JULY 24, 2018 VOLUME 10, ISSUE 19 KPU’S STUDENT NEWSPAPER
Parks & Parks & Recreation Recreation (and Culture)
The government of Surrey will spend $357 million over the next 10 years to enrich the The government of Surrey will spend $357 million to city's recreational and cultural spaces
enrich the city's recreational and cultural spaces
Parks & Recreation (and Culture)
The government of Surrey will spend $357 million to enrich the city's recreational and cultural spaces
NEWS
KSA Bids Farewell to Executive Director Jeremy McElroy
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CULTURE
Meet Pride Kwantlen's New Mascot, Q the Yeti
page 6
OPINION
The "First-Year Experience" at KPU Isn't so Fresh, Man
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
STAFF 04
NEWS | KSA Bids Farewell to Executive Director
After six years of serving KPU students as the general manager and executive director of the Kwantlen Student Association, Jeremy McElroy has transitioned out of the association.
Editor in Chief
Aly Laube editor@runnermag.ca
Managing Editor
Connor Doyle managing@runnermag.ca
Staff Writer
Braden Klassen staff@runnermag.ca
Community Reporter
Ashley Hyshka community@runnermag.ca
Production Manager
Sarah Kraft production@runnermag.ca
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CULTURE | Meet Pride Kwantlen's New Mascot, Q
Q the Yeti is a new addition to the group and will be the official mascot of the Pride Kwantlen collective from now on.
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FEATURE | Surrey's 10-Year Parks, Recreation & Culture Strategic Plan
All in all, the plan accounts for $357 million of investment and development in short, medium, and long-term initiatives and projects.
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OPINION | The "First-Year Experience" at KPU Isn't so Fresh, Man
It’s rare to see KPU students make an effort to meet new people. It’s like many of us are afraid of each other, but we shouldn’t be. We’re all in the same boat.
Photo Editor
Kristen Frier photos@runnermag.ca
Art Director
Hashtag KPU Post on Twitter or Instagram about or around KPU and you could be featured!
Nicola Kwit art@runnermag.ca
Web Manager
Alex Rodriguez web@runnermag.ca
Operations Manager Scott Boux office@runnermag.ca 778-565-3801
CONTRIBUTORS Marcus Barichello Daniella Javier Tristan Johnston Amei-lee Laboucan @RESLUS
COVER BY Braden Klassen
Arbutus 3710/3720 12666 72 Ave. Surrey, B.C, V3W 2M8 778-565-3801 www.runnermag.ca Vol. 10, Issue no. 19 July 24 // 2018 ISSN# 1916 8241
All submissions to The Runner are subject to editing for style, quality, length, and legality. The Runner will not publish material which the editors deem to be harmful or discriminatory. The views expressed within the publication are not necessarily those of The Runner staff or of the Polytechnic Ink Publishing Society. 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 KPU is adaptable and changing, so is The Runner.
EDITORIAL
FROM THE EDITOR
If you really want to represent LGBTQ+ folks, you’ve got to cast queer Aly Laube | Editor in Chief Erasure dominates the history of queer cinema, from the infamously white Stonewall movie to the recent announcement of Scarlett Johansson’s role as a trans man and sex worker named Dante “Tex” Gill. The movie about Gill’s life is already set to be a gross misrepresentation. Rather than being accurately portrayed as a businessman who was married to his wife for four years, he seems to have been written as an undercover lesbian with a girlfriend who had to play dress-up to make it in a man’s world. While that individual certainly existed, it’s not who Tex was, and many of those who knew about him as a figure made their displeasure known. Johansson has now pulled out of the film on account of the backlash, so what will come from the movie currently named Rub & Tug remains to be seen. Still, if you look at some of the most famous queer movies that have been made in recent years, you’ll find that many of them were made by straight men. This is particularly true of films about people who are not cisgender and male, and it robs queer filmmakers of the chance to reflect their real experiences on screen. French film Blue is the Warmest Colour— which, to many in the Millennial generation, is the only lesbian movie they’ve seen frontto-back—was directed by a straight guy who
cast two straight women to play lesbians in a committed, highly sexual relationship. Battle of the Sexes starring Emma Stone as lesbian tennis legend Billie Jean King was, again, directed by a cisgender husband-and-wife duo who hired two straight women to play a queer couple. Carol, a lesbian blockbuster which received critical acclaim, featured two straight women and was directed by a gay man. Even Call Me By Your Name, a comingof-age romance directed by a gay man, had two heterosexual men as leads. The frequency of films focusing on LGBTQ+ protagonists is increasing, and that’s an absolute blessing that hasn’t been afforded to queer communities in the past. Still, it is hard to feel like that representation is true when the person behind the character doesn’t understand the lived experiences of the people they’re pretending to be. When Laverne Cox was cast as a transgender woman in Orange is the New Black, it changed the boundaries of what can be done on television. Here was a Black trans woman playing a Black trans woman on an extremely popular show—something that likely would have been seen as horrifically taboo by America merely a decade ago. She brought incredible strength and charisma to that role because she understood it from the inside out. Her audience saw that, valued it, and helped her become the enormous sensa-
tion that she deserves to be today. If Scarlett Johansson had been cast to play Sophia Burset, it would have been a disservice to the character and to her fans. That much seems clear. There’s more than enough queer talent in Hollywood for directors to be casting them in the roles of queer characters. Even the ones who are publicly out often end up playing heterosexual parts. Ellen Page, Neil Patrick Harris, and Kristen Stewart, to name just a few, are famous for being in straight relationships in film and television despite being cherished as LGBTQ+ stars. Here’s the question that arises from all of this messaging we’re getting from Hollywood: If you cast a queer person to play a queer character, is it too much gay for America? To be considered marketable, do you have to hire straight talent to keep on-screen queerness from being too real? Throw a heterosexual actor or actress into the role of a queer character and directors can fall back on saying that it’s all make-believe anyway. Audience members who are uncomfortable with queerness can take comfort in knowing that what they’re watching is only a performance untethered to reality. That’s not representation. That’s a cheap way to falsify forward-thinking.
