The Fulcrum- Volume 77, Issue 21

VOL. 77 ISSUE 21

mar. 9, 2017

Who run the world?

Pg. 6, 8.

Université d’Ottawa

University of Ottawa

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In this week’s issue...

Digging for the truth P.5 A U of O prof’s fossil discovery has given more insight into the history of life on Earth

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Global feminism’s rise in Ottawa P.6 A night of culture and entertainment educates on intersectionality

N O I PIN ers

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matt

Women in the workplace P.8 The progressions and regressions of feminist economic policy

March 13 to 24, 2017

Evaluaction.uOttawa.ca

“A wonderful opportunity

Synchro team clinches national titles P.11 Gee-Gees competitive club takes home the gold in three events

to see 3 great Canadian choreographic talents on

Étude no 1 / Choreography and photo: Marie Chouinard / Dancer: Lucie Mongrain

one evening!” Cathy Levy

WITH WORKS BY

MARIE CHOUINARD CRYSTAL PITE CHRISTOPHER HOUSE

nac-cna.ca

Is boring really a bad thing? P.12 We should value level-headed politicians over celebrity status Taming a wandering eye P.16 Is it OK to fantasize about someone else while in a committed relationship?

MARCH 23-24 7:30 P.M. NAC THEATRE TICKETS FROM $25

Revenge porn is not taken seriously, and that needs to change P.19 We look at Canada’s legislative changes around revenge porn, and the vital next steps

NEWS

NEWS EDITOR

Graham Robertson news@thefulcrum.ca (613) 695-0061 @_grahamr

Tensions rise between SFUO execs at March 5 BOA

SFUO president accused of being “violent and misogynistic” and abusing power Graham Robertson news editor

A

regularly scheduled Student Federation of the University of Ottawa (SFUO) Board of Administration (BOA) meeting was held on Sunday, March 5, where members of the executive took turns making accusations against president Roméo Ahimakin.

Executive updates and Vanessa Dorimain’s email SFUO vice-president of university affairs Vanessa Dorimain, who was unable to attend the meeting, submitted her executive updates via email, which was read by a proxy.

As part of her updates, Dorimain addressed Ahimakin’s behaviour over the course of the 2016–17 academic year, writing that he is “violent and misogynistic” and “shuts down women in conversations.” The reading continued, with Dorimain claiming that Ahimakin has yelled at her on a number of occasions and has also missed multiple meetings.

With less than two months remaining in both her’s and Ahimakin’s mandates, Dorimain wrote, “I am not looking for any disciplinary action on this,” instead writing that she hopes this matter will be taken seriously and resolved.

Dorimain concluded her email by telling the board that, having worked alongside Ahimakin for two years, she once considered him a friend but now fears him.

Hadi Wess, current vicepresident social for the SFUO and president-elect for the 2017–18 year, updated the board on the March 3 Relay for Life event, which raised over $32,000 for the Canadian

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Cancer Society, and saw its highest participation yet with 31 teams.

Wess then echoed many of Dorimain’s statements regarding the current president by saying, “It has been extremely difficult to work with (Ahimakin) in the past few months,” and that Ahimakin has yelled at him in front of staff.

According to Wess, Ahimakin has made executive meetings an “unsafe space” for many current members, and he has missed many meetings and events. Wess cited the recent Relay for Life as an example of this recurring behaviour, saying that though he asked Ahimakin to attend the event the president only showed up to walk one lap of the track before leaving.

Wess also discussed planning for Leader Action, a transition and teambuilding weekend on April 29–30 for newly elected executive members of the SFUO and federated bodies, BOA reps, and Senate members. According to Wess, while planning for this event typically falls under the mandate of the president and vicepresident social, he is working with Dorimain instead of Ahimakin.

Vice-president of equity Morissa Ellis continued this train of thought by saying that Ahimakin has laughed at her, silenced her, policed her tone, and did not show support for Black History Month events at the U of O. Question period During question period, Ahimakin was asked about the claims made against him, to which he responded that he has dealt with “conflicts of interest” within the executive since September.

