17 minute read
Camp Marjorie
Camp Marjorie is a community, not a nuisance
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Tent cities have unwarranted stigma
gillian massie staff writer
“I’m not encouraging people to walk through the threshold of tents because this is someone’s front yard,” said Camp Marjorie volunteer Alyshia Johnson. “You wouldn’t want someone to do that on your front yard.” Johnson was speaking at a distance from the main encampment, which has grown from a single tent before Thanksgiving to more than three dozen, all clustered around a central screen tent where goods donated by community members have been collected.
With the failed roll-out of the Saskatchewan Income Support program, which has led to drastically reduced income and left people choosing between paying rent and buying food, many landlords have evicted individuals who cannot pay rent. As the months grow colder, it is inhumane to have individuals sleeping in cold temperatures. Regina’s own tent city has been set up in Pepsi Park to combat the cold weather, although advocates and some members of Regina’s city council stress that the tents are far from an adequate solution to the humanitarian crisis that is homelessness.
Still, despite being inadequate, Camp Marjorie has been a place of hope for many individuals who have been outed on the streets. Residents are making the best of the circumstances by keeping their space neat and organized. Beside one tent, a pair of boots sit outside so as not to track in dirt. Right beside it, a Tim Horton’s coffee cup is used as an ashtray to collect cigarette butts. It is a tent city, and it is also a home for many individuals.
Volunteers and residents alike are trying to create a community where everyone is seen as an equal. “We are trying to pave a way for a community that has no hierarchies,” said Johnson. “People come here and ask who’s in charge, and we all look around at each other because it is such a hard question to answer. We all just work together, and we don’t need titles to do that.”
Tent cities can be seen as unorthodox and obscure, but they are a small community of individuals who are trying to live and survive. “It’s kind of modern anarchy, in a sense, and people are peaceful and good,” said volunteer Justyn Chaykowski. “I would equate Camp Marjorie to a good city in that sense that the moral code is kind of just based on the camaraderie.”
Like many small commutunity to remember her, we will try our best not to wear black.”
Also like a community, there is someone that is a representative for the community. This community member acts as the unofficial Mayor of Camp Marjorie. Liam, whose name has been changed to a pseudonym so he is not identified as the currently acting official representing the people of the community.
“Everybody at Camp Marjorie knows Liam,” said Chaykowski. “They know where Liam’s tent is and they respect Liam, even people from outside of the community that may come into the community.”
Chaykowski talked about a particular instance where Liam resolved a situation where someone who was not a part of the sponsible for much, but certainly not all, of the homelessness in the city, came into effect at the end of August and has proven to have disastrous effects. SIS’s predecessor, the Saskatchewan Assistance Program, paid rent directly to landlords. SIS was designed to make citizens more “self-sufficient,” sending them the payment directly. However, because SIS has also significantly reduced the dollar amount of the entitlements individuals receive, and because utility bills and food prices have risen sharply over the past two years, many people found themselves in a situation where they had to choose between paying rent and feeding themselves.
Johnson explains her frustration with the system: “I would just encourage them to have a system
“It’s kind of modern anarchy, in a sense, and people are peaceful and good. I would equate Camp Marjorie to a good city in that sense that the moral code is kind of just based on the camaraderie.
– Justin Chaykowski
nities, they get their name from someone who is significant to their community. Camp Marjorie was named after Vivian Marjorie, who chose to go by the middle name she shared with her mother. Marjorie spent lots of time in at the Friendship Centre, she was known for being incredibly kind to everyone around. She passed away on October 6, at age 60 due to an overdose. She was a mother to children both living and dead, including one child who is currently missing.
“She did not like the color black,” said Johnson. “We know that when we do have the opporcamp came to take some of the donated goods without permission. Instead of taking them all away, Liam came to an agreement with the individual who only took what they needed instead.
With many more evictions taking place, many more people are trying to reach sanctuary at Camp Marjorie. However, given the high number of individuals being affected by the failed SIS rollout, they are slowly accepting more residents while also trying to find hotel rooms or warmer venues for residents.
