The Runner Volume 10, Issue 2

VOLUME 10 // ISSUE 2 september 19 2017 runnermag.ca

CUTTING THE RED TAPE ON STUDENT HOUSING News

Feature

Opinion

B.C. NDP Waives Post-Secondary Tuition for Youth in Care

Experts Debate the Impact of B.C.’s Foreign Investors

KPU Should Adopt Naloxone Kits on Campus

2 table of contents

staff 04

News|B.C. NDP Waive Post-Secondary Tuition for Youth in Care

Coordinating Editor Alyssa Laube editor@runnermag.ca

Managing Editor

Connor Doyle managing@runnermag.ca

Production Manager

Melanie Tan production@runnermag.ca

Art Director

Nicole Kwit art@runnermag.ca

Photo Editor

Braden Klassen photos@runnermag.ca

The provincial government has announced a tuition waiver program that will give free post-secondary education to young adults aging out of the foster care system. Students aged 19 to 26 who were in foster care for at least two years are eligible for the waiver.

10

features|Cutting the Red Tape on Student Housing

“We are actively pursuing some opportunities for establishing student residencies, both in Surrey and in Richmond,” says KPU President Alan Davis. “We’ve had some ideas and some drawings and some consulting work done. There is active discussion going on with government, private investors, and developers because there is a way of doing this that can satisfy all parties.”

12

culture|DigitaLENS Helps Kids “Take Back the Lens”

DigitaLENS provides students with “a safe place to talk about real issues that are happening,” says program coordinator Aisha Amijee. “They’re being misrepresented, so what can they do to take back the lens and tell their own stories?”

15

opinions|The Logical Next Step: Naloxone Kits on Campus

Naloxone is an injection-based treatment similar in function to an EpiPen. It works by pushing opioid agonists out of the corresponding receptors in the central nervous system and binding to the receptors themselves.

This reverses the effects of an overdose, and has a high chance of saving the user’s life.

Staff Writer

Joseph Keller staff@runnermag.ca

#FeatureTweets Web Editor

Mel Pomerleau web@runnermag.ca

Use #kpu or #runnermag in your tweet, and you could be featured in the next issue!

Community Reporter

Ashley Hyshka community@runnermag.ca

Operations Manager Scott Boux office@runnermag.ca 778.565.3801

contributors Justin Bige Kyrsten Downton Kristen Frier Sarah Maryschuk Scott McLelland

Cover by Nicole Kwit Braden Klassen

Fall Semester 2017 Student Publication Fee Opt-Outs available in person Sept. 5 - Oct. 31.

Student ID & Proof of registration and payment required.

PIPS Office: Arbutus 3710, Surrey Campus.

Hours: 10 - 5 Monday to Friday.

Phone: 778-565-3801 Email: office@runnermag.ca

Arbutus 3710/3720 12666 72 Ave. Surrey, B.C, V3W 2M8 778.565.3801 www.runnermag.ca Vol. 10, Issue no. 2 September 19 // 2017 ISSN# 1916 8241

The Runner is student-owned and operated by Kwantlen Polytechnic University students, published under the Polytechnic Ink Publishing Society. The Runner recognises that our work, both in and out of the office, takes place on unceded Coast and Strait Salish territories, specifically the shared traditional territories of the Kwantlen, Katzie, Semiahmoo, Sto:lo and Tsawwassen First Nations. Our name is inspired by the hun’qumi’num meaning of Kwantlen, which is tireless hunters or tireless runners. Just as Kwantlen is adaptable and changing so is The Runner.

editorial 3

From The Editor

What’s Happening this month

Don’t live in fear of Surrey’s gang violence

Sept. 19

Our Home on Native Land As part of their Dis/Orientation Days series, KPIRG will be exploring the process of decolonization and raising awareness of the sovereignty of the Unceded Coast Salish peoples.

7:00 pm - 10:00 pm, Surrey campus, free.

Sept. 20 Birch Space Celebration

(Scott McLelland)

Alyssa Laube | coordinating Editor When shells fall on the doorsteps of Surrey’s upper-middle class homes, local media often flock around the homeowners for information. Much more common than interviews with a gang member’s loved ones are profiles on citizens who are concerned about feeling secure in their neighbourhood.

This concern might be valid in theory, but in practice, average Surrey residents are rarely harmed in gang-related shootings. It’s the people in gangs who are killing and being killed, all the while having an inhuman representation of themselves broadcasted for the world to see.

Surrey will never end its gang violence if it continues to demonize the people who are involved in it. While

there are countless factors that have contributed to where the city’s gang violence is today, it seems obvious that pushing people away out of fear is more than just ignorant. It simply doesn’t work.

Linda Hepner, the Mayor of Surrey, has done little to help create a more neutral environment in the city as of late. At an early August press conference she said that a “toe tag and jail are the only options for these guys if they don’t choose to accept the help we would offer if they want to end their gang life,” adding an ominous threat that the city was “coming after” them.

It seems that the municipal government has been fighting these issues for so long that they have lost their patience. Now, they’re acting ignorant and brash.

Mayor Hepner’s words will do nothing to convince gang members to turn themselves in and convert to a life of lawfulness, but they may create an even more hostile environment. If we blindly hate the gang members, they have even less of a reason to care if they’re endangering our lives. If we refuse to see the humanity behind the firefights and crashed cars, they have no reason to see ours when we tremble at the sound of the news report in our homes.

One of the most terrifying things about being human is that people can be ugly, vicious creatures. That doesn’t make them less human. Every gang member has a different story behind them, and a different reason why they’re involved in violence. None of us know those stories, and it isn’t our place to assume that

gang members are monsters that want to hurt us, point blank. By extension, we can’t treat them that way.

With respect to Surrey’s homeowners, and to the government officials adding to gang-related bias, your fear is unwarranted and toxic. Certainly it’s important to take precautions, and it’s unfortunate that innocent civilians have to be acutely aware of their surroundings in order to avoid bodily harm, but that’s a regular part of living in society, no matter where you’re living.

Instead of letting the media convince you that you’re living under the tyranny of evil Surrey gangs, use this as an opportunity to reflect on why this is happening, and what should be done to fix it.

KPU Launches Free Safety App

News Brief

joseph keller | staff writer Kwantlen Polytechnic University has released a free app designed to keep students safe on campus. The app, titled KPU Safe, is available on the Android market and iOS App Store.

“We want to give the students and staff of KPU as many tools as we can to keep them safe, and this is just one of those tools,” says KPU Chief Safety Officer Phil Goulet.

The app offers a range of features, such as a shortcut button for quickly dialing 911 on the first screen and notifications for closures and ongoing safety concerns on campus. Additionally, users can share their location with friends and contact KPU security to be escorted across campus.

Emergency and evacuation instructions, campus maps, and contact info for security and first aid services are also available on KPU Safe.

Goulet highly recommends that users enable push notifications and

says that response time for security escorts will vary depending on the amount of requests made at a given time.

The development of the app was contracted out to AppArmor, a Canadian developer that specializes in customized safety apps for universities. AppArmor has developed similar apps for universities around the world, including BCIT, UCLA, and the University of Melbourne. KPU Security worked with AppArmor to create a unique user experience with features that they believe will be useful on KPU campuses.

KPU Security would like as many members of the KPU community as possible to install the app. To get the word out, ads promoting it are running on screens around campus and representatives have been explaining it to new students at orientation.

Information about KPU Safe is also available on the KPU website.

“Our expectation is that we want

to have every staff member have [the app] and the vast majority of the students,” says Goulet. “I’ve seen that other universities get a lower number [of downloads] than I would have expected, but we’re optimistic at KPU. We’ve got a pretty engaged university.”

Goulet says that the app has been well received by those students and staff who have provided feedback, and that having evacuation procedures and other safety information easily accessible without an internet connection has been found particularly handy.

He recounts, “So far, the main feedback that I’ve received is, ‘It’s about time.’”

Some users who have tried KPU Safe have experienced stability issues, with the app occasionally crashing. Goulet asks that any users who encounter this issue or others report it using the app’s feedback feature.

The KSA invites you to drop by the renovated Birch building to check out everything the space has to offer.

There will be guided tours all day and information on how to book rooms.

9:00 am - 6:00 pm, Birch 250, free.

sept. 21 Comedy Hour

Join the KSA for a lunchtime full of laughs at the Grassroots Cafe.

Comedian Steph Tolev returns with her hilarious comedy set.

12:00 pm - 1:00 pm, Grassroots Cafe, free.

sept. 25

Party for Business Students

KPU’s School of Business is organizing a party to welcome new business students to KPU. This is an opportunity for KPU community members to socialize with newly admitted students.

11:30 am - 1:30 pm, KPU Richmond Melville Centre, $5.00.

sept. 26 Volunteer Expo

Non-profit organizations are coming to KPU Richmond to promote volunteerism. Students can build networking skills by connecting with the organizations there.

11:00 am - 2:00 pm, KPU Richmond Main, free.

sept. 30 Norvan Falls Guided Hike

Active KSA will be chasing waterfalls and wants you to join them.

They’ll be trekking along a river, walking over some bridges, and hiking up to the waterfall. Make sure to bring a water bottle.

11:00 am - 4:00 pm, Lynn Headwaters, free.

4 news

B.C. NDP Announce Tuition Waiver Program for Youth in Care Young adults aging out of the foster care system will now be able to go to university free of charge

joseph keller | staff writer The provincial government has announced a tuition waiver program that will give free post-secondary education to young adults aging out of the foster care system. Students aged 19 to 26 who were in foster care for at least two years are eligible for the waiver.

The province’s decision is being praised by educators and students for the opportunity it will provide to disadvantaged young adults as they transition to living independently.

“It’s a good piece of news for students in B.C.” says George Davison, President of the Federation of Post Secondary Educators of B.C. “It’s the right thing to do and so I congratulate [the provincial government] on the decision.”

Davison says that the FPSE has been pushing for this decision from the government for some time, along with other measures to remove barriers to post-secondary education for students from all walks of life.

“I don’t know of any 19 year-olds whose parents say, ‘Okay, you’ve turned 19. Now go off and find your own housing and pay for your own education and make your way in the world,’ and for kids who come from shattered family backgrounds, who have been in foster care for years, this is an unconscionable thing to do,” says Davison. “Eliminating some of the barriers to accessing post-secondary education is a good thing.”

Feven Kidane knows first-hand how challenging it can be to age out of foster care. Kidane was in the

system for three years after signing herself into it at age 16 to escape an abusive situation at home. She was thrilled when she heard about the province’s announcement because she knows that it will help young adults who have been in her situation thrive.