NEWS BRIEF
KSA Executives Elected to Positions in the Alliance of BC Students
Braden Klassen | Staff Writer
Kwantlen Student Association President and VP External Caitlin McCutchen and VP Finance & Operations Joseph Thorpe have been elected into two positions in the Alliance of BC Students. McCutchen will be serving as the Alliance’s director of campaigns, taking over from Graduate Society of UBC member Hanna Murray. Thorpe will be filling the position of Director of Finance and Operations for the ABCS, a position previously held by Andrew Dillman from the Capilano Students’ Union. McCutchen, who was previously the organization’s chairperson, will have her old position filled by Capilano Students’ Union member Noah Berson. “I’m excited to take a different approach to being in a leadership position. Being the chair was fun, and I’m happy to take more of a logistics-based approach,” she says. “I’m trying to do a bit more of the behind-the-scenes work like I’m doing with the KSA, and it’s something I’m really enjoying this year.” McCutchen adds that she is still deciding what the organization’s campaigns will focus on, but says that they “will probably be about proportional representation and seeing what that might look like.” Thorpe says he wants to focus on pursuing funding for the ABCS through grant money, as the organization does not make as much reve-
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WHAT’S HAPPENING THIS MONTH
JULY 26
OPEN MIC & KARAOKE NIGHT
On the last Thursday of every month, the KSA puts on a karaoke night at the Grassroots cafe. Come laugh with your friends, or get your friends to laugh at you with a last-minute performance for the open mic! 6:00 pm - 8:00 pm, KSA Surrey Grassroots Cafe, free
JULY 29
SURREY PEOPLE POWER MEETING Surrey People Power is a communitybased advocacy group that seeks to enact change by organizing the citizens of Surrey. Join them at their public meeting to help steer the group in directions that matter to you. 2:00 pm - 4:00 pm, Newton Library, free
JULY 30
STRATEGIES FOR EXAM SUCCESS
Want to learn how to face your finals? This workshop, which is open to all KPU students, will help you use the strategies you need to take your exams head-on. 2:30 pm - 3:30 pm, KPU Richmond - Room 2030, free
AUGUST 5 VANCOUVER PRIDE PARADE
The 40th annual Pride Parade is upon us! As always, both the Kwantlen Student Association and Pride Kwantlen will be at the event with a parade float. Come on out and meet Q, the new Pride Kwantlen mascot! 12:00 pm - 3:00 pm, Howe Street in Vancouver, free
AUGUST 8 KOFFEE WITH THE KSA
Newly elected Director of Finance & Operations Joseph Thorpe, Chairperson Noah Berson, and Director of Research and Campaigns Caitlin McCutchen. (ABCS) nue from member fees as some other student organizations do. “The ABCS charges much less per credit than most provincial or federal groups,” he says. “One of the mandates of the ABCS is to try and make it as cheap as possible for students in the organization. Not everyone has a lot of money, and some of the member student organizations are smaller.” Line item 5574 in the KSA 2018 budget worksheet proposed that about $8,000 dollars be allocated to “Coalition, Conferences, Membership Dues & Initiatives - ABCS.” According to McCutchen and Thorpe, this amounts to a
little less than $0.40 from each student per credit every semester. Both McCutchen and Thorpe say that their roles on the KSA Executive Committee have helped prepare them for doing similar work with the ABCS. “A lot of the work I’m doing for the ABCS and the KSA overlaps,” says McCutchen, who points out that several previous members of the KSA executive were also heavily involved with the ABCS. “We’re not just looking out for KSA students. We’re looking out for all British Columbians.”
Ever wanted to get to know the student politicians who represent you? Here’s your chance to sit down with them and discuss the issues that affect you over a cup of hot joe. 12:30 pm - 3:30 pm, KPU Surrey, free
AUGUST 8·9 FOOD SYSTEMS CONFERENCE
This conference will bring together academic and community-based leaders and change-makers who are working to understand and advance place-based food systems as a foundational element of sustainable society. 8:00 am - 7:30 pm, Pacific Gateway Hotel & KPU Richmond, free
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NEWS
KSA Bids Farewell to Executive Director Jeremy McElroy Benjamin Newsom will fill in for McElroy until the position is filled Braden Klassen | Staff Writer After six years of serving KPU students as the general manager and executive director of the Kwantlen Student Association, Jeremy McElroy has transitioned out of the association. McElroy got involved with the KSA in 2012 and has worked with seven different executive committees since then. He was previously instrumental in implementing the KPU Multipass Program and oversaw much of the planning for the funding and construction of a new student union building (SUB). “He has helped shape the organization into what it’s been,” says KSA President Caitlin McCutchen. “The role has evolved over the years and he has made it grow and has contributed a lot. We’re sad to see him go, but this is a nice stepping stone for him as well.” KSA Student Services Manager Benjamin Newsom, who will be filling the executive director position until a replacement is found, also feels that McElroy, “has affected a lot of people and put in a lot of programs” at KPU. McElroy says that he has learned a lot during his time with the KSA and is proud of how the association has changed over time. “Each year I get to see these really talented student leaders come in with varying levels of life experiences and professional experiences,” he says. “I see how they evolve and how they develop as leaders both on campus and in the community.” The KSA has also encountered some challenges during McElroy's tenure, however. Some of these include vacant council positions, legal issues with the BCFS and the CFS, and delays on beginning construction of the student union building, a project which McElroy has been involved in from the beginning.
“I’ve had to learn to understand that things take time,” he says. “When I came into this role, I had a fully-charged battery and was ready to go into some really big things that the KSA had wanted and were part of this vision that I saw for the organization. One of those things was the SUB.” McElroy feels that the lengthening timeline of developing the SUB has been “unfair to students,” but he also says that KPU has had other major capital projects—like the Chip and Shannon Wilson School of Design and the Civic Centre campus—taking precedence.
McElroy's departure comes at a time when the KSA is searching for several new staff members. Currently, there are two vacant positions on staff, and another two positions are expected to become vacant in the coming months. “We’re going with the flow,” says McCutchen. “The internal direction is going to be a little bit different, which is kind of exciting, but it has also been a challenge.” “With limited staff support, it could be difficult to do everything that we would normally do,” says Newsom. “Although, at a bare
minimum, for the fall we should be able to at least have our standard Welcome Week orientation. That stuff will get finished.” Newsom says that he expects his new role in the association to be a balancing act of maintaining services and responding to challenges as they arise. “One thing we want to make sure that we’re always able to do is respond to new concerns, new ideas, or new projects that students bring forward,” he explains. “Students are the people who are supposed to be driving this organization.”
Former KSA Executive Director and General Manager Jeremy McElroy delivers an opening address at the KSA's 2018 annual general meeting. (Joseph Keller)
Provincial Government Allocates Additional Funding for Students with Disabilities KPU will receive $75,000 for the creation and improvement of relevant programs Marcus Barichello | Contributor The B.C. government recently announced an additional $1.5 million in funding for assisting students with cognitive, mental, or physical disabilities. The money will be split among 20 post-secondary institutions, each receiving $75,000 for the purpose of creating new programs or improving existing programs intended to provide better educational opportunities to these students. Kwantlen Polytechnic University is one of the institutions that will benefit from the funding. “We’re very thankful for the funding by the provincial government to help us with this warehousing program,” says Laura McDonald, the business manager of the Faculty of Trades and Technology at KPU. “We have a lot of trade training partners, both in high school and in the industry, and this is allowing us to reach out to them and provide this opportunity.” Three years ago, a program on parts and warehousing was introduced at the university. It provides training and employment opportunities for students with disabilities who are interested in the field of warehousing. It’s also the largest program specifically
for students with disabilities offered by KPU. “They learn a lot of skills that are specific to parts and warehousing, but they also learn skills beyond that like safety skills, cataloguing, trade related math, resume writing, and interviewing skills,” says McDonald. The parts and warehousing program was only made possible by funding from the government. It brings in around 60 students annually and provides a jumping-off point for students who might otherwise struggle to find a job or continue their education in a related field. McDonald hopes that, with the increase in funding, more students will be able to join the program. “It’s allowing us to offer additional intake so that we can reach a broader range of students,” she says. “We’re [wanting to reach] out to the high school students and community-based organizations.” Reaching out to more students with disabilities and providing them with the opportunity to advance their education and their careers is exactly the result that the BC NDP hoped to achieve with this increased funding, according to Melanie Mark, B.C. Minister of
Advanced Education, Skills, and Training. “Our government is investing in accessibility programs to break down barriers to post-secondary education for students with disabilities,” she wrote in an email to The Runner. “We’re making it easier for students to succeed and thrive.” Mark is hoping that the funding will provide the “tools and resources for those who
are struggling to gain a foothold in the job market.” She also anticipates that it will help “make sure all learners are supported to achieve their full potential and prosper.” McDonald and her colleagues are also happy that there are programs in place to help “give the students an opportunity” to succeed in school.