The Saskatchewan Income Support program, which is rethat doesn’t deal with everybody on a case-by-case basis, because that is not working.”
The system also requires internet access, which many of the residents do not have.
“[Residents] are without phones and technology,” continues Johnson, “just getting people signed into the program, it is so easy to take for granted that you don’t know where a certain place is [you can just Google it].” Residents aren’t able to do that without smart phones, and even if they did have phones, “you need to take into account when you have a phone, you need electricity, and we don’t have that in a park.”
Although there is currently an unofficial agreement between the city and the encampment that the encampment will not be torn down, the threat of state violence against encampment residents is real. This past summer saw people living peacefully in tent cities in Halifax, Vancouver, and Toronto have their tents and belongings destroyed by police officers and some residents and their allies were assaulted and arrested by cops. Mayor Sandra Masters has said that there is only to be two weeks to relocate all the residents of Camp Marjorie.
Johnson said that in the event that Camp Marjorie is dismantled without ensuring everyone is housed, “People that are here are going to go back to sheds, they are going to go back to benches, they are going to go back to pavement, they are going to go back to essentially nothing.”
Chaykowski expands on the Government of Saskatchewan’s lack of action towards housing Camp Marjorie’s residents and how they are opting for more actions of performative reconciliation. Many of the residents of Camp Marjorie are Indigenous.
“These statues are supposed to be put up as a memorial of what had happened after the reconciliation has been completed,” said Chaykowski. “If you want to start having real truth and reconciliation, making up for what we’ve done, then the funds that were going to go to that statue should immediately be pulled out and put into getting these people [housed].”
Without a solution to the housing crisis, Camp Marjorie continues to grow. While conditions are far from ideal, there is a greater consciousness to the camp than meets the eye.
Edward Patterson via Unsplash Community is community.
Faculty Association disaffiliated in 2019
hammad ali staff writer
On September 29, the University of Regina Faculty Association (URFA) issued a press release through their website stating that they are re-affiliating with the Saskatchewan Federation of Labour (SFL). The press release mentioned that through this renewed affiliation, URFA members will be able to access education and training opportunities, resources, and also be a part of the broader labour movement in the province. No mention was made of why this affiliation had temporarily been suspended, for how long, and why the decision to re-affiliate was made.
As mentioned on their website, the University of Saskatchewan Faculty Association is also affiliated with the SFL. Further, websites of similar associations in other universities in Ontario, Alberta, and British Columbia indicate that they are also affiliated with their corresponding provincial federations of labour. We wanted to find out why URFA was not affiliated in the past for some time, and what prompted the decision to enter an affiliation once more. We reached out to Ellen Paulley, Communications Officer with URFA, with some questions about the SFL, as well as questions about the current challenges and priorities for the association.
Is it common for faculty associations across Canadian schools in other provinces to be affiliated with the provincial federations of labour?
I would recommend connecting with the Saskatchewan Federation of Labour and/or Canadian Labour Congress for more information about faculty associations and affiliations with provincial federations of labour.
Note that as mentioned, a number of other associations, including the U of S, are in fact affiliated with the appropriate bodies in their province.
How long has it been since URFA was last affiliated with the SFL? iated-organization resources for support should job action or lock out occur. Together with other affiliates and members of the SFL, URFA is pleased to be part of the collective voice of workers in the province. The 2019 URFA Executive Committee had made the decision to temporarily suspend payment of member dues for the Saskatchewan Federation of Labour.
What are the most important priorities for URFA to currently pursue? How makes the world a better place.
How does URFA feel about the way the current semester and the gradual re-opening of campus is working?
URFA is monitoring the evolving return to campuses. We are listening to URFA members about their experiences and are committed to advocating for safe, healthy and secure working and teaching conditions for URFA members.
What is on the URFA
Council, and have access to SFL and affiliated-organization resources for support should job action or lock out occur.
– Ellen Pauley
Since 2019.