“I find it really liberating because it’s really hard for people with no support who have been in the foster care system,” says Kidane. “The government is your parents and once you age out they don’t have anything to do with you and you’re on your own, so knowing that there’s more resources for you when you age out of the system is really great.”

Upon aging out of the foster care system, she took out a student loan to attend a one-year program at Summit Pacific College. The program cost about $13,000 and left Kidane unsatisfied. She says that if the province had been offering free tuition for former foster children at that time, she would have been far more likely to enroll in a university degree program.

“I wasn’t really educated on what post-secondary was supposed to look like,” she says. “I didn’t really have anybody telling me, like, ‘Maybe we should look at this instead,’ or, ‘Let’s make a plan.’”

This provincial decision has given young adults like Kidane a whole new range of options for education.

As a lifelong musician, Kidane in particular has received a chance to follow one of her dreams: completing the Bachelor of Music in Jazz Studies degree at Capilano University.

At 20 years old, she still has plenty

of time to complete the four-year program while she can claim the benefit.

“I know I have six years, but I would just love to do it all now,” she says. “I’m so restless because I’ve been worrying about how I’m going to pay back that student loan and worried about taking more debt on, but now that I have this foot in the door I have to go back as soon as I can.”

Universities around the province

have offered tuition waivers to various students coming out of foster care for some time. KPU Provost and Vice-President Academic Salvador Ferreras says that the university is looking forward to being able to waive tuition for significantly more students coming out of foster care than it was able to accommodate in the past.

“We’re extremely pleased that the province is expanding their tuition

program,” says Ferreras. “KPU has been waiving tuition and providing wrap around services for young adults aging out of foster care for the past three years in a controlled intake of five students per year. With the province’s support, we are now able to significantly increase those numbers.”

Left to right: B.C. cabinet members Katrine Conroy, Melanie Mark, and Premier John Horgan. The B.C. NDP announced that post-secondary tuition will be waived for people who age out of foster care. (flickr/Province of British Columbia)

Federal Gov. Invests $73 Million in Student Job Placements The Canadian Alliance of Student Associations is excited to support the project, but recommends further action

alyssa laube | coordinating editor Canadian students in Business and STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) can look forward to more secure job prospects thanks to the federal government’s planned $73 million investment into the Student Work-Integrated Learning Program. The program is designed to increase co-op work placements for students in high-demand fields over the next six years.

Employment and Social Development Canada made its plan for this initiative public on Aug. 28. The plan states that the government will provide eligible employers with wage subsidies so that they can afford to support students who are enrolled in post-secondary school and may need more training than seasoned professionals applying for the same positions. High quality work placements will allow subsidies up to $5,000, while $7,000 will be allowed for placements filled by first-year students and students from marginalized groups.

Michael McDonald, the Executive

Director for the Canadian Alliance of Student Associations, says that although CASA sees the government funding this program as “a really positive step,” students from fields other than Business and STEM need more opportunities for work as well.

“CASA really believes that this is important for students in all areas of study,” says McDonald. “But we feel that this addresses a key concern of our organization, which is that under-represented students—who have had a lot more difficulty getting into these sorts of job markets—are being supported in a way that’s going to facilitate that process.”

Advocating for more work-integrated learning experiences for students has been one of CASA’s primary concerns since 2014. Offering post-secondary students the opportunity to make money in their field before they graduate leads to more employment for youth, and smooths their transition from getting an education to working full-time. Two methods of accomplishing this are extending the Canada Summer Jobs Program to operate throughout the

year and ensuring that private sector employers have training for new employees who have just finished their studies.

“If a student’s able to have a well-paying job when they’re in study or ensuring that they complete their studies, it makes education more accessible and far more affordable,” says McDonald.

A policy paper called Student (Un) Employment in Canada by CASA was submitted to the expert panel on youth unemployment that the federal government launched earlier this year. When the panel released its own paper, Student (Un)Employment in Canada was cited in the bibliography, so the Association is optimistic that the government is paying attention to students’ needs.

Although CASA is feeling positive about the future of student job placement, they “expect that every federal program, once it’s been launched, is reviewed extensively and that that review be made public so that stakeholders are able to assess if those dollars are reaping the results that we need.”

“It’s not just one thing that needs to get done,” says McDonald. “There are a variety of different things, so we’re happy to see this positive step being taken forward, but we do think there is more to be done on employment, especially broad-based employments supports.”

He continues, “Showing that work-integrated learning is something that the government supports actively could be a really great jumping off point for making sure that more students can have the job experience they need in study and that they’re going to be able to transition really quickly into that work force.”

Editor’s Note: Representatives from the Kwantlen Student Association consistently attend CASA’s meetings, though the KSA is not an official member of the alliance. As the KSA already pays membership to the Canadian Federation of Students, they feel it would be unfair to ask KPU students to pay membership fees to both organizations.

Michael McDonald, Executive Director for the Canadian Alliance of Student Associations.

(Submitted)

News 5

3D Photography to Provide Hazard Recognition Training for B.C.’s Tree Fallers Tree fallers have been called the most at-risk profession in North America

Ashley Hyshka | Community Reporter To many of us, British Columbia’s untapped wilderness is a thing of beauty. But for tree fallers across the province, its forests can be treacherous and even deadly.

Kevin Hamilton, a professor of psychology at Kwantlen Polytechnic University, has been working in collaboration with WorkSafeBC on a project that focuses on hazard recognition for B.C.’s tree fallers by utilizing 3D imagery.

There is a large demand for B.C.’s high quality lumber. Hamilton says that the best quality of lumber exists at high elevations, often in precarious environments that mechanized harvesting can’t access, so humans are needed to complete the job.

Because of this, Hamilton explains, “the fatality rate amongst the tree fallers [became] the highest fatality rate of any industry in North America.”

The project for developing hazard recognition technology for the tree fallers was inspired by a similar 3D imagery system created in the United States regarding hazard recognition in the mining industry. WorkSafeBC caught wind of this training system and decided to utilize it for those working in B.C.’s forestry industry.

Hamilton travelled to Vancouver

Island with one of his graduate students, Niloufar Saffari, who scoured mapped-out worksites and identified various hazards that existed within them. Using a 3D Fuji camera, a total of 300 photographs were shot at various lumber worksites that contained these threats. Hamilton then catalogued them inside of a database.

After his research was conducted, Hamilton delivered the data to WorkSafeBC, which then began to develop the training program. While the project is still in its infancy, the information will be one day put into a library database to be accessed by tree fallers.

The 3D virtual training program is designed to submerse the worker in a lifelike environment where they can be conditioned to spot various workplace hazards.

While tree falling is a lucrative profession, it is also highly dangerous. Hamilton says that tree fallers must often drive to remote areas to access the cut block and then trek up a mountain “with a chainsaw and gasoline” to access the worksite.

Some threats, like steep and rocky terrain or severe weather, make themselves known to tree fallers. Others, however, remain hidden from view and require a specially trained pair of eyes to notice. The study of existing worksites identified several such

threats, including ground debris, unstable trees, and the lack of escape routes.

Though tree fallers are encouraged to travel in pairs, being located too far away from their partner to be seen or communicate via radio is another potential risk.

“It’s quite an art and a skill, cutting these trees down effectively,” says Hamilton.

He explains that fallers may only encounter some of these hazards a few times in their lives, but the training program is still an invaluable learning tool for anyone from an apprentice to seasoned tree faller in the industry.

Other potentially hazardous professions like road construction could also benefit from this technology in the future.

Throughout the process of finishing this project, Hamilton and his students learned that it was more effective to use 3D imagery than 2D imagery to identify hazards. Similar training used to be provided using 2D ink drawings in textbooks.

Hamilton specializes in the field of human factors psychology. This branch of psychology analyzes human behaviour in extreme surroundings and identifies capabilities and limitations as they relate to people, technology and environments. He

Kevin Hamilton, professor of Psychology at Kwantlen Polytechnic University. (Ashley Hyshka) describes it as a crossover between engineering and psychology.

Through his work on the study, Hamilton noted that a couple of

workplace fatalities occurred. With the use of the 3D imagery in the future, this is a threat he hopes will be eradicated.

KSA Student Advocacy Coordinator becomes Full-Time Position Coordinator John O’Brian wants to make KPU a better place for students

joseph keller | staff writer This summer, Kwantlen Student Association Student Advocacy Coordinator John O’Brian began performing his duties on a full-time basis so that the KSA Student Rights Centre would be able to better prioritize the immediate needs of the student body.

As Student Advocacy Coordinator, it’s O’Brian’s job to assist any student that has a complaint or conflict with the university.

“The goal is basically, if a student has an issue or any conflict with the university or is having a problem, we try to help them to wherever they need to be,” says O’Brian.

Students are encouraged to contact the Centre as soon as they have cause for dissatisfaction with KPU. Centre staff will provide support to students by pointing them to the right person at the university to talk to, guiding them through formal processes like making complaints or appeals, helping them to receive disability accommodation, and representing students when they’ve been accused of academic misconduct.

“The bread and butter is usually things like complaints about instructors or staff mistreating people or being disorganised in class or grade appeals,” says O’Brian.

Until this past May, O’Brian had shared the responsibilities of Advocacy Coordinator with fellow KSA staff member Kari Michaels, in addition to taking on an assortment of other duties. Due to the high volume of students coming to the Student Rights Centre for assistance, it was decided that the job was demanding enough to warrant the full attention of a dedicated staff member this May. “Advocacy tends to always take priority over other stuff. If you’ve got to plan an event on campus at some time, but a student is being charged with plagiarism today, you obviously have to prioritise the student in need,” says O’Brian. “It took up more and more of our desks to the point where we couldn’t just do it on the side.”

O’Brian explains that the amount of work he has fluctuates based on the time of year, with the summer being relatively quiet and the office being at its busiest towards the end of the semester, when students appeal final grades. O’Brian says that he typically deals with one or two major cases per week, during which he will sit down with a student, write up a letter, have meetings with the university, and/or file a complaint. He also conducts dozens of brief consultations over the course of a semester.

“The immediate response [when a

student comes in with a complaint] is to sympathise with their problem and view their challenges as your own challenge,” says O’Brian.

He is passionate about his job because he wants to “make Kwantlen a better place,” and feels that some of the most satisfying moments he has witnessed in his position have come from helping KPU nursing students

who have been obligated to leave the highly demanding program. In several cases, the centre has been able to help these students stay in the program and successfully transition into their field.

“The sort of people who end up trying to be nurses are usually fairly driven but also very compassionate.

That’s why they want to be nurses,”

says O’Brian. “So when we can help them get back in and on track, and I hear later that they’ve succeeded and they’ve graduated and they’re out practicing nursing because we got them through the re-entry process or something like that, it can be super gratifying.”