Ahimakin also said that two mediations have taken place within the executive to address these internal tensions, and that he has received “charged emails” from Dorimain, Wess, and current vice-president of finance Rizki Rachiq.

According to Wess, the reasoning behind this motion was because the comptroller possesses sensitive information about executives (i.e. expenditures, timesheets), which can be used to their advantage during elections.

The board raised the fact that this was the case during last month’s general election, with comptroller general Tanner Tallon, who was also a candidate for the position of vice-president finance, calling for an audit of campaign expenditures after the race.

The board voted in favour of this cool-down period for the comptroller general running in elections.

All items on the agenda were discussed in a meeting of just under eight hours.

According to Ahimakin, the negativity towards him stemmed from his stance on certain issues within the SFUO, such as Dorimain filling the position of chief returning officer for the 2017 general election—an issue which was found to be unconstitutional, but given the green light by the board due to time constraints and budget.

Ahimakin then proposed to add an item to the agenda to discuss the claims made against him by others on the executive, but this was voted down by the board. Instead, the BOA opted to have it discussed during the miscellaneous points at the end of the meeting.

quired to take a full course load for the majority of their degree.

According to Ahimakin, this limits international students from serving on the SFUO executive (he is the first international student to serve as president), and essentially disenfranchises them from voting and the electoral process.

The motion itself would address this course load for executive members to accommodate for international students, and ultimately passed a first reading. However, his first motion on an international student seat on the board came in competition with a similar motion proposed by Wess.

Wess said that he wrote his own motion in consultation with cultural clubs on campus, but Ahimakin asked whether he, as an international student, was approached by Wess for the motion. Wess responded to Ahimakin by saying that he did reach out to him three or four times.

During debate on the two motions, Kathryn LeBlanc, a representative from the Faculty of Arts and the incoming vice-president of services and communications for the 2017–

Motions on international students During the meeting, Ahimakin brought forward two emergency motions on international students. The first, to create an international student seat on the board, and another to promote equality for international students on campus.

The latter motion addressed how SFUO executives are limited to a maximum of two courses per semester, but international students are re-

Photo: Jaclyn McRae-Sadik.

18 year, noted that this debate had little to do with the specifics of the motions, and more to do with the interpersonal conflict between Ahimakin and Wess.

The board finally ended up passing a motion on international student representation that combined elements of both Ahimakin’s and Wess’ motions.

Comptroller general employment and cool-down period Rachiq brought up the issue of the employment of the comptroller general, as the length of term to which the individual wishes to be employed is up to them.

According to Rachiq, the board’s selection committee should determine the candidate for the position and the length of their employment.

The board then passed a motion so that the candidate for comptroller general cannot begin their employment in the position before signing a fixedterm contract.

Faculty of Arts representative Tristan Lamonica then raised a motion to have a one year cool-down period before the comptroller general can run in SFUO elections.

Other business During the meeting, Rachiq brought up that some members of the board, such as Faculty of Social Sciences representative Tony Bui, have missed multiple meetings, often without a proxy.

Rachiq noted that Bui works out of town, which raised the question of how much he is able to interact with students in his faculty and, ultimately, how well he is able to represent their needs on the board.

Rachiq noted that while the BOA cannot force other members off the board, they can encourage these members to resign.

On the possibility of impeachment for such members, secretary Jesse Root noted that an impeachment process would be launched by the board, with students voting on this impeachment in a special election.

Ahimakin departed from the meeting before the board could further discuss the claims made against him during the miscellaneous points period.

The next SFUO BOA meeting will take place on Sunday, March 12 at 1 p.m., room to be announced. Meetings are open to the public. The SFUO’s winter General Assembly will take place on Tuesday, March 14 at 6 p.m. in Marion Hall. All students are encouraged to attend.