The SSD office is located in the student support services hub in Surrey Main. (Kristen Frier)
NEWS
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Victims of “LGBT Purge” Receive Justice and Closure Decades Later
A $145 million settlement was the result of a class-action lawsuit against the government of Canada Ashley Hyshka | Community Reporter In the spring of 1986, a 17-year veteran of the RCMP named Wayne Davis was called into his superior’s office and asked point blank why he was recently seen in a gay bar. Despite the RCMP’s zero-tolerance policy against homosexuality, Davis responded that he was there because he is a gay man. Afterwards, when he was given the choice of being forced into resignation or having his employment with the RCMP terminated, Davis chose to resign under coercion. “Maybe I was just tired of being in the closet,” he says. His story is only one of hundreds that occurred during Canada’s "LGBT Purge", which lasted from the 1950s into the 1990s. The Purge was a result of Cold War-era fears that members of the LGBTQ+ community would be sympathetic to communists, or that a homosexual person could be blackmailed into revealing national secrets. To neutralize this perceived security threat, LGBTQ+ persons in the RCMP, the Canadian Armed Forces, and the Federal Public Service had their employment terminated or were coerced into resigning from their jobs. “Many people went through incredible ordeals of trying to hang on to their jobs and their livelihoods and stay in the closet and protect themselves from the Purge,” Davis
explains. According to CBC, people suspected of being LGBTQ+ were interrogated, spied on, harassed, and subjected to polygraph tests by their employers during this period. Davis adds that it was easy for the government to conduct the Purge because, at the time, there was no recourse for victims other than coming out of the closet. Only in 1969 was homosexuality finally decriminalized in Canada. “It’s a difficult story for people to get their head around in 2018,” he says. In a national class-action lawsuit from 2016, the Government of Canada was sued for its role in the Purge. The settlement is divided into two parts; out of $145 million, over $100 million is reserved for compensating LGBTQ+ people who were victimized, with individual compensation amounts ranging from $5,000 to over $100,000. According to CBC, another $15 million is for historical reconciliation, education, and memorialization initiatives. The settlement received federal approval on June 22. Joseph Thorpe, the KSA’s queer students representative, is glad that the settlement was made. However, he also notes that its value isn’t high enough when compared to the wages that were lost by those affected over the years. “For Canada, generally, we like to think we’re above a lot of other countries in terms
of inclusivity, but we do have dark chapters that people need to realize that we have gone through, and we’re not perfect,” says Thorpe. Todd Ross, Martine Roy, and Alida Satalic are the former members of the Canadian Air Force who initially came forward and launched the class action lawsuit. They are the lead plaintiffs in the suit and represent all other claimants. “We owe them a great debt,” says Davis. “[It] took a lot of courage to do that.” Davis himself became a member of the suit and was present when Prime Minister Justin Trudeau formally apologized in 2017 for the government’s role in the Purge. He is also a member of the Reconciliation and Memorialization Measures Panel, which oversees the educational and memorialization efforts recognized in the settlement. “It’s providing that peace and closure that people need,” says Davis. “It brings peace to a whole family, a whole generation of people, that has this history.” Davis believed that he had already moved on from what happened to him over 30 years ago. In retrospect, however, he says that it wasn’t until after the formal apology and class-action lawsuit were official that he finally received closure for what he suffered. “The apology means something very different if you’re the person that’s being apologized to. It’s quite overwhelming to actual-
ly have that type of closure,” he says. “It did bring a start of closure of something that I thought was closed.”
Wayne Davis, 17 year veteran of the RCMP, was a victim of the LGBT Purge. (submitted)
New Modular Housing Project Offers Shelter to Members of Surrey's Homeless Population The city worked with several advocacy groups to create 160 temporary housing units Ashley Hyshka | Community Reporter A joint effort by the City of Surrey, BC Housing, Fraser Health, and various non-profits has ensured that members of the homeless population living along Surrey’s 135a Street will now have a warm place to call home. Between June 18 and 21, residents from the tent city along 135a Street and neighbouring shelters were moved into 160 temporary modular housing units. The sites are located along King George Boulevard, 105 Avenue, and 107a Avenue. Jas Rehal, Surrey’s manager of public safety operations, says that this project was taken on after the city “identified a need for housing.” Work began a year ago, in response to the high number of homeless people living in tent cities in Surrey. Dominic Flanagan, executive director of strategic initiatives at BC Housing, says that the project was completed with consideration of data from Metro Vancouver’s 2017 homeless count. According to that report, there were 602 homeless people in Surrey last year, and 203 of them were living without shelter. This year, Flanagan says that the number of unsheltered homeless people in the city has dropped to 173. “What is seen in the City of Surrey is seen across Metro Vancouver,” he says. “There are some real significant challenges in Surrey but [they are] challenges that we see in
a number of municipalities across the Metro Vancouver area.” Poverty, a lack of affordable housing, mental illness, addiction, and psychological trauma are the typical causes for people becoming homeless, according to Flanagan. He adds that it’s important for housing models created by governmental institutions to identify and address these factors. “Whether it’s the City of Surrey or Metro Van, I think it’s important to recognize there’s no single pathway into homelessness,” he says. Each modular housing unit is approximately 109 square feet and includes a bed, table, fridge, microwave, and washroom. There is also a communal area for dining, where tenants receive two hot meals per day. There are also no prerequisites for moving into the units. Each of the three sites has a minimum of two staff members on site 24/7. Their role is to provide support, ranging from counseling to helping tenants connect with outside medical and social services. The 160 units are only temporary and will be in use for the next two years, until permanent housing units can be implemented. The City of Surrey and BC Housing are in talks regarding phase two of the project and are currently trying to decide where in Surrey to build the next group of units. Flanagan adds that the new units will be larger and contain a small kitchen, washroom, and bedroom.
One of three modular housing sites that has been opened for previously homeless residents in Surrey. (Ashley Hyshka) Both Flanagan and Rehal are pleased with the impact that the project has had on tenants and the surrounding community. Rehal explains that many of the residents who moved into the units are appreciative, though others are a bit more resistant to the sudden change. Flanagan adds that the impact that the project has on the community is being closely monitored and that, so far, no tenants have
relocated back onto 135a Street. He believes these results are “really encouraging” and hopes that the units will help those living there create a healthy and positive future for themselves. “It’s really hard to make those positive changes in your life when you’re living in a tent or sleeping in a doorway,” he says. “So you want to encourage people and bring them inside.”
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CULTURE
Meet Q the Yeti, Pride Kwantlen’s New Mascot The new face of KPU's Pride collective is an adorably fuzzy yeti with a rainbow-coloured horn Braden Klassen | Staff Writer LGBTQ+ students at Kwantlen Polytechnic University are welcoming the newest member of the Pride collective to the community.