Kwantlen Student Association Advocacy Coordinator John O’Brian in his office. (Braden Klassen)

6 news

LGBTQ+ Refugees struggle due to lack of resources SFU and DiverseCity collaborated on a recent study about the satisfaction of refugees in the Lower Mainland

Ashley Hyshka | Community Reporter People who flee their home countries due to persecution of their sexual orientation often encounter new and unique challenges once they arrive in the Lower Mainland. Unfortunately, their situation is typically made more difficult by a lack of available services to help them acclimate to their new home.

“LGBTQ+ newcomers tend to be a minority within a minority,” says Laura Mannix, manager of refugee and specialized programs at the resettlement agency, DiverseCity. “Their vulnerability is even more compounded.”

Simon Fraser University, in collaboration with DiverseCity, recently released a report identifying a lack of resources for LGBTQ+ newcomers in Surrey, and how best to remedy the situation.

“Let’s acknowledge the fact that there are no services in Surrey [for LGBTQ+ refugees],” says Jennifer Marchbank, professor in the Department of Gender, Sexuality, and Women’s Studies at SFU. Despite this lack of resources, Marchbank explains that, over “the past few years, Surrey as a city has settled over 50 per cent of the refugees coming to the province.”

The study was conducted by graduate students in Marchbank’s course “Gender Violence and Resistance”, while DiverseCity commissioned the study using asset mapping, surveys, interviews, and focus groups.

Mannix believes that Surrey lacks LGBTQ+ resources due to the city not having as strong of a “progressive

mentality” compared to metropolitan areas like Vancouver.

The study revealed the need for Surrey to have more counselors, practical training for front line workers, people who can provide resources for LGBTQ+ newcomers, and LGBTQ+ specific services within settlement agencies. Currently, many of DiverseCity’s clients are forced to transit to Vancouver from the neighbouring cities to access existing resources and services.

The study also identified gaps within medical services, community and group support, family relationships, schools, and spiritual and religious needs.

One of the services that Mannix wants to establish is a peer support group in which LGBTQ+ refugees can connect with other members of the community in a safe and confidential environment. He also recommends the creation of more health care and social connection-based resources.

“All migrants are vulnerable and all migrants have needs, but if you’re LGBTQ, you might not feel that you fit within the LGBTQ+ Canadian culture,” Marchbank says. “People are walking a tightrope.”

When LGBTQ+ people move to Canada, they can experience isolation both from their own cultural communities and from other members of the local LGBTQ+ community, which only exacerbates their hardship with adjusting to living in a new country.

Marchbank believes that, while settlement agencies are performing extraordinary work for refugees, because so many vulnerable demo-

A mural welcoming refugees into the DiverseCity headquarters in Surrey, B.C. (Ashley Hyshka) graphics are competing for resources and funding is often difficult to attain, many go without the help that they need.

Many LGBTQ+ refugees who immigrate to Canada do so because being anything but heterosexual is not accepted, and is sometimes considered illegal, in their home countries.

One of Marchbank’s students told her that, “In Arabic … there’s no lexicon of terms like LGBTQ.” Marchbank has observed that many people immigrating to Canada for this reason are from regions like South Africa, Nigeria, Uganda, India, and Chechnya. There, people who identify as LGBTQ+ can face violence, discrimination, disownment from family members, and rape.

“They fear for their lives and have

been violently or systemically discriminated against,” Mannix says.

Joseph Thorpe, Queer Representative for the Kwantlen Student Association, says that the KSA plans on establishing a “safe space” on campus for LGBTQ+ students, where students will be free to “ask questions and find support.”

“Our goal is to make sure students are feeling safe and accepted on campus, and know that they have support,” he says. “Kwantlen has always been up to the challenge of making sure everybody’s inclusive.”

The KSA is trying to recruit more people to be a part of KPU’s Pride collective, which is currently in the process of planning more awareness campaigns and workshops.

Thorpe says that LGBTQ+ ref-

ugees need “somebody who really understands where they’re coming from.” While advocates and community centres have the best intentions, most newcomers still find it difficult to establish a bond with someone who genuinely understands their challenges in life and point of view.

Marchbank says that one of her proudest moments was when DiverseCity representatives secured funding using the report about the lack of available resources for LGBTQ+ refugees. From this month onwards, they will be able to provide group support and services for LGBTQ+ newcomers.

“It’s small, but it’s the beginning,” she says. “This is [how] academic work has created social change.”

KPU, SFU to Provide Training for the Future of Surrey Industry

Provincial and municipal governments will be working with the universities to plan the future of the city’s manufacturing sector

joseph keller | staff writer The City of Surrey is partnering with Kwantlen Polytechnic University, Simon Fraser University, and the provincial government to develop the city’s advanced manufacturing sector and support local manufacturing companies.

The province has invested $125,832 into identifying future needs in Surrey’s labour market. Part of the research necessary to identify those needs was conducted using a study completed by KPU and SFU. Both institutions will be committed to providing training for those entering the market in the future.

The partnership between the governments and institutions was announced at a press event at Surrey City Hall on Aug. 14.

“Transforming Surrey into a metropolitan centre means investing in ensuring our residents have the necessary skills to support the future of our city’s economic growth,” Surrey Mayor Linda Hepner told media at the announcement.

Surrey is home to a range of man-

ufacturing businesses, with the majority being small-to-medium-sized enterprises. KPU Provost & Vice President Academic Salvador Ferreras says that this new partnership aims to address a looming shortage of skilled workers in the advanced manufacturing field, while also preparing people to transition to new industries that do not yet exist, as some of the old ones have been eclipsed by automation.

“The general fear of the public is that automation will replace jobs, and it will definitely replace a number of jobs, but there will also be a whole other level of work and work skills needed to maintain those systems,” says Ferreras.

The term “advanced manufacturing” describes the use of new methods and technologies to improve existing manufacturing techniques.

For example, employing robotics and mechatronics to automate an assembly line for faster, more efficient production would qualify as advanced manufacturing.

Ferreras says that such innovation is happening and will continue to

happen across Surrey’s manufacturing sector, and that as these changes occur, it’s important for the labour market to keep up. He adds that KPU and SFU’s study on examining the landscape of the economic sector in Surrey was a way to find an “evidence-based approach for how to develop these industries.” Its findings provided the foundation that the new

partnership was built on.

Going forward, KPU and SFU’s involvement in the partnership will be creating programs for the future industry needs that have been identified. Ferreras points out that KPU will be offering an Advanced Manufacturing diploma program beginning in September 2018. The university also introduced a mechatronics pro-

gram earlier this year.

“There is a continual need for training programs that are connected to the dynamics of the industry and training and retraining people and to be connected so that we have a very good and timely sense of how we as training institutions can respond,” says Ferreras.

Representatives of the City of Surrey and the Province of British Columbia announce their partnership with local universities at a press event on Aug. 14. (City of Surrey)

news 7

First Nations Activists Settle in for Lengthy Salmon Farm Occupation Environmental activists and industry interests clash on the ethics of farming salmon

joseph keller | staff writer A group of First Nations activists is occupying a salmon farm on Swanson Island, B.C. to protest the environmental impact of the operation and demand the removal of the farmed salmon industry. The occupation is made up of four representatives from local Indigenous communities, and is being supported by activist organisation Sea Shepherd Conservation Society along with researcher and environmentalist Alexandra Morton.

Representatives of Marine Harvest—the Norwegian company that owns the operation—and the B.C. Salmon Farmers Association say that they will allow the activists to stay on the property, but dispute the premise of the occupation.

“The occupation of the salmon farm is a First Nations initiative. It’s not Sea Shepherd’s, but we’re assisting them with closing the salmon farms that are on their hereditary land,” says Sea Shepherd founder Paul Watson. “Our concern is that the farmed salmon are spreading parasites and viruses to wild salmon populations.”

The group of First Nations activists, led by Hereditary Chief Ernest Alfred, began their occupation of the salmon farm on Aug. 24 after a video of sickly fish within the farm was released by Sea Shepherd. Soon after, Alexandra Morton—who had been leading the Sea Shepherd expedition that took the footage—and her crew members put the remainder of their expedition on an indefinite hold to assist the protesters.

“In my view, this is an unstable industry,” says Morton. “They’re trying to get these fish to eat more and more plant matter and it’s causing all kinds of health problems.”

Morton says that she and her crew

have been able to provide assistance by giving the occupiers access to the vessel’s internet and communications systems and shower facilities on board.

On the first day of the occupation, the RCMP was called. The officers who arrived ensured that the situation was peaceful before leaving without incident. Morton says that the Marine Harvest employees running the farm have been mostly cordial with occupiers, but tensions have been running high.

The farm, which sits on a man made structure just off the coast of the island, is located on traditional unceded First Nations territory, and no agreement exists between Marine Harvest and the First Nations community about the operation of the farm.

Ian Roberts, Director of Public Relations for the B.C. Salmon Farmers Association, says that industry representatives have previously offered First Nations communities the opportunity to tour the facility, and that no action will be taken to force the removal of the protesters so long as they don’t interfere with its operation.

“We’re being patient,” says Roberts. “We’re honoring our invitation to our Native neighbors to observe and tour our operations and, while they remain peaceful, we’ll allow them to observe our operations.”

Roberts says that the B.C. Farmed Salmon Association is concerned about protesters not following safety procedures such as wearing life jackets while on the offshore structure.

The farmed salmon industry has been controversial in B.C. and abroad since its beginnings in the 1990s.

Morton has been a vocal opponent to the industry for years, writing dozens of research papers pointing out alleged harm caused by salmon farms

Canadian researcher Alexandra Morton gives a speech to media on board the SV Martin Sheen in August before leaving on an expedition to investigate B.C. salmon farms. (Joseph Keller) to the native salmon population and surrounding ecosystems. She says that findings from this most recent expedition supported other research that shows massive increases in sea lice, changes in the migration and feeding habits of native herring, and poor health of both farmed and native salmon as a result of salmon farms.

Further, she says that footage taken inside farmed salmon pens as part of the expedition, which has been released by Sea Shepherd, shows salmon suffering from malnourishment, blisters, blindness, injuries, deformities, and tumors. Morton believes that the farmed salmon industry, as it currently operates, is unsustainable.

“I don’t think the industry is going to survive here indefinitely, but even if it did, in this day and age, as we are standing here on a planet that is increasingly comprised and destabilized, we can not knowingly damage

a resource as important as wild salmon,” says Morton.

Roberts says that the industry disputes this research, and that salmon farms do not have a significant impact on wild fish stocks. He argues that by farming rather than fishing, the industry is alleviating pressure on wild salmon.