NEWS | 3

U of O student reveals black mould in Brooks residence

Housing services allegedly denied student’s request to terminate lease graham robertson News Editor

On Thursday, March 2, Dev Thaine, a graduate student at the University of Ottawa, sent an email to the Fulcrum entitled “University Students Do NOT have standard renter’s rights,” discussing his rental agreement with U of O Housing Services.

The main issue highlighted by Thaine was the black mould present in his Brooks residence apartment, which, according to Thaine, has not yet been addressed or removed.

In his initial email, Thaine wrote, “I tried to break the lease since residence services have abnegated their responsibilities; however, I was surprised to learn that the University Residences are not subjects to the ‘Ontario landlord tenant act’ or the ‘Residential Tenancies Act’.”

According to Thaine, the U of O has a private contract with students living in residence, but ultimately these students are not subject to typical provincial landlord-tenant acts.

With that in mind, Thaine says “The U of O Housing Services has considerable power over their renters, and the renters have very little recourse against the landlord.”

He further explained that terminating his residential agreement is up to the discretion of Rachelle Clark, director of Housing Services, who allegedly denied his initial request.

Clark did not respond to the Fulcrum’s multiple requests for a comment on time for publication.

Thaine explained that he “divulged a very intimate part of his medical record to Clark … in the hopes that it would allow (him) to cancel the terms

The black mould has yet to be removed from Dev Thaine’s apartment in Brooks residence.

of moving to another unit and signing another 12-month lease. However, Thaine ultimately declined this due to the conflicts moving would cause in his busy schedule.

of (his) lease as the mold and general living conditions are exacerbating and perhaps even causing certain medical issues.”

Clark allegedly gave Thaine the sole option

Photo: Jaclyn McRae-Sadik.

“I do know a number of different students and alumni who have expressed similar and even more horrifying stories,” Thaine wrote in a subsequent email to the Ful-

crum. “Consequently, I have contacted student advocacy groups and City officials, including the mayor, and I hope that I can continue the conversation with them.”

At present, Thaine is working to resolve this issue with another housemate. They have created a gmail account (suinguottawa@gmail.com) and will be advertising it to the student body so they can collect other people’s stories and address the issue as a collective.

“It seems like a petty disagreement between renter and landlord that got out of hand, but honestly feels like a lot more than that,” wrote Thaine.

“There exists a horrible power relationship, and I feel like a lot of first years will continue to be screwed over and residence services seem quite ambivalent.”

Meth lab discovered in student-heavy neighbourhood

Residents believe chemicals could have posed serious threat to building Zainab Al-Mehdar Associate News Editor

On Sunday, Feb. 26, Ottawa police arrested a 40-year-old man following the discovery of a methamphetamine laboratory in his apartment at 345 Clarence Street, located a stone’s throw away from the University of Ottawa’s Friel residence in Lowertown.

According to Ottawa police, Laurence Wheatcroft was charged with producing a schedule one substance and possessing chemicals to be used to produce a schedule one substance under the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act 7.1(2).

Ottawa police originally went to Wheatcroft’s apartment following a request by concerned family members.

Police arrived at the apartment just before 10 p.m. on Feb. 26, and noticed a strong chemical odour as they approached Wheatcroft’s apartment on the fourth floor of the building.

4 | NEWS

The Lowertown neighbourhood is populated by a number of U of O students.

Following Wheatcroft’s arrest, police began a disposal process of the drugs in the apartment, which concluded around 11:30 p.m. According to Ottawa police, the lengthy process was attributed to the tenant’s hoarding lifestyle.

The Fulcrum spoke to some tenants of 345 Clarence Street who were faced with yellow

Photo: Kyle Darbyson.

police tape and police cars as they tried to enter their building on Feb. 26.

In an interview with the Fulcrum, Emilie Hughes, a second-year nursing student at the University of Ottawa who is a resident of the building, said that she arrived home around midnight and was greeted by a fireman and a po-

lice officer.

“I asked them what was going on (and) can I go in, and then (a police officer) told me flat-out, no filters, ‘we found a meth lab on the fourth floor,’” said Hughes, who was shocked to hear the news.