From now on, Q the Yeti will be the official mascot of Pride Kwantlen. Joseph Thorpe, the Kwantlen Student Association’s queer students representative, says that Q is a welcome replacement for the
(Nicola Kwit)
old Pride logo. “It’s more unique for [LGBTQ+ students] instead of just having the KSA or KPU logo,� he says. “I just hope [Q] garners attention from students and that more students join the collective.� In addition to being the queer representative, Thorpe is also the Kwantlen Student Association’s VP Finance & Operations. Since achieving that position, he says he has wanted to continue working on initiatives for KPU’s Pride Collective, which is where the idea of introducing Q began to form. In creating Q, Thorpe collaborated with Nicole Kwit, one of the KSA’s office and administration coordinators. She is a graduate of KPU’s fine arts program and currently serves as The Runner’s art director. According to Kwit, the idea for Q’s design was brought about by a desire to give the Pride collective a distinctly unique character that would stand out when representing the group. “It’s like a narwhal yeti that is genderless,� she says. “I was sitting around and thinking of Canada, and I was like, ‘Oh, yetis.’ And people like unicorns, so I put a horn on it.� KPU students’ interest in the Pride collective has been declining over the last few years, most notably after KPU began to renovate the second floor of the Birch Building on Surrey campus, which is where the Pride Kwantlen office was located. “Our school has changed in the past year
and it’s getting harder to get students interested in these smaller minority groups,� says Thorpe. “Before they did the renovations, the [Pride collective] was pretty active, and then the students kind of stopped going to it.� The Pride collective’s space was relocated to a different room on the same floor, but according to Thorpe, the door to the new office was broken once the renovations were finished. He says that this made it difficult for students to access the office. “They finally fixed it,� he explains. “But it took a while. So, for a while, there was no space to hold meetings in or anything. It was hard to say, ‘We have a Pride centre,’ when you can’t actually go in it.� Thorpe says that he hopes more students will become aware of the collective when the fall semester starts, and that Q’s intriguing design can help bring more visibility to the LGBTQ+ community at KPU. “Now that that’s done we can finally, hopefully, get the collective going,� he says. “I want to get that started so that future students can continue it.� Kwit says that she may have more designs for characters that represent different parts of the LGBTQ+ community, but for now, Q will stand as a symbol for the community as a whole.
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CULTURE
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The Chosen Khan Advocates for Empathy in Surrey
Through social media, Abubakar Khan continues his family’s activism Aly Laube | Editor in Chief Abubakar Khan, known more famously on social media as The Chosen Khan, grew up surrounded by empaths, immigrants, and activists. His great uncle built the first mosque in B.C. His grandfather pulled together the multicultural community in Greater Vancouver and witnessed the Komagata Maru incident. And when it came for Khan’s time to get involved in advocacy, he started by having a face-toface conversation with a stranger every day. Over the past two years, he estimates that he has done this with about 700 people. “We look at inheritance and think that money is inherited. I don’t think we really understand that influence can be inherited as well,” he says. “If you leave a mark [on someone], if you have a connection, your network continues to expand and you end up doing things that are much bigger than your original vision.” One example of that is his podcast, also entitled The Chosen Khan, which developed out of the conversations he had during these meetings. Rather than attempting to tell their stories for them, he decided to invite these people onto the show to share their experience firsthand. “I’m having all of these interesting conversations and I can’t keep them to myself,” he says. “I’m listening to a woman talk about how she was sexually abused by her uncle or someone in her household. I’m listening
to a guy who’s saying, ‘Man, I’m completely addicted to alcohol.’” “I’m not here to speak on other people’s behalf. I’m here to listen.” According to Khan, covering sensitive subjects like this has been an opportunity to bring people together in a city that he considers to be largely divided. A major part of his work is striving to get rid of the “echo chambers” within each municipality and community. “You have the Sikh communities that hang out with each other. Even within the Sikh community you have divides. You have the Muslim community,” he says. “There are all these divides. What I do is I work on building those bridges, make people get on the same page and say, ‘Christian, Jew, Hindu, whatever you are, we have the same problems.” Beyond spreading awareness, he and his team have been working for years to make a tangible difference in the community as well. In 2016, when opioid overdose deaths were starting to rise exponentially, they opened up his grandfather’s mosque during the winter to give out care packages to those in need. When that got international attention online, he started planning awareness campaigns. For instance, Khan spent a week living on the streets of UBC. They created a charity for refugee children and regularly attend rallies and protests around Vancouver. Regardless of the medium it’s executed through, talking publicly about ideas that are often swept under the rug is at the core of The
“Instead of pointing the finger and saying, Chosen Khan. Doing this through content creation is what he feels is the best approach ‘This is because of Paris. This is because of in a generation that’s impacted heavily by terrorists,’ I didn’t point the finger at anybody. All I did was I utilized empathy and said, what they see in the media. Recently, he used this approach to start a ‘Think of this perspective: It’s our fault. All of conversation about gang violence in Surrey. us. Every single one of us has a part to play On June 4, Jaskaran Singh Bhangal and Jas- in it.’” karn Singh Jhutty were found dead with gunKhan is planning to run for Vancouver City shot wounds. Bhangal was 17 and Jhutty was 16. Council in the upcoming election. Based on Three days later, The Chosen Khan pub- the belief that “we need to be in the room to lished a video called “We Killed those Kids” be able to make changes within the system,” that got over 2,500 views and incited a long he’s hoping to be elected at only 24 years old. dialogue online. In it, Khan argues that each “If anything, running for Vancouver City member of the community needs to take Council, I can show people that you can do responsibility for the many causes of gang this as well. It’s not an old person’s game.” violence in Surrey.
