1-1 operators at DRPS: The first responders

Joey Cole

The Chronicle

In times of crisis, the communications department of the Durham Regional Police Service (DRPS) answers the call, literally.

“It takes a special kind of person to do this job,” said Nicole Holdforth, who has worked in the communications department of the DRPS as a 911 operator and dispatcher since 2019.

Holdforth graduated the corrections program at Durham College in 2018, deciding to pursue a career at the DRPS out of a desire to ‘give back to the community.’

The application process was a long one, according to Holdforth. After graduating, she attended seminars and events held by DRPS.

“I think one of the biggest things they want to see in recruits are people that are willing to give up their time, to show up, to volunteer, to be a part of the community,” said Holdforth, “once you do that, you start to network, start to learn things about the service. You meet a lot of people and get your feet on the ground.”

After networking for a year, she applied to the DRPS and went on to do a series of interviews and examinations regarding both her personal history and knowledge of police service.

“They really dig into what your intentions are, what you know about the service, what you expect from the service,” said Holdforth on the first round of interviews, which must be successfully passed to advance in the process.

The next round of interviews included scenario questions and aimed to learn about her life skills. Her personal life was examined in depth, according to Holdforth, who was asked about her personal history as well as her relationship with friends and family.

“One of the things my background investigator had told me was that ‘by the end of this I should

know you better than your friends’ so it’s really important to have a clean record going into it and know that someone is going to be digging really deep into who you are,” said Holdforth.

After this step was passed, a mental examination was done to ensure she was prepared to mentally handle the demands of the job.

Initially she did not pass all examinations, a year later she re-applied to the communications department and was hired.

According to Holdforth, communications training began with a three-month call-taking training process.

This included learning over 120 ‘call types’ and memorization regarding specific questions that must be asked when answering a 911 call.

She said this was ‘like learning a whole new language’ and said it was the most difficult part of her training process.

Afterwards she worked as a 911 operator and later a dispatcher, who serves as a middleman between the call taker and the emergency service workers who must be deployed.

According to Holdforth, at least 7 dispatchers must be working at all times and can be responsible for deploying up to 20 police officers at a time.

The job can be emotionally draining, according to Holdforth, as being a call taker includes communicating with members of the public who are in crisis.

“I think the bigger tips in terms of dealing with stress at our job is don’t take anything personally. Everyone is going through their own crisis, unfortunately you will get yelled at, you will be called names, you’ll get all kinds of people who aren’t happy with what you’re doing,” said Holdforth. “you have to disconnect yourself and don’t get too emotionally involved in what’s happening on the other end of the phone.”

Photograph from Nicole Holdforth

Nicole Holdforth has worked for the Durham Regional Police Service since 2019.

Photograph by Joey Cole

Communications handle call taking and dispatching.

'It takes a special kind of person to do this job,' says Durham grad

Nathaniel Boodhoo has been a police officer in Whitby for almost four years.

Durham police officer credits DC with helping him get the job

Durham police officer credits DC with helping him get the job.

Durham College alumnus Nathaniel Boodhoo, 26, has been a police officer in Whitby for four years.

The Durham Regional Police Services (DRPS) officer graduated from Police Foundations in 2015.

He went back to Durham for his Youth Justice and Interventions graduate certificate.

Boodhoo said police powers and psychology are two courses that are beneficial to students interested in this profession.

“[Police powers] went through an officer knowing his or her authority and being able to articulate that ability as well,” he said.

“I think that's really huge in policing nowadays, especially with people with video cameras and cell phones that are recording all the time and being able to articulate properly and knowing why they did something,” said Boodhoo, who grew up in Bowmanville and Courtice.

Psychology makes people aware of their biases and how police officers can deal with that, he said.

"There's certain things that maybe we do and we don't know why we do it or certain biases we have and being able to understand that as well.”

When Boodhoo was in Police Foundations, he took part in community policing where he implemented what he learned in psychology at “high risk schools” for youth in Oshawa such as Glen Street Public School, Mary Street Community School and Village Union Public School.

“That allowed us to go into what's called high risk schools for youth... and interact with the students that are having some trouble in the learning system, certain behavioural issues that they might have.”

“For us as younger future officers, to be able to go into those schools and interact with them, was very eye-opening.”

The recruiting process has had some changes since Boodhoo’s class, he said.

