The Fulcrum - Vol 76 Issue 6

VOL. 76 ISSUE 6

oct 1, 2015

This Week Days since the fireworks have not been used...

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IN THIS ISSUE...

Voting guide P.7 Here’s all the info you need to know to excercise your democratic rights on Oct. 19 Grocery run P.10 The Fulcrum finds the best deals in downtown A different type of democracy P.12 We take a look at the different democratic turns Canada could take post-election Drawing a blank P.15 Women’s soccer team ties rival Ravens in scoreless match Master Splinter delivers P.19 Ottawa pizza place upgrades to new delivery system 20,000 leagues under the sea P.20 Di dives into your latest steamy sex questions

NEWS

NEWS EDITOR

Eric Davidson news@thefulcrum.ca (613) 695-0061

U of O makes French-language studies a right New designation ensures French education Eric Davidson News Editor

T

he University of Ottawa has announced its designation as a public service agency under Ontario’s French Language Services Act (FLSA), ensuring that all undergraduate programs and services will be offered in French as well as English.

The announcement came on Sept. 25, Franco-Ontarian Day, and will come into effect on Jan. 1, 2016.

The university has historically offered many of these programs in French anyway, but this new designation means that French-language education and services will be a right, not just something put in promotional posters.

“I think it’s important as a guarantee to the Francophone population that the services will always be available to them,” said U of O President Allan Rock.

Rock also made it clear that there will be no change for

Anglophone students. “Their world remains exactly the same,” he said.

“Designation under the legislation has been seen as a powerful protection for the continuation of French-languages services,” said Sébastien Grammond, a law professor at the U of O who coordinated the designation process.

The legislation means that students have the right to be able to finish their undergraduate degrees by selecting only courses in French. It does not guarantee that every course will be available in French.

Grammond recalled the battle to keep the Montfort hospital, a teaching hospital associated with the U of O that offered French-language university training. It was closed in 1997 by the province, but was reopened after backlash from the Franco-Ontarian community. Grammond said that the purpose of the classification is to avoid similar problems in the future.

“We have 600,000 Francophones in Ontario, and meeting their needs is important,” said Rock. “We’re a major part of responding to those needs, and we’re very proud of that.”

Allan Rock announces the university’s new designation.

Thirty-one per cent of the student population, or around 13,000 students, at the U of O is Francophone. The U of O is also the largest French-English bilingual university in the world.

U of O’s classification came after four years of discussion.

The university also consulted

with various Ontario government agencies, according to a U of O press release.

“We finally found a way to have the designation but at the same time maintain the flexibility to modify our programs,” said Rock.

The U of O is the fifth post-

secondary institution in Ontario to receive this designation, after Boréal College, La Cité College, Laurentian University, and Hearst University.

The new legislation applies only to undergraduate students, but it could soon apply to other programs as well.

Photo: Eric Davidson

“The University is committed to reviewing the scope of this designation,” said Grammond in a press release. “In three years’ time, we may consider designating graduate programs, and other programs and services not covered by the designation.”

U of O physics prof picked as potential Nobel Prize winner Paul Corkum recognized for work in physics University of Ottawa physics professor Paul Corkum has had a hectic week. After delivering a speech in Halifax, he flew to Montreal to receive an honorary degree from Sherbrooke University. He then went home to Ottawa before flying to Brussels later that day.

Oh, and he found out that he might win a Nobel Prize in two weeks.

Corkum is among 18 scientists from around the world chosen by Thomson Reuters as possible Nobel Prize winners.. Independent of the discussions of the Swedish and Norwegian committees who award Nobel Prizes, the predictions are based mainly on citations of published scientific literature.

Thomson Reuters has predicted 37 Nobel winners since it’s inception in 2002.

“I was in Halifax to give a public lecture, and it was announced so people there were very pleased. Well it was good advertisement for the public lecture wasn’t it?” said Corkum with a laugh.

Corkum, who worked alongside Ferenc Krausz of the Max Planck Institute in Garching, Germany, is being recognized for his work in developing attosecond flashes—flashes of light that last one millionth of one millionth of one millionth of a second, explained Corkum.

“An attosecond is to a second, as a second is to the age of the universe,” he said.

The new technology is important

in learning more about electrons, one of the fundamental building blocks of the universe, said Corkum.

He is also a member of the National Research Council of Canada, the primary national research and technology organization in the country, which recently shifted funding to more market-driven research.

“The National Research Council still supports work in this area of science, they would like to find applications that come out of it to a certain extent, but they still support the work,” said Corkum. While they haven’t yet found applications for attoseconds, the processes used to make attosecond pulses, “can be applied in other ways.”

If he were to win, Corkum would be the 24th Canadian to win a No-

thefulcrum.ca

Nadia Drissi El-Bouzaidi Editor-In-Chief

bel, the third to win in physics. The last Canadian to take home the prize was renowned writer Alice Munro, who won in 2013. The announcement comes at an interesting time in the Canadian scientific community, which has suffered numerous funding cuts at the federal level.

According to a 2013 report from the Public Service of Canada, 37 per cent of federal researchers said they had been directly stopped from sharing their expertise with the media or public within the last five years.

Nearly one quarter of the scientists surveyed said they had been forced to modify their conclusions of their research for non-scientific reasons.

However, Corkum pointed to other Canadian scientists who have also been short-listed for the Nobel Prize in physics. “Isn’t it wonderful?” said Corkum “It’s a very select list and it

tells you something about an underlying strength here.”

Another factor to consider is Canada’s highly educated population. A 2009 Statistics Canada report found that 50 per cent of Canadians aged 25 to 64 had some sort of post-secondary education—20 points above the average of reporting OECD countries in that year.

Future scientists need to find what’s interesting to only them, said Corkum. “What makes science great is that it builds on this big edifice that people have made over the centuries of science, and you edge your piece, and that piece helps make it to the next level,” he said.

The Nobel Prize in physics will be announced on Oct. 6 in Stockholm Sweden, by Göran K. Hansson, Permanent Secretary of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences.

NEWS | 5

the Fulcrum coverag

Tom Mulcair takes the floor at the U of O

Discussion centres on shaping up Canada’s economy

Photo: Veronika Cencen

Promote the Vote: Evidence that science should be a top election issue Local group wants to improve the state of science in Canada veronika cencen

fulcrum contributor For those still keeping track, a federal election is coming up, and we’re all being bombarded by various messages from the candidates who are trying to convince us to mark their name on the ballot.

However, one nonprofit, nonpartisan group called Evidence for Democracy (E4D) believes these campaigns are failing to support science-based decision making and open scientific communication. The group, which was founded in 2013, is completely run by volunteers including two former grad students of the U of O department of biology, executive director Katie Gibbs and Science Pledge ambassador Sue McKee. “It seemed that there was the need and interest for having an organization promoting public science and evidence-based decision-making,” said Gibbs, who is also one of the group’s founders.

“There weren’t any other groups focusing on these issues. As a scientist with strong interests in policy and politics this is an area I’m really passionate about, so I decided to start E4D,” she continued.

As active supporters, both alumni were present at “Vancouver’s Green Revolution Comes to Ottawa,” an event held by Ecology Ottawa at City Hall on Sept. 16, mainly to further promote the Science Pledge Cam-

paign, which launched this June.

The pledge states: “I believe that all Canadians benefit when governments solicit, collect and use the evidence and expertise needed to make smart policy.”

E4D argues that restrictive censorship and reduced funding are severely damaging scientific progress, and the government is turning its back on the issue.

To address issues like these, this pledge has been made to show support of putting “evidence before politics” in decision-making.

This topic was also up for discussion on campus at an iVote event on Sept. 21. The event featured a panel of experts and an address by David Suzuki on the topic of science and politics.

The pledge is available to sign at various events and online to anyone who supports the cause.

According to Gibbs, the pledge campaign has been extremely successful thus far, and has gained over 2,200 online signatures.

The group will also be hosting an event in partnership with the university’s graduate students’ association (GSAÉD) on Oct. 6 at Café Nostalgica.

You can sign up as a pledge ambassador online, or sign the pledge yourself at https://evidencefordemocracy.ca/en/sciencepledge

Jodie Côté-Marshall

fulcrum contributor NDP leader Thomas Mulcair made a pit stop at the University of Ottawa to deliver a keynote speech about the Canadian economy.

“An NDP government is committed to building a stronger, fairer, and more sustainable Canada for today and for tomorrow,” he declared to the hundreds of U of O students and staff huddled in the lobby of the Faculty of Social Sciences (FSS) building on Sept. 22.

Mulcair stressed the importance of promoting education, childcare, healthcare, and the environment as factors for growing the economy.

“I firmly believe that the best measure of a diversified, well-functioning economy is the strength of the middle class,” he continued.

The event was sponsored by iVote, a non-partisan volunteer branch of the University’s Jean-Luc Pepin research chair (JLP). In addition to Mulcair’s address, the event featured a diverse panel of economists to discuss current Canadian economic policy.

The panel consisted of Pedro Antunes, member of the Conference Board of Canada, Scott Clark, former Deputy Minister of Finance, David Macdonald, from the Canadian Centre for Policy, Andrew Sharpe, from the Centre for the Study of Living Standards, and Jim Stanford, from Unifor.

Their discussion addressed how the next government will have to implement policies that promote economic

6 | NATIONAL NEWS

stability and performance within th Canadian economy, the top ranke election issue according to the CBC. “What we learned from people wh have studied the labour market is th education really matters for all sor of reasons,” said Kevin Page, chairma of the JLP and former parliamentar budget officer in an interview with th Fulcrum. “You don’t want to sell you self short in developing your huma capital.”

This resonated well with Mulcair speech, during which he also addresse the importance of education, main taining that to succeed in the curren market “it will take a robust knowledg based economy.”

Mulcair also stressed the importanc of protecting the environment, reitera ing his argument that economic polici that are beneficial in the long run a most appealing to Canadians. But, h said that he sees a brighter future b counting on youth votes in the upcom ing elections.

As students head to the polls on Oc 19, they will have to consider an arra of different issues as they vote. Kevi Page insisted that youth participatio is indispensable to make an informe decision regarding these complex pro lems.

“In handing down this institutio there’s no shortage of big issues,” h said. “That’s why it’s really importan for you folks to get engaged.”

Photo: Eric Davi

thefulcrum.ca

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Ottawa Centre candidates debate LGBTQ+ issues Candidates impress youth turnout Spencer Van Dyk Cup Contributor

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Fulcrum federal election voting guide

Make sure your voice is heard on Oct. 19 Eric Davidson

News Editor What’s going on?