Abubakar Khan is the face of The Chosen Khan, a collective of community members and advocates in Metro Vancouver. (Aly Laube)
Horticulture Instructor Receives $25,000 to Restore Langley Forest Kathy Dunster will dedicate the funding to the Logan Creek Integrity Project Amei-Lee Laboucan | Contributor Kathy Dunster, an instructor in KPU’s horticulture department, has received a grant of $25,000 from CN EcoConnexions for the completion of the Logan Creek Integrity Project. The project is aimed at repairing the damage that has been done to the area around Logan Creek from buildings, road structures, and invasive plants seeded during the early days of colonization. The goal of the project is to re-indigenize the area with edible or medicinal plants that were found there “before settler farmers” arrived, according to Dunster. This marks the second time that the Logan Creek Integrity Project has received a grant from EcoConnexions. The first was in 2014, during the initial phase of the project, which involved removing non-indigenous plants from the area. Phase two will focus on cleaning up the edge of the creek to “get rid of some fairly dangerous trees … that don’t belong there anyway,” says Dunster. European poplar trees will be removed from the land, although one black walnut tree from the same time frame will remain as a reminder of the earlier colonial period. The Logan Creek Project started in part because of Kwantlen Polytechnic University’s response to the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada after it came to B.C. in 2013. At that point, the university committed itself to spreading awareness of Indigenous issues and reconciliation. Its motto for doing
so is currently “Weaving Together: Healing, Education, and Reconciliation.” Dunster hopes that the project will be a collaborative effort involving members of the Kwantlen First Nation. However, she says that she still has to have a conversation with her “friends down the road at the Kwantlen First Nation to see if they’ve got any ideas over and above what [her currently] vague ideas are.” “Ultimately, we’re doing it for them,” she says. The Logan Creek Integrity Project will be worked on by students in the horticulture program at KPU for years to come. Students will be there from start to finish to solve problems as they arise and “figure out the best places for the plants to thrive,” Dunster explains. CN EcoConnexions is a tree-planting non-profit organization that has planted over 90,000 trees since 2012. The $25,000 it has granted to Dunster for the project will go towards buying cedar trees and salmonberry plants used to re-indigenize the area. Once those plants mature, they will be able to reproduce and eventually become self-sustaining. Dunster hopes that, one day, one of those cedar trees will be harvested to make a canoe. While the exact date is currently unknown, there will be an event at the Langley campus to celebrate Dunster for winning one of three grants awarded in B.C. communities during the fall semester. Kathy Dunster is hoping to "re-indigenize" the area around Logan Creek with edible or medicinal plant life. (Amei-Lee Laboucan)
8
FEATURE
Surrey's $357 Million Plan to Improve Parks, Recreation, and Culture The award-winning plan will guide the city through its next 10 years of growth Braden Klassen | Staff Writer
Most Surrey residents can agree that the city’s 200 parks and 35 recreation facilities and community centres go a long way for establishing the beauty and livability of the city. Now, thanks to the Parks, Recreation & Culture strategic plan developed by Surrey Parks Board, residents can look forward to enjoying new and improved park spaces and sports facilities. The plan, announced on May 29, details several strategies for park development over the next 10 years. Some of these include expansions into Newton, Whalley, Fleetwood, Cloverdale, and North and South Surrey. Most of the operational funding was sourced from tax revenue, with additional revenue coming from services like recreation centres. The federal and provincial governments also pitched in, providing grants that totaled millions of dollars. All in all, the plan accounts for $357 million for the investment in and development of short, medium, and long-term initiatives and projects. The 108-page PRC plan is divided into five themes that the city wants to prioritize as it rolls out the different phases of the strategy. They are listed in the PRC plan Executive Summary as high quality parks and facilities, an engaged and healthy community, a vibrant and creative city, leadership in environmental stewardship, and effective management of resources. “There has been a lot of cost accounting and financial analysis to make sure that this plan is financially feasible,” says Patrick Klassen, Surrey’s community planning manager. “A lot of that is to do with creating feasible, tangible, and well-thought out goals, because anybody can create a strategic plan. Where most strategic plans fall short is in the details. How do you deliver each recommendation?” Using evidence-based analysis and original research throughout the process was essential, according to Klassen. The PRC strategic plan is so comprehensive and detailed that it received an award for planning and policy excellence from the Planning Institute of British Columbia in late May. A press release from the City of Surrey
on June 4 quoted Mayor Linda Hepner as sayAccording to him, newer developments like ing that, “with this award, [the city is] even the Olympic Village in Vancouver constitute more confident that the strategies outlined notable examples of integrating sustainabilin the plan are on track to guide us over the ity with architectural design. next decade.” “Given that these are specific facilities, “I can say confidently that every recommen- integrating more environmentally sensitive dation in the strategic plan—all 184 of them— architectural design strategies—whether it is are achievable and actionable and have a through passive solutions, such as maximizfinancial contribution or line item set aside ing natural ventilation and natural light, or for them,” says Klassen. active ones, like photovoltaics or alternative While creating the plan, the city conducted energy sources—would certainly increase extensive research into what residents want- their sustainability from the environmental ed it to consider. Examples of these consulta- perspective.” tion methods include surveys, public events, The Museum of Surrey is also undergofocus groups, and presentations to different ing a large-scale, $16 million renovation city council committees. The report states and upgrade due to be finished in the fall of that there were over 5,000 participants in 2018. The renovations are extending a part this consultation—92 per cent of them were of the existing museum, as well as adding a Surrey residents, and 80 per cent had lived in new building and relocating two Surrey herSurrey for five years or more. itage buildings—the 126-year-old Anniedale Klassen says the consultation process was School and Surrey’s first town hall—to the invaluable for providing information to the site of the museum. planning committees, especially in the beginLynn Saffery, the Museum of Surrey’s manning phases of formulating the plan, when ager, says that the changes will go beyond many of the key ideas were formulated. Res- the physical additions, which are expected to idents were invited to attend themed work- increase the museum space by about 12,000 shops, open houses, and popup events to share square feet. their opinions and discuss recreation, the “Our vision is to be the best people museenvironment, heritage, and culture as well. um in Canada, and we do that by connecting In terms of park improvements, off-road people with the stories they tell,” says Saffery. walking and cycling trails were the number “The shift has gone from looking at artifacts one initiative voted for by participants, fol- and looking at old things that tell stories to lowed closely by creating more natural areas looking at the people of Surrey and the comand green spaces. When it comes to recre- munities of Surrey and having them tell their ation, participants heavily favoured develop- own stories.” ment of sports, recreation, and wellness proAs meticulously thought-out as the PRC grams, as well as constructing new swimming strategy is, there will be still be comprehenpools and sport fields. sive reviews at the three and six-year marks. In an email to The Runner, KPU design pro- Following these reviews, adjustments can be fessor and environmental designer at Métis made based on the wants and needs of the Design Build, Erick Villagomez, outlined a few Surrey public. points that would benefit Surrey’s approach Klassen adds that the city reached out to to sustainable urban and community design. both KPU and SFU to consult the administra“As a municipality, Surrey can and should tions on how the plan could potentially benbe looking at their parks both locally and efit students. It’s possible that implementing regionally to ensure that they work cohesive- parts of the project could create opportunily towards the specific goals they would like ties for students looking for internships or to achieve,” he wrote. job shadowing experience.
“For Kwantlen, we do have a section that pertains to agriculture and food production … and we developed those with Kwantlen’s programs in mind,” he says. KPU Vice President of External Affairs Marlyn Graziano recalls discussing the details of the plan in early August 2017. “There would have been a few questions here and there about whether there might be future synergies with KPU, especially on the arts and culture front, such as mounting exhibits at the art gallery,” Graziano wrote in an email to The Runner. “Now that the plan is formalized, KPU will be able to review the final product and start working directly with the city in any areas of mutual interest.” Supporting Surrey’s cultural organizations and programs as well as funding local artists is also a key aspect of the strategy. Page 66 of the report claims that “it is imperative to support and nurture local artists and arts organizations, and increase their capacity, stability, and sustainability.” The paragraph continues, “Investing in Surrey’s artists and art organizations will enhance the City’s long-term strategy to support and retain professional artists, thereby diversifying our social, cultural, and economic opportunities.” There are a few different ways that the city is planning to approach the task of cultivating a more thriving arts scene in Surrey. Within the next four to six years, it will create a City Arts Liaison to help artists network and access grant money. Artist grants are vital for improving the cultural heart of any community, which is why one of the arts objectives of the PRC plan is to strengthen the Surrey’s Cultural Grant Program. With luck, it will offer over $1 million in annual grant funding by 2027. A new community art space in Newton will begin development in seven to 10 years, and there is even a fledgling plan to build an art centre somewhere in Guildford, though this will come after the decade-long scope of the plan.