When he went to Ontario Police

College in Aylmer, “they had give or take 250 officers that would be going through the recruiting process,” whereas in his class at Durham “there was only 24.”

To get a police job in Ontario, candidates must get an Ontario Association Chiefs of Police certificate, pass written and math tests and a prep test, according to Boodhoo.

The prep test involves “certain things like running up one flight of stairs, going down one flight of stairs, going under a barrier, doing a push and pull test with the weight, dragging a mannequin or a dummy around a certain amount of cones, doing that in a certain amount of time,” he said.

Boodhoo said there are challenges with policing such as "responding to calls in a professional manner” and “being able to hold your composure” in different situations.

He also advises future police officers to build relationships with people in their community and other police officers by getting as many business cards and email addresses as possible.

“If you're looking to become an officer... I think being open and transparent with the people you're interacting with goes a long way and volunteering as much as you can.

“If you do want to become an officer, being able to network with different officers and not being afraid to stop them on the road,” he said.

Boodhoo likes to volunteer and interact with the public, a strategy he recommends aspiring officers follow.

"A lot of people think prior to becoming an officer, you have to do a lot of volunteer work and it kind of stops when you become an officer because now that you're hired, you move on to other things,” he said.

“I find myself volunteering more now than I've ever done before I was an officer - just having those opportunities.”

Every day is different with the calls and situations at hand, said Boodhoo.

He likes being able help people out “when it’s their worst day.

"I think it's a great platform for officers to have, where they're allowed to go out into the public and interact with all different types of people and helping them as best as they can,” Boodhoo said.

Photograph courtesy of Nathaniel Boodhoo

Photograph courtesy of Nathaniel Boodhoo

Nathaniel Boodhoo frequently takes part in community volunteering.

Neshya Carvalho The Chronicle

'I find myself volunteering more now than I've ever done before.'

Oshawa's Burke journeys to Alberta with RCMP

see that you're engaged in the command,” he said.

After passing cadet training, Burke said cadets are able to make a ‘wish list’ of where they’d like to be posted in Canada.

“Ultimately they choose where you go, then you get a week to go home pack your stuff and then head out to your post,” he said.

his professional journey is getting to meet all sorts of people across Canada.

During the holidays constables get to interact with the public through different events. Burke said he enjoyed handing out candy to children, who were dressed up in RCMP costumes and visited his detachment on Halloween.

Burke, 26, from Oshawa, has been working as an RCMP constable in High Level, Alta. since June, 2021. Prior to arriving in Alberta, Burke did training in Saskatchewan, after finishing his education in Ottawa.

Burke went to school for Police Foundations at Algonquin College and then applied for cadet training at the RCMP Academy located in Regina, Sask. He spent the next six months doing what he said they like to call a “six-month interview.”

Cadets are trained on their fitness lev-

els, defence tactics and firearm training. The testing also includes a multiple-choice entrance exam, called the RCMP Police Aptitude Test (RPAT), which is designed to measure an applicant's potential for police work.

Applicants also need to do a polygraph test to measure honesty.

“Honesty is one of the RCMP’s core values,” Burke said.

Being fit and in good physical shape is another big factor in if an applicant is chosen.

“They want to make sure that physically and mentally you're fit, and they want to

Burke said he treated his posting like a “sports draft,” because he was willing to go anywhere in Canada.

“Ontario is always home. But just having the opportunity to travel the country is really awesome,” he said.

In the end, he was posted in High Level, Alta. Burke said he’s pleased he got placed in Alberta since he’d never seen the mountains before.

“I’ve seen photos of the mountains, but once you see it in person, the photos don’t do it any justice,” he said.

Burke said the most rewarding part of

He remembers walking in the Canada Day Parade last summer.

“I also got to put on the Red Serge (red jacket of RCMP uniform) and do the Canada Day Parade. Seeing the little kids smile at you and everyone having a good time really makes the job rewarding,

“It's nice to see that people do look up to you, and it's not always negative,” Burke said.

Although 'mounted' is in the name of the RCMP, you won't find Burke riding a horse in Alberta.

“The horses are usually only for ceremonies,” Burke said.

Sean Burke is in his first year as a constable with the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP), but his journey has already taken him across the country.

Sean Burke, RCMP constable in traditional uniform.

Photo courtesy of Sean Burke

Cheyenne Jarrett

The Chronicle

'The opportunity to travel the country is really awesome'

DC prepares Mitchell to become border agent

Shaleel Griffith-Ross

The Chronicle

If Reba Mitchell gets her way, she'll be working for Canadian Border Services Agency (CBSA) before too long.

