The Fulcrum - Volume 78, Issue 8

VOL. 78 ISSUE 8

oct. 16, 2017

GARNET AND GREY GOES GREEN PG. 13

In this week’s issue...

SFUO to elect BOA member, vote on referendum questions P.5 By-election runs Oct. 17-19 The future of Arts P.9 The Dean on what’s next for the Faculty It can be easy being green P.13 Everything you need to know about sustainability on campus So pucking close P. 21 Men’s hockey loses a nail-biter to Carleton High hopes for Marijuana regulation P. 26 Marijana should be regulated like cigarettes Get eco freaky P. 28 Who says your sex life can’t be good for the planet?

NEWS

NEWS EDITOR

Zainab Al-Mehdar news@thefulcrum.ca (613) 695-0061 @ zainabalmehdar

Fall 2017 SFUO by-election preview With one BOA candidate, SFUO executive unclear on filling VP social position zainab al-mehdar News editor

V

oting for the Student Federation of the University of Ottawa (SFUO)’s fall 2017 by-election takes place Oct. 17-19 beginning at 9:30 a.m.

Here’s everything you’ll need to know about the candidates and referendum questions on the ballots.

While there are five unfilled seats on the Board of Administration (BOA): One each for the Faculties of Arts, Medicine two or the Faculty of Health Sciences, and one special student seat.

Only one of those seats, for the Faculty of Health Sciences, has a chance of being filled this election.

According to Qussai AbuNaqoos, the SFUO’s Chief Electoral Officer, the other seats either had no one nominating themselves or candidates did not meet the requirement to fulfill their nominations.

VACANT POSITIONS There are currently two vacant positions on the Board of Administration (BOA) for the Faculty Health Sciences. In the running is Simran Aggarwal, a thirdyear health sciences student.

According to Aggarwal’s platform, her “main goal is (to) try to further facilitate student involvement with the BOA.” If elected she hopes to facilitate student voting and collaborate with the various governance committees and the student body, in order to establish policies which best represent the goals and needs of students in her faculty.

“My platform focuses around promoting student involvement with the BOA,”

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said Aggarwal. “Being a part of the BOA would allow me the opportunity to collaborate with the students and their representatives in contributing to the positive development of the (U of O) community,” said Aggarwal.

“As someone who always seeks to improve themselves and wants to get involved and learn more, it would also be an excellent opportunity for self-development.”

Aggarwal believes the most important quality of leadership is honesty. “Students should be able to trust the person they are choosing to represent themselves and their interests. (Health Sciences) students can trust me to look out for their and (the U of O)’s best interests.”

REFERENDUM QUESTIONS Students will also be able to vote on two referendum questions, which are as follows: REFERENDUM 1: Are you in favour to contribute $1.25 per full-time student and $0.65 per part-time student per semester in order to fund the development of a MultiFaith Centre on campus as a Student Federation service?

REFERENDUM 2: Do you agree to contribute $1.50 per full-time student and $0.75 per part-time student per winter semester for the University of Ottawa Student Emergency Response Team (UOSERT) in order to maintain a high level of first aid care on campus?

In an interview with the Fulcrum, Hadi Wess, president of the SFUO and a member of the board’s elections committee said, “my job is just to make sure the referendum questions are proposed and approved by the Board of Administration.”

Wess is also responsible for ensuring that the questions are straightforward and not persuasive.

In March of this year, a

member of the board and several members of the U of O’s Muslim Students Association proposed a motion for the creation of a multifaith centre on campus.The motion passed, with the board having made a decision for students to vote on the centre during the fall byelection.

According to Wess, “a lot of students sometimes feel attacked, feel that their voices are not heard they don’t have a resource center to go to,” and need “a place where they can come and meet someone to guide them spiritually and support them.”

The second referendum question is for a winter levy to help fund the University of Ottawa Student Emergency Response Team (UOSERT).

Every service that the SFUO manages has to pass a referendum. Money allocated for a certain service must only be used for the chosen service, and any money leftover is then put towards 101 Week, philanthropic initiatives, or other events held by the SFUO. But until the academic year is over, that money cannot be allocated to other services.

The referendum in question was put in place following concerns that UOSERT needs more funding to be able to function adequately.

“As a student federation we believe in the process of consultation, the referendum itself is a process of democracy,” said Wess.

When asked about the vacant position of vice-president social, the SFUO did not clarify how it will fill the seat given that no one is running for it in the by-election.

“It’s important to go out there and vote,” said Wess.

Results of the by-election will be released on Oct. 20 on the SFUO’s Facebook page and the Fulcrum’s website.

Photo: Lourds Almario.

Photo: Courtesy of Zoom Productions.

NEWS | 5

SFUO launches Our Turn Action Plan with CUSA

U of O’s policy 67b scores a ‘B,’ according to campaign combating sexual violence Ellie sabourin

associate news editor On Oct. 11, the Student Federation of the University of Ottawa (SFUO) held a press conference to launch the Our Turn Action Plan, in collaboration with the Carleton University Student Association (CUSA).

According to the Facebook event for the press conference, Our Turn is a national student movement aimed at combating campus sexual violence. There are 21 student groups party to the movement, including the SFUO and CUSA. Three Carleton University students, Caitlin Salvino, Kelsey Gilchrist, and Jade Cooligan Pang initially developed the plan, after experiencing frustration with their administration’s sexual violence response policy.

“We realized that this wasn’t a Carleton problem. This was a university problem, a societal problem,” said Gilchrist.

As a result, the students teamed up with the Student Society of McGill University to release The National Our Turn Action Plan to end campus sexual violence.

The main focus of the campaign is to bring awareness to the kinds of sexual violence that occurs on uni-

versity campuses, which includes sexist jokes, cat calling, harassment, and assault. The key elements of the action plan are, to prevent campus sexual violence, to support survivors on campus, and to advocate for reforms at the campus, provincial, and national levels.

“It’s not sex, it’s violence,” was the message that was repeated throughout the conference.

The event featured testimonies of survivors of sexual violence, as well as discussions by members of the SFUO on what is currently being done to address the issue.

Leila Moumouni-Tchouassi, the federation’s vice-president equity, said that the U of O is currently in the first year review period of their sexual violence prevention policy.

But according to the action plan’s Campus Sexual Violence Policy Scorecard, the U of O’s policy currently sits at a ‘B.’ One of the shortcomings of the policy is how little it is advertised to students. “How many students know that we have a policy?” Moumouni-Tchouassi said. “To have arms open in the dark means nothing to a lot of people.”

As part of the review of sexual violence prevention policies, the SFUO is collecting feedback, concerns, and statements from survivors of sexual vi-

The Our Turn press conference was held at FSS on Oct. 11.

olence. They are looking at everyway possible to incorporate this feedback into the creating of new, more accessible, policies for students at the U of O. “I have been attempting to bring forward the many concerns that have

Photo: Parker Townes.

been brought up to me from survivors and students on campus, but also as someone who has been doing sexual violence prevention work for a while now,” said Moumouni-Tchouassi.

In order for the SFUO to find differ-

ent ways to adjust their policies and insure that they are helping students, is by students providing them with the feedback that can allow them to incorporate safe and better prevention and accessible policies in place.

Hate graffiti seen at cafe near U of O campus Ottawa Police say graffiti is isolated, no similar incidents recently Ellie Sabourin

associate news editor On Sept. 24, Chitta Chowdhury, a first-year political science student at the University of Ottawa found the symbol of a hate group spray-painted outside the Happy Goat Coffee Shop on Wilbrod St. “I was very shocked and upset,” said Chowdhury.

“Considering that this happened so close to campus and in an area that’s largely student housing, it’s not unlikely that a student did this.”

“Hate graffiti” is the term used to describe graffiti that is motivated by hate, bias or prejudice, based on race, nationality, ethnic origin, language, colour, religion, sex, age, mental or physical disability, sexual orientation, or any other unique identity.

Chowdhury said that the graffiti made her worried that it might not have been carried out by a single person. She fears that the graffiti was planned by a group of individuals, and worse yet— po-

tentially a group of students.

“The fact that there are people, presumably U of O students, who identify with white supremacy is really frightening as a person of colour,” she said. “I do feel a lot less safe on campus now.

As a first year student, the U of O is already fairly new to me and seeing a swastika spray-painted on a street so close to campus within the first month of moving to this city and attending university really made me question whether or not I am safe here.”

In response to the incident, Ottawa Police said that they currently do not have any leads. However, they believe it to be an isolated event, and that there is not a strong history of these types of actions occurring near the university, and that they have not received any other complaints in the area.

“This hate graffiti is so very upsetting and offensive,” says Deborah Landry, a replacement professor in the Faculty

U of O student, Chitta Chowdhury, reported seeing the graffiti on campus.

of Social Sciences at the U of O, who specializes in municipal bylaws that regulate graffiti in the City of Ottawa.

Landry’s advice to any students who may find graffiti of this nature is to call police services immediately.

Photo: goodfreephootos.com.

The Ottawa Police have also stressed that any person who comes across this type of graffiti near campus or else-

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where should call 3-1-1. Due to the sensitive nature of hate graffiti, these requests may not be submitted online.

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NATIONAL NEWS

CFS audit reveals details of hidden bank account

Over $200,000 in unauthorized deposits and disbursements made, full report witheld Josie Kao

The Varsity In advance of the Canadian Federation of Students’ (CFS) semi-annual General Meeting this June, the organization released a forensic review summary consisting of a summary report and summary audit of the hidden bank account it operated, which was exposed in 2014. The CFS has declined to release the full forensic review.

The summary, conducted and published by accounting firm Grant Thornton LLP, revealed that an unauthorized total of $263,052.80 in deposits and $262,776.13 in withdrawals were made between July 2010 and December 2014.

According to the forensic review summary, the deposits consisted of “funds intended for different parts of the organization.” These included payments for “services and advertising, refunds, return of retainers from law firms and payments relating to the national health plan as well as small payments for International Student ID Cards.”

There were five recipients of the unauthorized disbursements, “two of whom, are former employees of the Federation, a further individual, one law firm and a consulting company,” as the summary states.

CFS NOT TO RELEASE AUDIT AMID BYLAW QUESTIONS According to documents obtained by the Varsity, CFS national treasurer Peyton Veitch wrote to law firm DLA Piper LLP requesting advice on whether or not to release the full review. The firm recommended that the CFS “decline to disclose the Forensic Review” for a number of reasons, the foremost of which had to do with a federation bylaw concerning access to information.

The bylaw in question states, “each member of the Federation is entitled to have access to all information and official documents concerning the operations

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and activities of the Federation and of the National Executive.”

DLA Piper concluded that “the Bylaw is not sufficient to compel disclosure of the Forensic Review.” The firm argued that the audit does not clearly constitute a document that concerns the operations and activities of the CFS. “It is not a customary or routine document prepared in the course of the operations… but rather is an exceptional document prepared for a very specific purpose. As a result it is not the type of information or document reasonably contemplated for disclosure under the Bylaw,” reads the firm’s response to Veitch.

