The Fulcrum - Volume 78, Issue 13

VOL. 78 ISSUE 13

Nov. 27, 2017

THE UPHILL BATTLE OF ACCESSIBILITY

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In this week’s issue...

Who was awarded the Order of Canada? P. 5 U of O alum Alex Trebec given presitigious award

Catching up with a winner of the Governor General’s award P. 8 Hear from the autor of We’ll All Be Burnt in Our Beds Some Night Improving accessibility on campus P. 10 What the university needs to do to improve A shootout win for Men’s hockey P. 12 After a close game against Ryerson, the Gee-ees take home the win More MPPs should have voted on college strike legislation P. 15 Not voting on controversial legislation for political points is a bad move ADULT & YOUTH SESSIONS

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Fuck the patriarchy P. 17 Di’s designated feminist porn

NEWS

NEWS EDITOR Anchal Sharma

news@thefulcrum.ca (613) 695-0061 @anchalsharma_

Ontario colleges strike ends after legislation passed U of O nursing students still affected following return to college classes Ellie Sabourin

Associate news editor

A

fter five weeks of cancelled classes, the Ontario government tabled back to work legislation to put an end to the Ontario college strike.

The legislation will “return Ontario college students to the classroom where they belong,” said Ontario premier Kathleen Wynne according to the CBC, after weeks of unsuccessfully getting the colleges and the union to reach a deal.

Overall, the strike affected 24 colleges and approximately 500,000 students across Ontario.

Wynne also sympathized with the students in the statement saying, “Students have been in the middle of this strike

for too long and it’s not fair.”

Although classes are back in session, some students at the University of Ottawa in joint college programs are still feeling the effects of the strike.

Particularly, students in the bachelor of nursing program have been raising concerns about how the university has been helping them manage the strike.

“So far the university has not provided any help,” said second-year nursing student Tori Dawson. “They are not accommodating our final exams, even though we have all of our Algonquin campus classes until the first week of January and then exams for those classes in the first and second weeks of January.”

Algonquin College has been rescheduling courses on a per program basis.

According to Dawson, the plan is to have nursing classes run until Dec. 23 and resume

on Jan. 2. Final exams for the fall semester will be pushed back to the first few weeks of 2018 and the new winter semester will begin on Jan. 16.

“Luckily our Algonquin professors are doing what they can (to) accommodate us by creating extra lab times, having extra tutorial slots and accommodating classes at the University of Ottawa,” Dawson said. “However, there has been no support from the university itself or any indication of them attempting to hear our voice.”

Dawson explained that several students in the program have tried reaching out to the dean of health sciences, the president of the university, and Wendy Sword, the director of the school of nursing on multiple occasions. The students have received few responses with “very little instruction.” Ultimately, the students’ frustration culminated in a rally outside Tabaret Hall

on Nov. 20, the day before they went back to classes.

“I just want to finish my year on time,” said Dawson. “I am beyond pleased with how the Algonquin College profs have tried to rework the term and be compliant to our wishes. I just wish I could say the same about the University of

Photo: Eric Davidson.

Ottawa, the institution that I pay my tuition to and receive my degree from.”

In addition to finishing the year on time, Dawson says that she is particularly concerned for her peers and classmates who rely on breaks from class.

“My biggest concern is for those of my colleagues who

suffer from mental illness and rely on breaks to get through the school year, for those on visa or who are from out of town and were planning on spending Christmas with their families. It’s going to be a very busy time for everyone to catch up and finish the year strong.”

Alex Trebek receives Order of Canada award

Jeopardy host, U of O alumnus wins Canada’s highest honour Ellie Sabourin

associate news editor On Friday, Nov. 17, University of Ottawa alumnus and host of the popular television show Jeopardy!

Alex Trebek was appointed to the Order of Canada.

The Order of Canada is considered Canada’s highest honour, recognizing outstanding achievement and service to the country.

Trebek, who graduated with a degree in philosophy from the U of O in 1961, was recognized for instilling “a love of learning in millions of people” during his time as host for Jeopardy!, of which he has hosted over 7,000 episodes.

Trebek is currently signed on to be a host of the popular game show until 2020.

He was also recognized

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for his contributions off camera, as Trebek participates in extensive humanitarian work. “Generous with his time and support, he is committed to multiple educational, environmental and humanitarian causes, notably as an ambassador for World Vision,” said the office of the governor general at the presentation of Trebek’s award.

“I feel great,” said Trebek in a video interview with the CBC. “It was more emotional than I thought it would be. I teared up a couple of times, not when they were talking about me, but when they were talking about all of these other Canadians who have accomplished so much in various fields.”

Trebek was honoured along with 40 other recipients at a ceremony at Ride-

au Hall. This year marks the 50th anniversary of the Order of Canada and the ceremony was the first performed by new Governor General Julie Payette.

To date, nearly 7,000 people have received the Order of Canada.

“I’m a television quiz show host,” said Trebek in the interview with CBC. “These people have accomplishments and discoveries that are saving lives and that are changing the lives of Canadians and people around the world. I feel very humbled.”

Trebek said that he will proudly display his Order of Canada medal along with other awards and trophies in his home. You can also find several of his awards on display in the Alex Trebek Alumni Hall at the U of O.

Alex Trebek graduated from the U of O in 1961.

Photo: CC, Peabody Awards.

NEWS | 5

NATIONAL NEWS

UBC evaluates accessible parking on campus with launch of new project Thea Udwadia The Ubyssey

The University of British Columbia (UBC) has partnered with with Canada’s only national lowpower network, eleven-X, to collect data on the usage of accessible parking spaces on UBC’s Vancouver campus. If found that the demand for handicapped parking spaces is higher than the amount that are currently provided, this project will lead to enhanced handicapped parking spaces across UBC. Eleven-X is a Canadian company that uses long range, low-power wireless technology to interact and extract data from things that could not previously be connected to.

The project will cost UBC $9,500 plus taxes and is expected to last approximately six weeks.

Parking sensors will be embedded in the pave-

ment in UBC to provide real-time data on the presence or absence of motor vehicles in spots designated for disabled persons. In doing so it will provide concrete data on the usage frequency of these parking spaces.

At present, UBC infrastructure is designed to provide accessible parking within 100 metres of most buildings. One of the main goals of this project is to ensure that there are the right quantity of accessible parking spaces provided in the right places.

“We never exceed demand across campus — you might have to walk a bit further, but there’s always a place to park,” said Brian Jones, director of parking and access at UBC, in an emailed statement to the Ubyssey. “However, where we do have some challenges is with proximate vehicle access, which is of

course really important for anyone with a disability, the elderly, those with temporary injuries, etc.”

The new project would thus focus on ensuring that UBC has sufficient parking spaces to allow quick and easy access for those who need it.

“In my mind, access always trumps convenience,” said Jones. “So, if we find that additional accessible stalls are required we’ll add more to meet the demand.”

UBC has a slightly contentious relationship with ensuring accessibility on campus. A recent Ubyssey investigation of campus accessibility found that there remain many academic and physical barriers to accessibility that have yet to be addressed.

The implementation of this project will allow UBC access to tangible data to determine how parking

ism, ableism, colonialism, and all other forms of oppression that act as barriers to success for students at Ryerson and across Canada.

Major decision-making by the CFS is made at annual national and provincial meetings. These meetings take place twice a year and allow students to examine and debate motions that centre around the policies, direction, and priorities of the federation.

This year the AGM ran from Nov. 17 to 20.

Motions were initially introduced at opening plenary, which took place on the first day of the AGM. We immediately witnessed a clear split among undergraduate and graduate student unions represented by the federation, also known as member locals, including Local 24–our RSU. Member locals announced their presence at the opening plenary during a roll call—a form of taking attendance.

Some did so in the form of song, others by way of chant. The RSU made sure to stand out.

RSU vice-president student life and events Lauren Emberson raised her member local card and said “unfortunately,

here,” leaving students in the room, and her own president, Susanne Nyaga, with a look of awe on their faces.

Sitting alongside Nyaga and Emberson was RSU vice-president operations Ali Yousaf and Board of Directors (BoD) Senate representative Razi Syed. Vicepresident education Daniel Lis eventually joined for the closing plenary. The RSU team was clearly divided, by way of their split-slate nature–comprised of delegates who ran for the RSU elections on pro- and anti-CFS slates. This split was directly translated in their voting throughout the weekend.