"I want to work at CBSA because I've always loved airports, seeing people come from all around the world and the diversity and opportunities for everyone," says Mitchell. "I was never really fully set on being a police officer and this job just stands out to me."

The 27-year-old is a graduate of two Durham College (DC) programs - Advanced Law and Police Foundations.

Prior to enrolling at DC, Mitchell didn’t know what career path she wanted.

She went to Denis O'Conner catholic high school in Ajax, Ont.

After being in the sea cadet program during her later years of high school, she made a decision.

“I liked being in uniform,” says Mitchell. “In high school I wore a uniform, in cadets I wore a uniform and I’m a security supervisor now, so I wear a uniform now.”

Mitchell currently works for Pal-

adin security after getting hired in 2016.

Her journey started when decided to apply to DC's police foundations program, starting in September 2013.

Mitchell says her teachers were very helpful.

“It showed a lot of different opportunities especially if you didn’t

just want policing,” says Mitchell. “There’s law enforcement paths you can choose like corrections, working in jails and stuff.”

For the field placement portion of the program, there were many different options to choose from, says Mitchell.

“Some people did bylaw, some

people did alcohol and gaming commission,” says Mitchell. “I did Porter Airlines and also did a group home.”

Immediately after graduating from police foundations in 2015, she enrolled in advanced law.

She says the program revealed how dangerous some of these enforce-

ment-related jobs are.

She is currently in the application process for the Canadian Border Services Agency.

“It supposed to be like a year to a year-and-a-half,” says Mitchell, “but because of COVID I’ve been in the process for three years, so it’s been very, very long.”

The best part about her current job is the people she gets to meet on a daily basis such as nursing staff at the hospital, Mitchell says

“I worked in the Scarborough hospitals,” says Mitchell. “I was working as a security guard for my first two-anda-half years at the Scarborough General and Birchmount campus.”

Students interested in working for the CBSA should be building up their portfolio right now, Mitchell says.

“The portfolio when I was in college was the number one thing,” says Mitchell. “Showing your volunteer work, your certifications and everything like that.”

Mitchell says getting involved in the community and getting to know your teachers is important as well.

“Don’t give up it's going to get stressful there’s always hard times,” says Mitchell, “but you can get through it."

Photograph courtesy of Reba Mitchelll

Reba Mitchell, a security guard at Paladin Security.

Photograph courtesy of Google.

Canadian Border Services Agency badge.

Rouw trains new employees at Brinks

Safa Hussein The Chronicle

The more interest you have when applying for a job, the more opportunities and doors can open up for you.

This according to the manager of operational training for Brinks Canada Limited, Dale Rouw. Brinks is a security and cash management company whose clients include banks, retail stores and jewellers.

Rouw has worked with the company for 25 years, after taking law and security program.

"As I grew into several roles I worked towards certificate programs related to business, teaching and training adults and health and safety," said Rouw.

He also have specialized instructor qualifications in first aid, driver development and firearms training.

After working in a variety of positions, Rouw now works in the training department.

"It was really exciting to be able to learn all these different roles, and grow, but also be involved in so many different things," said Rouw.

As the job market is highly competitive, Rouw says it is essential to have background experiences in some positions.

However, when Brinks hires new graduates, it is normally for customer-facing, frontline work including driving security vehicles, according to Rouw.

Since people come with and variety of educational backgrounds, Rouw said most of the people who apply for a job have graduated from a post-secondary police foundations program.

So, Brinks does a pre-hire evaluation to test the driving skills of applicants. Also, since most of the company's frontline employees are armed, new hires need to have a licence for that, which requires a two-day course.

"Those courses are, you know, kind of in-demand for some people, and it might be difficult to coordinate," said Rouw.

According to Leigh-Anne John, Brink's senior manager of talent and workforce planning, some of the most common entry-level jobs are part-time guard positions, which are customer-facing and cash logistics processing, which takes place inside a bank branch.

The company has roughly 2,000 employees in Canada and more 50,000 employees worldwide, which grows year-over-year globally, she said.

They also hire 300-500 people per year.

"One of the things that we always look for is people who are customer service-focused, so people who maybe throughout high school and post-secondary education," said John.