Canada’s federal election will be taking place on Oct. 19.

Millennial voters, of which students are a large part, represent over 20 per cent of the population. Every vote is important, especially since this election is shaping up to be one of the closest in recent history.

Am I registered to vote?

The first step to voting is to make sure you’re registered. If you’re not sure if you’re registered or not, you can find out easily on the Elections Canada website.

Just go to ereg.elections.ca.

If you’re not registered, you can do so at ereg.elections.ca, or through your local Elections Canada office. The deadline for registering this way is Oct. 13 at 6 p.m. You can also register before voting at a polling station.

Dude, where’s my address?

Many students are living away from home, and don’t know which address to use. If you’re already registered, check ereg.elections.ca to see where, especially if you’ve moved recently. If you’re not registered, you can choose whichever location you consider your home.

Voting on-campus Regardless of your address, if you’re a U of O student you can vote early and on campus. Elections Canada will have two offices at the U of O, they will be open from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. from Oct. 5 to Oct. 8.

One will be in room 12102 in Desmarais, 55 Laurier Avenue, and one in room 140 of the Residential Complex, 90 University Private.

If you live on campus, you can vote on campus on elections day, Oct. 19, or on any of the advance polling days—Oct. 9, 10, 11, or 12. If you don’t live on campus, you cannot vote there on these dates. The polling station for these dates may not be the same as the offices from Oct. 5-8, but is likely to be in a residence building.

Voting off-campus If you live at home or off campus, and can’t make it to the Elections Canada offices on Campus from Oct. 5-8, you can use the Elections Canada website, ereg. elections.ca, to determine your riding, and vote at a polling station there.

You will receive a voting card in the mail on Oct. 1, which will also tell you where you can vote, and the hours your polling station is open.

If you’re studying abroad, you can vote by mail.

Can I see some ID? In order to vote, you need identification.

Firstly, you need to bring the voting card that you receive in the mail on Oct. 1.

You also need ID with your name and the address of the riding you’re voting in.

You can use a provincial ID or a driver’s license. If you don’t have one or it has the wrong address, you can use your student ID card paired with a letter from the university that contains your name and address, among a variety of other options found at elections.ca under ID to vote.

The Liberal, Green and New Democratic Party federal election candidates for Ottawa Centre met Sept. 25 at the National Gallery of Canada to debate LGBTQ+ issues in an event organized by the One World Film Festival.

The One World Film Festival programs documentary films from around the world that focus on environmental issues, social justice, and human rights.

“Since we have this election coming up, we thought this year we would focus on election issues,” said Jessica Ruano, the festival’s manager. “Each day of the festival is focused on an idea, concept, or issue. Tonight is about youth, the power of the arts and LGBTQ issues.”

Candidates debated youth homelessness, and Bill C-279, a bill seeking to include gender identity as a prohibited ground for discrimination that died in the Senate. Candidates also discussed refugees and asylumseekers, the decriminalization of HIV and the absence of Conservative candidate Damian Konstantinakos from the event. A Conservative candidate was also missing at a debate concerning LGBTQ+ issues in Toronto on Sept. 24.

Don Cummer, a spokesperson for the Konstantinakos campaign, said Konstantinakos had prior engagements, and that there was confusion because the event was labeled as a regional debate. It was held in the Ottawa-Vanier riding, so they thought the Conservative candidate for OttawaVanier, David Piccini, would be attending.

Green Party candidate Tom Milroy said Konstantinakos has been absent from several of the campaign events, including a debate at the Ottawa Mosque.

The crowd contained a large percentage of youth and students, which NDP candidate Paul Dewar said is a good sign, though not a surprise. He said that despite the de-

creasing youth voter turnout, which was at 38.8 per cent in the 2011 federal elections, he has historically found the youth of Ottawa Centre to be engaged.

“It’s not that they’re not interested, it’s that often there’s another conversation going on than what’s going on in Parliament and in party platforms,” he said. “I hope this debate will generate interest, and for young people to see that these issues are considered by politicians, and by some of the parties, anyhow.”

Emily Sams, a second-year conflict studies and human rights student at the University of Ottawa, said she thought the organizers and candidates did a good job of covering the salient points, but that she wished they had further discussed aboriginals and other minority groups to add intersectionality to the debate.

“Ultimately, LGBTQ issues are something that a large percentage of our population face, and yet it’s one of the most underaddressed issues, I would say, in the federal platform,” she said.

Jeremy Dias, director of the Canadian Centre for Gender and Sexual Diversity, said the LGBTQ+ community and U of O grad is facing a dire time right now, because the community continues to suffer from high suicide rates, homelessness rates, dropout rates and drug and alcohol rates.

According to the Canadian Mental Health Organization, LGBTQ+ youth face 14 times the risk of suicide and substance abuse compared to their heterosexual peers.

“We really want people to be considering minority communities when they’re making their vote and making their decisions,” he said. “I think it speaks to a party’s morality and general moral compass when it comes to Canadian issues.”

Still not sure?

If you want more information, check out the Elections Canada website, elections.ca

Catherine Mckenna (left), Paul Dewar, Tom Milroy

idson

thefulcrum.ca

Photo: Amitesh Malhotra

NEWS | 7

National News Egyptian president pardons Mohamed Fahmy Al Jazeera English journalist released after nearly two years She goes on to call this a historic day in Egypt, where the government has finally corrected a long-standing injustice and set two innocent men free.

An emailed statement from the Egyptian president’s office said the pardons were given to people “who have received final prison verdicts in cases related to breaking a protest law or infringing on the police forces’ actions, in addition to a number of health-related and humanitarian cases.”

The pardon came a day before elSissi traveled to New York to attend the United Nations General Assembly.

Fahmy was given a three-year sentence last month after his second trial—an outcome that shocked international observers.

The 41-year-old’s troubles began in December 2013, when he was working as the Cairo bureau chief for Qatar-based satellite news broadcaster Al Jazeera English.

He and two colleagues were abruptly arrested and charged with a slew of offences, including supporting a banned organization and with fabricating footage to undermine the country’s national security.

The trio maintained their innocence throughout, saying they were just doing their jobs, but after a trial that was internationally decried as a sham, they were found guilty and

Diana Mehta iPolitics

iPolitics (CUP)—Nearly two years after his arrest in Egypt on widely denounced terrorism charges, Canadian journalist Mohamed Fahmy walked out of prison a free man following a presidential pardon.

Fahmy and his colleague and co-accused Baher Mohamed were among 100 people—including dozens of prominent human rights activists—pardoned by Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi.

“I am free! This time for real! Cops dropped me at CAC my old high school in my prison garb. Party Time! #FreeAJStaff” Fahmy tweeted moments after his release.

His wife, Marwa Omara, said she was visiting Fahmy in prison when she learned the news of his pardon from a TV set that was on.

“I was scared for his health from too much joy,” she said, adding that the first thing they plan to do is have a large wedding party to celebrate their recent marriage.

Fahmy’s lawyer Amal Clooney confirmed the release, saying she was delighted that Fahmy and Mohamed were finally free. “It has been a long ordeal, and we are grateful to President Sissi for exercising his power to pardon the two journalists,” she said in a statement.

Photo: THE CANADIAN PRESS/AP, Amr Nabil

sentenced to prison terms.

An appeal of their convictions resulted in a second trial, although one of them, Australian Peter Greste, was abruptly deported under a law which allows for the deportation of foreign nationals convicted of crimes.

Fahmy gave up his Egyptian citi-

zenship while behind bars in the hopes that he could follow the same path, but that didn’t happen.

He and his other colleague, Egyptian Baher Mohamed, were, however, granted bail during their retrial, which culminated in last month’s surprising verdict.

Following the verdict, Ottawa had formally asked Egypt’s president to pardon Fahmy or allow his deportation to Canada.

The federal government said it welcomes today’s developments. Foreign Affairs Minister Rob Nicholson said in a press release that he’s very pleased.

Mulcair calls for tolerance on niqab controversy

NDP to encourage calm discussion on citizenship dilemma Canadian Press iPolitics

iPolitics (CUP)—NDP Leader Tom Mulcair is urging tolerance and a calmer discussion about religious needs to wear face coverings when applying for Canadian citizenship.

In a speech Wednesday, he said he backs a requirement that women show their faces at some point in the citizenship process—but not at the citizenship ceremony, as the Conservatives would hope.

“I understand that many view the niqab as a symbol of the oppression of women. And on that, let me be clear: no one has the right to tell a woman what she must—or must not— wear,” Mulcair said.

“I am in agreement with the existing rule under which any-

Photo: THE CANADIAN PRESS/Andrew Vaughan

8 | NATIONAL NEWS

one seeking citizenship must uncover their face to identify themselves before swearing the oath, in accordance with their religious beliefs.”

The Conservatives want women to be required to show their faces not only at a point during the process of applying for citizenship, but also during the citizenship ceremony itself.

Mulcair’s speech comes a day before a leaders’ debate in Montreal, and was organized at the last minute in a bid to clarify the NDP position on the veil.

The issue is particularly controversial in Quebec, the NDP’s main support base.

The federal government is fighting a court ruling that threw out the requirement for uncovered faces at citizenship ceremonies. The government is seeking to take that Federal

Court of Appeal decision to the Supreme Court of Canada, and wants the decision stayed while it appeals.

Earlier on Wednesday, Mulcair was also asked whether he would support a Conservative minority government.

“There isn’t a snowball’s chance in hell,” he said.

“There’s no likelihood that the NDP would ever, under any circumstances, be able to support Mr. Harper, his divisive politics, his backward economics that have left 400,000 manufacturing jobs disappear over the last few years.”

That echoed a pledge from Liberal Leader Justin Trudeau, who said Tuesday there are “no circumstances” in which he would support Harper staying on as prime minister with a minority.

thefulcrum.ca

A&C EDITOR Allegra Morgado arts@thefulcrum.ca

ARTS&CULTURE

(613) 695-0062

Ready, set, whoa: A Gee-Gee’s guide to France Ch. 2: The migrant crisis raghad sheikh-khalil fulcrum contributor

A

s I approach the end of my first month in France it has become increasingly difficult for me to go on without acknowledging what is now the headline of almost every newspaper in the country.

“Europe is divided about the migrants” reads last week’s edition of La Croix newspaper—and so it is.

The recent migrant situation is the largest influx of refugees Europe has experienced since World War II. However, until recently, much of the European Union (EU) refused to take in migrants at all. When images of Alan Kurdi—the 3-year-old Syrian child who drowned and washed up on the shores of Turkey—went viral, Europe slowly mobilized. Germany pledged to take in 800,000 refugees in 2015 alone, but a lack of a cohesive European solution has led to stagnancy.