According to Nyaga, the best way to represent Ryerson students at the AGM was to abstain from voting if the table did not agree on a motion. Due to differing opinions among the group, the RSU abstained from several motions during the weekend. The ideology to abstain, however, was not shared among the group, resulting in tension among RSU delegates.

A motion that was heavily debated during the opening plenary was for the national executive to release the full, unredacted forensic audit of the CFS secret bank account that was discovered in 2014.

Photo: Zach Kourgialis.

accessibility fits into this dynamic. According to the article, “students say that there are still many challenges they face, usually due to a university that was not designed with them in mind.”

Given the smoothness of this partnership, the use of this new technology speaks to potential future development in other dimensions of UBC life as well.

“We look forward to

further cooperation with UBC, introducing other ‘Smart’ applications for their Smart Campus initiative,” said Dan Mathers, president & CEO of elevenX in an email statement to the Ubyssey.

Throughout the weekend, the national executive repeatedly mentioned that the full forensic audit of the bank account could not be released as it would put the federation in a position of legal liability. Their legal counsel also advised against it.

Another contentious motion surrounded Selkirk College Students’ Union wanting to defederate from the CFS. The national executive said that Selkirk has not paid their membership fees to the national component, which is why they are unable to leave the CFS. On the second and third days of the AGM, motions

were discussed in closed door constituency group meetings, caucus meetings, and subcommittee meetings—where suggestions are made for closing plenary, which followed the next day. The idea behind these meetings is to allow delegates to discuss motions within smaller groups and for motions to be examined and discussed from a diversity of student perspectives, such as in the Racialised Students’ Constituency Group and the Queer Students’ Constituency Group.

Although a bunch of motions for progressive campaigns passed, such as an anti-fascist motion to condemn the actions of University of Toronto professor Jordan Peterson, the contentious motions that went through several rounds of debates either did not pass or were pulled from the closing plenary agenda. This left a lot of things ultimately unresolved.

At the end, we left the AGM feeling disappointed.

Tension persisted throughout the four-day-long meeting and it’s safe to say the overall feeling shared as a result of the meeting was bittersweet.

CFS national meeting tense, as usual Noushin Ziafati & Annie Arnone The Eyeopener

The room rose to their feet as members of the Anishinaabe, and other Indigenous communities engaged the crowd in a drumming and singing ceremony, opening the 36th Canadian Federation of Students (CFS) National Annual General Meeting (AGM) in Gatineau, Quebec. The songs were incredibly welcoming; everyone in the room tapped the left side of their chests, patting their heart to mimic the beat of the honour song as directed by one of the performers. Never had we seen student politicians so unified.

Unfortunately, the feeling did not last long.

The CFS is the largest national student association in Canada, representing more than 650,000 college, undergraduate, graduate, part-time, and international students.

The Ryerson Students’ Union (RSU) has been a member of the CFS since 1982. This year, the RSU is paying a total membership fee of $536,000 to the CFS and CFS-Ontario, which goes towards funding campaigns intended to reduce and eliminate tuition fees, while fighting rac-

The closing plenary, which was as heated as the opening, saw the room divided.

6 | NEWS

Photo: Annie Arnone.

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A&C EDITOR Ryan Pepper arts@thefulcrum.ca

ARTS&CULTURE New exhibit creates art through climate science (613) 695-0062 @pep_ryan

U of O students explore relationship between earth and humankind in Transient eric davison

fulcrum freelancer

O

n Dec. 1, students at the University of Ottawa will host an exhibition that explores the intersection of climate science, chemistry, and fine art. The event, titled Transient, seeks to examine the relationship between earth and humankind in the Anthropocene—a new epoch in Earth’s history in which humans are the primary factor in our planet’s climate and ecological systems.

The show will explore the harm that industrialisation has caused to the planet, but also bring an element of hope by drawing attention to some of the sustainability research done by the U of O’s department of chemistry and biological engineering.

Rame Abdulkader, a fourthyear visual arts student, is one of the coordinators for the project. She explained that the project directly engages with research and the hard sciences in several ways, including hosting the event in the chemical pilot plant.

“The main theme is the Anthropocene. It challenges how we view the world now and what we can do about it,” Abdulkader said. “The art looks at our epoch, the time we are looking at right now while the experiments here are also related to that ... and the space is really unconventional and

gets art out of a gallery space.”

She hopes that the exhibit can help bridge a gap between the arts and sciences, arguing that they complement each other more than people might suspect.

“I think there is this idea that the arts and the sciences are very much different, but they are very much interconnected,” said Abdulkader. “Because in both of them you have to think abstractly. They can be compatible if people can just think the right way—you need to be open-minded to it and think outside your field.”

“There are other connections too—we have artists that are expressing that humans have played a real role in the environment,” said Leanne Belle, a fourth-year visual arts and history student and exhibit co-coordinator. “Meanwhile, we have scientists at the school who are looking at ways to improve human sustainability. So there re-

their team was winning.

But then, disaster struck.

Denmark scored goal, after goal, after goal, and in the end, it was a landslide 5-1 victory for Denmark. People across Ireland were crushed.

However, the Irish dialogue hasn’t only been centred around the defeat to the Danes .

Within my first few weeks here, I noticed a growing political debate taking place around the rights to abortion.

Currently, abortion is illegal in both the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland. So if a woman wants (or needs) to get an abortion, she must pay for a flight to England.

According to Marie Stopes UK, an independent provider of sexual and reproductive health services in the United Kingdom, women can expect to pay €510 for an abortion pill, €560 for surgery without sedation, or

€580 for surgery with sedation (that’s well over $800 CDN for a surgery).

The National University of Ireland Galway Students’ Union figured this to be unfair to its students and the public at large, so in late September they funded a bus ride to a public demonstration in Dublin to show support for the legalization of abortion.

I attended the rally as an ally and supporter, and was amazed by the level of encouragement given to repealing the act.

As I walked through the streets of Dublin, I saw hundreds of signs, with everything from funny cartoons to serious declarations, like “my body, my choice” and “you have no right to my ovaries.”

The march remained peaceful, with officials citing tens of thousands of protesters in attendance.

Ready, set, whoa: A Gee-Gee’s guide to Ireland (Part 2) Iain Sellers

Fulcrum contributor Living in a new country makes it easy to get caught up in their domestic dreams and ambitions, which are often different from those of your home country.

Last week, Ireland had the opportunity to play in the soccer World Cup. To compete, however, they had to beat the Danish team in a final game.

While soccer is popular in Canada, Europeans take the sport to the next level. For some, it’s a casual conversation topic; for others, it’s a sport they live, breath, and would die for.

So when the Irish team had a shot at competing, the bars in Galway were chock full with eager fans at the ready.

The game started off promisingly. Ireland led 1-0 in the first few minutes and the atmosphere in Galway was electric—

8 | ARTS & CULTURE

The exhibit takes place in the department of chemistry and biological engineering.

ally is a connection there—they share the same goals. It’s just two different ways of getting there, two different approaches to the same thing.”

The coordinators hope that through a combination of artistic, human expression, and hard scientific data, people

from all fields might develop a better appreciation for humanity’s role in this world.

“I think a lot of engineering students don’t get a chance to really experience fine art and I hope that this can maybe open their eyes that you can be an artist and be knowledgeable,”

Dublin was the epicenter of pro-choice protests in September.

The protest was considered timely, but not urgent. The government of Ireland has proposed that a referendum for repealing the Eighth Amendment (which “acknowledges the right to life of the unborn) will take place sometime in June or July of 2018.

However, the campaign for both sides of the debate is ongo-

ing, as advocates try to shape the public discourse.

Walking through the streets of Galway shows the level of dedication by some members of the ‘repeal’ campaign. On most days, there is a semi-permanent booth set up on one of the main tourist streets in Galway seeking signatures, informing peo-

Photo: Melissa Ng.

Abdulkader said. “I would also like to see artists applying science and techniques to their work, which we see in some of the work here.”

Transient is open to the public free of charge on Dec. 1 from 5:30 to 10 p.m. Colonel By Hall room D415.

Illustration: Alina Wang.

ple of the referendum, and explaining how to register to vote.

So whatever the outcome may be, both the repeal and remain advocates seem hopeful that their dreams and ambitions will be realized in a few short months. Which, for a Canadian exchange student, is amazing to be a part of.

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Joel Thomas Hynes wins Governor-General’s Literary Award Hynes talks new book, writing process, isolation from writing community Ryan Pepper

Arts & Culture Editor Newfoundland writer Joel Thomas Hynes is taking home the prestigious Governor-General’s Literary Award for Fiction for his fourth novel, We’ll All Be Burnt in Our Beds Some Night, at an exclusive event at Rideau Hall on Monday, Nov. 27.