Before applying, some of the positions would require handling cash or other precious commodities, so there is a potential to be targeted for a robbery, according to Rouw.

"That's why our people are armed, and they wear, you know,

bullet-resistant vests, and they have bullet-resistant vehicles," said Rouw.

He said employees are armed with semi-automatic pistols.

That's why the company has to make sure employees are trained well, so they can deal with any threats, according to Rouw.

Although Rouw came into the company with some skills, knowledge and some background qualifications, he is willing to grow people who start off for the company.

Photograph courtesy of Dale Rouw

Dale Rouw, manager of operational training for Brinks Canada.

Photograph courtesy of Dale Rouw

Dale Rouw training on site at Brinks.

There are so many things that are unique to the job, and we will help people.

Journey to special constable

Caitlin Bolt The Chronicle

Kate Wright, 30, of Bowmanville has been a special constable for more than three years with Durham Regional Police (DRPS) and most recently Metrolinx, a government agency responsible for road and public transportation in the GTA and Hamilton.

Wright was hired by Metrolinx in December after starting her career with DRPS.

The position of special constable is highly competitive, she said, offering the following advice to anyone interested in the job.

“Make yourself competitive, because you're up against a lot of other people. So the more that you can add on your resume that you dealt with, and that you were a part of, it only makes you look more competitive when it comes time to apply,” said Wright.

Her journey began by taking pre-med science at Fleming College in 2010. Wright dropped out of the program when she found out she was pregnant with her son.

In 2015 she returned to school at Durham College to take the paralegal course.

Wright graduated with honours and won the Gordon Willey Award for scholarship, leadership and integrity.

In her role at DRPS she escorted prisoners to bail hearings, booked them in and processed their fingerprints. She also prepared their files for bail hearings, DNA analysis upon convictions

and transported women and youth between facilities.

This is different from her new special constable job at Metrolinx.

Wright wanted more hours at DRPS, but did not pass the physical test necessary to get taken on full time. She said she was still

in the process of recovering from a broken leg when she took the physical.

Metrolinx was offering the same position with full-time hours, but different duties such as patrolling stations and railways. She said she made the decision that was best for her family.

“So before I was in a consolidated building, when I was at the courthouse in the cellblock, now I'm out on the street patrolling. I'd say it's more similar to a police position,” said Wright.

As part of the hiring process at Metrolinx, Wright had to answer background questions, do an interview, then undergo physical and psychological exams.

She said she had to answer questions about her life after graduating high school, get a score of seven on the beep (running) test, and answer hundreds of questions for the psychological exam.

The hiring process took about six months to complete.Wright is in the midst of a training program at Metrolinx that is similar to the one she went through at DRPS.

It includes eight weeks taught by a variety of instructors that includes hands-on tactical training, use of force and legal aspects of the job. This is followed by five weeks working with a field training officer.

Metrolinx hires about twice a year, she said.

There are more than 100 special constables, 14 of whom are currently in class with Wright. Wright said Metrolinx typically has class sizes ranging from six to

10 people.

Wright recommends students seeking employment in this role take initiative in volunteering to put on a resume.

“I know, a lot of applicants get, you know, turned back around because they want them to have more experience. So volunteers, huge, some sort of legal schooling is also very helpful,” said Wright.

When applying she included her volunteer work with coaching sports, a soup kitchen and a foster home where she worked with males who were victims of sexual abuse.

Wright also suggests seeking mentorship from someone who is in this field of work.

“I'm always willing to help out others and if it's something that you truly want, just don't give up. Make it your goal,” said Wright.

Wright hopes to become a police officer one day, but for now she loves being a special constable.

Photograph courtesy of Kate Wright

The now retired chief of police from Durham Regional Police Service, Paul Martin with Kate Wright at her badge ceremony.

Photograph courtesy of Kate Wright Special constable at Metrolinx, Kate Wright.

Make yourself competitive, because you're up against a lot of other people.

McDonald: 'How much I wanted it'

and an “ECI” interview which is a competency test that officers must pass, she said.

Officers then go back for one last interview, followed by psychological testing done online, a meeting with a psychiatrist, and a background check with an investigator.

“I had to get records from police in Scotland,” said McDonald.

Desi Huddy

The Chronicle

Adrienne McDonald has travelled across the Atlantic ocean to eventually become a Durham Regional police officer. Since arriving from her home country of Scotland.

She describes her main role as saving lives, which “manifests in so many different ways,” according to McDonald.