Under pressure, French President Francois Hollande has pledged to take in 24,000 refugees over the next two years, but the question remains: should

we be doing more? As it stands, French public opinion remains divided.

“I don’t feel we’re obliged to help per se” says Harrison Bouchaut, a Paris native. “Should we morally? Maybe. But I don’t think we’re obliged to.”

Meanwhile, recent Charlie Hebdo comics have expressed extreme hostility toward migrants, portraying disgusting images of drowning families at the bottom of the sea titled, “Mediterranean family reunion.”

In search of the migrant reality, I decided to visit a nearby Syrian refugee camp in Paris. Located just outside tourist hotspots, the camp was a stark contrast to what I’d grown accustomed to in my first month. In the middle of the road an entire community was set up. About 60 families, from children to the elderly, were centred around a camp lined with tents and laden with garbage.

I approached a boy and introduced myself in Arabic.

“She’s a reporter! She’s a reporter!” I was quickly surrounded by a group of boys excited to get their names down.

Rami, Khalid, Mohammed, Walid, and the list goes on. While the conversation began light-heartedly, it quickly sobered up. The crowd of children began to thin, no longer as excited to

discuss their plight.

I spoke with a man named Abeen Alnasan, who told me of his long and turbulent journey from Syria and how his family had sold everything they owned to make it here. All of the refugees had come from different countries by means of plane, train, boat, and foot. Many had stayed in Spain, Greece, and Morocco before unaccommodating circumstances in the camps forced them to leave.

When asked about the negative perception of the migrants as “freeloaders,” all he had was praise. “We fled from hunger, from war, from attack… we are only thankful that you’ve taken us in, especially the women and children,” he said.

Eager to adjust and contribute, the men I spoke to just wanted to get back to work. From security, to taxi driver, to store owner, they all enthusiastically filled me in on the jobs they held back home.

“When did you first flee your country?” I finally asked. “November 11, 2013,” Alnasan replied quickly, the date clearly branded in his mind. “I wish I had died in Syria.”

Alnasan refused to let me leave before tearing his meat pie in half and offering it to me in thanks. He shared

Illustration: Kim Wiens

his half with two others. It struck me in that moment the meaning of generosity. I spent my commute home in silence.

Xenophobia has played a large role in preventing the welcoming of refugees in Europe and at home in Canada.

Fear of Islam, changes to the status quo, and higher crime rates have made decision-makers hesitate. Yet we can all stand to learn something from Alnasan’s generosity.

The world has dealt with a largescale refugee crisis several times before. In one case during World War II, Canada turned away thousands of Jewish refugees, leaving them no option but to return to Europe where many were killed in concentration camps.

We are making history right now, and all I can hope is that we are remembered for the right reasons this time around.

Zine rack gives voices to those who are unheard U of O students contribute to minority-focused zines julia miraflores & Allegra morgado

A new zine rack available at Café Alt on the University of Ottawa campus is looking to showcase work by members of the LGBTQ+ community and people of colour.

When someone feels like they don’t belong or have been marginalized in society, all they really want is someone to show them that they are not alone. As our society continues to leave out and brush aside those who don’t fit the norm, many people are turning to alternative media that they can find comfort in. This is where zines come in.

Zines are self-published, smallcirculation books or websites. They can include anything from poetry to comics, and have become a slow but

significant trend in the online community. Zines can be about anything, but the topics are often things that are not well-covered in the mainstream media.

Lee Pepper is a zine distributer in the Ottawa area. Recently, they (Pepper has asked us to use genderneutral pronouns) were approached by the Student Federation of the University of Ottawa (SFUO)-owned Café Alt to create a zine rack in the café. The rack mainly features locally-made zines produced by members of the LGBTQ+ community, people of colour, and others who feel that their voices are underrepresented. Almost all of the zines on Pepper’s rack are sold for under $5, which is split between the writers, Pepper, and the hosting business.

“People are really, really, hungry for that kind of representation… It’s

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fulcrum contributor & arts & culture editor

hard when you don’t feel represented and feel like you don’t have a voice but other people are also feeling that and people are waiting to hear those stories,” said Pepper.

One of those people is Brittany Neron, a U of O student currently working on her M.A. in women’s studies. Neron began making zines two years ago after attending The Ottawa Zine Off at Pressed, a local café.

“I write a perzine, which is just like a zine of personal topics, and generally mine gravitate around gender stuff, sexuality, mental health, sobriety and addictions,” she said.

Neron is currently working on a series of zines called “Sad Weekends,” with the third issue currently on Pepper’s zine rack at Café Alt. “My most recent one, number three, is mostly dealing with support-

ing a loved one with an addiction, and my upcoming one is still kind of undecided,” said Neron. “I’m thinking about talking a little bit more in depth about transitioning from student life to post-student life, and that identity crisis that comes with not being a student anymore after being a student forever basically.”

Pepper came about the idea of creating a zine rack in Ottawa when they and a friend saw one at a café in Montreal. “I really like zines but I’d always sort of gotten them through mail order… or bought them online, and it’s really cool to browse them in person” they said.

When Pepper returned to Ottawa, their friend encouraged them to start a zine rack here so more people would have access to the small-circulation books. The first rack that Pepper put up was at Pressed on Gladstone Av-

enue in Oct. 2012. Gabba Hey, a concert venue and record store on City Centre Avenue, was the next spot to put up one of Pepper’s zine racks.

The decision to start selling the zines at Café Alt came from Pepper’s friendship with the manager of the café, Gary Franks. Pepper has always been a big fan of the café, saying that it’s “always been really strong in the arts community,” and despite not attending the University of Ottawa themselves, they believed that it would be an opportune spot to put up a rack.

Pepper’s zines allow readers to learn about topics that they may not be able to learn about anywhere else, all with a personal touch. And for those who are looking for content that represents them, they can finally find something that makes them feel less alone.

ARTS & Culture | 9

You don’t have to sit in school to stand among greatness.

The Fulcrum investigates whether it’s worth it to bus the extra mile to save a dime

By Levin C. Handy (per http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/cwpbh.04326) [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons

Grocery store wars

Graphic: Kim Wiens

allegra morgado arts & culture editor

As all broke students know, sometimes it’s worth it to put in the effort to keep within budget. Whether it’s scrolling through hundreds of posts on the “Textbook exchange” groups on Facebook to avoid spending $100 on a new textbook, or standing in line for over an hour to get a free Beavertail in the middle of winter, the little bit of extra time can ensure that we don’t run out of our OSAP money before the end of the semester.

One of student’s largest expenses is food. With Metro and Loblaws on Rideau being only 15-20 minutes away on foot, students in Sandy Hill rarely question whether it could be cheaper to venture outside of Rideau Street area.

Lucky for you, we decided to look into it. We went to four grocery stores around the city, all within a 20 minute trip or less by bus from the Fulcrum office (631 King Edward Avenue), to see if it’s worth it to put in the little bit of extra effort to save a few dollars every month.

We priced five staple items at these four stores and compared them to the Loblaws on Rideau. Check out our map above to see if using your UPass to bus around the city is worth it.

10 | ARTS & CULTURE

Store 1: Loblaws, 363 Rideau Street.

This one is the classic favourite among U of O students.

Trip time: 11 minute walk.

1.

Bananas: $0.79/lb 2.

1L carton of Neilson 2% milk: $3.19 3.

Wonder 100 % whole wheat bread: $3.39 4. Honey Nut Cheerios (460 g): $4.99 5.

12 large-size eggs (store brand): $2.79 Store 2: FreshCo, 320 McArthur Avenue, Vanier.

This store is a bit outside of the downtown core, but worth the trip to save on every item on our list. Warning: you have to leave your backpack at the door in a cubby, so remember to leave your laptop at home unless you want to carry it with you the whole time.

Trip time: 20 minutes. Take the 14 towards St-Laurent from Rideau/King Edward and get off at McArthur/Lafontaine. The bus stop is at the entrance to the store parking lot.

1.

Bananas: $0.57/lb 2.

1L carton of Sealtest 2% milk: $2.49 3.

Dempster’s 100% whole wheat bread: $2.89 4. Honey Nut Cheerios (460 g): $3.99 5.

12 large-size eggs (store brand): $2.64

Total saved: $2.57

Trip time: 14 minutes. Take the 16 towards Britannia from King Edward/Osgoode and get off at Albert/Bank, walk down Albert Street towards Bank St., turn left onto Bank St. The store is at the corner of Bank St. and Somerset St. W. 1.

Bananas: $0.79/lb 2.

1L carton of Neilson 2% milk: $3.39 3.

Wonder 100 % whole wheat bread: $3.39 4. Honey Nut Cheerios (460 g): $4.99 5.

12 large-size eggs (store brand): $2.99 Total saved: $-0.40

Store 3: Sobeys 193, Metcalfe Street.

Sobeys opened earlier this year on Metcalfe and the outside structure is still under construction, but the interior is stunning. Although not all of the items are cheaper, more than half are, so we vote “yes” on checking out this store.

Trip time: 12 minutes. Take the 5 towards Billings Bridge from Laurier/King Edward and get off at Elgin/Nepean, turn right on Nepean Street, turn left onto Metcalfe St. The store is at the corner of Metcalfe St. and Lisgar St. 1.

Bananas: $0.79/lb 2.

1L carton of Sealtest 2% milk: $2.47 3.

Dempster’s 100% whole wheat bread: $3.19 4. Honey Nut Cheerios (460 g): $4.99 5.

12 large-size eggs (store brand): $2.69 Total saved: $1.02

Store 5: Walmart, 450 Terminal Avenue.

Our final stop was the Walmart on Terminal Ave. This store is definitely worth checking out, with substantial savings on every item on our list.

Trip time: 20 minutes. Take the 86 towards Elmvale or the 8 towards Billings Bridge from Campus 1A and get off at Terminal/Sandford Fleming, walk down Terminal Ave. towards Sanford Fleming Ave. 1.

Bananas: $0.57/lb 2.

1L carton of Neilson 2% milk: $2.27 3.

Wonder 100 % whole wheat bread: $2.88 4. Honey Nut Cheerios (460 g): $4.00 5.

12 large-size eggs (store brand): $2.64

Store 4: Your Independent Grocer, 296 Bank Street.

Possibly due to the fact that it’s owned by the same parent company as Loblaws, this grocer has almost the exact same prices as the Loblaws on Rideau, even being more expensive when it comes to eggs and milk. These prices make the Your Independent Grocer a “no-go” on our list.