Surrey's Holland Park, located by King George SkyTrain station. (Braden Klassen)
Surrey is currently upgrading the field capacity in Newton Athletic Park not far from KPU Surrey. (Braden Klassen)
The city is looking into the possibility of creating an outdoor community performance space near Crescent Beach. (Braden Klassen)
An artistic rendering of what the expanded Museum of Surrey will look like once renovations are complete. (Museum of Surrey)
10
FEATURES
(@RESLUS)
FEATURES
11
Kitchen Culture Dishes Out Toxicity to Employees Three former restaurant workers discuss coping with the ugly aspects of kitchen culture Braden Klassen | Staff Writer
After the tragic passing of celebrity chef Anthony Bourdain, many people have taken another look at some of the topics he raised in his book Kitchen Confidential. Just last year, Bourdain expressed regret for his own complacency in—and even glorification of—toxic elements of kitchen culture, namely the unchecked sexism of the back of house. Having spent a few years of my life working in kitchens, I’ve seen some of the best and worst parts of this culture. As hard as it is to paint such a large industry with broad strokes, I’ve definitely noticed some commonalities in all of the restaurants I’ve worked in. I met some of the most compassionate and intelligent people I know while sautéing for entrée dishes on the line. Unfortunately, it’s also where I encountered some of the most obtuse, bullying, straight-up reptilian assholes I’ve ever had the displeasure of talking to. When you work in an industry where a mistake could leave you with one or two fingers less than you had when you walked in, horrible burns or scars for life, or chronic pain and permanent blindness, you tend to take the bad with the good. Still, it’s hard not to wonder why people put up with working alongside people who mistreat and denigrate their co-workers. A lot of the time it seems like it’s because you don’t have much choice. Working in a restaurant is an especially viable way for students to make money while going to school because you’re able to work nights and have a relatively accomodating work schedule. Speaking from experience, though, this can put you in a position where you’re unable to stick up for yourself when being treated with disrespect and hostility—especially from your superiors—because you fear you could lose your job or alienate yourself from the rest of the crew. Almost all restaurant kitchen staff are organized into a hierarchy called the brigade de cuisine which includes chefs, sous chefs, chefs de partie, and so on. This hierarchy, first developed by legendary chef Georges Auguste Escoffier over 100 years ago, is absolute and unquestionable. Its resulting power dynamic makes it very difficult to challenge your superiors over anything, even if it’s unrelated to food. There’s also such a variety of people who work in kitchens that, sooner or later, their personality differences culminate in conflict.
When I was working in a kitchen, the guy on my left was working his ass off so that he could feed his kids while the guy on my right was working equally hard to feed his slowly worsening cocaine addiction. I was happy to call both of them my friends, but they were often at each other’s throats for one reason or another. “There’s a whole bunch of testosterone in the kitchen,” says James Wirth, a graduate from KPU’s Appliance Servicing program who worked as a cook for about two and a half years. “It goes to people’s heads.” Wirth still regularly works in kitchens as an equipment technician, and even though he’s no longer a cook, he says that he still occasionally feels some animosity from chefs and kitchen workers. “Working with some of the chefs out there, it feels like there is a sense of entitlement, almost like they’re better than everyone else,” he says. “I’ve worked with a handful of chefs who were more like positive teachers, but I’ve had a plethora of chefs and sous chefs who have an ego or an attitude.” This mix of testosterone and ego that Wirth references can become particularly volatile once it starts to get busy on line. That’s when shit hits the fan. I still get anxiety when I hear order tickets being printed out at restaurants—it reminds me of how demanding and stressful the kitchen could get. When you’re working in a kitchen, the timeliness of your work is vital and the margin for error is unforgivingly slim. When you mess something up, it can affect the entire rest of the kitchen. Often they’ll let you know by harassing or yelling at you, which adds to the tension and frustration. “Suddenly I’m the bad person and I’m getting yelled at by somebody when, really, if you break down the situation, I’m just trying to help them out and they’re taking out their frustration on someone who doesn’t deserve it,” Wirth recalls. Imagine this: The kitchen thermometer says that it’s 29 degrees on line. You’re in the middle of cooking nine different meals, all of which need to be finished in the next six minutes. You haven’t stepped away from the hot stove for almost three hours and there’s an uncomfortable layer of grease on your face and sweat coating your entire body. The fresh oil burns on your left forearm are starting to sting like crazy. You haven’t had a sip of water in an hour and a half, and the last cigarette
you had might as well have been a year ago. Someone just returned a perfectly cooked and plated appetizer because they didn’t realize it wasn’t gluten-free. Then a dishwasher drops a 10-pound sauté wok on your foot and you burn $38.00 worth of sablefish, eating into the chef’s food cost money and setting the whole kitchen back about 10 minutes. The stress can be unreal. In this sort of environment, you might not be your best self 100 per cent of the time. Still that’s no excuse to be a bully, and too often women are the recipients of this behaviour. Statistics Canada data from 2015 says that 59.7 per cent of chefs and cooks were men, and 71.3 per cent of food and beverage servers were women. The gender divide between the front and back of house is systemic, and research stretching back for decades has suggested that female servers who are judged to be more attractive earn more tips than those who aren’t, especially from male customers. This dynamic is obviously utilized by hiring managers and owners, who seem to favour hiring women for front of house positions. The standard sub-minimum wage that servers earn also puts an unjust financial pressure on women to endure objectification, and while an increasing number of venues are challenging this by raising servers’ wages, it remains the status quo for the vast majority of businesses. This is not an excuse or a justification for the proliferation of sexist culture in kitchens, but I think it’s worth noting that this culture exists in correlation with an industry that has a very clearly defined structure that reinforces and exploits gendered roles. Nicole Kwit, KPU fine arts graduate and the art director for The Runner, says that she experienced hostility, condescension, and disrespect while working in restaurants as an expediter and server. “I think there is a lot of misogyny. Every restaurant I’ve worked at was heavily male-dominant in the kitchens,” she says. “You would hear it amongst themselves. It wasn’t always just towards the waitresses. The women [in the kitchen] would be quiet and they stayed to themselves. You’d hear them get yelled at a lot if they stepped out of line or gave an opinion or something.” It’s not always the case that female employees are mistreated, objectified, or otherwise disrespected by their co-workers, but it does
seem to happen with higher frequency in kitchens. Most managers are on top of keeping their employees comfortable, but a lot of the time, negative behaviours can slip by that the managers are either too busy to notice or intentionally turn a blind eye towards. Here are some that I can recall: When a particularly tall cook at a restaurant in Langley boasted that, because of his height, he was able to look down the shirts of female servers without being noticed. When line cooks at a Japanese restaurant in Vancouver would nudge each other and mutter “josei desu” while pointing out women they deemed attractive, taking turns to ogle them as they walked by. When a group of cooks at a steakhouse in Walnut Grove nicknamed an underage server “jailbait,” referring to her by that name for months, often to her face. When a chef at a pub in New Westminster angrily shouted down a female server for making a small mistake during lunch, loudly demeaning her in front of coworkers with so much malice that it was genuinely frightening. I witnessed all of this but never saw any kind of reprimand or disciplinary action taken. This neglect goes a long way towards perpetuating the toxicity of kitchen culture. I’m just one person, and my handful of anecdotes makes up just a small fraction of the tip of the iceberg of problematic attitudes and culture present on the line. I do think it needs to be said that, while I did step up and call out some of my colleagues on their behaviour a few times, my overall inaction and passivity during these kinds of locker-room situations exemplifies the larger, equally problematic issue of the tacit acceptance of this type of conduct by silent bystanders like myself. That being said, there is progress being made, and management and chefs are taking steps to cultivate a healthier work environment. By all means, keep eating at restaurants. Enjoy dining out and trying new foods, but try to think more critically about how you treat staff and what you expect of them from now on. You could even consider supporting the movement to pay servers living wages.