“Your role is whatever your role needs to be until the right person gets there, you wear a uniform that says police but you’re not just a cop,” she said.

McDonald was hired in Oct. 2018 and received her badge in May 2019.

McDonald described the hiring process as "a lot but can be done fairly quickly." It starts with an online application, then a pre-background questionnaire and 20-minute interview.

If you’re successful with that Durham police does a “blended interview” which combines two essential interviews, the local focus interview which focuses on Durham and the officer themselves

Training starts with five weeks at Durham Region Police to get new hires ready for the academy and then requires them to go to the Ontario Police College for three months in Aylmer, Ont, followed by five weeks back at Durham Regional Police.

The five-week return to Durham Regional Police finishes up the training where officers get certain qualifications specific to Durham such as radar before being sworn in, according to McDonald.

After being hired, officers also do training once a year.

Volunteering is a great thing to have on a resume, according to McDonald, who also recommends reaching out to police officers for their advice.

After more than three years on the job McDonald points out Interactions with officers can be life changing to people. Most times something that seems small to officers is a big deal to whoever called them, she added.

“Being aware of how you carry yourself affects other people,” she said. “That’s a big one because I didn’t realize quite so much before I got hired just how much a small, tiny interaction with a person can change your entire day.”

She used her real-life experience such as, coming from a broken home, to get hired and it’s also helped her on the job.

“To get hired from policing was honestly like a full-time job in itself,” she said.

After not even one year at a college in Scotland for Sports and Exercise Science McDonald found herself moving to Canada without any college credits and working night shifts for CN Rail.

When she would leave her job as a crane operator where she had good references and a good career.

She would drive from Hamilton to Oshawa in rush hour traffic at the end of her shifts to attend al-

most every training at practice prep sessions Durham police held. Volunteering and researching about the region also helped her secure her job.

McDonald also looked at the Durham Regional Police business plan to get more information.

By doing all of this she started to get her name out there and get better which didn’t go unnoticed.

“If I wasn’t working, I went,” she said. “Just to show how involved I was and how much I wanted it and it eventually paid off.”

When McDonald was hired in 2018 there was 1200 employees which included sworn officers and civilians.

Amongst those are many positions including, police officers, sergeants, staff sergeants, division inspectors, and specialty units such as K9.

There are three classes a year that go to the academy on average right now 15 to 20 people get hired per class with only a five per cent success rate, according to McDonald.

Photograph courtesy of Adrienne McDonald

Adrienne McDonald an officer with Durham Regional Police.

Photo courtesy of Adrienne McDonald

Adrienne McDonald, an officer with the Durham Regional Police, standing with a LGBTQ+ Police cruiser.

Experience, passion to learn help her get dream job with DRPS

DC grad to Durham security guard

In some smaller locations there are one-man security guard sites, whereas Ajax hospital, has four security guards.

“What I am right now it's currently a rapid response guard. So, it's basically a position where they fill you as they need,” says Stuckey.

Kayla Jackson

The Chronicle

Brandon Stuckey is a 2019 Durham College graduate who currently studies Forensic Psychology at Ontario Tech University. While also studying he works as a security guard for many hospitals and health-care centres in Durham Region.

Stuckey got the job as a security guard two weeks after graduating from Durham College.

“I applied to a bunch of different security firms. I got a call back from all of them. I got offers from all of them," says Stuckey.

"And then it was just the point of sitting down looking at what each company had to offer, what each job entailed. How was the commute and obviously who had the better wages and benefits.”

Stuckey says he mostly works at Lakeridge Health in Oshawa but he “flows” between all the other locations in Durham when needed.

Day-to-day work consists of regular core guard duties and patient watches. Stuckey also recently applied for a full-time position strictly so he can work straight days.

Stuckey says that each population in every hospital is different.

Stuckey’s goal is to be a full-time guard at the Oshawa hospital. Currently being a part-time employee, he has been able to obtain some full-time shifts at the hospital after a few of the security guards got a job at the new casino in Pickering.

“I found not knowing where I was going to work everyday kind of puts the burden of stress on me, it doesn't seem like it would. But when you wake up every day, and you don't know where you're going to work until three hours before your shift starts. It's kind of nerving. And it's kind of annoying because you want to mentally prepare yourself for the day ahead,” says Stuckey.