› Thomas Edison: The world’s most extraordinary failure never gave up.

Thank goodness.

open. online. everywhere. go.athabascau.ca/online-courses

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ALBUM REVIEW: Drake & Future • What a Time to Be Alive | Cash Money, Epic, and A1 it’s muscles when it needs to.

Metro Boomin handles the bulk of the production, providing the necessary ethereal trap sounds that tie the project together. Contentwise, Future is wrestling with his success and dealing with all the changing faces in his life, knowing the only person he trusts, and is most afraid of, is himself.

“All this passion I got all I ever needed/ For me to move on and succeed/ For me to move on and succeed/ Jealousy, envy, and greed/ Too much of this shit I don’t need,” he raps on “Scholarships,” aware of his personal struggle.

It’s not until the final track on the mixtape that Drake truly returns to his zone. “30 for 30 Freestyle” is produced by Noah “40” Shebib, Drake’s long-time best friend and musical partner. The muffled jazzy sounds allows for a compelling and personal four minutes.

“Kids are losing’ lives, got me scared of losing mine/And if I hold my tongue about it, I get crucified/Wrote this shit on a bumpy flight on a summer night/Flying over Chattanooga, out here trying to spread the movement,” raps Drake, providing a shot of his reality to the listener.

In the end, What a Time to Be Alive is not perfect, but it gets the job done. It’s amusing and exhilarating but not overly lengthy, it grips your attention and doesn’t let go, something that only superstars can achieve.

spencer murdock

sports editor/rap correspondant Time freezes in the music world whenever there is a clash of titans. In the hierarchy of today’s biggest hip-hop superstars, Drake and Future are monoliths. Two of a genre’s biggest artists coming together to release a collaborative project is not something you see every day.

What a Time to Be Alive is a mixtape in album’s clothing; a $10 price tag on something that’s typically free, it’s something that only Drake and Future can pull off.

Coming fresh off of his last ‘commercial mixtape’ If You’re Reading This It’s Too Late, released in February, Drake has transcended rap stardom by building a dynasty upon the fusion of hip-hop and R&B. Future is a fundamentally different artist than his counterpart—syrup-soaked sing-rapping over trap beats is the Atlanta emcee’s habitat. His last solo album DS2, released in July, was a critical and commercial success, a sonic exploration that only Future does best.

Let’s get one thing straight—the majority of this mixtape sounds like Future featuring Drake. One man is in his element, while the other is experimenting outside of what made him one of the most famous rappers in the world. What a Time to Be Alive is consistent and cohesive, it’s slightly subdued, but also flexes

U of O student stars in play Confessions of a Modern Day Penguin Personal play focuses on coming to terms with the past

Patterson and Moltaji deliver an invigorating performance in Confessions of a Modern Day Penguin.

anchal sharma fulcrum contributor

People often compare themselves to animals that they believe they resemble in some way. Dogs are one animal that people gravitate to for their loyalty. Others choose the fox, for its sly nature, or the

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lion, for its pride and power. In Confessions of a Modern Day Penguin, it’s a much less popular animal that Daniel Mark Patterson chooses to compare himself to—the penguin.

Confessions of a Modern Day Penguin is a play about a man who has a difficult time finding his path in the modern-

Photo: Courtesy of Craig Conoley

day world. Patterson, a local actor, poet, and playwright, plays a character based on himself in the part-memoir, and collaborated with University of Ottawa PhD student Golbon Moltaji on the project.

Inspired by true happenings in Patterson’s life, the play deals with themes of sex-

uality, gender binaries, love, and abuse, with undertones of religion and the strings that tie all of these things together. The play was shown at Lamoureux Hall at the U of O from Sept. 23 to 27.

The play, which was performed in a classroom, begins with a professor, played

by Moltaji, listing facts about penguins. Throughout the show, the audience is shown the similarities between the androgynous and awkward, yet adorable, penguin and Patterson’s character. “(Penguins) stumble and fumble around, and have the hardest time getting anything right,” Patterson said after the performance. “I kind of see myself stumbling and fumbling around in my search for love and finding my place…

I see myself as a penguin in that sense.”

At once beautiful and despairing, this play illustrates Patterson’s life through his own poetry and interpretative dance choreographed

by Moltaji. Moltaji is not a trained dancer, but used her background as an athlete to inspire her dance movements.

Although the production was originally meant to be a oneman show, Moltaji asked Patterson if she could join it after reading the original script, and the two expanded it to include Moltaji in multiple roles.

Moltaji, who had no prior acting experience, blew the

audience away with her powerful portrayal of Patterson’s past lovers, musings, friends, and mother.

The story follows Patterson’s abusive domestic life as a young boy and develops into his struggles with conforming to gender stereotypes as a grown man. The show demonstrates different challenges Patterson faces resulting from these experiences, from the guilt he feels for loving his abusive father to the struggle he has understanding love and intimacy beyond its physical definition.

Much of the play is adapted from personal poems that Patterson has written over the past four years. He used these poems to create a fluid storyline that pulled the audience in and gave them a window through which to view and relate to his troubled past.

While the play has its darker moments, it counteracts the heaviness with bouts of comedic relief and witty dialogue.

Patterson’s writing along with Moltaji’s choreography makes for a powerful, raw, and refreshing performance.

ARTS & Culture | 11

Electoral ref

U of O students and profs give a rundown of the the alternative forms of voting that coul Manuela Haemmerli Fulcrum Contributor

F

or as long as most university students can remember, political participation (or lack thereof) has been a big problem in Canadian politics.

In the 2008 federal election, voter turnout hit a record low of 58.8 per cent, and in 2011 it rose a meagre 2.3 points. Such low numbers have been the norm for the past two decades in Canada, and with youth voter turnout tabbed at 38.8 per cent in 2011, it doesn’t look like the trend will change anytime soon.

Based on these numbers it seems like something is rotten in the state of our democracy, and some have pointed to our current electoral system as being the culprit.

Throughout this current election, a number of politicians have jumped on board the electoral reform bandwagon, with a number of mainstream political parties promising this kind of change in their electoral platforms.

But what is it about our current system that has three opposition parties calling foul?

Winner-take-all democracy Right now Canada uses the single member plurality system, also known as first-past-the post, to decide who’s in charge.

In each of our 308 geographic ridings, one Member of Parliament (MP) is elected to the House of Commons. The party that fills the most seats in parliament with their MPs gets to form the new government.

An MP candidate needs the most votes, but not the majority, in order to be elected.

For example, in the last election, Stephen Harper’s Conservative Party won 39.6 per cent of the popular vote. Under the first-past-the-post system, this translated into 166 seats and allowed for a Conservative majority government.

Tony Bui—elections coordinator of the University of Ottawa New Democratic Party—cites these results as an example of how “a party that manages to get less than 50 per cent of the vote still manages to get more than 50 per cent of the power, and, in essence, 100 per cent of the power.”

Still, supporters of first-past-the-post believe that this is worth the sacrifice, mostly because this system is easy to understand and to administer, which, in turn, leads to more political stability.

While Canada’s political process may be in a more reliable than that of a country like Greece

“People don’t actually vote for what they wan They vote for what they think will win.”— Wong, co-president of the U of O Young G (which is going through their fifth election in six years), it still does nothing to deter voter apathy.

According to Jared Maltais—the policy director for the U of O Young Liberals—the current voting system is the fuel that feeds the fire.

He explains that when people know their vote won’t count, “that breeds undemocratic by-products like strategic voting and political apathy.”

Cherie Wong and Felipe Posada—co-presidents of the U of O Young Greens—are particularly concerned by these “undemocratic by-products”.

Wong says that the numbers in the polls don’t accurately reflect actual support for the Green party, since “people don’t actually vote for what they want anymore. They vote for what they think will win.”

Posada adds that in addition to those who vote strategically, there are other would-be Green supporters who choose not to vote at all, and that “it’s (the Green Party’s) main voters that are discouraged by this system.”

Sabrina Sotiriu, a Conservative supporter and PhD candidate in comparative politics at the U of O, says that the Conservative party has no official stance when it comes to electoral reform.

Instead, Sotiriu warns of what she calls the “Harper Derangement Syndrome”. She says that many people are so caught up in ousting Harper and bringing in change that they don’t stop to think about what that change might look like.

So what would change look like? If the Liberals, the New Democrats, and the Greens all want reform, what are they really proposing?

Balancing the scales Throughout the campaign, in an effort to explain how our democratic process can change, politicians have been tossing around the words ‘proportional representation’ (PR). PR isn’t actually a specific electoral system, but a general characterization of a system.

PR systems award seats based on the percentage of votes each party receives, rather than through a first-past-the-post approach.

In a pure PR system, multiple seats are up for grabs in each riding, and the seats are divided amongst the different parties based on the number of votes they get.

For example, if the last federal election was run under PR rules, the Green Party would have clinched 12 seats in the House of Commons based on their 3.9 per cent of the popular vote (rather than the single seat they received in 2011 by rule of first-past-the-post).

A clear benefit of proportional representation, says Posada, is that it would encourage those who don’t think their vote counts, to get out and cast their ballot.

He says that “in a system where every vote counts, every voice is heard.”

Professor Luc Turgeon, a political science expert from the U of O Faculty of Social Sciences, confirms that research indicates a higher level of political participation among countries that use a PR system.

In Canada, when people talk about proportional representation, they are usually referring to something known as mixed member proportional representation (MMP), which is a hybrid between pure PR and first-past-the-post.

The MMP system is currently employed by countries like Germany and New Zealand, the latter of which abandoned first-pastthe-post in 1992.

So how does MMP work?

Each ballot is divided into two sections, and each voter gets two votes. In the first section, they select which local candidate they wish to represent their riding in parliament—just as we do now. In the second section they select a national party from the list to support.

The percentage of votes for each party will translate into the percentage of seats they hold in parliament. These seats will first be awarded to candidates who won in their constituencies, and then any remaining

seats will be assigned to other part drafted by the party.

Bui describes the MMP system a still have regional representation wh brought forward in the House of Co every single vote, regardless of wher toral process.”

Turgeon explains that the closed would enable party executives to groups are represented” within their In contrast, the current system pu to select the safest candidates for t what can lead to things like 80 per c However, according to Sotiriu, the who appears on this list and in what She warns that closed lists can lea top, and can make MPs less accounta confirms this suspicion and says the will put their power of selection to g

Preferen

With that being said, PR voting i tem making the rounds in the politic While no party has officially en (also know as instant-runoff voting thrown its name around a few times In this system, which has been u Manitoba in the past for provincial e their riding in order of preference. U cessful candidate must have more t riding to win.