The award was established by the 15th GovernorGeneral, Lord Tweedsmuir, in 1937, a time when Canadian fiction was still sparse and the culture industry small.

Hynes’ novel is about an extreme outsider, a Newfoundland-based convict, who narrowly escapes a prison sentence, and sets out on a cross-Canada road trip. Hynes is well-read, and this new book seems to come out of a love for Don Quixote, and the Beats and counter-culture literature.

“I’ve told it very honestly.

I’ve written a unique book, a unique voice, about an extreme outsider,” Hynes said.

“It’s got some rough-and-tumble language, some roughand-tumble subject matter.”

While excited and hon-

oured to win the award, Hynes was quick to think of other strong writers who could have been in his place.

“Yes, you feel good, you want to celebrate, you want to pat yourself on the back but … it’s a complex accolade,” Hynes said. “There’s lot of people who are just as deserving of the GovernorGeneral’s Award this year as I am. At times, you gotta look at it and say, ‘It’s the luck of the draw.’”

Hynes seemed destined to be a writer, saying that books had always been a source of enjoyment for him. When he began seriously writing as a teen, it wasn’t surprising.

“I found a lot of comfort and solace and company in books from the time I was a very small child,” said Hynes. “It just seemed natural to me when writing started bursting out of me when I was a teenager.”

Hynes writes unflinching portrayals of the downand-out, often inspired by his own rough situations.

The protagonist of We’ll All Be Burnt, for example, is a combination of an inmate Hynes taught in a prison

school, and a freak event where a man tried to break into his house and fight him.

“I took that guy and I said, ‘I wonder what it’s like in his head, I wonder where he’s going, I wonder where he comes from. I’m going to build a story around this whole experience,’” he said.

Though Hynes likes the stories he tells and is proud of his unfaltering portrayals, he does admit that finding the perfect audience can be hard, since there is a disconnect between the people he writes about and the average reader.

“I think it’s hard for me to find my audience,” Hynes said. “I sometimes think my audience are not readers.

My readership are people who don’t normally read books, and that’s a hard audience to reach.”

Hynes worked on the book intermittently for five or six years, mixing it with his other work (namely as a writer for the CBC and an actor). Hynes switched his writing process for his latest novel, too, writing the book from start to end, instead of his usual technique

of patching together scenes and chapters.

“I knew my ending, but I was only moving forward in my document,” Hynes said.

“I wrote it from beginning to end with the pace of (the protagonist’s) story in mind.”

Hynes’ work and career is a little outside of the usual Canadian literature community, and that has reflected on his status within the writer community, which he is skeptical a community exists in the way that a lot of outsiders looking in think it does.

“I found myself to be less welcome … I feel more solitary and more isolated as I work harder and put my head down,” Hynes said. “I know there’s an old CanLit scene out there somewhere but I don’t feel like I’m a part of any community.”

He figured that loss of community partially stemmed from artists not supporting other artists as they buy into the idea that one writer’s success is another writer’s failure.

Hynes doesn’t believe that line of thinking, instead saying that everyone has a style and no one else can

Hynes won the Governor-General’s Award for Fiction. Photo: Photo: CC, Harper Perennial.

mimic that.

“The world doesn’t want anything else but you and your voice, and you’re the only one who has that voice,” Hynes said. “In a sense, you don’t have any

competition out there.”

Joel Thomas Hynes will be in Ottawa on Thursday, Nov. 30 for a reading and book signing at the Canada Council of the Arts at 150 Elgin St. at 11:30 a.m.

CAMPUS CREATIONS: From poetry to prose

Email arts@thefulcrum.ca to submit your work to the Fulcrum.

THE CHILD OF SILENCE

By Frédérique Champagne I am the child of silence I am the child of 1759 I am the child of suffering I am the child of the Plains of Abraham Bleeding In death I am the child of the wind who stops At each September 13 In my memory in red I am a Wandering Canadian Who walks, walks forever In my night with no exit Alone! Alone!

I am the voice of silence In pain The Conquest in me I am the scream gagged

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By the Time who passed And that you never listen to I am the Acadians deported In tears, in front of guns Without dawn and without hope In front of Death who already waits for me Under the shrouds of snow I am the Patriots who passed away Together On your scaffolds I am Louis Riel The head rose toward the sky for the last time Before to be hanged Upright I am the Franco-Ontarians of Regulation 17 The fingers hit by rules And orders I don’t understand In my minority distress

I am d’Iberville always victorious on his horse Until the darkness and the tomb The sword broken in the stars I am the French flag that burns In white In the Saint-Hélène Island When New France falls Right on my mouth I am the accent that you erased of Orléans To forget I am the child of words from my childhood Stays in my throat In silence! In silence!

I am the child of a name That I cannot even pronounce Anymore I am the child of a city Who takes all my tomorrows I am the Child of assimilation

When my sufferance Lasts all a continent I am the invisible man At each “speak white!”

And laugh at me I am silence I am Frog I am green and white I am fleurdelised I am done I am from France and Quebec and Orleans My flag in the wind SOS Montfort! SOS Montfort!

In shadow and fire Yesterday I am French Ontario There’s a too long time ago To survive To just survive In my own words In my own life

Until tomorrow It’s too late for me It’s too late for us all Now I sink alone Towards you A last breath alive on my lips Before to die: « Souviens-toi! » « Souviens-toi! » About the author Frédérique Champagne was born in Orléans, Ontario in 1995, and currently studies French at the University of Ottawa. He has published in the newspaper La Rotonde and the literary review Calembour. He also published a book in 2016, Treize Septembre, that has been edited in France. “The Child of Silence” is his first text published in the Fulcrum.

ARTS & CULTURE | 9

Accessing education with a disability isn’t as easy as we think Lack of leadership in accessibility isn’t just a problem for the U of O

As as someone who lives without a disability, a wheelchair ramp is one of the first things that comes to mind when I think of accessibility.

But accessibility goes far beyond this, especially in a campus context, expanding to measures such as proper snow removal in the winter and ensuring that students are able to see the text on a PowerPoint in class.

On Sunday, Dec. 3, it will be International Day of Persons with Disabilities. In light of this, I decided to investigate how accessible the University of Ottawa is for persons with disabilities for this week’s issue of the Fulcrum.

Whether it’s a physical impairment or special learning needs, the conversations that I had while writing this piece brought me to the conclusion that equal access to education, both here at the U of O and at postsecondary institutions across the country, isn’t quite as easy as one would imagine.

PHYSICAL BARRIERS TO ACCESSIBILITY “Borrow a wheelchair one day or pretend that you can’t walk on your two feet for one day or just an hour, and you will see how the campus is not made accessible,” says Dr. Virginie Cobigo, an associate professor in the Faculty of Social Sciences’ School of Psychology, who specializes in intellectual disabilities.

For Megan, who is in her third and final year at the Faculty of Law, common law section, structural barriers are among the biggest challenges to accessibility at the U of O. Megan

had requested that her surname be omitted from this story.

“In my first year on campus, the elevator at (Fauteux Hall) was not working for about three months, which was obviously really challenging,” she says. Megan, who lives with a physical disability, notes that the accessible entrance to Tabaret Hall has been closed since January of this year.

“I’m lucky that I don’t have classes in Tabaret Hall, but that’s where you get your transcripts and student enrolment and all those kinds of things, and that’s been really, really challenging over the last year.”

Dr. Cobigo believes these barriers to accessibility boil down to a lack of leadership among the university administration.She cites challenges such as a lack of accessible doors, round doorknobs, and hallways that are not wide enough for wheelchairs in some buildings, such as Vanier Hall where her office is located.

“To be frank, I don’t think that the University of Ottawa is doing much that is good in terms of accessibility. Of course, the new buildings are more accessible than the older buildings, but it is the law. So it’s not a leadership from the University of Ottawa, it’s just that the university has to make the buildings accessible according to some minimal standards and requirements, because of the Accessibility Act.” These older buildings, and the fact that they often fail to be modernized, pose one of the largest challenges to students and staff with mobility issues.

Leila Moumouni-Tchouassi, vice-president equity for the Student Federation of the University of Ottawa (SFUO), shares these sentiments, saying that “the buildings are very old and the university has yet to put investments after all of these years into making sure that the buildings are more accessible.”