STUDENT SNAPSHOT Shaolin Monks paid a visit to the KPU Surrey Campus Conference Center in the Cedar building to show their martial arts training in an exciting and passionate display. (Kristen Frier)
These monks are not tolerating any monkey business. (Kristen Frier)
President of the KPU Muslim Student’s Association Duaa Ismail poses in front of a concessions tent during the Eid celebration at KPU Surrey. (Braden Klassen)
KPU student Rahul Jindal attempts to break the record at the basketball hoop game set up for Eid. (Braden Klassen)
KPU Business Faculty Dean Wayne Tebb volunteered to be the victim of a dunk tank to raise funds for the Muslim Students’ Association. (Braden Klassen)
OPINION
13
The “First-Year Experience” at KPU Isn’t so Fresh, Man If you’re finding it hard to make friends here, you’re not the only one Kristen Frier | Photo Editor I can’t blame Kwantlen Polytechnic University students if they feel let down about their first year at university. Rather than a year full of friends, parties, and ramen noodles, we face stress, student loans, and a lack of school spirit. Likely the biggest difference between the expectation that new students have about their first year at college and the reality at KPU is in our school’s lack of dormitories. On-campus student housing provides the perfect setting for 20-somethings to balance their studies and their early college lifestyles. Alexa Kaweski, a student at Wilfrid Laurier University, says that her dormitory experience “felt like a movie.” She says it involved pulling pranks with balloons, having passive aggressive roommates, and making “a bet about who could eat solely pogos for every meal and snack the longest.” Sadly, KPU just doesn’t have a place where these kind of antics are possible, let alone appropriate. Because we don’t have dorms, there isn’t a lot of motivation for students to make new friends in their first year. Many of us hang on to the same friends we had before university, especially because of the fact that our school is split up between a number of campuses around Metro Vancouver. It can be hard to make friends in Langley if you're only there once a week. By contrast, Brooklynn Sawatzky, a Bishop's University student, described making new friends with ease. Her first—and now best—friend simply walked up to her and said,
“I’m joining you now.” “It was cool because everyone is looking for friends [in their] first year,” she says, adding that the friendly atmosphere at Bishop’s gave her “confidence to introduce [her]self because everyone there is really cool and wants to meet new people.” It’s rare to see KPU students make an effort to meet new people. It seems like many of us are afraid of each other, but we shouldn’t be. We’re all in the same boat. I’m in my second year now and have yet to make completely new university friends; almost every person that I have become close with has been from some previous connection. Whenever I try and make friends in class, the “friendship” only lasts to the end of the semester. I’m lucky that I’m not enrolled fulltime and have the opportunity to be social off campus, because if I spent all my time there, I imagine that I would feel very isolated. In a very scientific and totally professional poll I ran on a Facebook group chat, almost every KPU student who participated described their first year experience as “anticlimactic.” This goes completely against the typical expectations of freshman year. I was hoping for Blue Mountain State, Buffy The Vampire Slayer, or at the very least a grown-up version of Zoey 101. To be honest, all I really wanted was to play hacky sack on the quad. Alas, instead of doing keg stands with my millions of cool and hip university friends, I’m left doing keg stands by myself, then going to class in the morning. (@RESLUS)
The Public Sector Should Step in as Greyhound Steps Out Services such as Greyhound are economically infeasible, but still necessary Tristan Johnston | Contributor The recent announcement that Greyhound is discontinuing almost all bus routes in Western Canada has left people who don’t have access to a car with no way of reaching the rural communities in B.C.’s interior. Thankfully, there are currently plans for BC Bus North to make up for some of the lost network, and there’s some hope that the NDP government will help further. Nevertheless, thousands of commuters across the province have been left with uncertain futures. One doesn’t even need to look at a balance sheet to know that few entrepreneurs would be interested in entering the rural transit game. While buses are conventionally a cheap form of long-distance transit, they are not cheap to run. Someone needs to pay for the six-figure bus, maintain it, administrate it, fill it with gas, and pay hourly for a unionized worker to drive it. Despite this, taking the bus is still cheaper than flying. While you would barely need to pay a pilot for more than a few hours of work, airport privatization and taxes mean that a flight from Vancouver to Prince Rupert could cost four times more than buying a bus ticket. Buses, like all other forms of mass transit, have a high point for breaking even. Greyhound needs to make sure that they get filled to reach that point, and in rural areas, very few of them
do. Citizens living in the interior are more likely to own cars, as local transit doesn’t exist in their communities, and are therefore more likely to simply drive themselves to another town if they need to. Still, rural services are a necessity outside of the Lower Mainland. Not all communities will have their own hospital, and not everybody will own their own vehicle. A more economic reason why these communities need to be served is due to their proximity to resources. Canada is a resource-based economy, and these rural areas are often where the resources are found. It’s times like these when we might want to compare our situation to that in Europe or Japan, where a high value is put on regional transit, even to small communities. Granted, there are massive differences in population densities, tax rates, and cultural values between here and there. Many remember the local train line in a remote part of Northern Japan that kept its service running for a single rider going to school and back, even though it made no financial sense to do so. Of course, Japan is a country that puts an impressive priority on education and is culturally highly collectivist in general. It’s also important to note that the company operating the rail line, Japan Rail, is nationalized. In Europe, settlements spread out across vast areas were there centuries before trains
were invented. If you were to visit Germany, you would find that the train might stop several times between Frankfurt and Hamburg in small or even rural communities. In North America, train and mass transit service generally gets worse the further and further west you go. It makes no sense to have a rail line linking Vancouver to Quesnel, but the public
sector should step in with a bus service for those who still need to make that trip. The public sector needs to step in when there’s a need for an essential service that is either unprofitable or so universally required that there shouldn’t be a profit motive, such as healthcare. I believe that transportation between B.C. communities is such an essential service.