The ranking comes into play if no based on the first preferences mark candidate with the least amount of fi the second-preference votes of thos remaining candidates. This process c 50 per cent of the votes.

This type of system would most li it largely benefits their position as th NDP voters are more likely to put a L choice.

Unlike MMP, there is no propor didn’t vote for the winning candidat portunity to influence the compositi Despite this, Turgeon estimates th be an easier system to sell” than PR. MMP system difficult to understand and that this may lead to a preferenc In comparison with first-past-the much more precise in the selection o cant voice to supporters of fringe pa of ballots for the least supported par On the other hand, Daniel Stocke fessor who specializes in electoral s tive vote is very strategic.”

Rather than actually voting in or give their second and third preferen lieve have no chance of winning, so a actually competitive with their first Stockemer also concludes that “th worst for the Conservatives. They co

form in Canada

he state of our current electoral system, and ld potentially change it for the better.

nt anymore.

—Cherie Greens.

ty members according to a closed list

as the best of both worlds, where “we here the issues of certain areas are still ommons, but we also still ensure that re it’s cast, still counts towards the elec-

d list component of the MMP system “engineer to make sure that certain r caucus. uts pressure on local riding associations their campaigns. Turgeon says this is cent male party rosters. e problem is that the voter has no say in t order. ad to dirty internal politics to get to the able to their own constituents. Turgeon here is no guarantee that party leaders good use.

ntial voting

isn’t the only alternative electoral syscal circuit. ndorsed the preferential ballot system or alternative vote), the Liberals have s in the past. used in British Columbia, Alberta, and elections, voters rank the candidates in Unlike in our current system, the sucthan 50 per cent of the votes in their

o candidate has a majority of the votes ked on the ballots. In such a case, the first preference votes is eliminated, and se ballots are redistributed among the continues until one candidate has over

ikely favour the Liberal party, because he centre party. Both Conservative and Liberal candidate as their number two

rtional element to this system. If you te in your riding, you don’t have an opion of parliament with your vote. hat a preferential voting system “may He explains that many people find the d, especially since there are two votes, ce for the simpler ranked ballot system. e-post, the preferential ballot is more of MPs. It also gives a much more signifiarties, since the second preferences rty are the first to be redistributed. emer, a University of Ottawa prosystems, warns that “the alterna-

rder of preference, voters might nce votes to parties that they beas not to endorse parties that are t choice. he alternative vote will be the ould get the highest number of

votes as first preferences, but they would not get elected.”

Since the Conservatives are the only distinctly right wing party in the running, it’s unlikely that they would get many second preference votes from the supporters of other parties. This means that unless they won a clear majority among the first preferences, they probably wouldn’t win at all.

Sticky status quo Both of these proposed alternatives have their merits, but will they ever see the light of day in Canada?

In this country, proportional representation has been championed by the NDP, who put forth a motion in 2014 to replace our current system with MMP. Green Party leader Elizabeth May backed the motion, but according to the Young Greens, this doesn’t indicate a commitment to an MMP system on behalf of the Green Party, but rather a desperate attempt to rescue a democracy which Posada says “is drowning.”

Justin Trudeau, on the other hand, voted against the NDP motion, even though he supports the preferential ballot and is also campaigning on a promise of electoral reform.

Stockemer and Turgeon both express doubts that any of the parties will actually follow through with their promises if elected.

“Parties often talk about changing the electoral system, and then they win,” said Turgeon.

Stockemer explains that “institutions are sticky” and that when people are used to something, it’s unlikely to change.

These forecasts may not be particularly inspirational, but Stockemer maintains that it’s not all doom and gloom. After all, he says, “the (current) system has worked for 150 years and it has always provided some kind of stable, predictable government. So you might say: why change a winning system?”

Sotiriu, who grew up with a proportional representation system in Romania, adds that PR might not live up to Canadians’ high expectations.

She highlights the value of having an accountable local MP. Even if that MP does not represent the political views of all persons in their ridings, they are accountable to and will be at the service of their constituents.

At the end of the day, a lot of these proposed electoral reform hinge on the results of the the upcoming election, especially since the Liberals and NDP have a very real chance of coming out on top. Perhaps change won’t happen in any case, and the cyclical nature of the political machine will squash any chance of voting reform, even if one of the more “progressive” parties is elected to power.

But, then again, you won’t know unless you go out and vote.

Official stance of Canada’s major parties on electoral reform according to Fair Vote Canada —Has no intention of implementing any kind of electoral reform.

—Is keen on replacing first-past-thepost, but are not sure with what system will take its place. If elected, they are committed to conducting research to determine what is an appropriate substitute.

—Is committed to replacing our first-past-the-post with an MMP system.

—Believes that electoral reform should be considered a matter of urgency in the next Parliament. Is a firm supporter of proportional representation.

—Believes in the need for proportional representation in government, although mostly as a means of working towards Quebec sovereignty.

”Parties often talk about changing the electoral system, and then they win.”—Professor Luc Turgeon, U of O Faculty of Social Sciences.

SPORTS Ninth-ranked Gee-Gees drop tough

SPORTS EDITOR Spencer Murdock sports@thefulcrum.ca

(613) 695-0062

game in Guelph against #5 Gryphons Wendel, Stewart continue to dazzle even in defeat Spencer Murdock Sports Editor

T

he Gee-Gees football team took to the road to take on one of the hottest teams in the nation.

The Guelph Gryphons came into the weekend with an undefeated 4-0 record and they would not settle for a loss against the visiting Gees.

Guelph got the Gee-Gees on the ropes early, and handed them a 48-26 loss.

In a matter of minutes at the beginning of the game, Guelph capitalized on the Gee-Gee offence’s slow start by forcing deep zone punts. Each of the Gryphons’ early drives resulted in a touchdown as they jumped out to a staggering 28-0 lead with barely any time off the

clock. Reeling from these miscues, the Gees had to patch together small drives to keep the Guelph offence off of the gas pedal.

Inability to get the ball moving was the story of the first half for the Gees. Once the second half came, the Gees were able to move the ball more effectively but couldn’t dig themselves out of the hole that they found themselves in.

Quarterback Derek Wendel and wide receiver Ian Stewart continued to put up impressive numbers despite the loss.

The Gee-Gees game manager amassed an impressive 471 yards and three touchdowns making Wendel the number

one overall passer in the nation. Stewart had 113 yards and two touchdowns bringing the fifth-year receiver’s total to five on the season, which is good enough for third in the country.

Ultimately the only numbers that matter for the Gee-Gees are the ones on the scoreboard, and the game was simply not a good enough performance and the team now sits at 2-2 after losses to McMaster and Guelph.

The team’s schedule isn’t much easier but games against weaker competition like Carleton, Laurier, and Toronto will help pave a way to the playoffs.

One worry for the team may be the injuries sustained

The Gee-Gees defence couldn’t keep the Gryphons out of the endzone in the first half.

against Guelph, with defensive ends Sam Randazzo and Osas Obas both leaving the game banged up. If the injuries keep them out of the lineup next week it should make room for first-year Charles Bender of Austin, Texas to make an impact on the defensive line.

“Ultimately the only numbers that matter for the Gee-Gees are the ones on the scoreboard, and the game was simply not a good enough performance.”

Despite a disappointing start to the game, the Gee-Gees are still one of the stronger teams in the country. Unfortunately, with the difficulty of their schedule, the team just couldn’t pull off a win.

Up next for the Gee-Gees is the infamous Panda Game,

Photo: Tasha Falconer (The Ontarion)

arguably the biggest regular season college football game in Canada. The Ravens are coming off of a 70-14 thrashing by the Western Mustangs at their homecoming. The game is expected to meet or exceed last year’s attendance of 12,500 at TD Place.

Get ready, Panda’s here and it’s going to be big Birds beware—2014 isn’t far from the Gee-Gees’ memory

Panda-monium is overtaking Ottawa as the Gee-Gees look to down the Ravens.

Sports Editor

The Gee-Gees won last year’s Panda Game—well at least 59 minutes of it.

We all know the story, a last minute Hail Mary resulted in a freak catch off of a deflection, Carleton took Pedro for

Photo: Marta Kierkus

the first time in 20 years. This year the Panda Game looks a little different, but it’s a lot more significant.

For the Gee-Gees, the game is an opportunity to start the second half of their season strong and prepare for the playoffs. In this game, the 2-2 Gee-

Spencer Murdock

14 | SPORTS

Gees come in with stronger offensive numbers against better teams, compared to the Ravens’ better defensive numbers against weaker competition.

The Gees’ program was totally overhauled after an abysmal 2012 season, making 2013 a fresh start for the Garnet and Grey. Carleton’s team played their first season since 1998 in 2013.

Looking at the two teams, the GeeGees have rebuilt a strong contending team in the following years, while Carleton has yet to make the playoffs or post a winning record.

An underlying question is if the 3-2 Ravens lose this game, is their rebuild a failure?

In a way it would be perceived a failure, they were a recruiting superpower and pulled in big name players like receiver Nate Behar and defensive back Tunde Adeleke. Their expectation was to be a contender by now, and at this point they’re still a pretender.

Both teams come into the game off of pivotal losses, the Gee-Gees beat up by Guelph, and the Ravens obliterated by Western. There is no time for the teams to lick their wounds as both have had this game circled on their calendars, perhaps maybe one team more than the other.

If anything, the Gee-Gees are a vengeful bunch. They remember every little thing that happened and try to make you pay for it the next time you meet. An embarrassment in front of 12,500 fans last year doesn’t slip from the memory fast.

From a fan’s perspective, this game can go one of two ways. The angered Gees unleash an offensive barrage, taking back Pedro and sending the Ravens flying back to Carleton empty handed. Alternatively, the game is close, Carleton tries to put together another miraculous win, and it comes down to the wire with one team walk-

ing away winners. For Gee-Gees fans, the latter is more exhilarating, while the former is much more fulfilling.

In a rivalry, it’s all about bragging rights. Systematic destruction should be what the Gees are seeking but only time will tell if they can pull it off.

The game is also getting a little more theatrical this year, with a pregame and halftime performance by Ottawa band The Lionyls.

As a whole, the City of Ottawa will be overtaken on Saturday, with one game in the middle of the city deciding who reigns supreme over Canada’s capital. This one should be exciting, no matter the outcome.

Kickoff is at 1 p.m. and all transit including shuttles busses provided by OC Transpo leaving from Laurier and Campus Stations are free of charge with a ticket. It is encouraged to bring your student card to the game, and bags are prohibited.