DLA Piper also advised against releasing the full report because it could possibly violate “applicable privacy legislation.”

U OF T COMMUNITY

RESPONDS Vice-president external of the University of Toronto Student Union (UTSU) and U of T’s CFS-Ontario representative Anne Boucher called the federation’s reasons for witholding the document “completely invalid.”

“Staff members from the Federation had a secret bank account containing students’ money, and the account stayed active for quite some time. They can try to redirect blame to a few individuals, but they need to hold themselves accountable,” Boucher told the Varsity via email. “Even if the report somehow wasn’t of concern, they have political and moral obligations to release it. Students’ money was unfairly used–we deserve to know what happened to it at the very least.”

U of T associate professor Richard Powers, whose areas of expertise include

business and corporate law, believes that the CFS may have an obligation to release the audit.

“In terms of the privacy argument, it sounds like they already have a legal opinion—I would challenge that through stating that they (or their Board of Directors) have a fiduciary duty to the CFS and to the members generally,” Powers told the Varsity via email.

“In this case, ‘if’ some of the secret fund came from annual fees from member schools, then the members would certainly have a right to see details of how the funds were spent.”

FOLLOW THE MONEY The exact origin of the money in the account is unknown. However, the bulk of the CFS’ revenue comes from student fees. In the latest CFS audit from July 2016 to June 2017, $4,032,363.00 of their $4,053,874.45 rev-

enue was credited to “membership dues.”

While it does not go into specifics of the finances and those involved, the Grant Thornton summary does explain that the original purpose of the bank account was to place a “security deposit for a CFS-S subsidiary, Travel CUTS,” which is a travel agency that the CFS used to co-own. The transactions relating to the security deposit concluded on May 6, 2010. The unauthorized transactions began on July 14, 2010.

As described in the summary, former CFS executives interviewed were unaware of the account before receiving a letter from CIBC in 2014, which alerted them to its existence. All known CFS bank accounts have been Scotiabank accounts.

A source close to the matter says that, though some of those involved were fired,

it seems that not all of the people responsible have faced repercussions.

Veitch was not available for a full interview on the subject but released a short statement to the Varsity, which said that the CFS “set aside a great deal of time for questions and answers” at the general meeting.

“We’re interested in moving on from this issue and focusing on the campaigns and services that make life better for students,” Veitch said.

When asked about the situation, UTSU president Mathias Memmel told the Varsity that “the CFS is an organization in decline. It has no credibility, and the leadership needs to accept that we can’t just take them at their word.”

“As for the UTSU,” he continued, “we have every intention of leaving the CFS this year.”

Illustration: Mia Carnevale.

NEWS | 7

A&C EDITOR Ryan Pepper arts@thefulcrum.ca

ARTS&CULTURE The arts isn’t doomed—and it never will be (613) 695-0062 @pep_ryan

Dean of Arts discusses plans to strengthen and modernize the faculty Ryan PePper

Arts & Culture Editor

O

ver the past decade, the Faculty of Arts has faced serious enrolment decline.

The faculty peaked in 2010 with 7,488 undergraduate and graduate students, but had only 5,420 enrolled students by 2016.

From 2014 to 2016, the faculty dropped over 1,000 students.

That decline, though, seems to be coming to an end, and as the

faculty comes out of free-fall, it is reassessing its situation to find out why that decline happened, how to avoid it happening again, and how to build up their numbers.

Kevin Kee, Dean of the Faculty of Arts, tackled that first issue by laying out several reasons for the decline in enrolment that are far beyond the control of the faculty.

“Number one, the end of the double cohort; number two, fewer students available coming into university at all; number three, the 2008 crash and the kind of generalized anxiety that resulted,” Kee said.

“Everybody’s going through it, we’re going through it, and the only question is, well, who do we become as a result of the heavy lifting and hard thinking that we’re doing in this particular moment?”

Kee recognized that the world has been going through a ‘technophile moment,’ but that many tech giants are coming around to the benefits of a humanities education. Technology needs to understand the human experience, not just coding, Kee said, and the arts provides that element of human understanding that STEM-careers are lacking.

“So yes, there has been a big STEM thing. I think the STEM people themselves are now saying ‘I’m not convinced that’s healthy, we need STEM, we need arts in there,’” Kee said. “Arts needs to be there as well for the sake of creating good people and good products, and ensuring we live in a better

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world with technology.”

The core skills of a Bachelor of Arts degree are well-known to those who have gone through it, but seem to go under the radar for people outside the faculty. Kee stated that an arts education teaches critical and analytical thinking skills, creativity, communication skills, and gives students an entrepreneurial edge to their education.

“Everybody needs somebody who can think really critically and can break a problem down, everyone needs someone who can then be creative and come up with a new way of dealing with a challenge, and then everybody needs somebody who can communicate why that answer to the problem is the best way to move forward,” Kee said. “That’s what we do here, I think better than anybody else.”

The Dean pointed to major companies like Uber, Airbnb, and Netflix as the reasons for focusing on foundational skills that can be applied in many ways, like communication and critical thinking skills. These are massively successful companies that didn’t exist five years ago, he pointed out, symbolizing just how quickly the job market is changing.

“We are preparing you for a world that is changing rapidly and we don’t know what jobs are going to exist for you in two or three years, so by focusing on foundational skills, we’re providing you with a kind of tool kit that you’re going to be able to take to whatever emerges,” Kee said.

Even with its faith in those foundational skills, the faculty has recognized the need to innovate and diversify its course offerings, and it’s doing that in a big way. Kee listed three pillars that the Faculty of Arts is adopting as it moves forward—partnering with organizations inside and outside the university, focusing on experiential learning, and connecting to the rich cultural offerings that the National Capital Region can provide.

The Faculty of Arts continues to grow its co-op and internships.

The faculty is also partnering with colleges to offer more vocational training. This is already being done in the Department of Communications, where the public relations and digital journalism programs are done jointly with

Kevin Kee, Dean of the U of O’s Faculty of Arts.

Algonquin and La Cité colleges.

As for inter-faculty partnerships, Arts is offering an entrepreneurship option with the Telfer School of Management.

“We begin with a premise that Bachelor of Arts students, no matter the discipline, have to be entrepreneurial,” Kee said. “So, we’ve created an entrepreneurship option with our colleagues in the Faculty of Management that arts students are going to be able to take.”

The faculty is also entering its second year of the Digital Humanities minor, which allows students to use computers and computing technology to further their humanities research and their creativity. The digital humanities build from the emphasis on STEM and the rush of new technology, but still allow the humanities to be front and centre.

Additionally, when Arts Court is finished—a joint initiative with the City of Ottawa—the Department of Theatre will have a stage and learning space capable of augmented-reality performances.

“Are we interested in growing college partnerships? Yeah. Are we interested in keeping pure, conventional (programs), just within the University of Ottawa? Yeah.

Are we interested in more co-op?

Yeah,” said Kee. One interesting thing about the Faculty of Arts is that even though

Photo: Parker Townes.

faculty enrolment numbers have gone down, the number of students in individual courses has gone up. Many faculties come to Arts to teach their students ethics and writing skills, for instance.

“Engineering has always said to us: ‘You are the faculty that teaches students how to write well, so our engineers, they can do great math, but they need to come to you to learn how to write really well in French and English,’ and we provide those courses,” Kee said.

“The pathway that I see has been steady growth in people taking our courses.”

Vocational training has become a serious issue of debate, though.

Arts have been forced to show their practicality or get sidelined.

Even though tech is embracing the arts, it is in a way that makes it seem more like a necessary evil to simply improve technology products. Similarly, the faculty does not want to exclusively teach composition to engineers, at the expense of a traditional, rigorous arts education. Still, others see the arts solely as a training ground for professional schools.

Kee isn’t worried, though. As he points out, the ‘pure’ arts make up a giant industry. Money and success can be had without toiling as a tech giant copywriter.

“The culture industry is massive, and the amount of money that we

spend going to concerts, buying art, buying books, watching movies, that dwarfs a lot of these other so-called ‘practical’ industries. So, for me, you could make that economic argument easily,” Kee said.

It’s also important to note that arts graduates earn about the same as graduates from many other faculties. A U of O statistician, Ross Finney, has figured that out by looking at tax records from the Canada Revenue Agency.

“We know we’re going to be fine in the job market, and we’re going to spend four years studying what we love,” Kee said.

The Faculty of Arts, then, doesn’t seem to be in a hopeless situation after all. Though enrolment numbers have fallen sharply, there are ground-breaking initiatives and promising partnerships in the works to grow the faculty and make it a leader in the humanities in Canada. Even given all this, though, Kee thinks the real value of the arts is that it teaches us what it means to be a human, and there will always be an interest in that.

“There is always going to be a love for culture in and of itself, because it’s in reading English literature (for example) that you come to understand what it means to be a human being and, frankly, a better human being,” Kee said. “That’s what we do here, we create better people.”

ARTS & CULTURE | 9

IT’S LIT IN THE LIBRARY: Thinking, Fast and Slow | Daniel Kahneman eric Davidson editor-in-chief

Let me tell you a little bit about Linda.

Linda is 31 years old, single, outspoken, and very bright. She majored in philosophy. As a student, she was deeply concerned with issues of discrimination and social justice, and also participated in anti-nuclear demonstrations.

Now let me ask you, which is more probable? a) Linda is a bank teller. b) Linda is a bank teller and is active in the feminist movement.

If you picked b), you’re wrong, but you’re not alone.

Psychologist and author Daniel Kahneman found that many people surveyed agreed that given the traits Linda had, it was more likely she was both a banker and a member of the feminist movement. At first look, it

makes sense, but thinking probabilistically, it’s impossible, since any banker in the feminist movement is also, by definition, a banker.

How can so many people make such a basic mistake?

That’s what Kahneman examines in his seminal 2012 book, Thinking, Fast and Slow. He’s not saying everyone’s an idiot, but he does say that all humans share a common set of biases, which we can study and learn from.

Kahneman is considered by many to be one of the fathers of a new field called behavioural economics. This is a subset of the field that tries to take into account all the foibles and irrationalities that come with being human. This book is based on Kahneman’s earlier work, done with Amos Tversky, which won him the Nobel Prize in Economics—an amazing feat, not least because he’s a psychologist.

In addition to listing several frighteningly accurate cognitive mistakes people make on a consistent basis, Kahneman examines why these mistakes come about in the first place.

He talks about the different systems in your brain: System One, which makes fast and emotional decisions (the one that thinks Linda is more likely to be a bank teller involved in the feminist movement), and System Two, which is more methodical and tells System One that, while that idea makes sense emotionally, it’s probabilistically wrong.

Behavioural economics has been gaining more and more public attention.

Last week, the Nobel Prize in Economics was awarded to a behavioural economist named Richard Thaler. Over the summer, writer Michael Lewis—of Moneyball and the Big Short fame—wrote a

book about Kahneman and his research partner Tversky.