Stuckey says when it comes to security and job requirements, applicants will need a mandatory First Aid CPR, Class C, security licence, criminal background check, and vulnerable sector check.

“When you work in security, you have to have your licence on you at all times. If anybody that you run into on a day-to-day basis, they ask you to show your licence, we have to present our licence and show them our licence number or else we can get fined under the Private Security Act. It's a fine of $150,” says Stuckey.

“You're working with vulnerable people at the hospital…So that's a huge vulnerable population that we encounter…so that's why it's crucial to have that criminal background check and vulnerable sector check.”

After getting the job as a security guard, Stuckey says he had to go through course training at head office, which is 30 days, and then he was deployed to all the different Lakeridge Health locations.

"And after you've done all that they technically considered you to

know everything about the hospital, but obviously even now I'm still 10 months into it, I'm still learning stuff,” says Stuckey.

Stuckey says he learns most from his fellow employees, security guards as well as the Durham Regional Police officers.

Stuckey says working as a security guard is just a steppingstone and it’s not going to be his end career.

“If you just work hard and put yourself out there and show that you want something really badly, you can do it 100 per cent,” says Stuckey.

Chronicle file by Andrea Eymann

One of the places Brandon Stuckey works at is Lakeridge Hospital in Oshawa.

Photograph by Brandon Stuckey

Brandon Stuckey is a Durham College graduate who went on to attend Ontario Tech University.

Hired two weeks after graduating from Durham College

Acting Sergeant Amy Chatten has been a member of the Durham Region Police Service for more than a decade. She has experience in both recruiting and training.

DRPS: Joining the ranks

Mitchell Reid

The Chronicle

Among the thousands of people who apply to the Durham Regional Police Service (DRPS) annually, only up to five per cent are likely to be hired. And according to a police trainer, those who are hired are in line for significant training.

Acting Sergeant Amy Chatten of DRPS works in her police service's training branch, but before then she served as one of the recruiting officers for four years. As a member of DRPS for 13 years, becoming an officer at age 23, her recruitment experience differed from what new prospective officers might experience today. However, she still offers insight as a trainer and former recruiter herself.

Chatten graduated from Sir Sandford Fleming College’s Police Foundations program and her first step to join the field of policing was to gain real-world experience.

"I worked at a casino in Port Perry," Chatten says. "I did some security work there for three years before I applied to Durham Regional Police Service."

According to Chatten, gaining relative experience to policing is vital to getting hired. It helps show a candidate has developed trans -

ferable skills applicable to policing for DRPS. When filing a resume, it is essential that all details of past employment and volunteer experience is included.

Policing is a highly competitive market, Chatten says, and many skills are required in order to be considered for a sworn position as an officer.

One such skill recruiters look for in applicants is common sense.

Chatten says it is expected applicants are applying to more than one policing body when seeking employment, however it's important to customize each application to suit the appropriate institution.

"Proofread your work," Chatten says. "Be professional in your language that you're using."

According to Chatten, if an applicant looks acceptable more interviews are scheduled. Applicants are expected to keep fitness logs and stay in shape.

They must undergo thorough background and behavioural examinations, knowledge tests for competency, pre-background interviews, and psychological analysis.

“It’s a very invasive process,” Chatten explains.

“But you have to be willing to give up that

information because you are being trusted with the community.”

Chatten says the process has gotten a little easier as more tests have shifted online.

“Instead of waiting for a specific time of year, you can schedule it virtually and the tests are virtually-proctored,” she says.

Chatten’s advice to those seeking to get into policing is to know why they wish to do so.

"So oftentimes, we see a lot of candidates that say, 'you know, I'm sure I want to be a police officer like this is what I've always wanted to do'," she says.

"And so I always say, 'Well, how do you know you want to do that? You know, what have you done to make you sure this is a career for you for 30 years?' And oftentimes they don't have an answer."

According to Chatten, applicants need to have initiative in order to be successful in policing.

If an applicant knows they have a weakness, Chatten says to focus on improving it. Lastly, she reminds all applicants that it is essential to read job postings fully.

Many of the thousands of applicants are rejected based on the fact they do not meet the basic requirements for the career.

Photograph provided by Acting Sergeant Chatten

You are being trusted with the community.

DC grad offers advice to students

From DC to OTU to York Regional Police

Corrado Distefano

The Chronicle

Durham College (DC) graduate and current Ontario Tech University (OTU) student, Quinton Armstrong has been working towards being a member of the York Regional Police.