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Gee-Gees women’s rugby atop nation after thrilling win over Concordia

Team improves to 5-0 on the season with 25-19 win Spencer Murdock Sports Editor

The University of Ottawa Gee-Gees women’s rugby team has become the number one-ranked team in the country, and, with their stellar 5-0 record this season, it should be no surprise.

Coming into a massive game at home against then seventh-ranked Concordia, the Gees needed a statement win to prove they deserve a place among the nation’s elite.

With this motivation, the Gees came through in a dramatic match that came down to the wire, until a late push gave the Gees a 25-19 win.

The Stingers came to fight as they kept the Gee-Gee offence at bay through the majority of the match. It took a full team effort to tie together the loose ends on both sides of the ball.

Consistent play from breakout fourth-year prop Simone Savary led the Gee-Gees into

the crucial final minutes of the match.

Breaking off a massive 30-yard run and setting up two scoring situations, along with a massive game saving stop, cemented Savary’s place among the best in Canada.

“When they were up, we felt rushed,” Savary told Sports Services. “We collected ourselves and realized that we still had a whole half to play.

We pushed all the way to the end and we all came together.

All the fitness drills we’ve done came back and helped us.”

Due to her performance this year and last, the Brampton native has earned immeasurable respect from her coach.

“Simone is just that player for us, again this year. I think she is national level and that was a huge play,” head coach Jen Boyd told Sports Services.

The road ahead for the Gee-Gees should be relatively easy for the surging team,

#1 Gee-Gees flex their muscles in hard fought win over the Stingers.

they travel to the Université de Montréal next to take on a much weaker team in the

Carabins. They will then close their season at home against the struggling McGill Mart-

Photo: Hannah Clarke

lets. The playoff picture will become clearer in the final weeks, but the Gees are cer-

tainly a favourite for both the conference and national championships.

Second-ranked women’s soccer team ties Carleton in disappointing draw Ravens put an end to #2 Gees’ winning streak, lack of offence slows team Nadia Drissi El-Bouzaidi Editor-In-Chief

Khoury and Francki can’t carry the offensive load by themselves.

Photo: Marta Kierkus

The second-ranked GeeGees women’s soccer team had to settle for a tie against crosscity rival, the Carleton Ravens.

The Gees entered the game with two weeks ranked second in the Canadian Interuniversity Sport (CIS) top ten polls.

The Ravens, who had lost five out of seven games, cut short the Gees’ six-week winning streak.

“Obviously we would’ve liked to get the win,” said team captain, Pilar Khoury. “Teams are very close this year in terms of quality so it’s going to be a little tougher. We know that now. Every game is a battle for points so we are going to take the point given to us today and move on to the next one.”

The lack of scoring didn’t mean there were a lack of opportunities, in fact the fastpaced match saw no end in offensive plays for both teams.

However, solid defence and

great performances from both goalkeepers kept the ball out of the nets.

Carleton keeper, Elizabeth McDougall, robbed the Gees on a penalty kick in the second half, not even giving up a rebound. Later in the game, a scramble in Carleton’s box led to several collisions, but no scoring.

But don’t write them off just yet. “We’ve scored 23 goals in 7 games,” pointed out Khoury. “I wouldn’t say (scoring’s) an issue. It’s one game. Every team will have trouble in a certain task sometimes and today for us it was scoring. We missed some great opportunities that normally we would capitalize on. Next week we’ll just have to focus on it a bit more. But I’m not worried.”

Captain Julia Francki identified passing, speed of play, and team chemistry as areas the team can improve in. “It wasn’t our best game, but there were some positives of the game. I thought we worked hard and

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created opportunities,” said Francki.

She said there is added pressure on the team’s veterans, pointing to the young age of the team, while Khoury said rookies and veterans alike have the same expectations.

“Our team is very young so I think there is a lot of responsibility on the veterans of the team, but it is necessary for us to use our experience and lead by example,” said Francki.

“Sometimes when things don’t go well you look for (team leaders) to lift a team up, but everyone is responsible for how well the team plays,” said Khoury. “It’s a team. It’s not or shouldn’t be put on the shoulders of a couple players but rather put on all 30 girls who are in the change room every day.”

The women’s soccer team will be on the road for a match in Kingston against Queen’s on Oct. 2. They return to Matt Anthony Field to take on RMC on Oct. 4.

Sports | 15

Quick Hits

Women’s hockey returns home with two preseason victories this time at home against the Ryerson Rams. The team came away with a 8-2 win. Two players stood out particularly for the Gees, forward Shanie Deschatelets had two goals and an assist, and defenceman Mélodie Bouchard added a goal and two assists.

The Gee-Gees earned their second win the following day, shutting out the York Lions by a score of 4-0.

Coming out of the woodwork was rookie Roxanne Rioux, who scored two goals, while veteran players Cindy Laurin and Violane Houle netted the rest. Between the pipes, Maude

Tima Hacini

Fulcrum Contributer A shift in attitude followed the Gee-Gees back to Ottawa after disappointing performances on the road the previous weekend. After losing two consecutive games in their first week of preseason action, the women’s hockey team said ‘no more’.

Hungry for a win, the team amped up their performance, resulting in two colossal victories.

On Sept. 26, the Gee-Gees team played their fourth exhibition game,

Women’s hockey looks to join other Gee-Gees teams near the top of their sports.

Lévesque-Ryan worked for her shutout with 29 saves.

“We were able to generate lots of scoring opportunities and that’s a good sign at this time of the season,” said Yanick Evola, head coach of the Gee-Gees. “We show lots of improvement from week-to-week and that’s the main goal right now.”

“We were able to generate lots of scoring opportunities and that’s a good sign at this time of the season.”

—Yanick Evola, Head Coach.

16 | SPORTS

Photo: Richard A. Whittaker

The team is now eagerly hoping to extend their winning streak, in hopes that the momentum will rub off when the season officially start on Oct. =16.

With one last exhibition game left to play against the nationally sixthranked Queen’s Gaels on Oct. 3, that chance might just present itself if

they continue to play with such grit.

A two-week hiatus will follow the preseason, which gives the team an opportunity to go back to the drawing board and iron out any problems they saw in exhibition play.

The message remains loud and clear, as their coach puts it, the Gees “come to compete every day.”

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OPINIONS

OPINIONS EDITOR David Campion-Smith

opinions@thefulcrum.ca (613) 695-0062

Stop expecting politicians to be perfect Judge electoral candidates on policy instead of youthful folly Nicholas Robinson

fulcrum contributor The latest scandal to grip Canadian politics is the story of an individual who has proven himself utterly unfit to hold public office, by urinating in a cup. In somebody else’s cup, which he washed out with water.

Several other Canadians have also shown themselves to be unfit to be candidates by having made an ill-considered social media posts several years ago. Tim Dutaud, a Conservative candidate was dropped after it was discovered that he had made prank phone calls and posted them on Youtube, and Ala Buzreba, a Liberal candidate who told one Twitter user that they were a “waste of sperm”, are both candidates that were dropped by their parties for comments made previous to their run for office.

Of all the noteworthy policy issues—the economy, national security, civil liberties, how to deal with crime—we define candidates not by how they would make our country better, but by some harmless, if a bit unwise, acts.

These acts were, for the most part, committed before these candidates were even candidates, and before the permanence of the Internet was

fully realized.

But it’s not just in Canada that candidates suffer this moral outrage over innocuous acts: Britain has been flabbergasted by allegations that its Prime Minister David Cameron once pretended to receive oral sex from a dead pig as part of a university club initiation rite.

Section 3 of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms states that every Canadian citizen has the right to stand for election in a legislative body. Everyone, be it physicists, lawyers, students, cashiers, or even criminals should have the right to represent us in Parliament. In fact, we shouldn’t expect our MPs to be perfect—they’re human, just like the people they are supposed to represent.

Furthermore, the expectation that politicians be spotless gives us just that: sterile career politicians and endless repetitions of talking points. It promotes a lack of diversity among our deputies, as those who don’t conform to the party line are viewed as potential risks. Not allowing a candidate to run for a certain party is still that party’s choice, if they feel that candidate shouldn’t be representing them. But people

get fed up of the puppet politicians, and then the lure of anti-politicians looms large. We’ve all heard of the rise of politically incorrect politicians like Donald Trump or Nigel Farage and their xenophobic revolutions in the U.S. and U.K. Not to mention the focus on personality instead of policy allows a celebrity culture to leak into Parliament, in which the successful politician is the one with the nice hair or an outrageous stance on an issue. Restricting candidates based on their actions makes for a dangerous precedent.

Parliament isn’t there to be a moral authority—it’s there to represent the people, protect our rights and ensure peace, order and good government. In fact many politicians who have claimed to

be moral authorities get caught in scandals.

It’s up to us to vote for the candidates who we think will best represent us. When it comes to who should be in Parliament, it would be best to worry about the lack of women and minorities, rather than the percentage of politicians who, as shocking as it sounds, have done something silly in their youth.

Illustration: Reine Tejares

More legislation is the prescription for American drug industry Live-saving medicine needs to be available for all income brackets

CC: Tom Varco

Sergui Tabatchenko Fulcrum Contributor

Martin Shkreli, the CEO of Turing Pharmaceuticals, bought the rights to Daraprim,

a drug that is used to treat toxoplasmosis, some forms of cancer, and HIV/AIDS in late August. On Sept. 21, Shkreli publically announced a price hike from US$13.50 to $750,

just over a 5000 per cent markup. Shkreli was then skewered publicly by medical experts, politicians, and the general public Shkreli quickly became dubbed “the most hated man in America” due to the price hike as well as his non-apologetic comments made on Twitter.

One week after his initial announcement, Shkreli gave into the pressure, stating the price will be reduced, giving no exact figure.

Although at first glance Shkreli seems to deserve every bit of criticism thrown his way, he’s just a small part of a larger problem that has plagued the

American pharmaceutical industry for some time. The issue of price raises has also affected the Canadian market, most recently with an increase in the price of Cycloserine, a drug used to treat tuberculosis, according to the CBC. Although as CEO he has a duty to make his company profitable, with this decision Shkreli has failed to consider patients who won’t be able to afford the new price tag. The real issue is that he was legally allowed to increase prices by such an astronomical amount, something that has long been deemed illegal in most first world countries but continues

to plague the American medical industry.

The Daraprim case only highlights the symptoms of a flawed healthcare system, which is why anger needs to be directed at those in a position to change the current standards.

This isn’t the first time a pharmaceutical drug has seen its price increase after being bought out. In fact, when Daraprim was bought out by CorePharma in 2010, that company increased the prices just as quickly as Turing did.