“The police said I could have stayed there, but I just didn’t want to,” said Hughes, who

ended up going to her aunt’s house to spend the night.

Hughes also said that she read on CTV News that “there were so many chemicals that only one police officer could fit in at one time … this individual was living there, you’d think that it’s not even good for us to live there. How did he survive living in his apartment?”

Hughes said that she no longer wishes to live in her apartment building or in the area, which is populated by many U of O students. To students currently looking for apartments, Hughes cautions, “Do your best to find something safe.”

The Fulcrum also spoke to Melissa Salisbury, a U of O alumna and Clarence resident, who said she was kept in the dark about the meth lab despite having asked a police officer outside the building what had happened.

According to Salisbury, she didn’t find out all the details about the incident until the afternoon of Tuesday, Feb. 28 through a co-worker.

Salisbury said it’s often difficult to catch onto issues like these before they happen now, because “everyone is concerned with themselves, and not concerned with the people around them ... we just need to be more attentive on who comes in the building or what’s coming into the building.”

The Fulcrum also reached out to the Ottawa Police Service and spoke to Constable Chuck Benoit, who was unable to provide any new information on the case as it is still being investigated.

However, according to an Ottawa police press release, residents of 345 Clarence Street can rest easy now that the Ottawa Fire Service (OFS) Hazmat confirmed that there was no explosive hazard present at the apartment. Furthermore, the OPP clandestine laboratory response team, OFS Hazmat, and Ottawa paramedic services’ drug unit investigators also cleared the apartment of any hazardous chemicals.

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U of O prof discovers earliest remnants of life on Earth

Discovery reframes scientists’ understanding of our planet’s evolution Eric Davison

staff contributor Earlier this month, an international team of geologists and microbiologists, one member hailing from the University of Ottawa, announced they had found evidence of early life that reframes scientists’ understanding of the primordial Earth.

The team recovered rock samples from Québec’s Nuvvuagittuq Greenstone Belt that contain the fossilized remnants of cells that predate the estimated dawn of life by up to 600 million years.

Jonathan O’Neil, an assistant professor in the department of Earth and Environmental Sciences at the U of O, played a critical role in this groundbreaking discovery, due in part to his intimate knowledge of this greenstone belt.

According to the team’s research, the belt represents the earliest known oceanic crust,

with small filaments and tubes formed by bacteria living on iron. O’Neil believes that what his team discovered in the quartz of the belt are the oldest microfossils to this date and, ultimately, the oldest record of life on Earth.

O’Neil has been studying this belt for the last 12 years, and in 2008 proved that it contained some of the oldest rocks on the planet. Its age and relative stability made it a prime candidate for the kind of fossils the team was looking for.

“If you want to know what the Earth was like four-plus billion years ago, then you’re going to need four-plus billion year-old rock,” said O’Neil. “It’s really an obvious target if you want to look at early life.”

While scientists believe that the Earth is approximately 4.6 billion years old, evidence up until now pegged the beginning of life almost a billion years after that point. However, O’Neil’s

Jonathan O’Neil is an assistant professor at the U of O’s department of Earth and Environmental Sciences.

Photo: Eric Davison.

discovery suggests that life could have started much sooner, pointing to a much more hospitable environment than geologists had suspected.

“We now know life started extremely early on the planet and we know some of the environments it could have started

(in),” said O’Neil. “We now have a place we can study to better understand what kind of environment life could have started in and why.”

Despite this groundbreaking new research, O’Neil warns that what these findings can prove is limited. However, the speed

at which life formed on Earth could mean the conditions needed for genesis are more common than initially believed.

“4.4 billion years ago the moon was formed by a giant impact,” said O’Neil. “So if life was there at that time it was wiped out.

Life reclaimed the planet about 100 million years after that … extremely, extremely fast. So if it happened here, I don’t see why it couldn’t happen somewhere else.”

While evidence of life on other planets is still a ways off, O’Neil believes that the excitement for these discoveries transcends the geological community and reframes humanity’s place in the universe.