This book is insightful, fun, and will make you stop and say “I do that all the time!”, though it is a long book (499 pages), and a bit hard to read at times.

Kahneman actually posits in the book that listing good items before bad ones (i.e., having ‘insightful’ appear before ‘hard to read at times’ in that above sentence) will make the person reading have a higher opinion of the topic than if the adjectives had been ordered in reverse.

So consider this my little attempt to hack your brain into reading this book, because it’s worth it.

Reading this book, you’ll be amazed at what goes on in your mind. After all, the brain is by far the most complex and interesting part of your body (at least according to itself!).

Photo: Farrar, Straus and Giroux.

U of O Professor writes hyperlocal gritty novel, Omphalos

Gerald Lynch muses on new novel, young writers, and Ottawa’s LRT system eric davison

staff CONTRIBUTOR The University of Ottawa’s Gerald Lynch will publish his sixth fiction novel this week, continuing a saga of mystery and conspiracy set in Ottawa.

Omphalos continues the adventures of capital city detective Kevin Beldon, following up on Lynch’s previous mystery novel Missing Children.

The novel is set in a nearfuture Ottawa in which corporations are phasing out the public sector, and conspiracies abound. Following the death of the CEO of the titular Omphalos Corporation, Detective Beldon seeks to find the killer, driven by a suspicion that the company is connected to the events of the previous novel.

Lynch’s work is notable for its hyperlocal setting.

Two of his previous books

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take place in a fictional Ottawa suburb known as Troutstream, while Omphalos takes the murder mystery into Centretown.

The mystery revolves around the Department of National Defense’s drab headquarters building, the University of Ottawa is baked into our hero’s backstory, and OC Transpo’s new light rail Confederation Line figures prominently.

Lynch hopes that the novel can bring some nuance to a genre often criticized for its predictability.

“It’s a literary mystery, it’s not the kind of pure genre you would get in a gumshoe detective kind of novel,” Lynch said.

Despite an impressive publishing record, Lynch is not a full-time writer.

For most of the day, he teaches Canadian and Irish literature at the U of O. He believes that an aspiring

writer needs to find a job that can give you the time to write and supplements a writing career. Having that full-time job is vital for an up-and-coming author and has been a crucial part of his own success, he said.

“Find a job that compliments your ambition to be a writer ... a job in publishing, a job working for the Fulcrum, any kind of media company. It’s important it doesn’t drain you. Writing takes a lot of concentrated effort over a long period of time.”

Lynch also makes it clear that young writers are not alone in their journey, and urges students to take advantage of all that the university has to offer.

Specifically, he highlights the Undergraduate English Students Association’s numerous writing contests, which he claims gives students motivation to diversify their writing portfolio.

Lynch is a professor and the author of several books, including the upcoming Omphalos.

“What should a young writer do? Well, what an old writer does. Just write, write, write. If you’re writing than you are a writer and if you’re not—well,

you just don’t want to be,” Lynch said.

Lynch plans on following his own advice and aims to complete his seventh book, and end the Kevin Belden

Photo: Courtesy of Maureen Lynch.

trilogy, next summer.

Omphalos will be published on Oct. 17, and will be available on Amazon.ca, Benjamin Books, and from Signature Editions.

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Ready, set, whoa:

A Gee-Gee’s guide to Ireland Ch. 1: Going away to Galway Iain Sellers

Fulcrum contributor “You want some good craic?”

That was my introduction to Irish slang when I first arrived in the Emerald Isle a month ago.

To the untrained ear, it sounds like a stranger’s offer to try their drugs. But, in reality, it’s the Irish way of asking if you want to take part in a fun time.

It’s experiences like those that have epitomized my first month in Ireland. I fully expected my first month abroad to be academically heavy, filled from dawn to dusk with studying for thirdyear courses. But the first month of school seems to be tailored toward extracurriculars, socializing, and, most importantly, domestic beer.

I must admit, it was a welcome break from the grades-focused atmosphere that I was used to at the University of Ottawa.

It seems like a dream that instead of having assignments

due every week and the threat of an early October midterm, professors go a little easy during the first month and encourage you to get involved in extracurriculars and the community after you have completed your day’s work.

While it hasn’t been formalized by all the professors in Ireland, that seems to be the academic culture they’ve adopted. It offers students a chance to try out clubs and societies, and to get to know their new surroundings.

It was a lot to take in. An average day in September for students would have them waking up late, going to class for a couple of hours, returning home for a late dinner, attending whatever societies were available that evening, and then meeting up with friends.

Similar to the U of O, it’s the societies that make up the heart of university social life, but I was unaware of just how big of a role social activities

would play in everyday student life.

At the beginning of the school year, I was invited to attend the society fair. Unlike the U of O, however, the National University of Ireland in Galway has to use two large gymnasiums to fit all of the societies and clubs that want to be represented.

I was taken aback by the sheer quantity available to me. There was a world of possibilities.

The university has many of the more common societies and clubs, like debate, soccer, and political groups, but also has a ton of unique ones, like the Irish Gaelic society, fencing, a Harry Potter society, windsurfing, and countless more.

The level of funding dedicated to societies is based on membership. The more members, the more funding they would receive, so groups would walk up to me and give me their best sales pitches in hopes that I would join and get

Iain Sellers has spent a month in Galway, Ireland so far.

involved in their activities.

It was like walking through a busy market of opportunities and passions. Which, by the way, pretty much sums

Illustration: Yomi Orims. Edits: Christine Wang.

up Irish student life. The Irish stereotype of friendly outgoingness really reaches the max in university culture, so that everyone seems warm

and welcoming toward those around them.

University in Ireland is definitely aimed at having some good craic!

Getting students acquainted with nonprofit community

Experts give talk on growing role of advocacy in nonprofit work eric davidson editor-in-chief

On Tuesday, Oct. 10, a panel of experts gathered in the University of Ottawa’s Faculty of Social Science building to discuss how nonprofits work, and to give students a taste of their field.

The talk featured Suzie Dunn from Feminist Alliance for International Action, Matthew Cole, executive director at Carleton University/Algonquin College Attendant Services, Harriett McLachlan, deputy director of Canada Without Poverty, and Keenan Wellar, co-leader and director of communications at LiveWorkPlay.

The event, organized by the U of O’s Graduate School of Public and International Affairs (GSPIA) and the Young Nonprofit Professionals Network (YNPN), covered a variety of topics in the nonprofit sector related to advocacy. The panelists shared their experience in

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the sector and talked about how, more and more, nonprofits must make advocacy a part of their work, and how to make sure these groups are effectively representing those they’re trying to help.

One encouraging sign according to the experts was the number of students in attendance, something the organizers said can be hard to get in the nonprofit field.

Cassandra Mathies, one of the event’s organizers, is a board member of YNPN and a graduate of GSPIA. She said that many universities tend to focus more on government roles for development students, and less on the nonprofit sector.

“I thought this event would be an interesting way to collaborate on what it’s like to graduate from (GSPIA) and go into the nonprofit sector,” she said. “Government jobs might not be for everyone, they might be looking to take the skills they’re learning in public policy and international relations and bring

it into another field.”

Akshay Talekar, a thirdyear biochemistry student at the U of O, is the founder of a nonprofit called Youth Employment Help Centre, which provides employment services for youth at risk of poverty. He also sits on the board of YNPN. Talekar said since starting his own nonprofit, he’s gotten highly involved in the nonprofit community in Ottawa. “I just started meeting people at networking events,” he said. Through these connections, he eventually joined YNPN. “I think I have a very specific voice as a student nonprofit founder,” said Talekar.

“I think it’s a role that needs to be filled if students want to have their voices heard in the nonprofit field, or any field for that matter.”

Talekar said the discussion on how to do advocacy right was especially important to expose to students. “It’s good to make students at the graduate and undergraduate

The panel discussed the key place advocacy has in the nonprofit sector.

levels aware of the right way to do things… how to make sure everyone is represented equally.”

As for getting involved in nonprofits, Talekar said there’s no time like the pres-

ent. “Just do it, don’t be scared … a lot of people say ‘it’s not the right time,’ but there’s never going to be a ‘right time,’ it’s always about finding where you can impact the most people.”

Photo: Eric Davidson.

“If there’s any one advice I could give it would be to just do it. It’s going to be daunting, it’s difficult, it’s a very steep learning curve, but at the end of the day it is quite worth it.”

ARTS & CULTURE | 11

The Green Thumbs Issue

The Fulcrum editorial board wants you to be an eco-friendly student

This inaugural Green Thumbs Issue looks at the spectrum of solutions to fight climate change SHOOTING FOR THE STARS

YOUR PURCHASE IS YOUR VOTE—USE IT WISELY As a business student, one of my biggest disappointments has been observing the tendency of corporations to push sustainability to the back burner. But here’s the thing, those businesses only exist because we give them the social license to operate (more simply put, we buy their stuff).

Every time you buy from a business, ask yourself if they are a business that’s working to minimize their effects on our climate. Or even better, working to reverse effects they’ve already had.

Consumer power is a thing we need to exercise if we’re going to get corporations on board with mitigating climate change. Buying from companies that have a major sustainability agenda can be a powerful message to businesses across the board. After all, each time you tap your debit card you are voting for a business’ success. It’s time to withhold our vote from those who don’t think climate change is their problem.

I’ve always been impressed with companies and researchers that shoot for the stars. And I think these people will have an important role to play in protecting our environment going forward.

Whether it’s companies like Tesla, which has made cars that people think are awesome, and also happen to be 100 per cent electric, or scientists like those who created the “impossible burger”—a meatless hamburger that’s indistinguishable from its real counterpart, just without the methane emissions from livestock.

Governments can make sure these moonshot companies get a chance to live up to their potential, and work with universities to make sure researchers get the funding they need to advance science to the point where such breakthroughs are possible. That way, students in science, engineering, the arts, or any other program, have the tools they need to pursue big goals.

—Eric Davidson, Editor-in-Chief.

—Savannah Awde, Features Editor.

APOCALYPSE NOW (?)

WHAT ARE WE INHALING?

I grew up in Vancouver which, as you all probably know, is one of the best places in the world to live (I’m not biased though). What you probably don’t know is that Vancouver is situated on the Cascadia subduction zone, a fault line between the Juan de Fuca and North American tectonic plates. This means that for as long as I can remember, I’ve been told that the ‘Big One’ is coming. The off-the-richter scale earthquake to end all earthquakes will hit Vancouver, destroying every scenic boardwalk and overpriced bubble tea shop in its path.

I come from Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, which is known for its heat and its inability to handle rain. The city’s current infrastructure is not made to withstand rain, so the times that we have had rain, we were not prepared. People lost homes and loved ones, and even today a little rain can destroy homes.

But instead of working to adjust the infrastructure, the government opted for shooting chemicals in the sky to disperse the clouds so it wouldn’t rain.