“We can battle science versus science, but the fact is the B.C. coast has variations of salmon returns,” says Roberts. “We have good years, we have bad years, we have exceptionally good years, and we have exceptional bad years. To pin this to one source would be deflecting from what I think are real issues affecting salmon on the coast.”

Morton says that the occupation could possibly continue for months and that Sea Shepherd will provide support for as long as possible.

“Our sense is that this will have to

go on for a long while because I see it as an addiction, an addiction between government and this industry that is strong. I don’t understand it, but it’s clearly something that the government doesn’t want to deal with,” she says.

Roberts says that the B.C. Farmed Salmon Association is confident that the public and the government will continue to see value in the industry.

“I think any government in British Columbia [regardless of party] understands the benefits of salmon aquaculture on the coast for the economic driver [that it] provides for coastal communities,” says Roberts.

“Our government and most people understand the need for aquaculture.”

Places4Students Wants First Time Renters to Know Their Rights Your first time is usually rough, but as a renter you have plenty of rights and responsibilities to be aware of

mel pomerleau | web editor Finding a good place to rent for the first time can be incredibly intimidating, and it’s likely one of the first legally binding contracts young students sign on their own.

Places4Students is an organization dedicated to spreading awareness about student housing options and the rights of the individuals involved.

Zach Pajtasz, Places4Students Marketing and Social Media Specialist, explains that the group provides “a third party off-campus housing platform for students and landlords in the community” to find accommodations or list housing options.

The organization currently works with over 140 post-secondary campuses across North America, including Simon Fraser University.

“I do know that we are actually in discussion with [KPU],” says Pajtasz.

“I don’t know where those stand exactly but I wouldn’t be surprised if in the near future we begin working with [KPU] as well.”

The British Columbia Residential Tenancies Act (RTA) is a lengthy, jargon-heavy document which outlines the rights and responsibilities of landlords and tenants. To help students understand their rights, Places4Students have highlighted a few key points from the RTA for first time or young renters to be aware of when entering into a rental agreement.

“In British Columbia, there are a lot of markets, particularly in the Vancouver area, that are really highly competitive rental markets and in many cases, for a lot of these renters, it’s their first time going out into the

rental market on their own,” says Pajtasz. “Some things you just want to pay attention to—knowing the maximum amount that [landlords] can charge for things like a security deposit or a pet damage deposit—things like that.”

According to section (19) 1 of the RTA, the total security and/or pet deposit cannot amount to more than half of one month of rent. It’s difficult enough renting in the Lower Mainland, but throw a pet into the mix and you’re basically out of luck. However, if you do find a place that’ll accept your pet, be aware that a landlord cannot legally charge you an exorbitant fee to bring your furry friends with you to your new home.

“Students should know the tenancy rights,” says Caitlin McCutchen, Kwantlen Student Association VP

External Affairs and Chairperson for the Alliance of B.C. Students. “It’s the law. It’s how to protect yourself from being taken advantage of. It’s also to know the rights that landlords have as well.”

A contract between a landlord and tenant that specifies terms and conditions, which is known as a tenancy agreement, is the first point of contact to ensure that you and your landlord are on the same page and in compliance with the RTA. “It’s a legally binding contract,” says McCutchen. “You can’t make changes and your landlord can’t make changes without written consent.”

Violation of the agreement from either party can result in a trip to small claims court to settle the dispute, which is typically a pricey and time consuming process. Not only

can that process be intimidating, but also, the amount to dispute often isn’t enough to warrant the struggle. This leaves renters and landlords in an uncomfortable position.

Understanding the process and rights of both parties can prevent contentious issues, such as security deposit returns, from becoming a bigger problem.

“One thing that we always kind of stress is that, at the very least, make sure you read your lease agreement and understand it,” says Pajtasz.

“Those are the terms and conditions that you’re agreeing to. Make sure that those terms and conditions are also in compliance with the Residential Tenancies Act.”

8 features

KPU Economics Instructor Joseph Chen. (Alyssa Laube)

Green Party Leader Andrew Weaver. (B.C. Green Party Newsroom)

Weaver is proposing a ban on foreign investment in the province’s agricultural land, while Chen argues that an open market will benefit the B.C. economy. (Alyssa Laube)

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Debating the Impact of B.C.’s Foreign Investors Experts argue whether banning foreign ownership will improve the provincial market alyssa laube | Coordinating editor Whether the subject is British Columbia’s overpriced housing market or its agricultural industry, foreign investors are often blamed for unsustainable property ownership in the province.

As few British Columbians have the money or opportunity to store millions of dollars in the purchase of homes or farmland, rich investors from other countries can easily reap the benefits of setting up operations on comparably affordable Canadian soil. Some local experts argue that foreign investment only helps to stimulate the province’s economy, while others push for legislation against foreign investment to be implemented as soon as possible in order to create a fair environment for B.C. citizens to flourish in.

The leader of the B.C. Green Party, Andrew Weaver, is one of those experts promoting anti-foreign investment legislation. Last year he introduced a private member’s bill that encouraged a ban on the purchase of any B.C. agricultural land larger than five acres by foreign investors.

Part of Weaver’s motivation for proposing the bill was the implementation of last year’s foreign buyers tax on housing. He both explicitly disagrees with the way that the B.C. Liberals carried out the tax and believes that it caused foreign investment in the area’s agricultural land to surge.

“The best way to avoid paying a foreign buyer’s tax is you buy land and build a house afterwards,” says Weaver. He adds that foreign investment in farmland—if used for non-agricultural purposes such as this—prevents local farmers from producing sustainably and providing for themselves and other Canadians.

“The single biggest barrier right now for young farmers who want to get on land is access to land because of price,” he says. “Our land is seen as a good, stable investment. But the problem is that when you start to view this as a means of essentially

parking foreign money as an investment to protect it from, say, unstable economies or fluctuating commodity markets, it drives up prices for those who actually live in the region.”

He points out that Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, and Prince Edward Island have already taken steps to limit the ability of agricultural land to be purchased by non-Canadian non-taxpaying entities, with little to no negative impact reported thus far.

In the KPU community, Kent Mullinix, the director of university’s Institute for Sustainable Food Systems, is working on an ISFS-run study designed to analyze ownership and use trends of agricultural land in B.C. It is expected to be completed in time for spring this year.

“No one knows the extent to which farmland is owned by non-farming entities. No one knows the extent to which foreign investors and investment groups own farmland. It’s a real deficiency in the Lower Mainland,” he says. “We’re conducting a study to determine that, and to determine what owners want to do with the farmland they own.”

Like Weaver, Mullinix expects that there are fewer farmers and young people pursuing farming than there have been in the past because it has become too expensive for British Columbians to compete with the wealthy foreign investors in the market. He adds that relying on rich foreign buyers or farmers in developing countries to manage agriculture in B.C. is too environmentally destructive, technologically intensive, and economically inefficient to be sustainable.

Instead, Mullinix believes that the province should “spread the wealth of agriculture and food around our communities, not concentrate it in the hands of a few.”

“The land should not be bought and sold for speculation. It is a precious commodity that needs to be dedicated to food production for us and economic livelihood. It should be

owned by agriculturists and farmed and that should be regulated by the government,” he says. “The province could say, ‘No foreign ownership. No ownership of agricultural land except to anyone who has an agriculture business, or to own agricultural land, you have to be a trained agriculturist.’

Otherwise, it’s devaluing agricultural land.”

Not everyone agrees that foreign investment is the root of the problem, however. Matt Hern, a SFU lecturer, activist, and author with a background in urban studies, believes that “the fixation on foreigners is entirely wrong-headed at best and potentially dangerous.”

“We’re living in a particular historical moment of Trump, Brexit, all kinds of nationalistic fears and potential xenophobic movements. This is one more element of it popping its head up in a particularly stealthy way,” says Hern. “[I would say] to Mr. Weaver, just like I would say to any other proponents of foreign buyers taxes on condos, ‘What is the problem you’re trying to address?’ If your problem is that you think there are … too many Chinese people that are taking up too much of the economic pie—if that’s your argument, then don’t couch it in the foreign buyers tax.”

Although Hern thinks that “it’s depressing that this [anti-foreign investor] argument is being brought up again because it feels like it’s been thoroughly debunked in Vancouver” due to last year’s foreign buyer’s tax on housing, he also sympathizes with Weaver’s efforts to end speculation and profiteering in B.C. “Let’s say that he’s concerned about the conversion of agricultural land for other uses. That’s an important issue. Protecting agricultural land is an important issue. Protecting agricultural land from profiteering— that’s an interesting project too. All of those are interesting, and none of those would a foreign tax get to,” he

says.

Hern expects that the ban would do little more to resolve the issue, as foreign investors will likely find another way to keep their money in the province, and the Canadian investors wealthy enough to do so will continue to buy up land that the more plentiful, smaller-scale farmers can’t afford. He suggests that the government consider other methods of supporting B.C. agriculturalists.

Weaver considers Hern’s assertion that measures against foreign buyers are symptomatic of bias to be “offensive,” and asserts that the label of “foreign” to describe investors is only meant to account for the way individuals pay their taxes, and who they pay their taxes to.

“If you’re a landed immigrant here in Canada and you’re paying taxes and working in Canada, you’ve paid your dues. That would be definite.

What’s not exempt is someone sitting from afar and buying land in Canada with the purpose of it being an investment. We have to realize there’s a lot of capital out there in the world and this is a small part of Canada,” he says.

Joseph Chen is a KPU Economics instructor who specializes in law and industrial organization, but he is also an immigrant to Canada and a homeowner with a Chinese background.

He suggests that the provincial government do more publicly accessible research into how much of an influence foreign buyers are having on farmland before they move forward with any bans or taxes pertaining to their role in the industry.

“I think that, so far, we have no idea whether foreign investors are really the factor pushing the price up.

At the base of our economic model, everything is based on demand and supply… [and] there are so many factors that could change demand or supply,” he says. “Based on what I have read before, I think foreign investors shouldn’t be a huge factor.”

Chen believes that if the government does decide to put the agricultural ban on foreign investors, it should also be expected to provide more funding to local farmers to avoid freezing the market and harming the economy further. He also anticipates that the ban “will cause more trouble to local business because we’ll push the funding away to different provinces.”

“You don’t want foreigners to buy farmland here, so we’ll just have locals to pay here, but [other provinces] will get more funding from foreigners investing in their places,” says Chen. “If they have farmland and agricultural business, they can set up plant production. They can have real jobs being set up in that specific area.