Greyhound is discontinuing almost all of its routes in Western Canada. (flickr/Isriya Paireepairit)
14
OPINION
Afterthought: What’s on Deck with the Federal Cabinet Shuffle
What Trudeau's retailored cabinet means heading into the next election Braden Klassen | Staff Writer Always one of the more exciting parts of the political cycle, cabinet reshuffling is an opportunity for governments to update their roster of ministers to fit the party’s strategy. It’s also a chance for journalists and political junkies to speculate and analyze what each change says about the party’s intentions for the future. This most recent shuffle, which took place on July 18, moved six ministers to different positions, changed the portfolios of five others, and introduced five new members into the cabinet. Right away, both the media and the opposition have scrutinized the Liberals’ decision to bring former Toronto Police Chief Bill Blair into the mix. Blair, the new Minister of Border Security and Organized Crime Reduction, is not a source of controversy at the moment, but may soon become one due to potential conflict between him and Ontario Premier Doug Ford. On Wednesday, Conservative MP Lisa Raitt said that she thinks Blair’s appointment “is going to be fraught with difficulties, especially when it comes to dealing in Toronto and Ontario.” Why the animosity? Blair was the chief of police in 2013 when Ford’s brother, the late Rob Ford, was being investigated for using crack cocaine. Doug called for Blair’s resignation after he publicly released the video of Rob smoking crack. Despite the fact that Blair had nothing to do with Rob’s unadvisable actions, that hasn’t stopped Doug from making Blair his nemesis. Pablo Rodriguez is the new Minister of Canadian Heritage and Multiculturalism, taking over the position from Melanie Jolie, who is now the Minister of Tourism, Official Lan-
guages, and La Francophonie. Jolie encountered some pointed backlash in 2017 after cutting subsidies to newspapers and releasing a new cultural plan that critics claimed really didn’t do anything new or effective. Mary Ng will be filling the recently created position of Minister of Small Business and Export Promotion, ostensibly as a response to the trade conflict between Canada and the US. Also possibly related to the economic volatility emanating from Trump’s ill-considered attempt at economic isolationism, James Carr’s job has changed from the Minister of Natural Resources to the Minister of International Trade Diversification. He is being replaced by Edmonton MP Amarjeet Sohi. Delta MP Carla Qualtrough, former Minister of Public Services and Procurement and the lady whose Scott Road office KPU students ride past on the 319 every day, is now the Minister of Public Services and Procurement and Accessibility. This will conceivably improve the lack of representation for people with disabilities that was left by Kent Hehr after he resigned earlier this year. Hehr, the former Minister of Sport and Persons with Disabilities, was a magnet for controversy, being accused of insulting constituents and sexual harassment. He even drew the attention of the Ethics Commissioner for potentially using his power to help his father gain a seat on the Calgary Board of Education. Trudeau has replaced himself with Dominic LeBlanc for Minister of Intergovernmental Affairs. It has been speculated that LeBlanc will be there to crack the whip, albeit with a smile on his face—a responsibility that some say The Right Honourable was beginning to drop the ball on. LeBlanc’s full title is Minister of Intergovernmental and Northern Affairs and Internal Trade,
Former Toronto Police Chief and the new Minister of Border Security and Organized Crime Reduction, Bill Blair. (flickr/Paul Henman) replacing the “and Youth” representation footer from Trudeau’s former position. Now, younger Canadians don’t have any official representation in cabinet, token or otherwise. What’s the point of representing the demographic responsible for the entire future of this country when they can’t even vote, right? Nevermind that 2015 saw a 17.7 per cent increase in turnout from newly eligible voters over 2011. Speaking of the dysfunctional and myopic
ageism in government that Trudeau vowed to challenge when he was first elected, Filomena Tassi has been appointed to the newly created position of Minister of Seniors. It makes sense, seeing as Canadians aged 65 to 74 are the highest voting demographic at 78.8 per cent. As the year wears on, there will doubtlessly be more to talk in regards to the refreshed cabinet. Whether these changes increase the party’s chance for re-election remains to be seen.
Teahouse Manager Was Wrong to Refuse Service to a Trump Supporter Free speech shouldn’t be used to discriminate against those with political views different from our own Daniella Javier | Contributor Darin Hodge, a manager at the popular Teahouse restaurant in Stanley Park, was fired after refusing to serve a Trump supporter wearing a “Make America Great Again” hat in early June. According to an article by CTV News, the customer was asked to remove his hat in order to dine in the restaurant, but chose to leave it on. Hodge refused to serve him and was ultimately unrepentant for his actions. Hodge’s behaviour was uncalled for. The customer should have still been served, and Hodge should have held back from making any comments against him. There are some cases when it’s acceptable to deny someone service in a business. For example, a private business has broad rights to ban customers as long as its policies are legal and don’t violate human rights. Retail stores can also ban people caught shoplifting. Casinos can turn away known cheaters. The customer at Teahouse, however, wasn’t doing anything wrong, and they weren’t a
threat in any way. We shouldn't discriminate against others based on their political beliefs simply because those beliefs upset us. The Teahouse’s general manager, Andy Crimp, told the CBC that Hodge was probably aware that his actions against this customer ran contrary to the company’s values and philosophy in terms of hospitality and inclusiveness. However, Lia Moody, an employment lawyer, told CTV News that if the company responsible for running the restaurant had a policy that covered grounds to deny service, they would have the right to fire Hodge with cause. Otherwise, he wouldn’t be in breach of any company policy. She also noted that it’s not illegal to refuse service to someone on the basis of political beliefs. Trump is not well-liked around the world, but that doesn’t mean that his supporters should be mistreated. As much as we might like to question them about their dedication to the President, we have to respect one another’s human rights. As human rights lawyer David Brown told
Global News, an employee’s political views are protected under the human rights act, but so are the customer’s. With that being said, a Trump supporter in Canada has the same rights as anyone else. We Canadians know that our country should celebrate diversity, but Hodge’s behaviour wasn’t in accordance with Canada’s Charter of Rights and Freedoms. According to the charter, everyone has fundamental freedoms, including freedom of thought, belief, opinion, and expression. If we love and appreciate our rights in Canada, no one should be discriminated against for practicing these freedoms. The red hat represents Trump’s vision for America, which millions of people feel offended by. Nevertheless, when I was working on a social issues project on food insecurity, I met a female Trump supporter at a community dinner. As much as I wanted to gag when she said she loved Trump, I kept my peace and listened to her talk because it’s not my place to judge her for her beliefs while we’re working in an unrelated capacity.
Sometimes we might find it difficult to accept someone’s lifestyle choices, but no one should ever be rejected for holding their own beliefs.
(flickr/account, modified by Kristen Frier)
PROCRASTINATION HOROSCOPES
Sagittarius Nov. 23 - Dec 21
Capricorn Dec. 22 - Jan 20
Aquarius Jan 21 - Feb 19
Pisces Feb 20 - Mar 20
Sneak into the rectory. Unfurl the black velvet altar cloth and draw a white chalk Baphomet.
Aries Mar 21 - Apr 19
If your parakeet is missing stop looking for it. It is happier now.
Taurus Apr 20 - May 20
Gemini May 21 - Jun 20
Cancer Jun 21 - Jul 23
Leo Jul 24 - Aug 23
Virgo Aug 24 - Sept 23
Libra Sept 24 - Oct 23
Scorpio Oct 24 - Nov 22
The aerodynamic properties of the ball of paper are not properly triangulated to the wind resistance coming off of that fan, and the waste paper basket is simply too far away. [To stand and walk to the basket go to Taurus. To attempt the shot go to Scorpio.]
You were born young and you will die young, a thousand years from now.
Your personality can largely be explained by the fact that you were abandoned as an infant and taken in by a pack of wild horses. The horses also abandoned you and you were later raised by a professional wrestler.
SUDOKU
Look for the answers in the next issue of The Runner.
Last issue’s answers.
When working on your retirement speech, try to avoid the phrase “conniving goblins.”
If, perchance when sailing, you are serenaded by the cool island rhythms of a crustacean band, do not attempt to join them in their paradise beneath the waves. You will be devoured by horrible mermaids.
A strange wind blows, all full of new smells.
You must take vengeance on the nation of Sweden, in this life or the next.
Shortly you will turn back to your mundane desk work. Intermittently through the day you will think of the distance across your office and suck unconsciously on your canine teeth.
Don’t take offense, take offence! Take fencing lessons! If things get really bad, steal into their yard at night and take their fence!
When you inevitably fail to sink that ball into that basket your disappointment will be immeasurable and your day will be ruined.
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