“It’s our origin. It’s trying to understand how our planet evolved. It puts humanity in perspective. I think it’s pretty mind boggling.”

You can read more about O’Neil’s findings in the current issue of Nature.

U of O students Roll Up the Rim for the homeless

Cuppa Change initiative allows students to give back in small, meaningful ways Zainab Al-Mehdar associate News Editor

As part of this year’s Roll Up the Rim to Win, University of Ottawa students have launched a charitable project that aims to help the less fortunate benefit from this classic Tim Hortons campaign.

The Cuppa Change initiative was officially launched on Feb. 1 by Constanza Maass, a fourthyear U of O biology student.

Along with around 15 other members of the university, Maass conceived of a program where winning rims from Tim Hortons cups are donated to local homeless shelters.

“Our premise is to give agency to youth to make a difference in their community, we want to empower them to create positive changes,” Maass told the Fulcrum.

In order to get these prizes to the homeless, winning rims can be deposited at red donation boxes that are set up at garbage and recycling receptacles across campus. Maass and her team have partnered with the Shepherds of Good Hope to make sure these rims are put in

the right hands.

As of March 4, the initiative has raised over 100 winning rims, and Maass and her team are hoping to reach their goal of 200 rims before donating them to the Shepherds of Good Hope.

“The point of this Roll up for Change is to present an incentive for homeless individuals to go into Shepherds of Good Hope and continue to build relationships there,” said Maass. “With that being said, these individuals will have to physically go into the organization, obtain a rim from them, and then go to a Tim Hortons to redeem their coffee, doughnut, or potato wedges.”

According to Leah Myer, communications director for the Shepherds of Good Hope, the Cuppa Change initiative is “a great way to take advantage of the hype” surrounding Roll Up the Rim season, and an important way to “leverage students” to take part in charitable work.

“The main objective of this project goes beyond a free cup of coffee,” Maass said. “It provides an incentive for marginalized individuals to enter a

Constanza Maass originally came up with the idea after she donated a winning rim to a homeless individual.

Photo: Amitesh Malhotra.

safe environment within the Shepherds of Good Hope community, bringing them one step closer to receiving help from professionals who are trained to give it.”

Maass originally came up with the idea behind Cuppa Change after giving a winning rim to a homeless individual on

the street.

“After this, I approached two friends, Bethany Downer and Catherine Marot. I knew they would be the two people who would be able to work with me to make this idea into a reality,” said Maass.

The next step, after recruiting new members, was to reach

out to the federal government and start making the team’s ideas a reality by brainstorming names, logos, and possible mission statements.

Since then, the team has worked on increasing coverage for the initiative through blogs, outreach to student associations on campus, and other local organizations.

“We would not have gotten the project running with as much success had it not been for this incredible, hard-working team,” wrote Maass.

The response to Cuppa Change has been “phenomenal” so far according to the team, as they have received positive feedback from students and families in Gatineau, Thornhill, and Markham, as well as organizations such as Agriculture Canada.

“We have even managed to inspire students at McMaster University to start a Roll up for Change initiative on their campus,” Maass said.

Maass and her team are currently expanding to other projects. This includes a partnership with Palooza, the world’s biggest beer pong tournament,

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to ensure that their upcoming event in April is eco-friendly.

This eco-friendly focus stems from Cuppa Change’s core values—education, environmental sustainability, and enhancing youth capabilities.

“We want to use our knowledge and expertise to re-use resources that are already in place and improve the effectiveness of their impact. The different projects that we will be working on will be centered around those values,” said Maass.

Overall, Maass believes that the Cuppa Change campaign is uniquely tailored for students because, while many undergraduates are often unable to donate through financial means, this project allows them to give back in small, meaningful ways.

“What easier way to have a positive impact on people in the community than to donate these little prizes? Nothing lost, something gained.”