That could stimulate or get those local businesses into better shape than B.C.” He continues, “Let’s say you want to own some B.C. farmland. If you don’t have enough money or the government doesn’t provide you with enough funding, if you want to sell it to an investor group from overseas, they can purchase your place and commercialize the area and have bigger production lines. They can stimulate the economy.”

Mullinix disagrees with Chen’s sentiments about encouraging foreign investment, calling his standpoint symptomatic of a “trickle-down economic philosophy where you let anybody who’s got the money have it and the economic benefit will eventually trickle down to you and me.” He believes that, in practice, the philosophy never works that way.

Mullinix recommends that KPU students read the ISFS report issued last year, “Home on the Range”, to learn more about the state of B.C.’s agricultural land.

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Cutting the Red Tape on Student Housing ABCS, KPU, and the KSA are fighting for a future with on-campus accommodations Ashley Hyshka | Community Reporter

The Lower Mainland’s housing crisis is perhaps the most prevalent issue facing the region, yet one demographic that’s greatly affected by it is too often being left out of the conversation.

Post-secondary students are finding it harder than ever to attain affordable living space in the Vancouver area. Real estate and rental prices continue to skyrocket while the effort to build more student housing crawls along at a sluggish pace.

“You’re pushing a generation out that can no longer afford to live in their city,” says Caitlin McCutchen, Chairperson of the Alliance of B.C. Students and an advocate for student housing.

Last year, the ABCS started a campaign called “Where’s the Housing?” which found that the current student housing vacancy rate is 0.7 per cent, while a healthy rate should be between two and three per cent.

Though Capilano recently opened its first off-campus housing, and UVic announced it would be working towards constructing additional student residences in 2018 or 2019, these efforts will do little to address an increasingly dire situation. The root of the problem is that under current regulations, post-secondary schools in B.C. are unable to take on debt to build residences, as doing so might negatively impact the province’s credit rating.

McCutchen, who is also the Kwantlen Student Association’s Vice President Student Affairs, refers to this regulation as “red tape” and argues that the accumulation of debt is not an issue. She explains that the housing units would ultimately be paid off by student residence fees, making the cost of the facilities a “self-supporting debt.”

“If the red tape [is ever] removed, we should work on getting student

housing on campus,” says McCutchen.

Despite UBC’s billion-dollar land endowment, which it uses to help fund its student housing construction, the school is still unable to provide on-campus residences for all of its students in need. A study conducted between 2015 and 2016 found that over 6,000 UBC students are on a waitlist for available dormitories, and when UVic and SFU are included, that number soars past 10,000.

Unfortunately, students at Kwantlen Polytechnic University are stuck in a similar situation.

Since the school was established in 1981, KPU has graduated from a community college to a polytechnic university. Because of its humble origins, it was originally designed to serve only the local geographical region—primarily for students who lived at home—so dormitories were never constructed. Now that KPU has become a degree-granting institution which attracts students from around the province and the world, the need for student housing has grown.

“We are actively pursuing some opportunities for establishing student residencies, both in Surrey and in Richmond,” says KPU President Alan Davis. “We’ve had some ideas and some drawings and some consulting work done. There is active discussion going on with government, private investors, and developers because there is a way of doing this that can satisfy all parties.”

While the construction of a multi-storey student residence would need to balance the needs of the university with community concerns and municipal demands, Davis is confident that when a plan is developed, it will be conducted both “thoughtfully and properly.” He is currently focused on figuring out how to make KPU “a better institution that’s better

able to fulfill its mandate, which is to serve students and help students get what they need, both for their careers and for their lives.”

Davis concedes that all campuses deserve to have dormitories but highlights the importance of Richmond and Surrey because they are the largest, and the students there are under intense pressure from the rising housing market.

McCutchen identifies KPU Cloverdale as another potential campus on which to develop student housing. Because it is a trades school, its programs last for six to eight months, which makes obtaining a typical year-long lease on a house or apartment impractical for students.

Regardless of where the housing would be built, both McCutchen and Davis believe that on-campus residencies for KPU students would have far-reaching benefits for the university and the community around it. Thousands of rental units currently occupied by university students would be absorbed back into the rental pool, and popular SkyTrain and bus transit routes would become less congested as fewer students would need to commute to and from campus.

The university has been in talks with the incumbent NDP government, and it is cautiously optimistic that the issue of student housing will make it to the forefront of their agenda. In addition, KPU has met with several local institutions to discuss how best to address the lack of student housing, and Davis believes that if the university can find a way to tackle these problems, it will act on it.

McCutchen says that she has been working towards sitting down with Selina Robinson, the new Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing, to speak more about this issue. She is confident that Robinson and the NDP

government will uphold its promise to make student housing a priority.

Though Robinson was not available to be interviewed, her office responded, “Our Government is committed to addressing the affordable housing shortage. We will be working closely with our housing partners to create 114,000 units of affordable housing throughout B.C. This includes creating new housing by working with public universities, colleges, and institutes to find solutions to enable the development of more student housing.”

Unfortunately, like so many of her contemporaries, McCutchen finds herself in the difficult position of looking for affordable housing off campus. Within the next few months she’ll have to change her residence, and as of yet doesn’t know where she will end up.

Davis says that the construction of on-campus residencies at KPU would fuel a greater sense of community in which students would be able to live in the same place that they attend classes and take part in on-campus events. “[It would be] the full campus experience,” he says. “I think that’d be a big step forward for KPU and I think it would enhance the quality of the student experience for everybody.”

“You always hear about going to university, [where] you have your roommates and your dorms and you go to parties,” says McCutchen. “I commuted here, and I felt like I went to class and I left. And I felt like I was missing out on that typical university experience.”

While the cost of rent is lower outside of Vancouver, students wishing to travel downtown to attend school must factor in travel cost and time, drawing more from their already thin resources.

A 2015 student satisfaction survey conducted by the Office of Institutional Analysis and Planning at KPU stated that 23 per cent of students were paying rent for housing, and an additional 18 per cent were living with family but paying for room and board.

The average time it takes to achieve a university degree has grown longer, with many students only taking parttime classes while also balancing a job or two. This situation can be precarious without financial support, as a typical job being occupied by a student does not provide enough income to pay for tuition and monthly expenses. McCutchen says that by the time these students graduate, they can be somewhere between $40,000 and $70,000 in debt.

In addition to the removal of the red tape preventing the accumulation of debt to build student housing, the ABCS is asking that the provincial government spend $18 million over 10 years on accelerating housing growth. They approximate that the project would create over 21,000 student residences, more than 13,000 of which would be in the Lower Mainland.

Until the red tape is removed or altered, advocates like McCutchen will continue to fight for more student residences, and the housing situation in the Lower Mainland will be strained further under the weight of thousands of post-secondary students looking for a place to call their own.

“This is not news,” says McCutchen. “This [has] been going on for at least a decade, and it’s just progressively getting worse. When does it stop?”

features 11

The Marine Drive residence buildings at UBC house thousands of students year-round. (flickr/Miguel Garcia)

President of Kwantlen Polytechnic University Alan Davis. (Ashley Hyshka)

Caitlin McCutchen, VP External Affairs for the Kwantlen Student Association and Chairperson of the Alliance of BC Students.

(Ashley Hyshka)

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KPU Brewing attends the Great Canadian Beer Festival Sarah Maryschuk With 66 breweries and two cideries pouring, the Great Canadian Beer Festival kicked off its 25th year on Sept. 8. Guests had access to over 240 different drinks and a chance to socialize with other beer-loving attendees in Victoria’s Royal Athletic Park.

Only five breweries have been along for the ride since the beginning, and this year KPU Brewing was one of the newcomers. With its fourth class of students beginning the course this fall, the KPU Brewing and Brewery Operations program gives students an opportunity to learn the science of beer and the skills needed to operate and manage a brewery.

KPU Brewing sent instructor Alek Egi and a few students to the festival to show off the beers being produced at the school’s brewery, and to let attendees know about the program in general.

The team took six kegs of beer to the festival, including a dark German lager called a Schwarzbier, a porter, and a Single Malt and Single Hop beer, all made within the brewing facilities on the Langley campus.

All three beers poured at the festival are also being submitted for the B.C. Beer Awards happening later this month, providing the Brewing Program with another opportunity to win acclaim for their product.

“This was a good opportunity for us to get some instant customer feedback, and it was great,” says Egi. “Having a booth at the fest allowed us to showcase not only our beer, but the entire program. It was also great seeing our former and current students that are working for many different breweries showcasing their own products and leaving their unique mark on the industry.”

First year KPU Brewing student Daniel Hoffman helped pour at the KPU booth over the weekend, and noticed that many attendees were surprised to find out that KPU Brewing is more than just a “beer club”.

“In general, most people who were aware of our program were already in the brewing industry, but outside of that circle almost nobody was aware that brewing programs like KPU’s even existed,” says Hoffman.

Deemed the Best B.C. Craft Beer event in 2015 and 2016, the Great Canadian Beer Festival became the longest running beer festival in Canada this year. More than 10,000 people participated in the festival—an increase from the approximate 9,000 who attended previous years’ events.

What’s next for the craft beer industry? Check out the KPU Brewery on Fridays from 1:00-5:00 pm or stay tuned for events during Craft Beer Month in October!

DigitaLENS Partners With KDocs to Help High School Students “Take Back the Lens” Participants will have the opportunity to screen their work at KDocs film festival

joseph keller | staff writer The cameras are about to start rolling for the fourth installment of DigitaLENS, a KPU-hosted program designed to teach high school students visual media skills while empowering them to tell their own stories.

DigitaLENS will run from Sept. 27 to Dec. 13, and for the first time, the program will end with DigitaLENS students entering their work into the KDocs film festival, an annual event hosted by Kwantlen Polytechnic University where documentary films are screened and discussed.

The 12-week program is open to students from Grade 8 to 12 and aims to help them address how they are being misrepresented in media, according to program coordinator Aisha Amijee.

It provides students with “a safe place to talk about real issues that are happening,” says Amijee. “They’re being misrepresented, so what can they do to take back the lens and tell their own stories?”

DigitaLENS takes place at the KPU journalism department’s visual media workshop on the Surrey campus. Amijee says that the idea for the program came about as a way of looking at the representation of youth in Surrey, who Amijee believes are often unfairly depicted as being prone to drug use and gang violence.

At the beginning of the program, students take a critical look at media coverage of marginalized peoples, both in Canada and abroad. They learn that it’s up to them to take representation into their own hands if

they feel that they are being unfairly characterized, and they explore social justice concepts like privilege, positionality, and race.

Later, students learn digital storytelling skills and techniques such as audio recording, photography, video editing, and writing. By the end of the 12 weeks, each student will have created a piece of storytelling that presents an issue affecting them.