When it comes to healthcare, and life-saving drugs in particular, price should be determined by ability to pay, not

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profitability. As some social media users called for a boycott of the product, one Reddit user pointed out how you can’t really boycott a life-saving product.

The federal government and the Federal Drug Administration need to place reasonable limits on pharmaceutical products and provide subsidies to ensure companies like Turing can’t abuse the system.

A patient’s personal income shouldn’t affect whether or not they have access to the medicine they need. It’s time the government put measures in place to stop the abuse of pharmecutical industry.

OPINIONS | 17

Flashy new dining hall doesn’t live up to hype

New caf encourages overeating, food waste Holly Veale

Fulcrum Contributor The new all-you-can-eat, buffet-style 24/7 dining hall, has been hyped up to no end.

It’s new, it’s flashy, it has fancy touch screen technology, and you can eat as much as you want, whenever you want there. Regardless, there are a few reasons many students remain unconvinced that the new cafeteria is really an improvement.

One of the worst things about this caf is the ‘all-youcan-eat’ label, which only perpetuates the idea that overeating is an acceptable and sustainable lifestyle. With the 2011 Employment and Social Development Canada statistics showing that obesity rates increase as people age, it is more important than ever to develop healthy eating patterns early.

Do you really need four plates of pancakes? At the old cafeteria, you couldn’t afford four plates of pancakes, which limited the chances that you would overeat. While, the new cafeteria offers healthy options, it can be hard for students to develop the habits needed to choose a salad over a pizza when all your favourite junk food is up for grabs 24/7.

There are few other oncampus eating options that are publicized to the same extent as our new dining hall, and that means students will naturally gravitate towards it. If the hype surrounding the caf doesn’t get first-years hooked, the mandatory meal plan for those living in certain residences will.

This meal plan set up entails that students will want to get the greatest value they can from their visit to the cafeteria, as they have a flat rate deducted from their card for walking in the door, regardless of what they actually consume during the visit.

Another big issue is the new model of students serv-

18 | OPINIONS

Photo: Marta Kierkus

ing themselves, which just creates more food waste. Students tend to grab anything and everything that seems appealing, regardless of their appetite.

The new cafeteria has eliminated most of their paperproduct waste, but the sheer volume of students taking food they won’t end up eating compensates for it. While most food can be composted it’s still expensive for Food Services to make food that isn’t going to get eaten.

Looking to grab a quick bite between classes? Good luck.

Not only is the new cafeteria beyond crowded during meal times, taking food outside of the gates is considered theft.

The old dining hall’s choices were boring come October,

but at least there were fewer lines and you could come and go with your food as you pleased.

Do you remember the days you could walk into the dining hall, grab a sub and sit down with your friends?

Hopefully you treasured them, because unless your friends are willing to pay up to $11.25 to sit with you, you’ll be eating alone. Everyone who enters the cafeteria must pay the fee, because it is assumed they’ll eat.

In the old cafeteria, students were welcome to enter whether they intended to eat, study, or catch up with a friend. The casual atmosphere of the old caf was convenient and accommodating and, when you’re a student,

convenience in just about everything is a necessity.

The new cafeteria may be pretty to look at, but it’s a seri-

ous step back from what U of O students had last year.

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New company provides helicopter service to Ottawa Capital Skies hopes to provide relief for commuters stuck in traffic

David Campion-Smith Opinions Editor Are you tired of waiting in massive traffic jams caused by Ottawa’s never ending construction? A new company called Capital Skies is trying to make those waits a thing of the past.

For a modest fee of $90, the company will pick you up in one of its fleet of helicopters and fly you to anywhere in the city you need to go, or at least to the closest place a helicopter can safely land. With so much construction on the University of Ottawa campus the service is even being used by students to get from one class to another.

Capital Skies was founded

by U of O grad Dennis Collins who graduated from the Telfer School of Management in 2014.

“We believe there is a huge demand for not being stuck in traffic. If you can pay then why should you have to wait?”

The company operates on a model similar to Uber, where potential passengers simply have to download an app and then make a request for any nearby helicopter pilots to come by. “That’s been the most surprising thing actually, the amount of support from the helicoptering community in Ottawa for this idea, and the number of pilots that are interested in doing this on a daily basis,” said Collins.

The lack of available heliports in the City are a challenge for the company, with the only one downtown being exclusively for the Prime Minister’s use. “We began with just doing light hovers so that passengers could jump out when we were near their destination. Now though we’ve begun setting down on any nearby park on flat rooftop,” said Collins.

“I was quite nervous of how the City’s government would

react to these helicopters setting down all over downtown, they’re used to seeing the sky full of them but not seeing passengers jump out of them.”

It’s only a matter of time now until the registered helicopter companies get involved and demand a boycott on this latest form of taxi service. The debate and struggle between unregistered and registered helicopter services could prove to be the next arena in the ongoing struggle between Uber and taxi companies.

One helicopter pilot Marcellus LaCroix had this to say, “I don’t want to have to share the skies with unregistered companies. Registered pilots have to spend a massive investment to get started in this business, unregistered pilots only have to buy all the training hours needed to get a pilots license and a helicopter before they’re ready to go.”

CC: Perry Hiemer

Passengers of the new service claim that it’s the greatest transit revolution we’ve ever seen. “It’s cheaper than a taxi if you get stuck in those traffic jams, plus you get a great view

with it while you ride, I don’t think I’ll ever go back to driving,” said Greg Adams, an avid Capital Skies user.

With Rideau street being under construction for the

next three years for the LRT and the U of O campus striving to meet the goals of the vision 2020 project there will be high demand for getting around traffic jams.

Local pizzeria begins rat employment program Ottawa divided on new employment issue Alexei Kazakov

Fulcrum Contributor

Illustration: Marta Kierkus

thefulcrum.ca

A recently surfaced video showing a rat dragging a piece of pizza down a set of stairs on a New York City subway platform has ignited a new debate in the animal rights movement. Activists are demanding for the right to work to apply to rats too, and now this debate has reached Ottawa.

Local pizza lover Fred O’Malley says Master Splinter’s Pizzeria in Ottawa has been the first to open up hiring to rodents. O’Malley was purchasing a pizza when he was told by the owner, Vincent Panucci, that he had actually hired a rat as his new delivery boy.

“I’d never heard anything like it my whole life,” said O’Malley. “I came into the pizzeria and there were multiple

rats scurrying around on the floor. I asked Panucci about them, and he told me they were all waiting for interviews.”

“I just wanted to give the rats a shot, you know?” said Panucci. “That video of a rat doing the best it could to provide for its family really moved me.

Plus, it looked like the rat was having an easy time carrying a slice, so it seemed like a great opportunity to knock down an employment barrier.”

Master Splinter’s Pizzeria has been shut down for a thorough investigation, but media attention about the story has garnered massive support for the new initiative.

“This city’s treatment of the rat minority has been absolutely disgraceful, and has been swept under the rug,” said Jane Smith, a first-year history student at the U of O.

“Unemployment in the rat community is at a startling 96 per cent! Most businesses will flat-out refuse to hire you if they find out you are a rodent.

It’s about time someone started an equal opportunity employment initiative.”

One of Panucci’s delivery rats, Mr. Whiskers, is currently being detained by the City for illegal employment after being unable to procure his documents. An attempt by the Tomato to interview him went nowhere as he refused to comment, instead opting to chew through the cables of the microphone placed in front of him.

The City is now being sued by the Canadian branch of Dignity for Rodents which has decided to spearhead the new rat equality movement.

“This is the latest infraction

of civil liberties that needs to be stopped,” said spokesman Sean Baker. “For far too long we have ignored the pleas of the rodent community in their struggle for equality. This backwards country has to join the rest of the world.”

There has been some push back against this new initiative. Fourth-year economics student George Fendelman voiced his concerns to the Tomato. “Personally I feel weird having my pizza delivered by a rat. I want to order an extra large covered in toppings, how’s a rat going to get that to me? I don’t trust them not to eat it on the way to my apartment.”

The pending court case, scheduled to begin Nov. 12, will decide once and for all whether or not rats are able to work in the food industry.

THE TOMATo | 19

DISTRACTIONS

FEATURES EDITOR Kyle Darbyson

features@thefulcrum.ca (613) 695-0062

Dear Di

Dear Di,

Last week my best friend confessed that she had feelings for me, feelings that were more than strictly platonic. The thing is, I feel the same way about her but I’ve never thought of myself as a lesbian. Is this potential relationship worth gambling our friendship over?

-Gambling for Love

Dear Di,

People are always telling me that it’s a bad idea to have sex too early on in the relationship, especially if you are looking for something a little more long-term. I’ve been hooking up a lot lately and I haven’t met anyone special until now. Recently I met a great guy but I also had sex with him on our first date. Did I just blow my chance?

-Blew too Soon

Dear GFL, If your feelings for your friend are serious, then I would say take the risk. You don’t want to spend the rest of your life wondering “what if”.

Everyone’s worst fear in this situation is that if the relationship doesn’t work out then you’ll lose that friend. One way to avoid this is to sit down, have a conversation with this person, and discuss what happens if you split up. There’s no guarantee that such an agreement will be maintained in the wake of a bad break up, but if you approach the situation maturely, and with a good amount of foresight in mind, it’s definitely possible to mend that relationship back to where it was originally.

Strong relationships are founded on open and honest friendships, and since you two already have this foundation you’re already on the right path.

Just bear in mind, since you’ve known each other a long time it’s easy to skip over dating altogether and go straight into the “staying in and watching Netflix” phase. There’s nothing wrong with that, but I think it’s still important to experience going on dates and other romantic excursions. It makes the relationship exciting and gives you the opportunity to learn more about your friend turned lover.

You also have to consider if you actually like your friend in that way or if you’re being swept up by the excitement of exploring your sexuality. Can you see yourself being with a woman in the long run or is this just a bi-curious fling? You don’t want to hurt a friend, so take time to think about what you really want.

At the end of the day, you just have to use your heart and your brain to make the best decision for the both of you.

Love, Di

20 | DISTRACTIONS

Dear BTS,

Having sex on the first date shouldn’t have any bearing on the success of a long-term relationship. A lot of good hook-ups have the potential to turn into serious relationships. If a guy doesn’t call you after the first time you have sex, he probably wasn’t going to call you if it happened on the third date either.

That being said, you need to let you partner know you’re interested in more than just sex. Make sure to communicate with him on how slow or fast you’d like to take your relationship. Sometimes we’re afraid to show how we really feel to avoid getting hurt, so we focus on the physical aspects of a relationship instead. This way, if the relationship goes south, then you always have the classic ‘it was just sex anyways’ excuse.