This summer British Columbia was ravaged by an unprecedented number of forest fires, to the extent that metro Vancouver was covered in smoke. Going home this summer and seeing everything covered in an eerie orange haze like something out of the new Blade Runner movie made climate change feel frighteningly real. This shit is happening now, and we’re already seeing the dystopian consequences.

If you’re wondering if we get rain now, the answer is that we don’t. Something so natural to feed the earth is now controlled by the government. It was in this moment that I realized the effects of climate change on the city I grew up in. Although we technically live in a desert, even it needs a little rain.

—Zainab Al-Mehdar, News Editor.

—Nadia Drissi El-Bouzaidi, Associate Features Editor..

ENVIRONMENTAL MIGRANTS NEED TO BE PART OF THE DISCUSSION While hotter summers and excruciatingly cold Ottawa winters aren’t ideal, I’m fortunate that my living situation isn’t compromised by climate change.

Environmental migrants and refugees are too often left out of mainstream conversations on climate change—this is likely because we don’t know very much about the issue. Environmental migrants are those forced to flee their homes due to droughts, rising sea levels, and a disruption in seasonal weather patterns, but often have a more difficult time finding refuge due to difficulties in defining of the term.

The estimates of the total number of climate refugees are grim—over 200 million refugees by 2050 is the leading prediction. Numbers like that are terrifying. Consider for a moment that the Syrian refugee crisis concerns about 5 million displaced people—you can begin to imagine the apocalyptic effects of a new refugee crisis of this scale.

Many of these people will be displaced from coastal homes, so the biggest effort in stemming this migration is making sure the water levels raise as little as possible. A lot of effort will also fall upon those currently working with refugees, as they must figure out—and fast—how to deal with a refugee crisis the scale of which we have never seen before.

—Graham Robertson and Ryan Pepper, Managing Editor and Arts & Culture Editor.

Illustration: Christine Wang.

What’s animal agriculture got to do with it?

One dietary change that could have a huge impact on our planet When it comes to mitigating climate change, we often hear about the classic offenders like energy, waste, and transportation. However, one major element tends to be missing from our discussions on how to reduce our impact on the planet. It’s a shame that this is the case, because this one change could be one of the biggest things you can do on a personal level to reduce your carbon footprint.

I’m going to give you a full disclosure that I am vegan, for the sole purpose of reducing my carbon footprint. I wanted to write this article because so few people I’ve spoken to about my dietary change even knew that reducing intake of animal products had anything to do with climate change.

But if we’re serious about mitigating climate change,

which we should be, it’s imperative to bring animal agriculture into the discussion.

According to the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations, animal agriculture accounts for 14.5 per cent of all human-made emissions, and the demand for animal products is expected to grow by 70 per cent by 2050.

Not only is this a higher contributing percentage than all forms of transportation combined, but its effects can be seen everywhere—from land, to water, to the air we breathe. The FAO also reported for the period from 1950 to 2002 that about 75 per cent of the world’s fisheries are either exploited or depleted.

This exploitation of fish populations can disrupt the food chains in those ecosystems, causing organisms that

depend on those fish to suffer.

Not to mention that waste from animal agriculture is a huge contributor to oceanic dead zones, where the oxygen content becomes too low for marine life to survive.

Back on land, we see the effects of animal agriculture in deforestation for raising crops to feed livestock. National Geographic, among other sources, notes that animal agriculture is the biggest driver of deforestation. The Wageningen University and Research Centre quantifies this claim in their 2012 report in Science Daily, asserting that animal agriculture is the driver behind approximately 80 per cent of deforestation worldwide.

But it’s just a few trees right, what’s the big deal?

Well, because trees absorb

greenhouse gases, mass deforestation means that more of these gases are entering our atmosphere. In addition to that, trees play a crucial role in regulating the water cycle, meaning that when deforestation occurs we see former lush forest areas turn to barren desert lands. Lastly, with fewer trees blocking the sunlight, forests are deprived of a natural canopy that can lead to temperature swings that disrupt ecosystems.

Although you might think taking shorter showers is the best way to conserve water on an individual level, think again. The Georgetown Environmental Law Review reports that animal agriculture is the top consumer of freshwater by a large margin.

For example, the report says that animal agriculture con-

Savannah Awde Features Editor

sumes on average 55 trillion gallons of water annually.

This amounts to more than 520 times the water used in hydraulic fracturing.

But amidst all these issues with animal agriculture, there is some positive research being done on how to more sustainably create animal products for consumption. In 2013, the FAO used the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change’s new calculation measures to show that the meat and dairy industries have the potential to reduce their emissions by 30 per cent.

This is fantastic news, but the key word to note is “potential.” Every industry that we point the finger at for climate change does have the potential to operate more sustainably—but have any of them really done it to the ex-

Photos: Savannah Awde.

tent that’s needed?

For now, until companies take the steps needed to green their operations, the onus is on us as consumers to show the market that we demand sustainable alternatives.

This brings me to a final call to action for anyone who believes that climate change is too big of a problem for them to have a personal impact. Reducing your animal product intake, whether that means you adopt a vegetarian, flexitarian, pescatarian, or vegan lifestyle, is something many of us can do right now. No matter how much you alter your diet, every little bit counts!

The effects of animal agriculture are far-reaching, but so are our lifestyle decisions.

By choosing to consume fewer animal products, you are choosing a sustainable future.

Recipes for sustainability

Although plant-based diets can get a bad rap for being expensive, I find that I actually spend less money on groceries and make more conscious decisions about the processed foods I eat. Like your other expenses at school, it’s all about budgeting. Read on for some wallet-friendly, plant-based recipes!

The easiest quinoa bowl you’ll ever make

Yummy yellow coconut curry

gether as fast as possible? This dish will keep you satisfied as you

craving some cozy comfort food. Treat yo’self to this climate

run from class to work and back. It’s ready in 20 minutes, and if

friendly favourite!

you make a big helping you can pack the leftovers up for the rest

Ingredients • 1 can of coconut milk (400 mL) • 1/2 cup of water • 2 tbsp garlic (chopped) • 1 tbsp curry powder • 1 tbsp of brown sugar • 1 tbsp of tahini • 1 tbsp of soy sauce • 1/2 tbsp of ginger powder • 1/4 tbsp of cayenne

Is it one of those days where you just want to throw a meal to-

of the week!

Ingredients • 1 cup of quinoa • 2 tbsp olive oil • 1-2 tbsp fresh parsley (chopped) • 1-2 tbsp of garlic (chopped) • 1 tbsp of cumin (or more if you prefer!)

• A few shakes of salt • Veggies or plant-based protein of your choosing Instructions Bring water to boil in a big pot, add as much quinoa as you’d like.

Lower heat and cover until the quinoa is soft. Drain water if needed, and add the spices and veggies. Stir, taste, add more spice if you like, and enjoy!

As the days get colder, whip up this little hug in a bowl if you’re

pepper Instructions Add all ingredients to a pot and bring to boil. Lower heat to medium and stir consistently until well-mixed. Add veggies of choice and stir over low heat until mixed. Enjoy!

Green energy and sustainability across C anadian campu se s

How does the U of O compare to Alex Grichmanoff Fulcrum Contributor post-secondary green energy leaders?

A university campus provides a hub for the country’s most renowned academics and innovators, and over the past several decades some of the greatest innovations in the world have been made in the field of green energy.

Naturally, if university campuses are supposed to be bastions of innovation, they should be running on sustainable green energy. While several campuses across the country use sustainable or green energy, a few in particular are leading the charge, such as the University of Northern British Columbia and the University of Alberta.

Although the University of Ottawa is unique in its location, budget, and other resources, it’s important that the university continuously monitors other similar institutions to generate ideas to modernize their sustainable energy portfolio.

With this in mind, we took a look at the universities in Canada that are most adept at integrating sustainable energies into campus life. These institutions go beyond the typical campus waste reduction programs, and push the limit on ‘standard’ post-secondary energy practices.

THE UNIVERSITY OF NORTHERN BRITISH COLUMBIA UNBC goes so far as to brand themselves as “Canada’s Green University,” and it definitely lives up to the title from a renewable energy standpoint. For example, through the BC Hydro Energy Manager program UNBC is on track to meet its 2020 energy targets of reducing electrical and thermal energy consumption combined by 25 per cent, and reducing fossil fuel use

for heating by 85 per cent.

UNBC has found success by using a revolving loan system, essentially a $250,000 line of credit which provides project funding, and then recoups the investment via project savings. Through this, UNBC has not only funded massive green energy renovations to its campus but taken control of their carbon footprint, reducing their non-biogenic greenhouse gas emissions by 71 per cent since 2010.

THE UNIVERSITY OF ALBERTA At the U of A, major investments are being made to the on-campus green energy infrastructure. In particular, they’ve been working to install the largest portfolio of renewable energy generation in Canada’s post-secondary sector via the university’s

KEY TAKEAWAYS FROM THESE POST-SECONDARY LEADERS

Envision Energy Reduction program.

In 2012, the U of A committed to investing $35 million dollars over the course of seven years in order to reduce its CO2 emissions by 30,000 tonnes per year, eventually making a return on their investment by saving approximately $4.5 million dollars annually.

These investments in solar technology from UNBC and the U of A have been more than successful, and with the price of solar technology steadily decreasing year by year, it makes more sense than ever for other universities to jump on board.

As well, the U of A is making massive changes to its campus infrastructure through the use of solar panel technology, and investments in solar-thermal technology for campus heating. For example, the Camrose Performing Arts Centre uses almost 500 solar modules, making it one of the largest solar electric systems in the country and making the centre the highest rated Green Globes building ever certified.

Despite a relatively high ranking by the UI GreenMetric, the last available statistics from the U of O indicate that the university has missed its energy reduction goals by more than 75 per cent. New investments in green energy could put the U of O, and other Canadian campuses that have missed their energy reduction targets, back on track quickly and affordably, future proofing the campus and keeping costs low for years to come.

Illustration: Amanda Lowe W.

Trash and treasure aren’t Savannah Awde so different after all Features Editor Students have the power to make the U of O zero-waste—and it’s easier than ever When it comes to climate change, one of the biggest barriers we face is apathy—people don’t believe they can change the situation, so they do nothing.

version of this legislation, having a waste diversion rate of 64.5 per cent, there are challenges ahead with meeting the zero-waste target.

In many cases this can be true, but that doesn’t mean there aren’t steps that can be taken right here on our campus. In fact, according to University of Ottawa’s Office of Campus Sustainability manager Jonathan Rausseo, making change can be as simple as reducereuse-recycle.

“There are two weak points that end up happening. One is comprehension of the recycling system, because some things are just stupidly complicated,” he says. “The other problem that we have now is that we’re starting to do compost on a larger scale.

That’s getting people a little more confused.”

But, despite what you may think, not all three methods are equal. As Rausseo puts it, recycling is “the worst good thing you can do, because reuse and reduction are vastly better for the environment.”

Although this fact may leave you scratching your head, students failing to properly recycle on campus is the biggest barrier to meeting the zero-waste target.

Proper recycling… should be easy enough, right?