Why was the past affiliation not continued, and what led to current re-affiliation?
URFA’s purpose of promoting solidarity with the labour movement aligns well with that of the Saskatchewan Federation of Labour, which strives to improve working conditions for social and economic justice for all. By rejoining the SFL, URFA members will gain access to education and training programs offered by the organization; have a representative on SFL’s Executive Council, and have access to SFL and affilwill the affiliation with SFL help these priorities?
URFA’s priorities are guided by our 2021-2026 Strategic Plan. The activities we undertake are designed to support our vision, mission, values and strategic directives. Our vision is that URFA members are diverse, engaged, and secure in their employment and physical, mental, spiritual and emotional health. In an environment of academic freedom, freedom of expression, collegiality and respect, they drive a culture of teaching, research, and community engagement that agenda as we approach the Winter 2022 semester and possibly a more substantial return to campus?
The health and safety of URFA members and the Campion College, First Nations University of Canada, Luther College, and University of Regina students and communities is of the utmost importance to URFA. As we explore a potential more widespread return to the campuses, URFA emphasizes the importance of a safe campus environment. We call on the University of Regina and the federated colleges to ensure that any faculty and staff will not be required to return to work if they feel unsafe. URFA expects that the University of Regina and the federated colleges will process any faculty or administrative, professional or technical staff member requests for workplace accommodations according to the provisions outlined in the Saskatchewan Human Rights Code.
URFA members’ working and teaching environment is the learning environment for students at the University of Regina. We’d like to share with the students that URFA is also preparing to enter negotiations for three of our bargaining units, whose collective agreements have expired this year. The bargaining units include First Nations University of Canada Administrative, Professional and Technical members; University of Regina Academic members; and University of Regina Administrative, Professional and Technical members.
Anything else you feel the student body should know?
URFA recognizes that the working, teaching and learning environments for staff, faculty and students are interconnected. We support a healthy, safe and encouraging work and learning environment for everyone at Campion College, First Nations University of Canada, Luther College and the University of Regina. As the next generation of innovators, creators and scholars, students have the power and potential to shape the world into a better place. We can’t wait to see what our students achieve!
Morgan Ortman How does this affect ME!?
Experience video game history at the Science Centre
Sask Science Centre’s new exhibition takes you on a quest through the evolution of video games
Jorah Bright jorah bright
arts writer
In recent years, video games have grown in popularity, with several movie adaptations being made from them. They’ve grown in graphic design, looking more realistic every year; and they’ve grown in time to complete. Many games can take up to 50 hours – just to complete the main storyline. The storyline of video games as an activity and industry is even longer.
The Game Changers exhibit at the Saskatchewan Science Center focuses on the history of video games. It showcases how the technology has grown and changed, and how the stories have as well. It showcases over 120 different video games over the years.
I started playing video games as a child, and this exhibit felt like magic. Gaming is near and dear to my heart and gave me a love for storytelling that I will always carry with me. Game Changers showcases the history of something so important to me, something that was before my time, and proves that it will still be here long after my time, and long after I’m too busy to play games every night.
According to the exhibit itself, “Game Changers explores the remore immersive storylines and gameplay. Another sign that spoke about early storytelling highlighted Police Quest: In Pursuit of a Death Angel from 1987, and how the storyline was relatable and realistic.
The next area I went to focused on the characters themselves. It recognized that characters drive the story: they’re what people connect with and what can make a game so special and beloved by the player. The exhibit highlighted four characters and their evolution throughout this area: Lara Croft from the Tomb Raider series, Mario from Super Mario Bros., Link from the Legend of Zelda, and Sam Fisher from Splinter Cell.