For students looking to get involved with Cuppa Change, please email cuppachangecanada@gmail.com, or follow them on Instagram and Facebook.

news | 5

A&C EDITOR Anchal Sharma arts@thefulcrum.ca

ARTS&CULTURE Laura Taler showcases the beauty of movement through film (613) 695-0062 @imtherocks

Gallery 101 hosts U of O alumna’s latest project, feminist edit-a-thon Ryan Pepper

Fulcrum Freelancer

When it came time to give her newest project a title, Laura Taler couldn’t help but recall a quote from Chinese philosopher Lao Tzu: “The soft and the pliable will defeat the hard and the strong.”

This emphasis on delicate, flexible movement is the driving force behind Taler’s latest video installations at Gallery 101, which are on display until April 1.

“The body carries the past without being oppressed by it,” she said at the exhibit’s grand opening on Saturday, March 4.

“You have all these things that you’ve experienced and that you have to move forward whilst carrying these things with you.”

This philosophy comes to pass in “The Boxer” installation, which was made with choreographer Bill Coleman, and showcases the filmmaker

getting ready for a boxing match by focusing on the subtle movements of lacing up the gloves and doing warm up exercises.

In “Carry Tiger to the Mountain and Wave Hands Like Clouds,” the larger of the two installations, Taler herself can be seen practising Tai Chi on a beach in northern Germany, where she lived for several years. This film is meant to reinforce the belief that Tai Chi, though slow and repetitive, can be an opening for tremendous change and transformation.

Taler, who has an master of fine arts from the University of Ottawa, has been practising choreography and filmmaking for the past 20 years years.

“I would say my foundational medium is dance and movement,” explained Taler. “The body and ideas about how you move through the world and how the body carries experience have always been a big

part of my work.”

Her latest project, shot on Super 8 and 16mm film, also inspired various collages that look at movement and stillness in a better way than the film.

“I just like the quality of film, I always have,” said Taler.

“It is a great way to capture movement. I think also my work tends to reach a little bit towards the past, and I think film gives a kind of media equivalent to those themes.”

Taler’s work in the field of feminism extends beyond her art. On March 11, gallery 101 will be hosting their first Art+Feminism Wikipedia Edit-a-thon as a part of International Women’s Day celebrations, and in conjunction with Taler’s exhibit.

The goal of the event is to raise awareness about the gender gap on Wikipedia for entries detailing art. The event will feature guest speakers Jean-Philippe Béland, Wikimedia Canada Representative,

and Rosa-Iris Rovira, expert Wikipedia editor.

Running from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m., the event is free to attend and will have training for those interested in editing Wikipedia articles pertaining to art and feminism.

“People get together in groups, bring their computers and laptops, and create Wikipedia entries for women,” Taler explained.

“Most Wikipedia entries have been written by men and are about men, and so we are trying to populate Wikipedia with more women.”

To RSVP to the event, you can email office@g101.ca.

If you would like to talk to Taler in person, you can join her at Gallery 101 on Saturday March 11 for the Edit-athon, or on April 1 for an artist round table.

To find out more about Taler’s work you can visit her official website at www.laurataler. ca/news.

A still from Taler’s “Brush Dust Against the Wind 1891.” Photo: Courtesy of Gallery 101.

Putting intersectional feminism first for International Women’s Day Beyond Borders: A Night of Feminist Resistance met with overwhelming response Anchal Sharma Arts & Culture Editor

On Saturday, March 4, the organizers of Beyond Borders: A Night of Feminist Resistance opened their doors to women of all walks of life at the Jack Purcell Community Centre.

The event was held in celebration of International Women’s Day on March 8, and was a night of thought provoking entertainment and culture.

Organized by groups like the Ottawa CUPE District Council, and the Canadian Federation of Students, among others, the event featured spoken word poetry, and live musical performances by women from different backgrounds who sought to educate each other on the intersectionality of feminism in the modern world.

The event started out with an Indigenous prayer from Colleen Cardinal of the National Indigenous Survivors of

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The event featured live entertainment and thought provoking discussion.

Child Welfare Network, and branched out to artists and activists who shared their stories from being brought up as Muslim, as well as being a visible minority, to facing issues of poverty, and what it means to be queer in our modern society.