The province of Ontario has adopted the same emphasis on reuse and reduction in its newest legislation on waste production at public institutions, Bill 151, or the Waste-Free Ontario Act. The bill is part of the province’s Strategy for a Waste-Free Ontario, which is in turn based on the idea of a circular economy—a system where all waste is reused as inputs to other goods, services, or processes.

Although Rausseo says the U of O was in compliance with the previous

Rausseo says that part of the problem is the frequency at which the regulations around recycling evolve, approximating that about 10 different changes are made annually. But he also says that we need to take a little more time, and a lot more ownership, to get the waste where it needs to be.

university is source-separated, meaning that students hold a lot of power in putting the products in their proper bins. This can be a problem if people aren’t following the instructions, as Rausseo notes that any U of O recycling bag with more than 15 per cent contamination is sent to a landfill.

“The problem with waste in general is that we spoil people, you know, we throw it in a bag and some magic person takes it away. And it’s not that simple down the road, we’re starting to feel the consequences of it,” he says. “The message we try to get out to people is take your time, and do your best.”

While giving students the power to impact the waste system on campus presents some challenges, Rausseo is quick to point out that this is also a good way for students to do their part in mitigating climate change.

Another issue lies in the fact that recycling at the

“Recycling is a great topic, because unlike many other topics you actually control it. As a student you don’t really have control

over the heat, you don’t really have control over the electricity, you don’t really even have control over the water. Recycling you have all the control.”

Beyond recycling, Rausseo urges students to give their current unused belongings a new life by donating them the Free Store on campus. He notes that this is only one resource of many in the city to reuse and recycle unconventional waste like clothing.

Avoiding or minimizing purchases of single-use items, like plastic water bottles, is another way Rausseo says we can move towards a circular economy.

“We want to try to get people to think about things a little differently, but also to make complaints to the university sometimes too,” Rausseo says of the Office of Campus Sustainability. “There are all these opportunities that are out there, we just need people to complain about them or pitch ideas to us.”

So for those who think climate change is an issue beyond their reach, think again. As the U of O moves toward a wastefree campus, you—“just” a student—can be a driving force behind the transition. It’s as easy as reducereuse-recycle.

Illustration: Amanda Lowe W.

Innovations make the world go round (literally) How Ottawa is using eco-innovation to combat climate change

TERRA20: GREENING YOUR HOME NEVER LOOKED SO GOOD

NU GROCERY OTTAWA: MAKING ZERO-WASTE EASIER THAN EVER

THE FREE STORE: TACKLING OVERCONSUMPTION, ONE OUTFIT AT A TIME Nothing in life is free, but your next outfit could be! The Free Store aims to bring our campus one step closer to being free of waste by giving items a second life. Operating under the Office of Campus Sustainability, the Free Store is one of the many innovative methods the University of Ottawa has explored to tackle overconsumption.

“The goal of the Free Store is to try to get people to consume less,” says Brigitte Morin, Waste Diversion Coordinator for the Office of Campus Sustainability. She says the store aims to make people think about their consumption habits, and whether or not they need to go out and buy new items.

Used goods can be dropped off at the donation box behind the Free Store, located at 647 King Edward Avenue. These donations are then collected, sorted, washed and dried. The Free Store also accepts far more than clothing.

Nu operates on the premise that as climate-conscious consumers, we must start saying no to unnecessary or singleuse packaging, and only purchasing the amount we need. With this in mind, NU set out to offer an alternative to this wasteful mass consumption. According to their website, the products offered in store are packaging free, and local and organic whenever possible. But the waste reduction effort in this unique little store doesn’t end with product procurement.

Consumers are encouraged to avoid waste by shopping using their containers from home, or making use of their free compostable paper bags for dry products. They also lend jars for wet products, which require a small deposit reimbursed upon the jar’s return.

They note that the average Canadian produces more than 700 kg of waste per year, one of the highest rates in comparison to other developed countries. Further, their website says that our waste contribution to landfills is responsible for 20 per cent of Canada’s methane emissions. We have a long way to go, but this innovative grocery store is a great place to start.

This store with two locations in Ottawa has a wide array of eco-friendly products. The company began in 2006 when co-founder Steve Kaminski realized how difficult it was to find sustainable home products when he was building a house from scratch.

They are extremely transparent in the way their products are sourced, which includes a “Browse by Ethic” option on their website.

This makes it much easier to find products free of animal testing, made in Canada, free of chemicals, and are waste reducing.

For those used to shopping at Loblaws and Metro on discount days, don’t worry, the prices for the average household products aren’t much of a markup from bigger brands.

For the makeup addicts out there, Terra20 has an array of planet-friendly products that are much cheaper than your average Sephora haul. Terra20 has one store in Westboro, while the other is close to Ikea. If that’s too much of a trek, they have a user-friendly website that makes it a little too easy to find everything you need.

—Savannah Awde, Features Editor.

“It’s everything: kitchenware, household goods, Halloween costumes, winter clothes.

Anything that you would give away that you wouldn’t need anymore, we have.”

Then, the items are brought into the store and ‘sold’ for free. It’s a great place to pick up things on a budget, with a wide variety of items. “Just over the last six months we must have received over seven or eight metric tons of material,” says Morin. “I would highly encourage people to come and check out what we have. We get new stuff everyday.”

—Hanna Methot, Fulcrum Contributor.

Illustration: Christine Wang.

—Nadia Drissi El-Bouzaidi, Associate Features Editor.

The politics of environmental change

The solution to climate change according to each campus party Savannah Awde Features Editor

It’s no secret that the key to climate change action often lies in the decision-making of our political leaders.

With this in mind, we reached out to the leaders of our campus’ major political party groups to ask what each thought about the future of Canada’s environmental policy, and why their party will provide what’s needed.

We’re already seeing the effects of climate change across the world—the hurricanes that tore through the Caribbean are the most recent example of unusually severe natural disasters, and that’s just the tip of the iceberg. Canada has the opportunity to be a leader on the world stage for environmental protection, and we need to make sure that we are taking action for the future of our children and grandchildren.

The Liberal Party of Canada understands that the future for our youth will be extremely challenging if we don’t act now. Our generation shouldn’t have to pay for the effects of the pollution made by previous generations. We deserve a clean and healthy environment.

For the past decade there has been no federal leadership on tackling carbon pollution, and we must act now in order to preserve our planet. Addressing climate change also offers an enormous economic opportunity for Canada—an opportunity that, if we seize it, will create well-paying middle class jobs for Canadians and a strong and thriving economy.

The Liberal government ratified the Paris Agreement in 2016 with countries around the world to reduce carbon pollution, and created a made-in-Canada plan to fight climate change and transition to a clean growth economy.

The Government has also announced a $25-billion investment to help public transportation systems go green over the next decade, a $1.2-billion investment to grow our clean technology sector, and a commitment to reduce emissions from government operations by 40 per cent by 2030. This is just to name a few of the steps the Liberal government is taking to protect our environment.

Conservatives are dedicated to protecting our environment and the countless natural wonders we are privileged to share.

It was the previous federal Conservative government that set ambitious targets on greenhouse gas emissions, targets the current Liberal government has since adopted. We also took real, concrete actions that were environmentally and economically responsible without losing good Canadian jobs.

This included setting stringent standards to cut pollution from on-road vehicles and reduce methane emissions in the oil-and-gas sector, investing more than $10 billion in technologies to promote innovation and emissions reductions, and many other policies that increased environmental protections, particularly in vulnerable habitats.

Conservatives support market driven solutions to create more renewable energy in Canada and to develop new and innovative methods to protect our environment. Conservatives also recognize that the government needs to work with Canada’s international partners to reduce carbon emissions and climate change around the globe.

—Michael Giesbrecht, president.

—Hannah Wieler, chief officer.

As co-presidents of the University of Ottawa NDP club, one of the strongest reasons we mutually decided to take out memberships with this party are its strong, tangible commitments to the environment and environmental justice.

To address climate change, the best possible immediate solution we yearn for is that our governments honour the environmental commitments they made to get elected. On December 12, 2015, Canada stood passionately with numerous countries to commit to the Paris Agreement. Although the Paris Agreement’s language is vague enough that a country can personalize to best suit their situation; we both hold that Canada must do more in terms of its commitments to the Paris Agreement.

In many ways, the partisanship, rivalry, and selfishness of the Canadian political system must be overcome if our country is ever to make meaningful solutions to addressing climate change. Climate change and our environment needs more than the four-year term that encompasses a Prime Minister’s.

For the most up to date policy reasons, we think the NDP has the best plan for Canadians in the “Green Economy and Climate Agenda” Jagmeet Singh campaigned on during his bid for leader. We think it is important that our political leaders leave their environmental policy out in the open to allow voters to easily make an educated vote.

The new NDP leader has committed to reduce carbon emissions to 30 per cent of 2005 levels by 2025 rather than 2030, and to subsequently adopt a more ambitious 2030 target.

The NDP under Singh’s leadership is going to do this through a nationwide public transit strategy, supporting provinces with phasing out coal, reducing methane emissions, and supporting electric vehicles. These are only a few examples of ways the NDP is best set with a policy platform and politicians that are real about climate change.

—Danielle Kydd and Matthew Boulden, co-presidents.

There are scientific truths one must accept when discussing climate change. It is happening. It is anthropogenic. There is a finite amount of carbon humans can emit to avoid the most serious effects of our changing climate, and that global “carbon budget” is disappearing terrifyingly quickly.

To meet the targets of the Paris Accord and limit warming to less than 2°C, we must make drastic changes in how we live, work, and treat our planet. If we do nothing, that budget will be exhausted in just over 19 years. And Canada is currently doing nothing.

By concentrating on three key sectors, we can greatly reduce Canada’s emissions: transportation, energy, and buildings—our largest polluters.

Expanding high-speed passenger rail and investing in municipal public transit will remove cars from the road and reduce air traffic. Rigorous vehicle emissions standards, investments in rapid charging infrastructure, and incentives for Canadian vehicle manufacturers and energy storage technologies mean that the remaining cars will become electric.

Solar, wind, tidal, geothermal, and hydroelectric energy will power a modern national electrical grid. With this new grid, provinces like Ontario could purchase more economical hydroelectric power from Québec, rather than importing energy from the U.S. Most provinces have already closed their coal powered plants, and the rest must follow.

The cost of heating and cooling our buildings is immense. Energy conservation achieved by retrofitting Canada’s existing buildings and developing national energy efficiency building codes will save money and reduce waste. A retrofit grant program for low-income households and refundable tax credits will enable all homeowners to benefit from these savings, and put Canadians to work.

The Green Party is the only one to offer comprehensive solutions to these and other climatebased problems. Our core values of sustainability, social justice, and ecological wisdom inform every policy we adopt. As part of a global movement, Greens collaborate, innovate, and share best practices with parties from all over the planet. Canada has had more than enough climate change denial and vague talking points from governments, past and present. Canadians need an alternative to bring effective ideas to the table. The Green Party is it.