After that was a section on the settings of games. Video games are known for having large expansive worlds, with open-world games as a popular subgenre. They started with real places, places that we as the player could see and relate to. One of which was Assassin’s Creed Unity, which takes place in France (as a side note: does anyone else remember that Tumblr post about the kid who could navigate the streets of Rome from playing Assassin’s Creed? Or that guy who knew his way around L.A. from playing Grand Theft Auto V?) The other was L.A. Noire, which makes son, first-person, side-scrolling, and top-down. In third person, they showed Tom Clancy’s Splinter Cell: Blacklist, World of Warcraft, and Need for Speed. First-person had Call of Duty, Doom, and Unreal. Sidescrollers and top-down perspective were grouped together and had Limbo, SimCity, 1947, Boulder Dash, and Shovel Knight.
The exhibit showed different genres of games. In the adventure category, they noted The Legend of Zelda, Tomb Raider, and Ultima. For role-playing games, it was Dungeons & Dragons, World of Warcraft, and Dragon Age: Origins. The Sims was shown in the simulation games category alongside Railroad Tycoon and Microsoft Flight Simulator. Casual games was the biggest category with Solitaire, Words with Friends, Farmville, and Bejeweled as the highlighted games. Finally, they showed strategy games and used Sid Meier’s Civilization and Starcraft as the only examples.
Game Changers took note of the adaptations made in the video game industry to increase accessibility for gamers with their section on video-less video games, stating that they were “originally created for people with a visual impairment.” They showed three games: A Blind Legend, Shades of Doom, and Papa Sangre II, and had an audio
– Jorah Bright
Jorah Bright lationship between a designer’s aspirations, a player’s expectations, and the ever-expanding limit of technology – and how storytelling, gameplay, graphics and audio are ultimately combined to create compelling gaming experiences.” The exhibit starts by talking about games without a story. These games – Pong, Spacewar I, and Tennis for 2 – are from the 70s, 60s, and 50s respectively. They’re simple games, but they laid the foundation for games to come. It was in that section that I played the first game available, Space Invaders, from 1978. The next available game was Donkey Kong from 1981, with the sign mentioning it as a leap into 8-Bit games.
From this point, there’s more freedom in what part of the exhibit you can go to. I moved on to A Great Yarn: Following the Threads of Story, which talked about the move from arcades to at-home consoles. Now, you’re able to save your game, allowing for a more intricate storyline to be in place. The exhibit showcased Baldur’s Gate and Half-Life, both PC games from 1998, and detailed how they both moved toward longer and another appearance later on in the exhibit, and as you would expect, takes place in Los Angeles. The last one they highlighted isn’t exactly a familiar area, but an iconic fictional space: the Wild West in Red Dead Redemption. Then it talked about the fantasy worlds of Final Fantasy, Ultima, and Dragon Age: Origins. The world of Dragon Age is so expansive that it has books and comics dedicated to the many stories that can be told due to the size and complex history of Thedas.
Returning to L.A. Noire, the next area I saw was about graphics and realism. It talks about motion capture, which is now one of the most popular ways to showcase emotion on animated faces. L.A. Noire, which came out in 2011, used a 32-camera set up to capture every detail of the human face and to be able to re-create micro-expressions for one of the game’s primary functions: identifying if someone is lying. The other game they showed was FIFA 15, and how sports games use mo-cap to recreate the athletic moves required for soccer.
In addition to graphics, there were sections on four different types of perspective: third-perdevice for guests to listen to what the games sound like.
There were 17 total playable games including the original Tetris, Sonic the Hedgehog, and Pac-Man. Super Mario 64 was available on a giant N64 controller and was incredibly difficult, but endlessly fun.
They had several videos of video game professionals talking about what they do. The art directors of Final Fantasy VII and Saints Row IV, Kristofer Eggleston and Maru Ferreira respectively, talked about how important art is to a game and Ferreira noted how it can help the player connect with the character and their visual identity. Mac Walter from Bioware talked about storytelling and how “the player should have ownership and that they’re driving the story” and “making sure there are consequences to [the player’s] choices.”
There’s a lot to see and do at the Game Changers exhibit and I highly encourage you to check it out and learn about the history and the evolution of video games. Game Changers will be at the Saskatchewan Science Center from October 6th, 2021, to January 9th, 2022.