Amijee says that the students are able to work on developing the skills that interest them most. Some are interested in writing, while others gravitate more towards video production.

All students, however, share a common sense of belonging to a community and support system.

“A lot of this program is about community-building and learning to care for each other,” says Amijee.

“From a social justice point of view, you don’t really care about people

that you don’t know and you don’t really stand up for their issues unless you consider them part of your circle, so we try to build a different type of network where people are coming together, getting to know each other.”

Additionally, those enrolled in the program will get plenty of free pizza because, according to Amijee, “Anyone who’s worked with highschool kids knows that pizza is the way to their heart.”

The program also provides a positive opportunity for KDocs, which has recently been conducting community outreach with local high schools by screening films and teaching students about documentary production. According to KDocs Community Outreach Coordinator Greg Chan, this sort of initiative has made KDocs and DigitaLENS natural partners.

“We have so much in common

[with DigitaLENS] about community building and social justice issues and working with students at all levels,” Chan explains.

The KDocs team will be leading the DigitaLENS class in a workshop on documentary filmmaking this semester, and in turn, DigitaLENS students will attend a KDocs screening in October. They will also be volunteering with KDocs in February and, ultimately, screening their documentaries at the festival.

Amijee and Chan both say that they’re excited to get to know another generation of students and to see what sort of stories they will tell.

“I think [DigitaLENS] really showcases the value of liberal arts: engaging in the community, applying skills outside of the classroom, and the ability to think critically and passionately about issues that affect you every day,” says Chan.

DigitaLENS Program Coordinator Aisha Amijee and KDOCS Outreach Coordinator Greg Chan.

(Joseph Keller)

Research and Scholarship Celebrated with KPU’s Arts Speaker Series Members of the Arts faculty will be presenting from September until April alyssa laube | coordinating editor Associate Dean of the Faculty of Arts Wade Deisman says that the purpose of KPU’s Arts Speaker Series is to “boost the profile of research and scholarship at the institution, and make the role that research plays in teaching excellence clearer.”

“What we wanted to do was showcase the variety and richness of the type of scholarship that is going on,” he says. “We will be catering to a wide variety of interests, and our real hope is that once we do this initial round, we’ll see communities of interest form around these.”

A total of 12 Arts faculty members will be speaking from September until April this year, with KPU Psychology Instructor Farhad Dastur and KPU Philosophy Instructor Wayne Fenske both presenting in September.

When Dastur took 14 KPU students to the Colombian Amazon as part of the third-year Interdisciplin-

ary Amazon Field School last year, he was inspired by the nature, culture, and history of the area. He, along with several of his colleagues in KPU’s Faculty of Arts, will be presenting his findings from the experience as part of the Arts Speaker Series.

“I wanted to share two things with this lecture,” says Dastur. “The first is just what an extraordinary place the Amazon jungle is and why it’s worth learning about and it’s important to preserve it and protect it. The second part, because I’m talking to other professors at Kwantlen, is to talk about the experience of teaching the course to some degree.”

Though Dastur did not do any research as an evolutionary scientist while he was abroad, he does feel that seeing the wildlife there “makes you think about new ideas and makes you understand some of the theories that you’ve been studying, or maybe even question some of the theories.”

“I think going into the rainforest

and seeing that whole ecosystem is very important as a scientist because it will inspire you to think of new questions,” he says.

For students, he feels that it’s a powerful way to “deepen your world” and break out of the educational limitations of learning in a classroom.

Dastur will use powerpoint to show attendees photos and videos of the Amazon on Sept. 12 from 11:30 pm to 12:30 pm in the KPU Surrey Boardroom.

Fenske is in “the very early processes of working on a book,” and thought that the Arts Speaker Series was a good opportunity to present some of the ideas that will later be explored as part of the writing process.

He will be offering his insight into human morality, psychology, and intuition as part of “a very interdisciplinary sort of project” with the series on Sept. 28 from 1:30 pm to 2:30 pm in the Surrey Boardroom.

“What, if anything, makes good

people good and bad people bad?

This is a centuries-long debate in philosophy,” says Fenske. “The talk is going to be comprised of some fairly specific issues and research regarding the way people use moral intuitions and the way they explain or defend their moral views or attempt to convince other people of them.”

He’ll be compiling “the exact issues [he’ll] be talking about in the early weeks of September.” In the meantime, he is continuing his research on morality to include not only in his presentation for the Arts Speaker Series, but also the book he is working on.

Attending the event will “allow you to get a taste of some subjects you might never have considered taking a class in, just to see what kind of stuff goes on there” as a student, staff, or faculty member, Fenske argues.

culture 13

Richmond World Festival Unites Cultures Across Canada KPU-sponsored event hosts performers such as Tokyo Police Club and Shiamak Vancouver

alyssa laube | coordinating editor Spectacular in its size for an event in the Lower Mainland, the Richmond World Festival brought cultures from all over Canada together on Sept. 2 and 3.

Over 75 artists and 40 food trucks congregated in Minoru Park to serve and perform for crowds at the free festival, with top-tier headliners Tokyo Police Club, Dragonette, and Verbal Jint taking the stage in the evenings.

The grounds were separated into six categories, each including performance spaces: the culinary stage, Richmond Centre food truck festival, artisan market, global village, wide world of sports, and digital carnival.

Nine stages were set up in total, each thematically different than the rest.

Kwantlen Polytechnic University supported the event as a community sponsor, and had a tent set up among the throngs of vendors offering products, information, and games.

Gurleen Bajwa, a student recruitment coordinator and Human Resources major at KPU, was responsible for speaking to anyone interested in the university at the festival, which he says is one of the busiest events of the year for volunteers like him.

“I’ve been answering a lot of questions about the school of design, especially in Richmond right now.

That’s where the new building is so a lot of students want to know about the courses or what they can expect

from university,” he says. “We’re very well-recognized, so people who recognize us from other events are coming out from the community.”

On the evening of Sept. 2, the Shiamak Dance Team presented a routine called “The Spirit of India” that included three Bollywood-inspired acts and one patriotic act. Around 60 vibrantly dressed young dancers performed to upbeat music—all of which was inspired by traditional Indian culture, but incorporated a modern twist for flair and relatability.

“Bollywood is the fun aspect, but there’s also the patriotic side which is the enthusiasm every Indian has for being Indian,” says Sukhmani Singh, an instructor for Shiamak Vancouver.

“A lot of the songs are very dedicated to India itself, to the beauty of it, to the power and the culture. We even had the Indian flag come in at one point so that people could really get a feel for the culture.”

She adds that cultural diversity is integral to Shiamak’s beliefs, and that anyone interested in getting involved as a dancer or instructor should reach out to any of their studios in Richmond, Surrey, Vancouver, and other nearby locations regardless of their background or level of experience with dance.

John Donnelly of John Donnelly & Associates Event Marketing Inc., who helped emcee the festival, says that he has worked with Shiamak “a number of times at different shows over the years.”

Sukhmani Singh, an instructor for Shiamak Vancouver, performs the team’s routine, “The Spirit of India”. (Alyssa Laube) “They always come out with the most energy and really beautiful costumes and super choreography,” says Donnelly.

As the hours after Shiamak’s performance came and went, the atmosphere at the Richmond World Festival grew more and more electric. The celebrations leading up to Tokyo Police Club’s headlining set had hoards of concert-goers buzzing in anticipation, and after the second to last band Dragonette brought the crowd’s energy up with synth-heavy pop hits like “Hello” and “Let it Go”, the band finally came on stage.

Tokyo Police Club brought excitement and enthusiasm to their set, with

frontman David Monks, keyboardist Graham Wright, guitarist Josh Hook, and drummer Greg Alsop beaming from behind their instruments. Minoru Park was illuminated by stage lights and starlight until their lengthy 19-song setlist came to an end and— after buying some late-night snacks and souvenirs—attendees started to make their way home.

In part, what the Richmond World Festival offers Metro Vancouver is an opportunity to have good, clean fun outside of the well-worn venues of the downtown core. It is an opportunity for those who don’t often get to take the limelight—local poets, Indigenous dance groups, tradition-

al artists, and cultural societies—to show what they have to share with the general public. It’s heartwarming to see kids tumbling around on gym mats while learning karate, or to witness the passion of the White Thunder Dance Troupe or the Vancouver Chinese Music Ensemble before an audience that likely has never come into contact with them before.

This part of Canada has so much more to offer than meets the eye. It doesn’t take much digging to see the cultural treasures that lay just below the surface, and events like the Richmond World Festival make them even easier to enjoy.

Arguing the Exile or Excellence of Modern Poetry Poet and KPU student Al-Hunaidi responds to Solway’s essay, “O Poetry Where Art Thou?”

Kristen Frier In an essay published last month entitled “O Poetry Where Art Thou?”

Canadian essayist and poet David Solway, writing for C2C Journal, says that he is “awaiting the return of poetry from cultural exile.”

“Most of the poetry written today … is neither visionary nor useful,” Solway claims in his article. “It does little to enhance our lives, prompt us to love the language, entice us to commit phrases to memory, or shed light upon obscurity. Poetry is meant to be used, like any created or invented object that changes how we live, feel, and think.”

While Solway is no doubt echoing the sentiment of at least a few of his contemporaries in the field of creative writing, how true his words ring for young poets just beginning to make their way in the world is debateable.

Sandra Al-Hunaidi, a student at Kwantlen Polytechnic University who writes poetry, says that human beings are “objects that are made with purpose, and that is poetry.”

Through Al-Hunaidi’s eyes, poetry “makes the language more beautiful” and humanizes thoughts that could otherwise be mundane or monoto-

nous. However, “putting [poetry] in a box,” labelling it, or attaching expectations to it can restrict the intention of the work, and saying that poetry being written today is “not useful” is simply being closed-minded, she argues.

Channelling Ezra Pound, Solway suggests that modern poets “treat the page as a catwalk”—that is, they treat the creation of poetic verse as delicately as possible. To this, Al-Hunaidi responds that poetry can very well be self-indulgent, as we are often self-indulgent by nature.

Solway also believes that most poetry students today are ignorant of the classics. He says that, after asking his students to recite a few lines from one of the literary greats—who he lists as Donne, Marvell, Pope, Wordsworth, Keats, Whitman, Browning, Hopkins, Yeats, Frost, Larkin, Wilbur, and Layton—he was met with “blank stares.”

Rather than memorizing impactful phrases from poetry, Al-Hunaidi feels that, for modern students, “it’s more the emotion that resonates.”

Their inability to recite classic lines could be because of the colloquial language used in a lot of older poetry, or because the structure nowadays is

less strict, so they don’t see a need to study structure and form.