—Jeremy Leite, co-president.

Illustration: Alina Wang.

Get involved in greening your campus!

Volunteer with, donate to, or buy from the Free Store

Drink from a reusable water bottle and refill at water fountains

Throw your waste in recycling or garbage cans

When eating on campus, opt for less meat and more plants Donate old textbooks to Textbooks for Change’s U of O stations

Try the SFUO bike co-op to make your own bike

Volunteer or get coffee with Muggy Take the stairs Mondays rather than the elevator when possible Get a plot at

Eat vegan with or volunteer for the People’s Republic of Delicious

Volunteer for the U of O Office of Campus Sustainability

Try the U of O’s bike share program

the U of O’s community gardens

Donate to or obtain furniture from U of O furniture reuse program

Buy food at SFUO-run farmer’s markets

Take the bus, bike, or walk to class

Recycle e-waste at designated on-campus stations

SPORTS

SPORTS EDITOR Nico Laliberté sports@thefulcrum.ca @nico_laliberte @FulcrumSports

Men’s hockey falls just short of comeback in season opener Gees face loss against Ravens despite recovering from two 3-goal deficits zack goobie

associate sports editor

T

he University of Ottawa men’s hockey team took on cross-town rivals the Carleton Ravens on Oct. 12. The game was the season opener for both teams, and the Gees would face a tough test in a hostile building with the matchup being the Ravens’ home opener.

The Gee-Gees lost both matchups last season, and were hoping to kick off this season with the two points and spoil the big night on Carleton’s home ice. However, the Ravens had other plans.

Carleton did not take long to get on the board as they pounced on a bad turnover in neutral ice and finished a good

passing play. A tough start to the Gees less than a minute in, goaltender Anthony Brodeur had no chance on the play.

The Gee-Gees had two good opportunities to respond less than three minutes later, first with forward Antoine Pouliot in the slot and later on the man advantage.

Despite being undisciplined with three minor penalties, the Ravens came out of the period with a 1-0 lead as the Gees were unable to convert.

Carleton came out firing and scored another goal less than two minutes into the middle frame. The trailing Carleton forward was left all alone in the slot and scored on the rebound in tight to beat Brodeur.

The third penalty of the game was an undisciplined slash that would cost the Gees 7:30 into the second period.

The Ravens passed the puck around the perimeter before

feeding the slot, and the Ravens had a 3-0 lead.

Kevin Domingue, the GeeGees’ leading scorer last year, was back at it in his second year, sniping it from just inside the circle over Carleton’s goalie’s blocker at 11:32. The Gees’ prized recruit and captain, Eric Locke, made a nice play feed Domingue.

Following some relentless play, the Gees cut the home squad’s lead to one. A shot from the point was tipped in by forward Brendan Jacome with less than two minutes left before the end of the second.

A motivated Carleton team came out of the period scoring two goals in the first six minutes of play to reinstate their three-goal lead. The first one coming from a screened shot from the point and the second from a defensive zone turnover, which resulted in a nice passing play by the Ravens.

The Gees opened their season with an overtime loss to Carleton.

A big save by Brodeur on a breakaway resulted in the GeeGees’ third goal by Pouliot who beat the Ravens’ goalie fivehole. Domingue also found the five-hole two minutes later to make it a one-goal game.

Locke, a recent transfer and

U of O medical student, converted on a rebound to beat the Ravens’ goalie over his glove to tie the game up.

Despite two great comebacks from three-goal deficits, the Gees were dominated in overtime and couldn’t gen-

Photo: Marc Bourget.

erate a single shot. The Ravens converted on a partially blocked shot to put their home opener to bed just over a minute into the overtime period.

The Gees’ next home game is Oct. 28 at 7 p.m. Tickets can be purchased from the Gee-Gees website.

Gee-Gees offense makes quick work of Queen’s University Shore’s goaltending, Bearne’s timely play give Gees the win Zack Goobie

associate sports editor The Gee-Gees women’s soccer team took on the nationally tenth-ranked Queen’s University Golden Gaels on Oct. 8.

The Gees opened the scoring less than five minutes in. Third-year midfielder Katherine Bearne converted a perfectly placed shot from just outside the box in the top left corner to beat the Queen’s keeper.

Queen’s brought some pressure nine minutes into the game as they crossed a ball into the box. A Gael was awarded a yellow card after big collision around midfield.

The Gee-Gees got their second shot on target of the game just before 15 minutes of play off a good battle on the left-hand side of the box.

The Queen’s keeper did well to cover up.

A corner was awarded to the Gees at the 27-min-

THEFULCRUM.CA

ute mark after some great hustle from second-year forward Emma Lefebvre. A perfect cross was converted by fourth-year midfielder Miranda Smith, with Bearne providing the perfect corner.

Another great cross was provided by Bearne at 23 minutes into the half, and fourth-year defender Kayla Da-Costa converted a great header to give the Gees a 3-0 lead.

2016-17 female rookie of the year, defender Cooper Lee made a great defensive play with 13 minutes left, deflecting a cross from a Golden Gael that looked promising.

With nine minutes to play, a Queen’s striker walked in on the left side on the net, but couldn’t solve the GeeGees keeper Shore. The Gaels were awarded a corner, and a dirty play in the scrum gave Queen’s their second yellow card of the game.

A rare time stoppage happened with 5:12 left in the first half as an ambulance

The Gees have continued their dominant season.

was called to assist an injured Gee-Gee. The Gees started the second half with another great chance, an excellent through ball brought a Gee-Gee into the box, but she missed wide left.

Queen’s got their first goal of the game called back after the line judge called offside

with 25 minutes to play in the second.

A big save by Shore with 23 minutes left kept her clean sheet intact after a Gael shot across her body to try to find the bottom left corner.

With 20 minutes left, the Gaels’ keeper took out a GeeGees striker who was run-

Photo: Photo: Parker Townes.

ning for the ball. The referee pointed to the spot and fifthyear defender Anika Littlemore converted the penalty with ease.

Another big save by Shore with 15 minutes to go kept the Gee-Gees’ advantage at four. Shore made her best save of the game with five

minutes to go, sliding to deny a hard shot aimed perfectly at the bottom left corner.

“I was proud that we could keep the shutout, that we could finish, and we could really show how dominant we are,” said Shore.

A lot of the Gee-Gees offence in the game was generated from the back-end. Second year defender Lauren Da Luz gave her take on her team’s play and what the win meant.

“I think in terms of this game we’re definitely going to set the gap further in terms of the ranking,” said da Luz. “This showed that we can score even against high ranked teams.”

The Gees held a record of 9–1–3 entering this past weekend, good for second in the Ontario University Athletics East division.

The University of Ottawa Garnet and Grey’s next home game will take place on Oct. 22 against Carleton University at Matt Anthony field at 1 p.m.

SPORTS | 21

THE BOXSCORE: HOCKEY NIGHT AT UO SOCCER 10-1-3

FOOTBALL 5-2

Saturday, oct. 14, 2017

Saturday, oct. 14, 2017

MONDAY, oct. 9, 2017

THURSDAY, oct. 12, 2017

Gee-Gees

Gee-Gees

Gee-Gees

Gee-Gees

4

AT

0

TRENT

vs

WATERLOO

40

30

RUGBY 5-1

45

HOCKEY(M)0-0-1

vs

AT

SHERBROOKE14

CARLETON

5 6

SUNDAY, oct. 15, 2017

Saturday, oct. 21, 2017

SUNDAY, oct. 15, 2017

SATURDAY, oct. 14, 2017

Gee-Gees

Gee-Gees

TBD

Gee-Gees

Gee-Gees

TBD

CARLETON

AT

UOIT

TBD TBD

AT

WESTERN

AT

TBD

TBD

TBD

vs

CONCORDIA TBD

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

Cross country team competes in Capital XC Challenge

Gees get opportunity to compete at home before RSEQ meet Nico Laliberté sports editor

On Oct. 14 the Gee-Gees cross country team competed in the Capital XC Challenge here in Ottawa. The meet was a twoday event that featured a high schoolers’ meet on Friday, Oct. 13, and an elementary school meet on Saturday morning. The Gee-Gees competed on the Saturday afternoon in a race that featured a number of universities and the general public.

Third-year Gee-Gee Rebecca Brennan said that having races for elementary and high schools as well as opening the main race up to the general public make it a unique event during the year.

“I think what sets it apart is that it’s a huge community event and it really encourages the younger generation of cross country runners to get more excited about the sport.”

With the majority of cross country meets happening on the road, the event allows the

22 | SPORTS

athletes to be able to sleep in their own beds and race on a familiar track.

“Racing at home is always nice,” said Brennan. “It’s a really cool course. We have hills, they throw in some hay bales throughout the course, and you get to finish on the track, so it’s awesome.”

The main Capital XC Challenge race is run in honour of Jim Howe, a doctor and longtime runner in Ottawa.

Brennan feels that the cross country team has been performing well this year. For the girls, a change in the race length has been an adjustment.

“I think that it’s been an interesting season for the girls because they just increased the distance in cross country for the girls from 6 km to 8 km, so last weekend (the Rouge et Or Invitational on Oct. 7) was our first time doing that and it definitely takes some getting used to,” she said.

The Réseau du sport étudi-

ant du Québec (RSEQ) meet will take place on Oct. 29. Brennan said that the biggest thing for the team ahead of the meet is to make sure they’re mentally prepared.

“Cross country, distance running in general, I think is a very mental sport. And I can tell— I’ve been on the team for a couple of years now—and there’s a lot of talent on our team. We’re a younger team and there’s a lot of depth to our team so I think that it’s going to be a matter of everyone getting that confidence.”

While the cross country season is not a long one, Brennan thinks the team just might be hitting its stride at the perfect time.

“I definitely can tell that everyone wants it and I think that attitude is great this year.

Everyone is very positive and I think it’s a good sign that we haven’t peaked too soon.

I think we’re saving it for the end there.”

The Gees have two weeks until the RSEQ championship.

Photo: Andy McInnis.

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OPINIONS

OPINIONS EDITOR David Campion-Smith

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

Point/Counterpoint: English, French, more?

There are a variety of languages spoken in Canada, yet we only have two official languages. Is it time to give the status of official language to more than just French and English?

OTHER LANGUAGES SHOULD BE DEEMED AS OFFICIAL

— David Campion-Smith, Opinions Editor.

POINT

COUNTERPOINT

Canada is a diverse country, as can be seen from the variety of languages that people speak from coast to coast. However in most parts of the country you wouldn’t be able to tell just how diverse our linguistic landscape is, since most official signs and representations are in French, English, or both.

Signs are in French and English because those are our official national languages, but they shouldn’t be the only ones we grant a special status to. 1 in every 5 Canadians have a first language that isn’t English or French, and there are over 196 languages spoken in Canada, including 66 Indigenous languages. As a nation that values our diversity we should be respecting and celebrating these languages.