“So often it’s the fact that a lot of buildings don’t have buttons to be able to open the doors … there aren’t ramps, there aren’t elevators, a lot of the classrooms themselves when it comes to seating aren’t accessible,” she continues.

But Charles Azar, a subject matter expert in architecture for campus facilities at the U of O, explains that such problems are historic, as older buildings were not designed with accessibility in mind. According to Azar, campus facilities is trying to match or exceed current accessibility regulations using their existing budget.

“It’s also worth mentioning that the definition of an accessible building is a moving target,” he notes. “As codes and regulations continue to evolve, it becomes increasingly difficult and costly to update old or existing buildings to the current standard.”

“It also extends to more than just accessible entrances

Graham Robertson managing editor Illustration: Christine Wang.

and spaces, but to all related pathways, washrooms and even signage as well. We always try to find creative and budget-conscious ways to accommodate those with disabilities, but updated, older spaces can rarely match new ones and identifying alternative accessible spaces is often the simpler or only feasible way to address accommodation requests in the short-term.”

POLICIES AND ATTITUDES TOWARDS ACCESSIBILITY On another front, Moumouni-Tchouassi believes that leadership at the administrative level is lacking when it comes to university policies, the main issue being that they don’t accurately reflect the diverse experiences of students on campus.

“I think a long time ago (the U of O) started talking about an accessibility policy, and they still have yet to produce … and finish it and make sure that students are being able to access it,” says Moumouni-Tchouassi.

“It’s up to the university to make sure that one, in policy, it forces itself and its stakeholders to properly accommodate students, but then also making sure that when it is building all of these buildings, and when it is putting all of this money into improving this campus, that that includes making sure that it’s more accessible.”

But besides leadership at the administrative and policymaking level, Dr. Cobigo believes that negative attitudes towards disability hinder accessibility at the U of O—this is especially true for students with developmental or learning disabilities.

“I still hear some of my colleagues saying that if we use some universal design for education, the level and the quality of the education will be lowered, which is not true,” she says. “Making things accessible is not making things easier, it’s providing different formats so that the information—the content of the course—will be accessible to most students.”

Some examples of this include students submitting an audio recording for an assignment as opposed to a written paper, professors complying with standard font sizes and colours on PowerPoints so that everyone in the room can read the slides, and ensuring that all students can see the professor’s lips during the lecture, for those who may have a hearing impairment.

Dr. Cobigo notes that it can be a challenge for professors to be conscious of the complex and diverse nature of accessibility, specifically for larger class sizes, and so there needs to be training and resources available to them to ensure that they meet accessibility standards.

She suggests that this can come through having a committee chair in accessible learning, and partnerships with disability specialists. Cobigo, who is the director of the Cen-

tre for Research on Educational and Community Services at the U of O, believes that by increased partnership with the Teaching and Learning Support Service, the centre can help disseminate resources and facilitate training workshops for professors to better meet the needs of their students.

HOW IS THE UNIVERSITY TACKLING ACCESSIBILITY ISSUES? So, with these issues in mind, how is the U of O currently accommodating its students and staff with disabilities?

According to Megan, Protection Services has been helpful in making campus physically more accessible for her.

One of the challenges she faces is that in the winter over the past two years, snow has not been cleared quickly enough, making her walk from the parking lot to Fauteux Hall cumbersome. After speaking with Protection, they gave Megan the option of either designating a parking spot to her that would always be cleared of snow, or having her pay extra for a spot in the indoor parking garage.

“I was sort of pleasantly surprised that they were amenable to that,” she says.

At the student federation level, the Centre for Students with Disabilities (CSD) facilitates programs and activities based on the requests and needs they receive from students. According to Moumouni-Tchouassi, this means being receptive and open to students, and tailoring accommodations and services to fit their diverse needs.

“The thing about accessibility, especially when it comes to disability justice, is that there’s no one way to put it out for all people, because that in itself would be inaccessible,” she says.

In addition, Moumouni-Tchouassi says that the SFUO brings what they find from their conversations with students through services such as the CSD to the university administration.

The U of O’s Human Rights Office (HRO) also plays a major role in accessibility on our campus, through programming, training, and policy-based work.

Marie-Claude Gagnon, an accessibility policy officer for the HRO, says that the CSD has helped the office identify accessibility barriers, as well as “retrieve documentation they have worked on during an accessibility awareness week (to) share with facilities.”

Further, “the (HRO’s) ... volunteers are stationed across campus to provide in-person accessibility assistance to students and staff, and help ensure easier access to resources and information available on campus. They are also responsible for identifying accessibility barriers and reporting them to the Human Rights Office,” says Gagnon.

The volunteers “wear black and white Accessibility Squad vests, which make it easy for individuals requiring assistance to identify them.”

The HRO is also involved in relaying the accommodation requests it receives to campus facilities, which is responsible for areas such as construction and the campus master plan.

Mike Sparling, manager of facility conditioning and scheduling for campus facilities notes that they have just completed a campus-wide accessibility audit from 2014-17 that included

stakeholders such as the Student Academic Success Service (SASS), the HRO, and the SFUO. “The process took three years to complete and will soon provide a “gap analysis” of our existing conditions vs. the current code requirements (that you’d see in a new building), identifying which spaces are deemed accessible or not by today’s standards,” says Sparling.

“These audits will also form the basis for a prioritized action plan to reduce barriers on campus, including providing accessible paths within buildings and barrier-free washrooms, classrooms, and public spaces.”

STUDENT SUCCESS IN THE CLASSROOM AND BEYOND Despite the numerous challenges, Megan highlighted positive experiences with SASS, a campus service providing academic accommodations to students with disabilities and specific learning needs.

SASS’ academic accommodations follow a requestbased model, receiving students’ concerns with accompanying documentation from a doctor, psychologist, or other medical professional, and “from there (looking) at what courses they’re taking, what faculty they’re registered in, and (setting) up appropriate accommodations,” says Sylvie Tremblay, director of SASS. Examples of accommodations that SASS offers include extra time on exams, smart pens that record lectures, laptops with specialized software, and ergonomic chairs and desks. SASS also works with the Office of the Registrar and campus facilities to properly accommodate students in their classrooms, such as by ensuring that a student with a disability does not have class in an inaccessible building.

But Vincent Beaulieu, academic accommodations manager for SASS, says that all this can be a challenge particularly at the beginning of the semester as students rearrange their schedules.

“Things change. Students will drop courses, register to new courses, so the beginning of each semester there’s a lot of logistics involved, moving a classroom multiple times in some cases, and then as soon as you move one classroom you have to move the other classroom, and sometimes just swapping them is not possible, it’s a lot of logistics,” he says.

And while both Tremblay and Beaulieu believe that SASS does its best to accommodate students, they recognize that they have to do so within their means. According to SASS’ 2016-17 annual report, roughly two-thirds of funding for SASS comes from the U of O itself, and only one-third from the provincial government.

“One of the challenges we’re having provincially is that that funding hasn’t gone up. In fact it’s gone down in the past 10 years, especially (with) the increase in student enrolment, increase in need as well.

All campuses in Ontario are seeing much, much more demand for their services. So if you take inflation into

account, if you take the growth of our services into account and all these other factors, the funding has decreased substantially, really, over the years,” Beaulieu says.

This overall lack of provincial funding means that it’s not just the U of O that is experiencing a strain on their budget for academic accommodations—it’s a province-wide crisis.

As U of O president Jacques Frémont recently shared with the Fulcrum, decreasing government grants mean that “the only place (the university) can get funding is through tuition.” So with the university itself providing roughly 65 per cent of funding for academic accommodations, this money is largely coming from students. But, as Beaulieu shares, the need for such accommodations is ever-growing.

MOVING FORWARD “We have a bit of a dream around universal design, this idea that if learning outcomes and curriculums were more universal in their nature we wouldn’t need as many accommodations in the first place,” Beaulieu says.

Of course, this universal design, and any efforts made to make our campus and campuses across the country more accessible in the near future need to prioritize the voices and experiences of those students and staff with disabilities.

As Megan shares, “a lot of times, those who don’t have disabilities are the ones who are saying whether or not something’s accessible, but that doesn’t really help when it’s not your experience, it’s not your lived experience.”

And while stronger leadership at the administrative level is key to building a more accessible learning and working environment, this push for change starts with students.

Moumouni-Tchouassi believes that “it’s important that students come together to fight—even if we don’t necessarily identify with those things.”

“It’s important to make sure that we all just generally can access education in a more equitable way, and making sure that we’re all taken care of under the same system, because we’re going to be here for anywhere from three years to it feels like a hundred, so we might as well make sure that we’re all taken care of.”