Photo: Marta Kierkus.

Karen Cocq, one of the event organizers and a member of CUPE, spoke about the necessity of this kind of event, given the overwhelming response that it elicited from youth in the community, with a majority of speakers being students.

“We were more focused on women and labour in particular, and this year we decided that we wanted to have something broader, and bring together women and resistance across a whole bunch of communities and issues,” she said.

Cocq also noted that the event was expressly political, and that it came together after the Women’s March in January.

“We thought there’s a kind of appetite for something different, and something that brings people together,” she said.

Tanisha Green, a secondyear master’s student in criminology at the University of Ottawa who was there representing Fight for $15 and Fairness, agreed with the political motivation behind the cause.

“I think now is definitely a pressing time, just because of the political climate, with the Muslim ban, and Trump being president,” she explained.

“It’s just so in our face … how can you not be mobilizing?

How can you not be organizing? I think it’s definitely motivating for a lot of people. I think a lot of people are more

upset than they have been in a few years, and I know for myself that I can’t stay complacent. I can’t see my sisters and brothers in the struggle alone.”

According to Cocq, the night was not only a stepping stone towards building a stronger and more resilient community, but it also lent itself as a stage for women to raise their concerns about issues that they’ve been dealing with for years.

“I think all the issues that people spoke to tonight, are actually very old and longstanding. Women have been dealing with these issues for decades and decades, and I think what this moment currently shows, with the rise of hate speech and that someone like Donald Trump can get elected, is it’s not anything new but it’s what happens when we don’t speak about these issues openly and we don’t challenge them on a daily basis.”

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Albums you should have listened to: Alicia Keys • Songs in A Minor | J Records Perushka gopalkista, staff contributor Why you haven’t heard it Before she won 15 Grammys, Alicia Keys first set foot on the music scene with the release of her first studio album in 2001, Songs in A Minor.

Keys collectively combines her classical piano style with soul, R&B, and hiphop rhythms to create a masterpiece of eclectic and diverse tracks.

Despite her success, this album didn’t get enough time for promotion simply due to the fact that Keys’ second studio effort, The Diary of Alicia Keys, followed in quick succession only two years later.

Why it might be tough to get through

Though Alicia Keys scored major success during the release of this album, there are multiple tracks on display that listeners might find a little too similar to one another in terms of the composition and style.

The most popular tune from the album, “Fallin’” is noticeably similar to the last track “Lovin’ U,” especially in the way that they both echo the soul style of Aretha Franklin, with “Lovin’ U” sampling Franklin’s “(You make me feel like) A Natural Woman.”

Why you should listen to it anyway Most of the album was written and composed

by Keys herself, which is quite impressive for the then 20-year-old. This album features a dynamic range of sounds, from the 1970s jazz-funk guitar heard throughout the track “Rock Wit U” to the Latin-infused love tune titled “Mr. Man,” which features jazz singer Jimmy Cozier. Alicia also collaborated with several other notable artists such as R&B singer Brian McKnight as well as rapper and producer Jermaine Dupri.

Fun Facts • The only track on the album that is actually sung in the key of A minor is the song “Jane Doe,” which Keys wrote

in collaboration with singer-songwriter Kandi Burruss.

• In the opening interlude, “Piano & I,” Keys samples the classical arpeggio styles of Moonlight Sonata by Ludwig Van Beethoven.

• The third track on the album, titled “How Come You Don’t Call Me,” was originally written and composed by the legendary Prince in 1982. The late musician gave Keys permission to cover the song, which went on to become one of the most memorable tracks on the album.

Alicia Keys’ first studio album was released in 2001.

Best lines and songs • “Cause when it rains it pours, isn’t life worth

more?/ I don’t even know what I’m hustling for.” (from “The Life.”)

• “Just when I think/ I’ve

Photo: Courtesy of J Records.

taken more than would a fool/ I start fallin’ back in love with you.” (from “Fallin’.”)