It can be expensive for the government to support other languages, and large sums of money are already spent on bilingualism at the federal level. However, our government needs to do a better job of making people feel welcome in this country through the signs that they see everyday. Policy makers should be supporting and mandating the use of non-official languages in sectors of our country where those languages are widely spoken.

In Vancouver the most widely spoken non-official language is Punjabi, which almost 150,000 people identified as their mother tongue in 2011. That same year the population of Vancouver was just over 600,000 people. Isn’t it reasonable that this almost a quarter of the population can see signs in their native language?

Most discussions of introducing new official languages also ignore the multitude of languages spoken by Indigenous Canadians. If we are aiming for real reconciliation with these groups then providing federal funds to make local Indigenous languages visible and recognized is a good start.

Plans of this sort have already been implemented in parts of British Columbia, and the federal government should be making this a priority across the country. Even a grocery store chain in northern Canada has begun putting up labels with local languages. I don’t think it’s too much to ask for the government to be held to the same standard as a place that sells laundry detergent.

Languages are about more than communication. They highlight what parts of our history and present time we think of as important. By excluding certain languages we show those communities that their role is not as important as the role played by those people who natively speak English and French. That needs to change.

ENGLISH AND FRENCH ARE ENOUGH Bilingualism costs the country $2.4 billion a year. Before we start talking about culture, or linguistic diversity, let’s remember that bilingualism has a multi-billion dollar price tag. What naturally follows from this is obvious. Giving more languages with the prestigious title of ‘official’ is guaranteed to pile on the billions.

These billions of dollars already being spent are used on minority language services. In other words, on accommodating French speakers outside of Quebec. To understand why minority language services cost billions, one must understand Canada’s uniquely strong language laws.

In Canada, declaring something as an official language means foisting a multitude of obligations onto individuals in the federal government. French and English share the title of official language because according to the Charter or Rights, have equal status in all federal institutions. This entails a list of entitlements that speakers of either official language ar granted including the right to government services in your preferred language and courts must accommodate either language, among others. Declaring an official language is a big and expensive commitment.

There is a reason government positions are filled with bilingual employees, because it’s often a required part of the job. By expanding the number of official languages you’re now saying that government workers may need to know three or more languages.

We certainly could have a discussion about changing the aforementioned parameters. India, for example, recognizes 23 languages as official but only conducts government business in two of them. If we really want to bestow Punjabi, Mandarin, or an assortment of other languages the title of official then we could copy India’s model and get rid of the government obligations that accompany the title. However, that would undercut the benefits of making a language official in the first place.

There’s a reasonable alternative to both of these solutions: leave it up to the province. The infrastructure already exists to make this change happen. When languages are local to a region, it’s much easier to adjust the official languages of said region versus doing so nationwide. Moreover, education already falls within provincial jurisdiction. Local school boards are better equipped to assess and respond to changing linguistic environments. In Vancouver, where there is an increasing Mandarinspeaking population, it’s reasonable to offer more Mandarin courses. But that is a provincial matter, and provinces should be left to do what they do best. Don’t add hundreds of billions to provincial budgets in the name of multiculturalism.

Language expansion can also be a shortsighted affair. A popular justification for more official languages is to point to population numbers. In 2011 there were 389,000 people in Canada who identified Cantonese as their mother tongue. While that amounts to just 1.5 per cent of the national population, it’s still a significant amount of people. Recently, however, Mandarin has overtaken Cantonese.

If Cantonese was made an official language when it was the third most used language, does it retain its status when it was bumped to the fourth place spot? It’s difficult for a government to stay on top of a constantly shifting assortment of languages.

All of this is to say, unless a language can get beyond single digit representation in nationwide surveys, it should not be considered as an official language. The numbers are too turbulent to be practical, especially considering all of the implications official language status brings along for the ride.

Thus, when bilingualism is a multi-billion dollar enterprise, adding more official languages better have some billion dollar benefits.

—Connor Chase, Fulcrum Contributor.

THEFULCRUM.CA

OPINIONS | 25

How can we make meetings as accessible as possible?

Let’s look beyond ourselves and find times that work for everyone Graham Robertson Managing edtior

When it comes to scheduling meetings and events, one major issue can be finding a time that works for all required participants. Accommodating for everyone’s schedules can be a challenge, and at times, there can be last-minute changes due to prior engagements. Let’s look at the Student Federation of the University of Ottawa (SFUO) as one example.

Board of Administration (BOA) meetings of the SFUO are regularly held once per month, typically on a Sunday at 1 p.m. The October meeting, originally scheduled for Sunday the 8th, was pushed forward to Sunday the 15th, as the original date fell on Thanksgiving weekend. For those board members who celebrate Thanksgiving with their families, this change in date was necessary, and the change calls us to examine how such important meetings are scheduled.

The dates for BOA meetings are scheduled in the summer, which of course is a smart decision—having all board members well aware of the dates in advance allows them to clear their schedules to be present for these meetings.

But having a meeting during Thanksgiving weekend is poor planning. A major item on the agenda for this meeting was a motion to have the vice-president of finance become an unelected position with a three-year fixed term. Some students took issue with this motion, with the group Student Voices organizing a protest against it, set to be held during the meeting.

To have both board members and the student body actively engaged in the work of the SFUO—work that directly impacts the campus population—the federation should carefully consider when they are scheduling their meetings.

Of course, moving the meeting forward a week resolved this issue of having it on a holiday weekend.

However, this is a way for us to examine the limitations that arise when important meetings and events are scheduled on holidays. Thanksgiving is a popular holiday, so it’s easy to come to a consensus that a meeting should be moved to accommodate for those celebrating.

But what about religious and cultural groups whose festivals and holy days aren’t as well-known or part of the mainstream? For the SFUO’s

What happens when our meetings fall on important cultural and religious holidays?

board, which is comprised of 25 faculty directors, one special student director, six executives, the chair and secretary, perhaps it’s simple to move meetings that fall on important holidays. As an institution that advocates for equity, the federation is also likely more willing to accommodate its members.

With larger meetings, such as those involving the university administration or other governing bodies, it can

be very easy to fall into situations where some members must choose between work and celebrating with family and friends. Certainly, this is not fair, and it reminds us that not everyone celebrates Christmas, Thanksgiving, and Easter.

As our country becomes ever-more diverse, we need to pay special attention to how we schedule meetings and events, so that no one is forced to miss out on partaking in meaningful

Photo: Parker Townes.

traditions with their loved ones. It’s as simple as going on Google and looking through a list of religious and cultural holidays on your proposed meeting date, and then finding an alternate date in advance so that conflicts don’t arise.

Ultimately, this is a reminder for all of us to look beyond ourselves, and consider how we can make work meetings as accessible as possible, so that everyone can fully participate.

Smoke legal pot where you smoke cigarettes

Recreational marijuana shouldn’t keep you stuck at home David Campion-Smith Opinions Editor

Legalizing marijuana has been a priority for the current federal government, and it seems likely that we’ll all be legally allowed to spark up for Canada Day 2018. What hasn’t been solved yet though is just where you’ll be able to enjoy that celebratory hit. It should be anywhere you can smoke cigarettes, but that doesn’t seem to be the plan.

There’s a long list of places you can’t legally smoke anything, including patios, some outdoor parks, and in enclosed public spaces. This list also makes it against the law to smoke in cars with children under 16. Basically you can smoke in your home, as long as you don’t live in a non-smoking building, and most outdoor public places.

Ontario’s proposed plan for use of legalized marijuana would allow you to only use it in a private resi-

dence, and only if you have the option to smoke in your residence. There isn’t yet a solid plan on where the public will be able to use marijuana once it becomes legalized, but some of the places we can draw ideas from don’t have it figured out yet, either. Some places in Colorado offer lounges or busses where groups can smoke weed, but some of those locations have also been raided by police.

Once marijuana is legalized, it’s legal, and we need to accept that. While this shouldn’t lead to a wholescale loosening of general smoking laws, marijuana shouldn’t be unfairly constrained simply because of its past. If we as a nation decide that smoking weed is a legal pastime then it should be held only to the same standards as other smoking—to do anything less would be to deny its legal status.

And what about those

Ontario is still determining where people will be allowed to smoke recreational pot.

who will or currently use marijuana for medicinal reasons? We shouldn’t force someone to take their medicine in private simply because it has to be smoked.

It’s reasonable to ask that

they smoke outdoors, but not that they put their life on hold so they can retreat to their home to take their medicine and improve their quality of life.

Once marijuana is legal it

Photo: CC, Kruscha..

should be treated the same as cigarettes, not given preferential treatment or penalized. People who want to smoke pot should be able to do so anywhere they can smoke tobacco, if for no oth-

er reason than there isn’t a good argument to not do so.

If the government’s smart then you’ll be able to enjoy Canada Day 2018 smoking legally, anywhere you can smoke cigarettes.

26 | OPINIONS THEFULCRUM.CA

Midterm plague spreads across u of O campus

Symptoms include long periods of time spent in library

Veronique Therrien Tomato contributor An epidemic is once again plaguing the University of Ottawa, and students across campus who have contracted the virus have been seen struggling to cope. A mass panic has begun, with the virus affecting more students than ever this year, and there does not seem to be any hope of a cure in the near future.

Side-effects of the virus include uncontrollable shaking, crying, insomnia, and an unhealthy addiction to the library. These side effects are becoming increasingly more common as the semester continues, and many students have lost all hope of their lives returning to their natu-

ral, healthy state. Morisset library has never seen so much late-night activity as the students desperately sprint to try and get the one last seat available.

Last week, second-year history student Terry Harrison was hospitalized after a misunderstanding over an empty table at the library turned violent. Harrison was already deeply infected with the midterm plague and attempting to alleviate her symptoms by burying her nose in a textbook, when another student walked in and pulled the chair from under Harrison.

Eventually the situation escalated to the point that Protection Services were called to come break it up.

After ensuring Harrison was taken to the hospital, Protection reported that

students are now actually hiding chairs in an attempt to guarantee they always have a seat available for them.

This virus is incredibly contagious, and it seems that just the mention of the word ‘midterm’ causes students to spiral. However, the only treatment that has been proven to be somewhat effective is a cup of coffee. Students revive after consuming the caffeinated beverage, although some experts warn about becoming too dependent.

However, this is a temporary solution and is recommended that one cup is consumed at least every three hours as to sedate the effects of this virus. For those lucky students that have been able to avoid contact with this deadly disease, it is recommended that you

More students this year are affected by the midterm virus.

purchase a coffee maker and stay indoors.

Students may appear to not be affected, but this virus can be deceiving, so

Photo: CC, Jeangagnon, Mike Mozart. Edits: Christine Wang.

take the utmost caution when leaving your apartments and visiting the other students. It is imperative that this virus is stopped

and affected students are cleansed of the effects of this epidemic. Be safe, everyone, and be sure to protect yourself.

U of O students struggle to be thankful on Thanksgiving

Midterms, politics, Panda loss, lead to a cold turkey day for students

Eric Davidson editor-in-chief

Leaving school in a peppy, scholastic mood, many students reported planning to reflect on what elements of the University of Ottawa they were thankful for over the Thanksgiving holidays. But this didn’t work out quite as expected.