While Solway and Al-Hunaidi disagree on most elements of what makes poetry important, their opinions do overlap on a few points.

Both agree that poetry has a purpose, whether it is to “break down preconceived ideas about life,” as Al-Hu-

naidi describes, or to “reverberate in the imagination,” as stated by Solway.

They also agree that poetry is a beautiful way to honour the language in which it is written, though they have different ideas about what that honour means.

Solway’s definition is based on

a responsibility to the language in which the work is written. “Poetry is classically regarded as the custodian of the language, the curator of its power and purity,” he writes.

Al-Hunaidi’s definition is more abstract. “Poetry is just poetry,” she says.

(Nicole Kwit)

opinions 15

The Logical Next Step: Naloxone Kits on Campus

KPU should follow other universities in making overdose prevention methods accessible for students braden klassen | photo editor In an effort to prevent deaths due to opioid overdoses, Nova Scotia universities have begun to acquire Naloxone kits for inclusion in their standard first-aid kits, and are training students and staff on how to administer the drug.

Naloxone is an injection-based treatment similar in function to an EpiPen. It works by pushing opioid agonists out of the corresponding receptors in the central nervous system and binding to the receptors themselves. This reverses the effects of an overdose, and has a high chance of saving the user’s life.

It’s kind of like playing a game of musical chairs, where the receptors in the brain are the chairs, the contestants are opioid chemicals and Naloxone, and Naloxone is guaranteed to win every single time.

Naloxone can also be administered through Narcan nasal spray, a small and simple device which was developed to provide a quick-response emergency dose to overdose victims.

Despite its effectiveness, however, doctors emphasize that the drug is not a panacea, and is only meant to help buy some time until paramedics arrive.

UBC has a program that provides take-home overdose kits to students for free, so why doesn’t KPU? It seems that the common perception is

that overdoses occur so rarely among student populations that making Naloxone a standard addition to first-aid kits goes above and beyond the required efforts to prepare for emergency situations. In other words, it’s unnecessary. Even if that is the case for now, statistics are showing that the overdose epidemic is growing rapidly, predominantly in B.C., and seems likely to reach even more monstrous proportions before it’s brought under control.

EpiPens are standard for first-aid kits, yet Naloxone still isn’t, although overdose deaths outnumber deaths due to anaphylaxis by a considerable margin. It is difficult to find recent statistics about deaths preventable

by EpiPen, but a study from 2011 revealed that there were 92 deaths in Ontario between 1986-2011. In contrast, there were more than 500 deaths associated with opioid use in Ontario in 2011 alone, as reported by the Ontario Drug Policy Research Network.

That number has increased substantially since then.

In 2015 The Toronto Star reported that more than 700 Ontarians died that year due to opioid overdoses. For context, this year in B.C., that number had already been surpassed by June.

Now it’s looking like it will exceed 1,000 deaths by the end of the year.

Can you imagine if any of the more sensationalised diseases of the past had become responsible for that

Narcan is a method of delivering Naloxone to an overdose victim using a nasal spray.

(Adapt Pharma News Release) many fatalities? If Ebola, Swine Flu, West Nile virus, or even SARS were responsible for over 1,000 deaths a year—in one province alone—there would be national panic, and a frenetic response from the government on the federal and provincial level.

The overdose death epidemic is not only comparable, but worse. Exactly which aspect of the crisis can we point to in order to justify the public’s relative indifference toward this issue compared to others? For something so demonstrably preventable,

the death toll is much higher than it should be in this country. Who else has to die for this to be addressed on a level that truly befits the gravity of the problem?

To be fair, some members of the KPU community have raised concerns about provincial overdoses.

The Kwantlen Students for Sensible Drug Policy group has been consistently vocal about the opioid crisis and in January, Natasha Lopes, the then-Kwantlen Student Association VP of Student Life, hosted a fund-

raiser for the Overdose Prevention Society. For KPU administration, creating policy that makes Naloxone or Narcan kits available to students is a logical next step forward.

Adding Naloxone to first aid kits and training personnel on how to use it—not just on campuses, but everywhere—is a no-brainer. There’s no plausible excuse not to. It’s inexpensive, risk-free, easy to implement the policy, and even easier to use.

Richmond’s Underground Food Market is a Too-Risky Business

Underground food markets and private kitchens in Richmond put consumers at risk with lack of health and safety regulations Mel Pomerleau | web editor Something’s growing underground in Richmond, and it’s not just the vegetables.

Like several cities before it, Richmond has seen an underground food market spreading its roots over the last few years, giving community members easy access to cheaper ingredients and meals. This simplicity, however, often comes at the cost of quality assurance.

Underground food markets first took off in the early 2000s in San Francisco as a means of giving startup food businesses a platform to quickly deliver their product to consumers. After three years of operation, the underground food market in that city was served a cease and desist letter by authorities, and has reportedly been out of operation since 2009. In 2014, again after three years of operation, the underground market in Toronto was also forced to shut down.

In recent years the underground market has shifted towards individuals buying large quantities of items and selling them to other community members at a reduced cost. Private kitchens, where a specific dish or

dishes are made and sold, have also become popular.

Made even more accessible by food sharing apps and messaging services, the underground food market in Richmond is at an all-time high.

According to Richmond News, customers will order products via social media and the seller will visit their supplier before meeting the customer, often in parking lots, to sell the goods tax-free.

The health and safety of the consumer is an obviously concerning factor here. With no real way to verify where these goods are coming from there is a lot left to chance in terms of the cleanliness, freshness, and overall quality of the product.

Reportedly, goods sold via the underground market range from seafood to desserts and dry goods, all of which could be contaminated.

The same concerns apply for goods sold out of private kitchens. Private kitchens are not held to the same standards as restaurants—they aren’t held to any legitimate standards at all.

If you’re planning to buy food and ingredients from the underground market, do as much research into the source as you possibly can and opt for someone you or others you know

have had a good experience with.

Your local farmer’s market is a great place to find fresh ingredients and other things that may not be available in the grocery store. They’re also a great jumping-off point for an individual or small startup to begin selling their products to build a client base and provide income. They may not be cheaper in terms of the cost per item, but the money spent at farmer’s markets goes directly to individuals sustaining their own life and giving back to the community, whether it be economically or environmentally.

Underground food sourcing has the potential to profoundly impact the economy in an unfavourable way when you consider the amount of tax dollars lost through these types of sources. As the market continues to expand in Richmond, authorities may need to step in and shut the operation down.

If these underground markets are able to remain confined to serving a small target audience that struggles to afford food, then by all means, keep them going. Just understand that the risk is solely the responsibility of the consumer.

(Nicole Kwit)

16 opinions

INAC splits Into two Unmanageable Ministries

Dividing Indigenous and Northern Affairs Canada will not improve the quality of life for First Nations people

Justin Bige | contributor Where decolonization seeks the demise of colonial hydras, such as the department of Indigenous and Northern Affairs Canada (INAC), Justin Trudeau instead splits one head into two.

The Liberal government has divided INAC into the Ministry of Crown-Indigenous Relations and Northern Affairs (CIRNA) and the Ministry of Indigenous Services (IS), appointing Carolyn Bennett and Jane Philpott, respectively, as ministers on Aug. 28. These colonial structures have been renamed and divided into separate portfolios, which fails to benefit Indigenous people. It only serves to double the bureaucracy that already harms those it’s meant to help.

This decision by Trudeau’s Liberal government lacked consultation with Indigenous people, whom the change primarily affects. The same day as the announcement, CBC interviewed Pam Palmater, Mi’kmaq lawyer and Chair of Indigenous Governance at Ryerson University in Toronto. She spoke of her concerns with the division of bureaucracy into two separate

departments.

“We’ve yet to hear what the actual plan’s going to be,” she said. “And [for] me personally, who works with a lot of First Nations on the ground, it’s enough to deal with one Indian Affairs and one set of rules.”

For Indigenous people, broken Liberal promises and hollow rhetoric have become tiresome. First, there are the failures around the national inquiry on Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls to address police conduct, which is mired behind bureaucratic fortresses and terrible consultation.

Second, Trudeau has recently announced that the government’s goal of ending boil-water advisories on reserves should be completed by 2020, one year after the next election. This late conclusion erodes any guarantee of results by the government despite clean water on reserves being a pre-election and post-election promise to Indigenous peoples.

The two per cent cap on post-secondary funding for Indigenous students was promised to be lifted and has not been. General education, youth care, and health funding were also promised to balance out ineq-

uities faced by Indigenous peoples.

This is stipulated in the Truth and Reconciliation Commission.

If broken promises are the currency that the Liberal party doles out to Indigenous people, the division of INAC into two departments is a gold mine, and the “dismantling of colonial structures” is concerning for Indigenous people to hear from Justin Trudeau. Such a statement could be interpreted as reference to his father, former Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau, and his legacy.

Under Trudeau Senior’s government, legislation known as The White Paper was pushed out to end Indian status and strike the Indian Act without any intermediary legislation to support Indigenous sovereignty or treaties with Canada. He called Indian status “Citizen Plus Status”, which survives today in the widespread misconceptions around “benefits” Indigenous people apparently receive from the Indian Act. Another concern is the appointment of Jane Philpott to the Ministry of Indigenous Services. Philpott was previously the Minister of Health, although she failed to implement Jordan’s Principle—a court response

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expediting emergency funding for health care after an Indigenous boy died awaiting funding—amongst various other failures in that position.

Carolyn Bennett, Minister of CIRNA and previous Minister of INAC, met with various Indigenous leaders last year in response to INAC occupations across Canada. She has yet to come through on promises she made to address suicide crises on reserves, particularly Attawapiskat, in addition to other issues.

Sweet rhetoric and the use of buzz-

words do not mean much to Indigenous people today. In a press conference, Philpott purported, “these colonial structures, today, will in fact be dismantled, and it is a historic day.”

When CBC asked Palmater for her thoughts, she responded, “They’ve just doubled the colonial structures.

They, amongst themselves, have decided how they want to move forward, and they’ve decided two is better than one when it comes to Indian Affairs.”

Minister of CIRNA Carolyn Bennett. (Jerad Gallinger - Flickr)

Indigenous Affairs Minister Jane Philpott. (The Province of British Columbia - Flickr)

What Makes a Good University Instructor?

Kyrsten Downton | Contributor Picking a university instructor is almost as important as picking the classes you take. A good one can change your academic career for the better, while a bad one can have you dreading your weekly class.

During my four years at KPU, I’ve had my share of great and notso-great instructors. Below are some of the most crucial traits that I’ve learned a good KPU instructor should have.