Armstrong graduated from the police foundations program at DC in 2019, then bridged over to OTU's Forensic Psychology program. Armstrong’s goal is to be a member of a police service's emergency response team (known in the U.S. as a SWAT team).

Armstrong has been hired by York Regional Police (YRP), but with COVID-19, the start of his career has hit a bump in the road.

“It was kind of one of those situations where, 'hey you have the job, but with COVID we can't start you', which I get. So I haven't done anything yet with them,” said Armstrong.

He has been keeping busy, however. In addition to his studies, Armstrong has been doing some general labour work, and picked up a job at a casino as a security guard.

One of the most important things he is continuing to do is take care of his body, making sure he’s eating right, cardio training, and overall making sure he stays in the proper shape to do well on the YRP fitness testing.

“It's not easy, especially when you're trying to balance a social life, balance a workout, studies, hanging out with friends, like all these things take effect,” said Armstrong.

The interview process is as indepth as it can get in any field of work, he said.

“You got your pre backgrounds, two psych tests, fitness test and a health check. That costs a lot of money from their perspective. So, the last thing you want to do is waste their time.”

Armstrong signed a required non-disclosure agreement, however there was some advice he had for students and people who want to be in law enforcement.

“You have to be honest; you don't want to get caught lying. The moment you get caught lying it's going to go and screw you,” said Armstrong.

Even if someone told a small lie that may not seem like a big deal it would have a bad look, said Armstrong.

If someone would lie about something little, a police academy would wonder what would happen if the individual was dealing with something far worse.

Another challenge that comes from a career in law enforcement is passing the numerous cardio and fitness tests prior to getting hired, he said.

“Go to the gym, do your thing, do your cardio, because that's what most of your fitness testing is going to be, cardio,” said Armstrong. Volunteering is another key to landing the right job post-graduation, he said. It doesn’t necessarily have to be in the law enforcement area, either.

“It could be going to retirement homes, coaching sports, or playing games with people. Like it's really anything that you find passion in. That's what they're going to look for," said Armstrong.

"They don't want something you're just going to do until you get hired because that's the point, the purpose of being in the community.”

The process of getting hired in law enforcement can be physically draining, but it’s also a mental game with yourself, he said. There is a lot of discipline and decision-making that goes into how you want to handle building a career.

“There's no shame in waiting. The job's always going to be there, sometimes they are hiring more than others, but there's nothing wrong with sitting there and being like, 'hey, you know what? I'm not ready yet, but in a couple of years, and when I get more volunteer experience, work experience, get my degree or get more education, then I'll be ready',” said Armstrong.

Submitted photograph

The York Regional Police service was established in 1971.

Photograph supplied by Quinton Armstrong

Quinton Armstrong is studying Forensic Psychology at Ontario Tech University.

Here's what it takes to be an Ontario Provincial Police officer

Vandita Kumar

The Chronicle

More than 1,000 people apply to become an Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) officer each year but only a few are lucky enough to be recruited.

This is according to OPP constable Michael Tracey, who has been working at the Whitby detachment since 2018. He works with 40 other officers in Whitby.

Tracey attended Durham College in 2013 where he studied Police Foundations. He then enrolled in Protection, Security and Investigation. While attending school, he worked part-time, volunteered and has been in the Canadian Armed Forces for about nine years.

He encourages any students applying to have a full resume of work and volunteer activity.

“If you just do the bare minimum, and there are people that are doing more than you, you're going to be put on the bottom of the list, right?," Tracey says.

"So the more you do, the more busy you are, the more you volunteer, the more you work while you're in school, the more life experience that's going to put you on the top of the list.”

According to Tracey, the hiring process has many steps. First is filling out a long application form.

Next comes the fitness log sheets applicants are required to fill out every week to track their workout regimen. Being fit is a requirement for the job, he says.

For the final step in the hiring process, applicants are required to undergo a pre background questionnaire which takes place at the Toronto or Whitby detachment.

This is where the OPP learns as much as it can about an applicant. Once that is done, the next step is going to the OPP's headquarters in Orillia. Here, a more complete interview takes place, he says.

Tracey recalls talking about everything during his interview.

“You're talking about your whole life from birth until where you are

now," he says. "You're explaining all your education, all your work experience, life experience and volunteering.”

After the interview, a background investigator is assigned to the applicant.