After the rest of her family had said what they were thankful for—good health, family, etc.—Paula Doll, a first-year common law student at the U of O, took her turn. “On this Thanksgiving, I just want to give thanks to my student government, the SFUO,” she said. “They really… uh…”

What followed was an uncomfortable period where Doll mumbled strings of words like “trans-

parency… no,” “Oh wait, I forgot about that scandal,” and “I guess the UPass wasn’t that late this year…”

Eventually, she gave up and started stuffing turkey into her mouth.

At a casual “Friendsgiving” get-together with his pals, Tony Jabroni, a second-year criminology student, stood up and called for attention. “I just think it’s important that today we acknowledge some things that are going well at the University of Ottawa,” he said, cranberry sauce dribbling down his chin. But after a couple minutes of wracking his brain in silence, Jabroni sat down again. “I didn’t expect that to be so difficult,” he said between mouthfuls of stuffing.

In an attempt to cheer

him up, a friend said, “Hey, at least we won the Panda Ga…” and then trailed off sadly.

Things weren’t going much better for other U of

Photo: Dasser Kamran.

O students.

Before tucking into his Thanksgiving dinner, third-year international development and globalization student Malcolm

THEFULCRUM.CA

Burns took a moment to reflect. “I’d just like to take a moment to thank the university’s Board of Governors, for always looking out for…” he then paused before

saying, “oh wait they’ve raised tuition 12 years in a row, nevermind.”

With a pang of anger, he recalled how the increased costs had forced him to buy the smallest size of Turducken. “Curse you, Jacques Frémont!”

After hearing many of her friends fail to find good things around campus to be thankful for while having lunch on campus, fourthyear political science student Tabitha Schmidt spoke up. By all accounts, the speech seemed to be very nice and heartwarming.

Unfortunately, it was all but drowned out by the din of construction around the school.

In the end, all U of O students did find one thing to be thankful for. “At least I don’t go to Carleton!”

THE TOMATO | 27

DISTRACTIONS DEAR DI

FEATURES EDITOR Savannah Awde

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

Getting a little (eco) freaky While we all know that recycling, taking public transit, and limiting our consumption of animal products can all help reduce our environmental footprints, you can also take steps in the bedroom to make your sex life a little greener.

Condoms Walking through Sandy Hill on a weekend morning, you’re bound to find a few remnants of some student’s exhibitionist antics on the sidewalks. With that in mind, the first point to being more eco-friendly in bed is simple: dispose of your condoms properly! Also be aware of the possible impacts around how your condoms are manufactured.

Dishing with Di: For the love of the planet

For example, when latex condoms are made the latex is heated up until it solidifies—a process that produces nitrosamines, a carcinogenic chemical. While the health impacts of this aren’t yet clear, you can use this as an opportunity to switch your normal brand of condoms, or try other birth control methods. Most importantly, your safety comes first, so if latex condoms are the best way for you to protect against infection and pregnancy then stick with that. Just be sure to use the garbage can, and not the sidewalk, to dispose of them!

As climate change worsens people are taking many different measures, but ecosexuals in particular have a very interesting take. Ecosexuality is a pretty broad term, but most notably comprises a growing movement of having sex in, and well, with, the natural world.

The movement also stresses using more sustainable products when having sex, in addition to having a sexual relationship with the great outdoors.

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Another product which could have unintended ecological consequences is lube. Avoid any petroleum-based lube and try to go for more natural types such as Sustain’s organic lubricant, Good Clean Love lubricant, or BabeLube Natural. Petroleum extraction is a pretty dirty business (and not the way I like), negatively impacting the environment and population health through oil spills and the release of greenhouse gases.

Skip the shower sex Even if you and your partner enjoy hopping in the shower to get it on, you might want to keep it to a minimum. As various parts of North America have been suffering from droughts on and off for the past few years, we really shouldn’t take our water for granted. Getting your partner off while in the shower could lead to a lot of water waste—okay, some water waste depending how long they last.

Lingerie Debuting new lingerie can be a great way to spice up your sex life, but the way some of these panties are made are definitely not hot. Again, beware of petroleum-based fibers that can take decades to decompose. Of course, taking it all off is a pretty easy fix for this problem.

Dim the lights

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Light some candles or turn off a few lights to make the mood a little more romantic. Either way, reducing your use of electricity can lower your hydro bill and benefit the environment.

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OCT. 16-OCT. 22, 2017

THRYLLABUS

MUSIC EATS SPORTS FUN THINKING ARTS

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Monday Oct. 16

Info Session: the City of Ottawa, the Budget, and Climate Action, Cafe Nostalgica third floor, room 307—6:30 p.m.

Free mindfulness and movement meditation, hosted by dance education and teaching artist, Siôned Watkins, National Arts Centre—7:30 a.m.

Tuesday Oct. 17

Breakfast club hosted by the SFUO Food Bank, free breakfast in the University Centre—8:30 a.m.

Veggie lunch hosted by Lisgar Environmental Action Force, vegetarian buffet for $3 with your own plate or $4 without, Lisgar Collegiate Institute—11:25 a.m.

Wednesday Oct. 18

Free home-cooked, healthy, and vegan meal, hosted by the People’s

Republic of Delicious, Deja Vu kitchen (between Thompson and Morisset)—9 a.m.

Dallas Smith, Side Effects Tour, TD Place—7 p.m.

Thursday Oct. 19

Government Midterm: Indigenous and Gender Roundtable, make your voice heard in evaluating how the current administration is doing in regards to Indigenous and gender issues, Faculty of Social Sciences building, room 4004—12 p.m.

Loving Vincent, the world’s first fully painted animated feature, Bytowne Cinema—4:45 p.m.

Friday Oct. 20

90s Or Bust Dance Party, Babylon Nightclub—10 p.m.

Barry and the Blasters, tickets $15 with all

proceeds going to the United Way campaign organized by Environment Canada, Rainbow Bistro—8:30 p.m.

Saturday Oct. 21

Friends of the Ottawa Public Library Association’s Mammoth Used Book Sale, all proceeds donated to the Ottawa Public Library, cash only, City of Ottawa Archives—10 a.m.

A Solo Artist Event, featuring diverse solo musicians & multiinstrumentalists, AvantGarde Bar—8 p.m.

Sunday Oct. 22

Gee-Gees soccer vs.Carleton, Matt Anthony Field—1 p.m.

Gee-Gees men’s basketball vs. Laurier, Jack Donohue Tournament, Montpetit Hall—2 p.m.

DISTRACTIONS | 29

30 | LETTERS THEFULCRUM.CA

EDITORIAL Volume 78, Issue 8, oct. 16, 2017 Appreciating our resources since 1942.

Phone: (613) 695-0061 | Fax: (613) 695-9006 631 King Edward Ave. Ottawa, ON K1N 6N5 Recycle this paper or we’ll crush you with a tree.

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Contributors

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PRIORITIZING INDIGENOUS VOICES ON THE ISSUES THAT AFFECT THEM

On Friday, Oct. 6, the Supreme Court of Canada unanimously ruled that 38,000 records of the abuse that operators of residential school perpetrated against Indigenous children are to be destroyed.

These records were kept as a way for survivors of residential schools to receive compensation, and as per the Court’s ruling, the sensitive nature and confidentiality of these documents serves as justification for their destruction.

According to the CBC, the ruling has divided many Indigenous groups. Some have advocated that they should be preserved as a reminder of Canada’s colonial history and the violence that settlers imposed upon natives of the land, while others feel that the sensitive content—explicit accounts of physical, emotional, and sexual abuse— can do damage to the descendants of the former students.

The Fulcrum is not an Indigenous organization, and when speaking on the ruling and its implications, we remind our readers that we do not want our opinions taking precedence over the voices of those who have faced this violence first-hand, and their families and loved ones.

When considering the outcome of this decision, it’s important to prioritize the voices of those directly impacted by it—the survivors of these heinous institutions.

It’s also crucial to remember that we can’t classify Indigenous peoples as a single, homogenous group with a shared opinion on the issue. Clearly, residential schools impacted Indigenous peoples in a range of ways, mentally, physically, and emotionally, and some more than others.

Despite this range of impacts, however, all of their opinions are valid and should be our main focus when examining the outcome of the decision.

The records are a reminder to us of our country’s dark, colonial past.

Destroying these records can, in a way, symbolize us erasing this history and moving forward under the assumption that these schools have no impact on Indigenous communities today. But to say this would negate the fact that effects of the abuse is ongoing. The impacts of residential schools are intergenerational, affecting the children, grandchildren, and further generations of survivors.

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Carolyn Bennett, Canada’s minister of Crown-Indigenous Relations and Northern Affairs, said she was “very disappointed” by the Court’s ruling, as the CBC reports. Bennett believes that these records are crucial to our government’s reconciliation with Indigenous populations, and the work of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission.

Many Indigenous peoples today experience mental health issues, both from the abuse within the schools, as well as the trauma of being forcefully removed from their communities. This disconnect with their communities has also led many Indigenous peoples to experience a lack of connection with their native languages and cultural traditions, communal violence, and a loss of control over their rightful native territory.

But, conversely, the decision is a powerful way for survivors of the schools, and their descendants, to reclaim and take control of their stories—stories that they never wanted to be part of in the first place.

The graphic details accounted within these records are details

that no one should have to live through more than once, if at all.

Though necessary for claiming compensation, once survivors and their families have received this money, perhaps the next course of action should be a destruction of the records. As discussed in the CBC, the federal government tried to preserve the records to be kept under the Library and Archives Canada.

Knowing that these records would be open to the public could have drastic implications on the mental health and well-being of survivors and their families, as anyone could read the graphic details of the trauma that residential school teachers and operators inflicted on the children. Even if these stories were anonymized, as per Bennett’s suggestion, the truth is that these stories would still exist—a reminder to survivors of the trauma they faced.

The outcome of the decision is that the records will be preserved for 15 years, during which time survivors can decide if they would like the records to be destroyed or not. Following this period, the records will be destroyed. Whether

The Supreme Court of Canada ruled on the destruction of residential school records on Friday, Oct. 6.

you agree or disagree with this ruling, we must remember that their destruction does not take away from our country’s violent history of settler colonialism and the forced displacement of Indigenous peoples from their land.

While these records are a crucial piece of history on residential schools, they are not our only piece of history, and we are called to educate ourselves on this history in our day-to-day lives in as many ways as we can.

Through this editorial, we hope that we have opened your eyes to the issue and provided some insight on both ends of the argument. We encourage you to do your own research, and speak to your Indigenous classmates and colleagues to understand their thoughts on the ruling.

This decision is a reminder that residential schools and their aftermath still hold a prominent place in our country’s identity.

It is a reminder to continue the ongoing work of educating ourselves and our peers on the effects of residential schools, and understand our place in the reconciliation process.

Photo: CC, Taxiarchos228.

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