For students and staff looking to provide feedback and suggestions on accessibility at the U of O, please visit the Human Rights Office’s Accessibility Hub.

SPORTS

SPORTS EDITOR sports@thefulcrum.ca @FulcrumSports

Domingue and Hunt come up huge for Gee-Gees against Rams

A shootout was needed for the Gees to secure their seventh win Zack Goobie

Associate Sports Editor

T

he University of Ottawa Men’s hockey team took to the ice on Nov. 23 to face off against western division opponent the Ryerson University Rams in Ontario University Athletics (OUA) conference play.

The Garnet and Grey were looking to improve on their 6-4-2 record on home ice.

The Gees headed to the power-play less than two minutes into the game. Kevin Domingue had the GeeGees’ first good chance of the game, but he rang it off the cross-bar.

The Ryerson Rams drew first blood off a rebound at

13:26 after Graham Hunt made the first two saves.

Connor Sills responded less than three minutes later with a great snapshot from the high slot to beat the Ryerson netminder.

Kevin Domingue made a great play to force a turnover at his own blue line and got in all alone on the Ryerson goalie, but elected to shoot blocker-side and couldn’t finish.

A big save by Hunt on a breakaway with four minutes to play in the opening frame kept the score at one a piece.

The Rams scored a powerplay goal with 1:37 left off a perfectly placed one-timer.

The Gees came out flying and Marc Beckstead received a nice feed on a two on one from Patrick White to tie the game up at two. A chaotic handling of the puck by Hunt somehow did not find its way to the back of the net. Gees dodge a bullet with

12:38 to play in the second.

A great power-play resulted in a beautiful finish by Domingue as Eric Locke fed him a perfect pass. Domingue continued to be all over the ice, but failed to convert on a great feed from Locke on a two one and a breakaway, all while shorthanded.

The Ryerson Rams made quick work of their man advantage off a one-timer and tip in front to tie the game with 2:15 remaining.

Hunt made a big save six minutes into the third of an in close one-timer that he denied with his right pad.

Ryerson came out extremely strong in the first 10 and dominated the Gees.

After chances on both sides, both teams were tied at three and they headed to overtime. The Gees were handed a power-play in the first minute to play in the extra five. They couldn’t fin-

The U of O won a tight game in the shootout.

ish on their first attempt, but they were handed another advantage soon after.

After five minutes of extra time, and two power-plays for the Gees, the game went to a shootout.

Domingue and Sills scored in the shootout and Hunt

Photo:Parker Townes

made two big saves to secure the win on home ice.

Hunt talked about his performance in the shootout after he got no action in the overtime period. “I definitely got a little cold in overtime, but shootouts are kind of a whole different animal, so I

just tried to erase the whole 65 minutes before that and take one shot at a time.”

The next home game for the Gee-Gees will take place on Dec. 1 against Carleton University at the Minto sports complex, puck drop is set for 7:30 p.m.

Keeping up with the cross country team

Gee-Gees team faces off with schools across Canada Eric Davidson Editor-in-chief

Even though the weather hasn’t always been pleasant, the University of Ottawa’s cross country team has been busy these past couple of months.

On Saturday, Oct. 14, cross country athletes from the University of Ottawa ran in the Capital XC challenge, an Ottawa event that saw participants from several Canadian universities take to the Terry Fox Athletic Facility, where several Gee-Gees finished strong.

The distance was 6 km for both men and women.

For the women, Madison Clarke came in 12th with a time of 23:37:35, Keili Shepard took 18th in 23:54.25, and Samantha Klus took 19th in 23:57.05.

For the men, Nicholas Roberts finished seventh

overall in 19:54.10, Ziyad El Hankouri took 14th in 20:04.15, and Alex Berhe took 16th in 20:15.75.

On Saturday, Oct. 28, the team ran in the Réseau du sport étudiant du Québec (RSEQ) Québec XC Championship, with a distance of 10 km for men and 8 km for women.

For the women, Shepard took 13th place (though the U of O was not officially ranked, as they aren’t in the RSEQ) with a time of 31:09.

Rebecca Brennan came in 26th with a time of 32:10.

For the men, Berhe turned on the jets to finish 10th with a time of 32:21, El Hankouri took 16th with a time of 33:00.

On Saturday, Nov. 11, the Gees competed at the Canadian XC University Championships amid tough competition. The women’s race

The cross country team has participated in several meets in the past two months.

was 8 km and the men’s race was 10 km.

For the women, Shepard came in 63rd with a time of 30:59. For the men, Berhe

came in 81st place with a time of 33:34, and El Hankouri took 84th with a time of 33:43.

And on Saturday, Nov.

Photo: Courtesy of the University of Alberta.

25, the squad participated in the Canadian National Club Championships in Kingston.

The results for this

12 | SPORTS

event have not yet been posted, but thefulcrum. ca will have all the details when they are available.

THEFULCRUM.CA

THE BOXSCORE: BASKETBALL’IN BASKETBALL(W) BASKETBALL(M) HOCKEY(M)

HOCKEY(W)

saturday, NOV. 18, 2017

Saturday, NOV. 18, 2017

FRIDAY, NOV. 24, 2017

FRIDAY, NOV. 24, 2017

Gee-Gees

Gee-Gees

Gee-Gees

Gee-Gees

vs

windsor

49 45

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Windsor

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4

VS

3

ryerson

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3

McGill

friday, dec. 1, 2017

Friday, Dec. 1, 2017

FRIDAY, dec. 1, 2017

Friday, dec. 1, 2017

Gee-Gees

Gee-Gees

Gee-Gees

Gee-Gees

AT

brock

TBD TBD

AT

Brock

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vs

CARLETON

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CARLETON

4

TBD TBD

For detailed game coverage check out the Fulcrum’s website at www.thefulcrum.ca.

Gee-Gees will look to improve on modest record in 2018 In a very competitive division, Gees need to be better to compete Zack Goobie

Associate Sports Editor The University of Ottawa Women’s volleyball team has started their year with a modest 3-6 record in the Réseau du sports étudiant du Québec (RSÉQ). Their quest to get back to the playoffs after missing last year’s elimination round will not be easy as they have the Université de Sherbrooke right on their heels two points behind them.

In their last home game of the first semester and most recent win, the Gees defeated the Université du Québec à Montréal (UQAM) Citadins in five sets. Despite losing a close first set 26-24, the Gees didn’t lose their focus.

The second set was all Gee-Gees as they took it with a remarkable score

of 25-8. Kaly Soro was big in that set and all game with 18 kills. UQAM came right back with a set win, but the Gees responded in the fourth set. In the final set, Caroline Lemay had five big kills to pace her team to victory. GeeGees fans were hoping that this win would have kickstarted their team after two consecutive straight set losses, but their struggles continued.

The Gee-Gees’ latest loss came at the hands of the Laval Rouge et Or in four sets. It has been obvious that the Gees have been missing 2016-17 RSÉQ first team all-star Kira Tome who was a great leader and player around the net for the Gees.

Before beating the Citadins in a thriller at Montpetit, the Gee-Gees were handed a blowout loss

in straight sets against nationally ranked McGill University in Montreal. Despite coming out strong in the first set by only losing 25-23, the Gees couldn’t gather any momentum and lost the next two sets.

With l’Université de Montréal ranked second in the country and McGill ranked 10th, the GeeGees will need to up their play to compete with the best in their conference. Unfortunately for the Gees, they have only beaten Sherbrooke and UQAM so far this year, both teams that are on the outside looking in for the RSÉQ playoffs with the Gees holding the last spot.

The University of Ottawa will play its next home game in the New Year on Jan. 13 against Laval at Montpetit at 2 p.m.

The women’s volleyball team is looking to step it up in the second half of the season.

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Photo:Marta Kierkus.

SPORTS | 13

OPINIONS

OPINIONS EDITOR David Campion-Smith

opinions@thefulcrum.ca (613) 695-0062 @davidcs96

Not having sign language interpreters at concerts is discriminatory

The extra cost to provide the service is miniscule, and helpful to deaf community Artoym Zalutskiy fulcrum contributor

R

ecently in the United States, concert venues have made an effort to ensure that deaf people are able to enjoy the show. Sign language interpreters are now quite common throughout concerts and festivals; you may have even seen the number of viral videos of sign language interpreters at concerts.