“This is someone that's going to be close with you. They're going to probably talk to you on the phone,

they're going to send you text messages and you're going to keep them updated,” he says.

Tracey says it can take up to almost a year to get hired. Some officers have had to wait six months but luckily for him, he says, he was hired in three months.

He recommends potential officers have first aid and CPR qualifications. He also says clean driving records are an expectation but the OPP understands some people might have minor infractions.

“Just because you have a couple of tickets doesn't mean that's the end for you, and you'll never have a chance of being a police officer," Tracey says.

"We're all young when we get our licence, we all make mistakes. But obviously, the bigger mistakes you make, it's gonna put you kind of lower at the bottom.”

To be an OPP, it's competitive, but going in with good bonds with everyone and getting a bunch of life experience will help you get to the top.

Tracey’s best advice is to “just stay busy.”

He says to “do school, work, volunteer, and then life experience. Try new things, meet new people. Especially at the college, you want to make lots of bonds there with the professors, you want them to know who you are, and to remember your name.”

Photograph courtesy of Durham College database

A police officer speaks with a civilian while on the job.

Photograph courtesy of Ontario Provincial Police

An Ontario Provincial Police uniform logo.

Ford sets a new standard

The 2021 Ford F-150 hybrid is the ultimate pickup

Felipe Salomao

The Chronicle

The Ford Motor Company started to produce the Ford TT truck in 1917. As this model was making revenue, Ford invested and designed a variant from the Model T pickup chassis in 1925.

Today, the fourteenth generation Ford F-150 Lariat 4×4 SuperCrew V6 Hybrid pickup represents every mile of development learned from the past.

As expected, the 2021 Ford F-150 is enjoyable to drive due to the electronic power-assisted and the chassis, making the handling precise. The impression is that the F-150 does not weigh more than 5,200 lbs. because the pickup is

surprisingly agile.

It is also easy for the driver to find a perfect position the Lariat has the power seat, a power adjusts pedal, and a steering wheel with power Tilt/Telescoping.

This version is the SuperCrew, which fits five occupants perfectly thanks to the long wheelbase. The rear seating offers plenty of rear legroom and comfort.

Additionally, the Lariat version redefines the word ‘practical.’ Passengers can charge their laptops

through the 2.4kW socket.

The two must-have options, the 360-degree camera, helps motorists see any obstacle when backing up.

The tailgate step makes it easier to remove and load items into the pickup bed.

In terms of engines, Ford embraced the hybrid variation.

The F-150’s customers can choose the 3.5-litre V6-engine that works with the Alternating Current (AC) motor for a combined outpu-

tof 430 horsepower and 570 lb-ft of torque.

But is the V6-hybrid engine worth the $ 2,825 (after-tax) investment compared to the V6 non-hybrid? The answer is yes.

Recently, gas prices have skyrocketed to an average of $ 1.40/L.

Fuel consumption for the hybrid is 10 km/l, and the gas engine is 7.4 km/l.

After the break-even point of 57,653 km, the hybrid engine saves $2,084 when it reaches 100,000 km

and emits 4,500,000 g/km less CO2 than the gas engine. Also, when the hybrid version achieves 300,000 km, the V6-hybrid saves more than $15,000 and emits 13,000 tons less CO2.

The motorist can customize how the engine map will perform. There are eight configurations, but what stands out are the Normal and Sport modes.

The electric motor and the gas engine work together when the Normal mode is on, making the pickup almost silent. The only sound inside the cabin comes from the batteries with the characteristic whirring sound when recharging.

For drivers who appreciate more engine power from the V6-engine, the Sport mode maximizes the performance. The gas engine is predominant, and the torque is remarkably linear.

Nevertheless, paddle-shifters are not available for the Lariat. Ford decided to reserve them for the F-150 Raptor. It is a disappointment that this pickup truck costs more than $75,000 and does not offer the shift paddle even as an option.

After 104 years of experience, the 2021 F-150 Lariat 4×4 SuperCrew V6 Hybrid pickup is brilliant in every way. It performs well, is greener than the V6 gas engine, and is roomy enough for the whole family. For this reason, the F-150 was the best-selling pickup truck in Canada last year.

Photograph by Felipe Salomao

The steering wheel and console of the hybrid F-150 made by Ford Motor Company.

Photograph by Felipe Salomao

The Ford F-150 was the best-selling pickup truck in Canada in 2021.