Adjustment to the Smaller Classroom Environment This is one of the biggest problems that new KPU instructors tend to have. The smaller class sizes create a completely different teaching and learning environment in comparison to bigger universities like UBC. Students expect a more personal relationship with their instructors and their peers at this school. If an instructor assumes that long and impersonal lectures are the best way to teach in a KPU classroom, the opportunity to excel will be lost for most students. The best instructors will mix lectures with group workshops and possibly out-of-classroom trips or events to keep everyone engaged.

Tough Love, Not No Love A great instructor should not have to coddle their students throughout the semester. We are not in elementary school anymore, and we need to be able to learn responsibility because it will help us in our future endeavours.

Many great instructors will be flexible with you if you need it. Giving

tough love is not synonymous with being unsupportive.

An instructor needs to be available and willing to help students when they have questions. Nothing is worse than an instructor who doesn’t respond to emails or who isn’t available during their office hours. We should not have to fend for ourselves while getting an education.

Fostering a Safe and Welcoming Environment It still shocks me when an instructor does not create a safe environment for students because KPU is a diverse community.

Everyone should feel safe to express their own ideas, and a great instructor will be the first to encourage that. After all, learning from one another is a critical part of post-secondary education. If an instructor does not create a safe learning environment, they should not be teaching at all.

Passion Most importantly, a great instructor has to be passionate about the subject that they are teaching. When I meet a teacher who loves their job, it inspires me to learn.

Unfortunately, I have had a few instructors who were dispassionate about their jobs. When an instructor creates that type of atmosphere for students it lowers their work drive.

Students should not be discouraged from following their education and enthusiasm simply because an instructor does not share that same sentiment. A great instructor will raise a student’s level of passion.

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18 columns

Artist Spotlight: Club Sofa

Vancouver’s new all-girl band talks about their place in the city’s music community

alyssa laube | Coordinating Editor Like many local scenes, Vancouver’s music community is somewhat of a boys club. Four female musicians passionate about creating safe environments at shows are making space to help change that with their new band, Club Sofa.

Jasmine Carlin on bass, Dominique Hallberg on lead guitar, Jessica Jones on drums, and Payton Hansen on vocals and rhythm guitar are the members of Club Sofa. What started as a punk cover band between Carlin and Jones—who, along with Hansen, are students in Capilano University’s jazz program—has evolved into an up-and-coming indie surf group with a diverse sound.

Their first record, which will be released sometime over the next year, is certain to be more cohesive and experimental than their early live set, and will display a jazz and funk-influenced style that the band feels they “can really be proud of.”

Right now the band is primarily beachy, with feel-good melodies and riffs to get their fans moving and having fun. They pay homage to their punk roots with covers of the Stooges and Dead Kennedys, but are becoming increasingly known for their sparkly guitar tones and Hansen’s throaty, sweet-sounding vocals.

Politically, Club Sofa is confident in identifying as all-female and feels empowered by their ability to make

waves in the community.

“We don’t really like the whole, ‘You’re in a girl band so you’re playing the boys game’ thing,” says Jones. “You can’t argue that girls just aren’t feeling as comfortable in that environment … It’s like you need to be twice as good to prove that you’re half as good.”

“If you are feminine it doesn’t say anything about your music taste or how good you are,” she says. “We should be able to be wearing dresses on stage and everyone should take us just as seriously.”

As one of the very few female instrumentalists majoring in Jazz at Capilano, Hallberg is used to competing for respect and recognition in music.

“There are definitely times when people have said to me that I get things easier as a girl because the guys don’t want to yell at me. It’s like, ‘Actually, I just know what I’m doing,’” she says. “It’s almost like you have to be a little bit more than confident. I almost have to be a little bit mean sometimes.”

For Hansen, “the best thing about playing as all-identifying women on stage is when women or young girls come up to [them] after and are like, ‘You guys are so cool! I want to do this too.’”

“They might not have felt the same way watching an all-male band,” she says. “A lot of women get put down when they start trying to play guitar

and stuff. We just want to encourage them to keep going. You can play at a very high level. You can totally do it.”

While they feel like the benefits of playing in Vancouver outweigh the setbacks, they are wary of being treated like a novelty on bills—a sideshow to male-dominated bands that can come off as condescending or offensive when they find themselves sharing the stage with a group of women.

“Don’t let yourself be that opening girl band that they put on the bill for publicity,” says Jones. “If you sound good and you put work and time and effort into it and you’re making

something interesting to listen to, you’ll get shows and you’ll be able to pick and choose who you play with.”

Halberg suggests, “Don’t feel like it’s bad to say no to being on a bill with somebody. If you think you’re going to be mistreated by them, don’t play with them.”

In the future, the band hopes to see more accessible venues for people with disabilities, support structures at shows for those who need help or have concerns about feeling safe, and encouragement for marginalized performers who might be nervous about breaking into the scene.

“A lot of the venues that are used in the scene are very inaccessible. There

are lots of stairs, lots of dangerous, old buildings. It would be really nice to have a reliable, safe venue,” says Carlin.

Hansen adds, “It’s also really important for young women to be able to voice their concerns and feel like they’re not in a place of judgement, and be able to voice their complaints and have their concerns taken seriously.”

Club Sofa will be playing live less frequently over the fall and winter while they focus on recording and school, but will be performing at a donation show for the SPCA with Luv Supreme, Winona Forever, and Wind-up Birds in October.

The members of Club Sofa (from left): Dominique Hallberg, Jessica Jones, Payton Hansen, and Jasmine Carlin. (Alyssa Laube)

Decolonial Discourse: The Kidnapping of Stó:lō children The Fraser River Gold Rush kidnappings are symptomatic of colonial history

Justin Bige | contributor Stó:lō children used to be kidnapped for slave labour during the Fraser River gold rush of 1858, CBC News reported on Aug. 19. A historian named Keith Carlson found evidence that in that year an eight yearold Stó:lō Nation boy was taken by a miner named George Crum from California. The discovery sparked further research which uncovered the widespread practice of kidnapping children by white, Californian prospectors-turned-ranchers.

CBC also reported that this part of history was largely unknown, even to Stó:lō people. To commemorate this unearthing of violent history, Chief Terry Horne of Yeqwyeqwí:ws First Nation created a carving depicting the eight year-old boy reaching out to his father. It was installed near Hope in Chawathil First Nation’s Telte-Yet Campgrounds, a place that many children were stolen from. This carving is part of the Lost Stories project supported by the Government of Canada’s “Canada 150” Fund.

These kidnappings weren’t an isolated event in the history of Canada or British Columbia. They represent a broader colonial practice of removing

Indigenous people from their original lands, which the residential schools were a fundamental part of.

Whether you point to the residential school system that kidnapped Indigenous children to be raised in church-run schools full of physical or sexual abuse or The Sixties/Seventies Scoop of Indigenous children kidnapped into adoptive families far from home, it is clear that kidnapping Indigenous children is a practice that Canada has used for centuries to undermine Indigenous sovereignty and colonize Indigenous lands.

These horrendous practices of cultural genocide live on today in the foster care system, which 4,400 Indigenous children in B.C. have been forced into. That number may be even higher according to a Statistics Canada report issued in 2011, and Indigenous children disproportionately account for 48 per cent of all foster children despite representing less than 7 per cent of children in Canada.

The approximate 4,000 Indigenous women and girls who have gone missing or been murdered in Canada has been an unresolved issue for over 40 years. These women don’t just disappear out of thin air. They are taken and murdered by Canadians. This

happens in places like the notorious Highway of Tears in B.C., a stretch of highway between Prince Rupert and Prince George, where dozens of Indigenous women and girls have been kidnapped or murdered. Then there’s the Starlight Tours of Saskatchewan, where Saskatoon Police Service officers would take Indigenous women and men out into the country at night in the freezing winter and drop them off without clothing or water.

Heading east, an alarming amount

of murder has been committed, with seven bodies of Indigenous people turning up in the McIntyre River system since 2000. The 14-year-old Josiah Begg and 17-year-old Tammy Keeash were two of those seven and were found in May 2017, CBC reports. Thunder Bay police have repeatedly mismanaged those cases, just as they have mismanaged numerous cases of missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls.

So, while the news of the gold

rush kidnappings came as a shock to many, practices like these are hardly surprising. When there is consistent proof from 1858 to 2017 of Indigenous people being kidnapped, used as labour, raised in white environments, killed by their captors’ violence or negligence, and having their deaths and disappearances mismanaged by authorities, the problem is clear. And it is a colonial problem.

Carved artwork by Coast Salish artist, Terry Horne. The carving commemorates the Stó:lo children who were kidnapped by miners in the 1800s. (Submitted/Professor Keith Carlson - University of Saskatchewan)

PROCRASTINATION HOROSCOPES Sagittarius Nov. 23 - Dec 21

Capricorn Dec. 22 - Jan 20

Aquarius Jan 21 - Feb 19

Meet me in the mouth of the cave. We can watch the night skin itself trying to figure out who let the devil into its home.

It’s a dangerous world out there. Make sure to talk to your children about the dangers of talking shit to Warlocks.

Avert your gaze if you happen to see any glowing green meteors in the sky.

Also, you might want to invest in some anti-Triffid weaponry.

Pisces Feb 20 - Mar 20

Aries Mar 21 - Apr 19

Taurus Apr 20 - May 20

Legally, you can never be held accountable for giving someone bad advice if you put your thumbs under your suspenders and tell them that you “ain’t some big city lawyer.”

Student? More like stu-debt am I right????????????????????????????????????

Tell your crush that you really like spending time with them, but remind them of the eternal void which occupies all of our hearts and will one day consume every mortal thing.

Gemini May 21 - Jun 20

Cancer Jun 21 - Jul 23

Leo Jul 24 - Aug 23

Be really nice to individuals. Be a cold motherfucker to corporations.

You’ll be reborn someday, mandrake-like, renewed in the soil. A placental child of Mother Earth.

C’mon, be a speedy weenie. Nobody here wants a slow weenie.

Virgo Aug 24 - Sept 23

Libra Sept 24 - Oct 23

Scorpio Oct 24 - Nov 22

You chased the goat away from the crops. You drove it out into the forest. You whipped the goat, you beat the goat. You cut off the goat’s head. So why is the goat staring at you through the window?

Fifteen...fourteen...thirteen...twelve...eleven....ten...nine...eight...

Today’s a good day to make important decisions. Well, sort of important decisions. Nothing too big. Actually try to stay away from the big stuff. Know what? Don’t leave the house today.

SUDOKU

THE DOODLE BOX

Look for the answers in the next issue of The Runner.

We’ve merely started the creation, you get to finish it!