In Canada, however, it’s a much different story, and the assistance that concert and festival venues provide is extremely limited. These venues are consistently shutting out deaf people, and Canada must

start addressing this problem to end the discrimination against the deaf community.

A woman with a hearing impairment requested a sign language interpreter for one act from the Montreal International Jazz Festival this year, but her request was denied. This denial came even though the federal government provided $2 million for the event, so funds could have been made available.

Canadian concert venues are thriving; the cost of interpreters is minuscule for them, and they would be able to make that money back and then some with all of the deaf people who would be able to attend concerts.

This issue, however, is not limited to free festivals; most organizations across Canada do not offer such services.

This is a simple issue for Canada to address, yet Canadian venues seem to be content with leaving out the

deaf community completely.

Another woman who requested an interpreter at a Sean Paul concert was told to “just stand there and feel the beat.” Such a response is completely disrespectful and inexcusable. A large portion of Canadian concert venues just do not care about accommodating deaf people.

There is a large population of people in Canada who are deaf and over 350,000 whose first language is some form of sign language.

With numbers like these, the Canadian Association for the Deaf (CAD) should have much more influence in preventing such mistreatment, and they should be able to provide something as simple as sign language interpreters for people at concerts. So why don’t they?

The reason for the unfair treatment and the CAD’s inability to create any change is clear. In Canada there is

currently a lack of legislation regarding this issue. Fortunately, this gap in legislation is likely to change very soon, as the nation’s first federal legislation on accessibility will be introduced in the spring.

The proposed laws would outline a plan to reduce the daily struggles of Canadians with disabilities and make basic amenities more accessible. Such legislation is absolutely necessary in Canada and the lack of sign language interpreters clearly demonstrates that by showing how easy it is for concert venues to discriminate against deaf people without receiving any repercussions.

Hopefully such legislation, as well as other efforts, will make the lack of sign language interpreters at concerts a thing of the past, and make Canada a more acceptable environment for deaf people.

Some artists have interpreters travel with them.

Photo: CC, Heinrich Böll-Stiftung.

Student mental health starts with changing our education system

Reducing stress from assignments could improve students’ mental health Marina Ghebrial fulcrum Contributor

The University of Ottawa’s approach to mental health has its problems, one being that it is reactive instead of preventative. Despite the various resources and workshops available, the root of the problem persists because nothing is being done to handle a cause and effect relationship that many university students can confirm—the relationship between stress from school and overall mental health.

Mental health issues such as anxiety can be triggered or exacerbated by stress. Our education system and the stress it places on students is at least partially to blame for mental health issues across postsecondary campuses.

On the front lines of crippling stress are first-year students, and not just because they are new to university life. First-year students often have a difficult adjustment period to university, along

14 | OPINIONS

As the semester ends, more work means more stress.

with heavy course loads, and are forced to follow the recommended course sequence to avoid falling behind.

The severity of university academic regulations allows for little room for error. Mistaking the date of a midterm or oversleeping and missing a final can happen to even the best of students. In that case, the only solution is to try and

obtain a medical note or drop the class entirely.

The latter is especially problematic when it’s a prerequisite for other classes.

The issue becomes worse when the class is only offered during a single semester, and repeating the class would require waiting until the following year and pushing back all other classes that re-

Photo: Cailey Fletcher.

quire it as a prerequisite.

That being said, it’s not necessarily the case that the whole system needs to be thrown out. There are minor and manageable steps that can be taken to alleviate the stress that so often leads to student anxiety and panic.

One option is the creation of a “free pass:” an exemption from one missed midterm, fi-

nal, or assignment instead of a medical note. Students would have the peace of mind knowing that if for whatever reason they aren’t able to complete an assessment, there is still room for redemption.

An example of this is the McMaster Student Absence Form (MSAF). Students at McMaster University have the option of submitting an

online form which exempts them from assessments worth less than 25 per cent within a three-day period of when it is submitted. The form consists of the student’s reason of absence, and students can submit one MSAF per semester.

Another suggestion would be to lessen the load on students, particularly first-year students, simply by making classes available during both semesters or increasing the number of courses offered during the summer, and allowing them to better distribute their course loads with electives. Students will often say that course load becomes less stressful and more manageable after first year, suggesting that learning without excessive stress is an absolute possibility.

In ddition to focusing on treatment, let’s examine what we can do to address the causes of some of these issues.

In the long run it’s the smarter and safer plan.

THEFULCRUM.CA

Provincial funding for mental health services is too low

Ontario government needs to meet its funding commitment to universities Connor Chase

staff contributor The recent college strike has sparked abundant discussion about the role of teachers. But we are ignoring a much larger problem which encompasses that entire debate. Currently, Ontario ranks 10th in perstudent post-secondary funding nationwide. The provincial funding for postsecondary students is well below where it should be, and this leaves Ontario students with the highest tuition fees in the country, when the average Canadian student faces a debt burden of $27,000 at graduation.

It’s hard to say what it will take for Ontario to increase its funding, but the current disparity is clearest in poor mental health services province wide, and reminds us that we have to fight for those crucial services that promote healthy students who are able and confident to tackle the road ahead.

Deb Matthews, Minister of Advanced Education and Skills Development, has lamented that a recurring theme in discussions with students, faculty, and administrators has been mental health issues among students. The Fulcrum recently examined the U of O’s glacially slow progress in this area, despite consistent concerns from students.

Of course, in this regard, the university is dependent upon increased funding from the province. Thankfully, there is some good news for once, as provincial funding for mental health services has increased from nine to 15 million yearly.

But that extra six million is for the entire province, and will be distributed across all 45 of Ontario’s colleges and universities. There are more than 800,000 full time post-secondary students across Ontario.

So the math works out to a little less than 20 dollars per student. Now that six mil-

lion seems like a lot less. If money talks, then individual mental health is worth about as much as two Big Mac meals to the provincial government.

Inadequate mental health funding at the U of O can help explain why it was recently ranked lowest in student satisfaction. Such a statistic ought to be embarrassing for a university that purports to represent the nation’s capital.

It’s unfortunately true that there isn’t one simple solution to mental health issues. Services have to provided, but if the environment itself perpetuates emotional anguish then such services can seem more like bandaids over the crack in a dam. But that’s not a justification to ignore the problem and dedicate minimal funding towards it. If the U of O wants to increase its satisfaction levels, it should start with student wellbeing.

It would take an additional $750 million to $1 billion

More provincial funding could improve the services SASS offers.

to merely get Ontario to the average level of provincial post-secondary funding.

When one considers this deficit, the true meekness of the already meager additional six million is revealed.

Seeing Ontario actually get the additional billion

dollars it ought to seems a bit utopian at the moment, especially when an additional $6 million is celebrated as a triumphant accomplishment for mental health. Public awareness that Ontario students are dramatically underfunded

Photo: Cailey Fletcher.

would certainly add more pressure in terms of actually achieving equilibrium.

But we need to start somewhere, and a good place for everybody is mental health. Let’s get services for those who need them before it’s too late.

Provincial parties all talk and little support for strike bill

Poor voting attendance for college strike legislation shouldn’t be forgotten Marissa Phul

fulcrum Contributor On Nov. 18, the Members of Provincial Parliament (MPPs) passed legislation to end the college strike in Ontario, forcing faculty back into the classroom on Monday, with a vote of 37-18. This return to the classroom ended the longest college labour dispute in the history of Ontario. While it may have ended the strike, support from Ontario politicians was noticeably absent, showing that they don’t care as much about the strike as they lead students to believe.

All Liberals and Progressive Conservatives (PC) supported Bill 178, while the New Democratic Party (NDP) and one independent opposed the legislation. A total of 55 out of 105 MPPs were present, and most notably both PC leader, Patrick Brown, and Premier Kathleen Wynne were not in attendance.

The legislative assembly currently consist of 56 Liberals, 29 PCs, 19 NDPs, and one

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independent. However, less than half of the Liberals and PCs showed up on Saturday.

The NDP were missing two MPPs, and the Liberals had the worst showing by percentage, especially considering that they were the party bringing the legislation.

In comparison, 90 MPPs passed Bill 37, Protecting Students Act, which deals with protecting students and maintaining transparency through college investigations, in November of last year. In similar fashion, Bill 148, Fair Workplaces, Better Jobs Act, moved to its third reading on Nov. 16 with 87 MPPs present to vote.

Both these education-focused bills passed with 30 more MPPs present than the strike legislation.

The obvious question now is how, on such a high-profile bill, did Ontario politicians pass up the opportunity to take a stand when a large portion of their constituency would be affected and be paying close attention?