But if your partner feels like you are only interested in having sex and not in building a strong emotional bond with him, then the relationship isn’t likely to go anywhere. So, although sex on the first date shouldn’t be the determining factor in your relationship, be sure to make it crystal clear to your partner that you’re interested in more than just a brief, torrid affair.

Love, Di Sex position of the week: The Deep Sea Diver

There’s nothing greater than getting all wet and slippery with your girlfriend. Hop in the tub and position yourself under the faucet so that warm water runs over your clitoris. Then have your partner sit on your face, and eat

Feel free to contact the Student Federation of the University of Ottawa’s Pride Centre if you feel the need to talk to someone or get access to local resources.

thefulcrum.ca

oct. 2 to oct. 8, 2015

THRYLLABUS

MUSIC arts Sports FUN Thinking

Friday, Oct. 2 Blithe Spirit, Ottawa Little Theatre—7:30 p.m.

Howie Mandel live, Centrepointe Theatre—7:30 p.m.

Soul Motivators, album release party, Mercury Lounge—10 p.m.

Saturday, Oct. 3 Zombie Run for Humanity, The Log Farm, Nepean—9 a.m.

Ottawa Geek Market, opening day, Nepean Sportsplex—10 a.m.

Study and Go Abroad Fair, free admission, Shaw Centre—1 p.m.

Gee-Gees Football vs. Carleton, Panda Game, TD Place—1 p.m.

Gee-Gees Women’s Hockey vs. Queen’s, exhibition game, Minto Sports Complex—2 p.m.

Oktoberfest Ottawa, last day, Clarke Fields Park—6 p.m.

Behind Closed Cells: The Architecture of Canada’s Jails, Heritage Ottawa lecture, Ottawa Jail Hostel—7 p.m.

The Black Dahlia Murder, Mavericks—7 p.m.

BEY BEY All Beyoncé dance party, Babylon Nightclub—10 p.m.

Sunday, Oct. 4 Capital Gaming Expo, Nepean Sportsplex—10 a.m.

Gee-Gees Women’s Soccer vs. Royal Military College, Minto Sports Complex—1 p.m.

Ottawa Fury vs.

FC Edmonton, TD Place—3 p.m.

Monday, Oct. 5 Apu Trilogy: Panther Panchali, newly restored 4k print, Bytowne Cinema—9:10 p.m.

Playwrights’ Circle, meet and greet, Ottawa Little Theatre—7 p.m.

Tuesday, Oct. 6 Just Watch Me-The Musical, opening day, Centrepointe Theatre—7:30 p.m.

Dealing with Procrastination, workshop, free admission, 100 Marie Curie, U of O Campus—1:30 p.m.

Wednesday, Oct. 7 El Niño, Festival of New Spanish Cinema, Bytowne Cinema—6:40 p.m.

Thursday, Oct. 8 Franklin’s Lost Ships, a talk by Parks Canada diver Ryan Harris, Canadian Museum of Nature—6:30 p.m.

In Conversation with Alex Ross and Paul Wells, Q & A, free admission, National Arts Centre—7 p.m.

Rave of Thrones, live DJ set featuring Kristian Nairn (AKA Hodor from Game of Thrones), The Observatory, Algonquin College—9 p.m.

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DISTRACTIONS | 21

22 | LETTERS

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Volume 76, Issue 6, October 1, 2015 In touch with our emotions since 1942 Phone: (613) 695-0061 | Fax: (613) 695-9006 631 King Edward Ave. Ottawa, ON K1N 6N5 Recycle this paper or we’ll write a sad song about you

Nadia “Headlines” Drissi ElBouzaidi Editor-in-Chief editor@thefulcrum.ca Devin “Draft Day” Orsini Production Manager production@thefulcrum.ca Savannah “Star67” Awde Managing Editor content@thefulcrum.ca Eric “Energy” Davidson News Editor news@thefulcrum.ca Allegra “Tuscan Leather” Morgado Arts & Culture Editor arts@thefulcrum.ca Spencer “Legend” Murdock Sports Editor, Rap Correspondent sports@thefulcrum.ca Kyle “Furthest Thing” Darbyson Features Editor features@thefulcrum.ca David “Own It” Campion-Smith Opinions Editor opinions@thefulcrum.ca Reine “Take Care” Tejares Online Editor online@thefulcrum.ca Kim “Come Thru” Wiens Visual Editor visual@thefulcrum.ca Marta “Cameras” Kierkus Staff Photographer photographer@thefulcrum.ca Zach “Jumpman” Verret Multimedia Coordinator multimedia@thefulcrum.ca Nicole “Too Much” Rutkowski Associate Features Editor associate.features@ thefulcrum.ca David “6 God” Agbaire Proofreader Deidre “From Time” Butters Advertising Manager ads@thefulcrum.ca Dayne “Worst Behavior” Moyer General Manager manager@thefulcrum.ca

Contributors

Maitland “The Real Her” Shaheen Nicholas “Practice” Robinson Madison “Doing it Wrong” McSweeney Ryan “Preach” Pepper Tima “Houstonatlantavegas”” Hacini Holly “Fancy” Veale Jodie “Light Up” Côté-Marshall Raghad “Fireworks” Sheikh-Khalil Lane “Jersey“Ripco Anchal “Closer” Sharma Manuela “Used To” Haemmerli Serguei “Company” Tabatchenko Alexei “Unforgettable” Kazakov Serena “Uptown” Sodhi Hannah “All Me” Clarke Amitesh “Miss Me” Malhotra

EDITORIAL Seeing through a veil of fear M

any Canadians were surprised to see the most heated exchange during the French-language debate last week not to be about the economy or national security, but instead the right to wear the niqab during citizenship ceremonies.

For those who don’t know, a niqab is a face covering that some Muslim women wear, which covers a woman’s face and hair, excluding her eyes.

There is debate among Muslim scholars whether the niqab is obligatory or not.

Recently the Federal Court of Appeal dismissed the federal government’s appeal to a previous decision that struck down the government’s ban on wearing full veils at citizenship ceremonies. The Conservative government said they would take the matter to the Supreme Court, and reimplement the niqab ban, which was first introduced in 2011, within the first 100 days of re-election.

This ideological tug of war began when a Muslim woman, Zunera Ishaq, took the government to court, refusing to take part in a citizenship ceremony if she was forced to show her face in public. The court made their decision in time for Ishaq to vote in the upcoming election, something she said is “very important” to her.

We have to wonder, what threat does the niqab pose that would make the government take such harsh actions? We’re not sure we’ll be able to answer that question for you.

Both the Conservatives and Bloc Québécois argued against the niqab during the debate, saying it marginalizes women.

“I will never tell my young daughter that a woman should cover her face because she is a woman,” said Harper during the debate. “That’s not our Canada. That’s not acceptable to me.”

He has also previously said the niqab was “rooted in a culture that is anti-women.”

“The first bill the Bloc Québécois will introduce is forbidding voting while wearing a face covering, oath of citizenship or granting services with a face covering,” said Duceppe during the debate, whose party has also been running aggressive attack ads against the niqab.

Opponents of the veil have used fear mongering and misinformation to drum up support for the ban, and unfortunately, it’s working. Results of a government-funded poll found that 82 per cent of the 3,000 Canadians surveyed said they supported a requirement that people show their faces during citizenship ceremonies.

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The Federal Court estimates that approximately 100 women in Canada want to attend their citizenship ceremony wearing a niqab.

Support was highest in Quebec at 93 per cent.

Do these two leaders really think the best way to combat the marginalization of women is by policing what they wear? Is taking a woman to the Supreme Court of Canada because you don’t approve of her outfit a feminist move?

According to a report conducted earlier this year by the Canadian Council of Muslim Women, the majority of women said they wore a niqab out of religious obligation and as an expression of their identity, none said they were forced or encouraged to wear the niqab by family members, except for spouses. Most of the women, the majority of whom were Canadian citizens born abroad, said they began wearing the veil when they arrived in Canada.

From a security point of view, Ishaq—and many other women who wear the veil—are happy to show their faces before an official, but don’t wish to take off the niqab during the public part of the ceremony.

“Probably the main takeaway of that is that all the people we talked to were very anxious to emphasize that they could be flexible,” said Lynda Clarke, a Concordia professor who authored the report, according to the Toronto Star. “Clearly they do have boundaries... but what they wanted to emphasize is ‘yes, I could lift this, I could do that, that’s fine.’”

The report does have a small sample size, 38 women were surveyed online, 35 participated in focus groups, and

eight were interviewed in-depth, but it does serve as an indicator that the issue is more complex than it seems. It also demonstrates the need to consult with Muslim women.

Seeing the issue brought up at a federal debate, one has to wonder, how many people does this issue actually affect? The answer is unknown, but the Federal Court puts the number of women who want to attend their citizenship ceremony wearing a veil at around 100 nationwide. To put this number in perspective, there are just over a million Muslim women in Canada.

• Here are a few other issues that concern only 100 people in Canada: • The number of students who voted in last year’s GSAÉD elections.

• The amount of people in Ottawa who “can’t wait for winter, no really, winter’s great” (we assume).

• Less than half of the number of car accidents in Canada that involve a collision with a moose (247 is the actual number).

• The estimated amount of Ontario residents who own a pet lion or tiger—wait sorry, actually there are five times the amount of people who own pet lions and tigers in Ontario than wear niqabs to citizenship ceremonies in Canada.

Now here’s a few issues that affect a lot more than 100 people that weren’t

Photo: Agência Brasil

discussed as in-depth as the niqab at the debate.

• The amount of Canadians who can’t afford to own a home, because of the housing bubble.

• Issues facing Canada’s aboriginal population such as less access to education, healthcare, and adequate housing, higher rates of incarceration per capita, high numbers of missing and murdered indigenous women, and more.

• Issues in the Far North, including extreme poverty, exponential food prices, and soaring suicide rates.

• The number of Canadians who will suffer from a mental illness at some point in their lives (1 in 5).

• The number of Canadians who will not be able to vote this election, or will have difficulty voting because of the Fair Elections Act. • The amount of students who will not be able to pay off their student loans this year.

The government has failed to provide ways that the niqab directly affects other Canadians. We challenge you to think of it as well: how does someone’s clothing choices affect you personally?

EDITORIAL | 23

We’re hiring!

The fulcrum is looking for an associate news editor for the 201516 year. email editor @thefulcrum.ca for more info. email a cover letter and resume to manager@ thefulcrum.ca by oct. 1 at 5 p.m.