There was no political win

Only 55 MPPs voted on legislation that put striking teachers back to work.

in this situation. Either you looked like the bad guy keeping students out of the classroom and extending their financial hardship, or you threw the hammer down on workers’ rights. In such a divisive issue, politicians can only come down on one side.

To choose to support this bill

would close off a huge portion of the population, mainly educators. To choose to go against the bill would hinder support among young voters.

The PCs attempted to straddle the line, something that makes them appear weak willed. Brown blames Premier Kathleen Wynne for prolong-

Photo: CC, abdallahh

ing the strike, and provincial NDP leader Andrea Horwath for disregarding the needs of the students. Ultimately this middle game will not pay off for the PCs. Instead of being remembered as strongly advocating for a side, perhaps they will be forgotten as an indecisive party for these actions.

The Liberals also stayed on the sidelines too long.

Minister of Advanced Education and Skills Development, Deb Matthews, and Premier Wynne could have drawn the two parties to the negotiating table. Instead, the Liberals sat on the sidelines for five weeks.

On the other hand, the NDP’s unwavering stance against back-to-work legislation with a firm belief in protecting workers rights is commendable, but also prolonged the strike.

The reality is that no matter what each party says about this issue, only one came out to vote in numbers, something we should keep in mind next election.

While all parties will be discussing their stance on the strike in coming weeks it seems that their support of students isn’t unconditional.

Instead of only discussing student issues when there’s a chance for political points provincial parties should support students all the time.

OPINIONS | 15

Students abandon group projects to live in the woods

Lack of communication leaves group members baffled Veronique Therrien Tomato contributor

As the semester draws to a close, final group projects have begun to take over the lives of students at the University of Ottawa. While few students enjoy group projects, some have taken their dislike to extremes, leaving the comfort of their own homes so they don’t have to complete the projects.

“We haven’t seen Leeh Zee since the day our professor told us who was in our groups,” said third-year conflict studies and human rights student Grey Aight. “We’re a little worried, he seemed so excited to contribute that first day but now it’s as if he’s completely disappeared!”

Aight says their group has searched everywhere for their missing member, including the gym, other classes, and his favourite coffee shop.

“I haven’t seen him either,” said Rita Arme, Zee’s roommate.

“He came back from that class, stole a bunch of things from our room and took off! I tried to ask him what he was doing or where he was going but he just muttered something about Gatineau Park and left.”

Several other students spoke of seeing a student leave campus with a large bag and carrying an unusual amount of food.

The rest of the group members were so concerned upon hearing this that they thought he had been running from someone or was in danger. A search party involving Ottawa Police was launched, and Zee was eventually found in a park near campus.

It appeared that Zee had been living in the woods since his disappearance. There was a tent set up, and beside it searchers found 30 empty Starbucks cups stacked in a pyramid and empty fast

food containers. When he was questioned about his disappearance, Zee said, “The project was a group mark…”

Zee’s group members were relieved to discover he was safe and unharmed, and not at all angry about the more work they had to do because he ran away.

He is now under constant watch by both his roommate and members of his other group projects for fear he might attempt to escape once again.

This is not an isolated incident.

Students have been disappearing around campus, but it only seems to happen once a group project has been assigned. Other group members are baffled and concerned by the lack of communication from some members, with the only explanation being that they’ve disappeared. If you’re reading this, your group is worried about you. Please do something so we know you haven’t run into the woods.

A student was discovered living in a park near campus to avoid group work.

Photo: Christine Wang.

Students overcome snow chains through creative means Ropes, pizza box carts, parkour just some of many methods

David Campion-Smith opinions Editor Winter is fast approaching, and with the change in season comes the snow chain entrances restricting how students can enter different buildings. While the chains and snow make getting to classes even more challenging, some students have come up with creative solutions to get around this problem.

“I started getting pretty frustrated with having to enter through Vanier to get to my class in FSS,” said second-year history student Georgia Fortin.

“Since I’m going to the second floor anyway I’ve asked my friends to start pulling me up by a rope through the window. I lost a lot of friends after that.”

16 | THE TOMATO

While ropes are popular, some are looking at this as a chance to hone their talents, and perhaps pick up some new ones. “I’m learning how to parkour again so I can jump over the chains. I haven’t done parkour since I stopped watching The Office,” said Andy Scott a fourth-year management student.

As some students take a more individual approach, others are working together. A group of engineering students have spent weeks attempting to find a system of on-campus mass transportation. The hill from SITE is littered with their failures, but it doesn’t seem to have stopped their enthusiasm for the project.

The group’s first attempt was a hand pulled wooden

Students use tactics to avoid snow chains.

car, with space for students to stand and ropes connecting it to various locations on campus. “Calling it wood may be going a bit too far, it was really just empty pizza boxes we

Photo & edits: Christine Wang, CC, Alexandre Ferreira, Bertrans Semelet, Ja-hatten.

held together with duct tape,” said second-year engineering student Ryan Martin. “Then when the ropes started to fall apart we used duct tape. Really, how good is duct tape?”

Faculty and administration at the U of O have had mixed views on the student’s efforts. While the snow chains started as an attempt to save on maintenance costs throughout

the winter, the administration is now trying to put a positive spin on this costsaving measure.

“We originally put the chains up because it’s a lot of work to shovel all those steps, and I have things to do in the morning,” said U of O president Jacques Frémont. “But now that students are doing all those fun little projects we’re trying to get to count towards credits, maybe start a course called Practical Winter Construction.”

However you choose to get into your buildings, do everyone on campus a favour and make it creative.

The Tomato suggests some form of ice slide, but we’re too busy reporting on these things to make them ourselves.

THEFULCRUM.CA

DISTRACTIONS DEAR DI

FEATURES EDITOR Savannah Awde

features@thefulcrum.ca (613) 695-0062 @s_awde7

Dear Di,

My boyfriend and I have tried watching porn together to get in the mood for the last few months, but everything seems sexist. I try to get into it, but everytime I just keep thinking about racial and social inequalities, and were the actors paid enough, and was anyone exploited and, well, you get the point. Can you recommend any feminist-friendly porn?

—Fuck the Patriarchy

Horny Homework: Baby, it’s cold outside (So get the fuck in me)

O.K., it’s winter, you’re probably exhausted and stressed out by the time you get to bed. But, here are some great tips for keeping the fire alive in your relationship—and staying as fucking warm as possible. Try a nice, cozy modified doggy where your partner is putting their full weight—and warmth—on top of you. If you have a little more energy, try sitting cross-legged and have your partner climb on top of you as they enter you.

Dishing with Di: Party like a Roman The fall of the Roman Empire is often described as a time rampant with immorality and debauchery. You know what that means—the ancient Romans were probably having some great sex. There’s a wide array of knowledge about sex coming from this time, from literature, to academic texts to not-so-subtle works of art.

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Dear FP, Sadly, you’re not the only person who’s found mainstream porn to be a little lacking. Luckily, feminist porn has become quite the cottage industry over the last few years as feminism has become more mainstream.

Try surfing around sites like Lady Cheeky, Literotica, Bright Desire, Beautiful Agony, We Love Good Sex, Queerporn.tv, XConfessions by Erika Lust, and Sssh. com. Many feminist porn sites do require you to be a paid subscriber to access their content, but if watching porn is a habit of yours, it’ll be a good investment.

There’s also a great array of Tumblr sites (Naked Couples, Dicks for Girls) if that’s more to your liking. These sites feature a wide array of different people of different body types engaging in anything you can think of—and a few things you haven’t thought of.

What’s more, a lot of them have women involved in the creative process. For example, Erika Lust is a feminist icon when it comes to porn, and Bright Desire is run by the aptly named Ms. Naughty.

You can also try digging into the dark recesses of Netflix to find some good oldfashioned erotica. Not surprisingly, most of these gems come from European filmmakers. I would recommend Blue is the Warmest Colour, about a young French woman’s sexual awakening (a very relatable experience) by Lea Seydoux. Also the Nymphomaniac series is a long-winded erotic adventure (I know, shocking).

For all you history buffs who had their sexual awakening with Titanic (come on, I’m not the only one) try watching A Royal Affair, or Outlander.

There are a lot of great titles outside of Netflix as well. Think The Love Witch, the tale of a gorgeous witch in San Francisco seducing and killing—but mostly seducing—the men around her. Also, the critically acclaimed Korean drama The Handmaiden features a thrilling romance between a noble woman and, you guessed it, her handmaiden.

Hopefully these sites and movies will be able to quench your feminist thirst—in more ways than one.

Love, Di

DISTRACTIONS | 17

NOV. 27-DEC. 3, 2017

THRYLLABUS

MUSIC EATS SPORTS FUN THINKING ARTS

18 | DISTRACTIONS |

Monday Nov. 27 Muggy Mondays, free coffee for whoever brings a reusable mug, Faculty of Social Sciences building 2nd floor landing—8:30 a.m.

A Bigger Jail for Ottawa or Community Alternatives?, Ottawa Public Library—6 p.m.

Wednesday Nov. 29

Tuesday Nov. 28 Questioning the Policing of Financial Conduct, Faculty of Social Sciences Building, room 5028—2:30 p.m.

Against Their Will - A Photo Exhibit

by Doctors Without Borders, free admission, Ottawa Public Library—6 p.m.

Thursday Nov. 30

Free home-cooked, healthy, and vegan meal, hosted by the People’s Republic of Delicious, Deja Vu kitchen (between Thompson and Morisset)—9 a.m.

Perspectives: Highlighting Women Leaders in STEM, Lamoureux Hall, room 339—2 p.m.

Halo-Halo: The Multicultural Roots of the Filipino Diaspora, Philippine Embassy—10 a.m.

Lady Bird, Bytowne Cinema—9:20 p.m.

Friday Dec. 1 Gee-Gees men’s hockey vs.

Carleton University,

Minto Sports Complex—7:30 p.m.

Old James, The Brass Monkey—8 p.m.

Saturday Dec. 2

Bey Bey and RiRi dance party, Babylon Nightclub—10:30 p.m.

613Christmas, a marketplace for all your holiday shopping, free admission Carleton University Fieldhouse—10 a.m.

Sunday Dec. 3

Christmas Goose Concert, National Arts Centre—3 p.m.

The Square, ByTowne Cinema—12:30 p.m.

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EDITORIAL Volume 78, Issue 13, Nov. 27, 2017 Talking to turkeys since 1942.

Phone: (613) 695-0061 | Fax: (613) 695-9006 631 King Edward Ave. Ottawa, ON K1N 6N5 Recycle this paper or we’ll release a rafter of turkeys on you.

Eric “Marshmellow” Davidson Editor-in-Chief editor@thefulcrum.ca Jaclyn “Gravy” McRae-Sadik Production Manager production@thefulcrum.ca Graham “Liberty” Robertson Managing Editor content@thefulcrum.ca Anchal “Popcorn” Sharma News Editor news@thefulcrum.ca Ryan “Wishbone” Pepper Arts and Culture Editor arts@thefulcrum.ca Savannah “Stars” Awde Features Editor features@thefulcrum.ca Sports Editor sports@thefulcrum.ca David “Fryer” Campion-Smith Opinions Editor opinions@thefulcrum.ca Christine “Gobbler” Wang Visual Editor visual@thefulcrum.ca Dmitri “Yam” Bakker Social Media Manager social@thefulcrum.ca Ellie “Flyer” Sabourin Associate News Editor associate.news@thefulcrum.ca Nadia “Biscuits” Drissi El-Bouzaidi Associate Features Editor Zack “Courage” Goobie Associate Sports Editor associate.sports@thefulcrum.ca Parker “Carolina” Townes Staff Photographer photographer@thefulcrum.ca Videographer videographer@thefulcrum.ca Chafik “Peace” Kassis Head Web Architect webmaster@thefulcrum.ca Lucas “Cobbler” Ghosn General Manager manager@thefulcrum.ca Kaylum “Caramel” Bobal Advertising Representative ads@thefulcrum.ca

Contributors

Alina “Cheese” Wang Connor “Mac” Chase Marina “Abe” Ghebrial Artyom“Honest” Zalutskiy Eric “Tater” Davison Cailey “Tot” Fletcher Veronique “Drumstick” Therrien Marissa “Charlie” Phul Iain “Harry” Sellers Frédérique “Jerry” Champagne

Board of Directors

Raghad “Freedom“ Sheikh-Khalil Katelyn “Katie” Murray Jonathan “Zack” Rausseo Fadi “Stripes” Azzi Spencer “May” Murdock Kim “Flower” Wiens Marguerite “Pumpkin” Gollish Cover Credits: Parker Townes.

IT’S NEVER TOO LATE TO SAY SORRY

On Tuesday, Nov. 28, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau will deliver an apology to LGBTQ+ Canadians who faced discrimination—or worse—as a result of government policies and practices.

As it stands, the apology will largely centre around former members of the military and public servants who lost their jobs or were prosecuted because of their respective queer or trans identities, from the 1950s until 1992.

The CBC shares the story of Martine Roy, a lesbian woman serving as a medical assistant with the Canadian Armed Forces. When she was just 20 years old, military police forced her to disclose her sexual orientation, and she consequently underwent psychological testing and was discharged from the military a year later.

For people such as Roy, who faced termination of employment for something out of their control, this apology is much needed. It demonstrates a recognition by our government that these discriminatory former policies and practices had detrimental social, economic, and psychological impacts on the LGBTQ+ individuals that they targeted.

In May of this year, Randy Boissonnault, Liberal member of parliament and special advisor to the Prime Minister on LGBTQ2 issues, told the CBC that the government has been working with “all facets” from the LGBTQ+ community and that the apology “is comprehensive and that it takes into account a broad range of the stories and the lived experience of Canadians.”

For such an apology to truly be comprehensive, it needs to extend beyond termination of employment, and recognize that discrimination against queer and trans Canadians is not a thing of the past.

Queer and trans Canadians still feel unsafe holding their partner’s hand in public, and according to Global News, police reported 155 hate crimes in 2014 on the basis of sexual orientation. Statistics Canada also reports that hate crimes motivated by sexual orientation are more likely to be violent than hate crimes against other groups, and from 2010 to 2013, two-thirds of hate crimes against sexual minorities were violent.

And those are just the crimes that

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are reported. For many LGBTQ+ Canadians, reporting a hate crime can be dangerous in itself, especially in smaller communities where the victim may not be publicly open about their sexual orientation or gender identity.

A recent cross-Canada survey of 1,897 LGBTQ+ Canadians and 800 heterosexual, cisgender Canadians revealed that the Atlantic provinces have the least support resources available for queer and trans people, and that workplace discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity is still very real.

Mental health disparities are also rampant among queer and trans Canadians, specifically for youth, with higher rates of suicide than their heterosexual, cisgender peers. The rates of mental illness and violence are even higher for queer people of colour.

If Mr. Trudeau wants to deliver an apology that truly is comprehensive, then he needs to apologize not just for the former policies and practices of our government, but for the fact that queer and trans Canadians are still suffering today.

In examining our current legislation, the Canadian Human Rights

Act was amended in 1996 to include sexual orientation as a prohibited ground of discrimination. The passing of the Civil Marriage Act in 2005 allowed same-sex couples to marry.

The passing of Bill C-16 last November added protections for transgender people to the Human Rights Act. These are valiant strides towards equality for queer and trans Canadians, but certainly not enough. In Ontario, 50 per cent of trans people live off less than $15,000 annually.

Men cannot donate blood if they have had sex with another man in the last year. Women’s shelters across the country can deny services to trans women. These facts and statistics reflect the reality that while we have the legislation in place to ensure that discrimination on the grounds of sexual orientation and gender identity and expression do not occur, it continues to persist.

An apology is a great start. It is a sign that our government recognizes its discriminatory past and is working to take action moving forward. What exactly should this action look like?

Increasing the number of gaystraight alliances in schools would provide an opportunity for young

Canadians to express their sexual orientation or gender identity in a safe environment, as well as allow their heterosexual, cisgender about the issues impacting the LGBTQ+ community. The same can be said about increasing the number of community spaces for queer and trans teens and young adults. More training should be given to physical and mental health care providers to better treat LGBTQ+ patients, especially those who are racialized.

More efforts should be made to end the blood ban, and increase social services for queer and trans Canadians, especially in smaller communities and the Atlantic provinces.

Mr. Trudeau’s apology will hopefully pave the way for making Canada a more safe and inclusive environment for all Canadians, regardless of sexual orientation or gender expression. It can also serve as an example for other countries to take strides to protect their own vulnerable populations who do not have the freedoms we have here in Canada. Come Tuesday, and everyday after that, let’s hope that we see a more promising future for those who are still fighting for the equality they deserve.

Photo: CC, Mohammad Jangda

EDITORIAL | 19

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