It’s lit in the library: Good Omens | Terry Pratchett & Neil Gaiman Madison McSweeney fulcrum freelancer

During the school year, when you feel like readings are piled up to your ears, reading for fun can seem like a ridiculous idea—but it shouldn’t. Reading is the fastest way for you to make an escape into the world of your choosing, and expand your vocabulary without even knowing it. The underappreciated world of literature offers endless benefits, so without further ado, check out this week’s read.

Good Omens, a collaborative work between fantasy legends Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman, is a familiar tale in many ways.

The action begins with the delivery of a demonic child, destined to bring about Armageddon. The apocalypse will be presided over by a pair of adversaries pitted against each other since the dawn of man—Crowley, the Genesisera tempter of Adam and Eve,

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and Aziraphale, the Angel entrusted with guarding Eden.

There’s one problem with this scenario: In the 6,000 years since the Fall Crowley and Aziraphale have become drinking buddies, and have grown to enjoy the pleasures of Earth. Not interested in dealing with the nasty business of the End Times, the two immortals plot to disrupt the infant’s diabolical upbringing.

This is further complicated by the fact that, unbeknownst to either of them, the child has been switched at birth.

Packed with quirky characters, eccentric humour, and plenty of pop culture references, this 1990s cult novel reads like The Omen mixed with Monty Python.

The book features multiple intersecting plotlines, sly running jokes that take hundreds of pages to pay off, and a large cast of angels, demons, humans, children, nuns, witches, and witchfinders.

Given that Pratchett and Gaiman collaborated on the

novel in an era before Google Docs (they reportedly wrote the bulk of it through phone conversations and mailed floppy disks), it’s a small miracle that the story is so seamlessly integrated.

The plot is mostly driven

by Pratchett and Gaiman’s witty narration and whimsical asides. Along the way, the authors provide solutions to a variety of mysteries of the universe: Why are there only Four Horsemen in the Book of Revelations (the answer involves a motorcycle accident)?

How many angels can dance on the head of a pin (a moot point, as there is only one angel who can actually dance)?

Did Elvis Presley really fake his death (turns out he’s alive and well and working at a truck stop)?

Much of the novel’s humour comes from the pairing of bookish Aziraphale with stylish slacker Crowley. The reluctant demon “who did not Fall so much as Saunter Vaguely Downward,” is frequently sur-

prised to find humans committing more diabolical sins than demons could ever dream up.

“They’ve got what we lack,” he concludes. “They’ve got imagination. And electricity, of course.”

As an apocalyptic novel, Good Omens has its fair share of grandiose imagery, including clandestine meetings of demons and the resurgence of the Lost City of Atlantis.

However, the real magic is found in the smaller, character-driven moments— deadpan dialogue between supernatural beings, scenes of Aziraphale and Crowley drunkenly bemoaning the coming apocalypse, or subtle notes like Crowley “blessing” under his breath.

My personal favourite moment is an exchange in which a technology-adverse demon is informed that Crowley “drives a car with a telephone in it” and subsequently speculates, “I bet it needs a lot of wire.”

Good Omens is a clever and irreverent read that might just

The novel was published in 1990.

get you thinking about deeper religious and moral questions.

Alternately, you can take it as

Photo: Courtesy of Workman Publisher.

an amusing joyride through the End Times set to a Best of Queen soundtrack.

ARTS & Culture | 7

The economic costs of gender inequality This year, March 8 marked both International Women’s Day and the Day Without a Woman general strike in the United States, an event designed to draw attention to the ways women of all backgrounds contribute to society.

The day served as an opportunity to celebrate the accomplishments of women and recognize the barriers women still face.

Since the first women’s suffrage movements in the late 1800s, waves of feminists have challenged their role in society, and torn down barriers to achieve some degree of equality. Many called for change in the labour market, and argued for gender parity and equity in the workplace.

Finally, economic parity and solidarity are the main focus for many organizations this year, as the issue of equal pay for equal work has become a more prominent political issue.

But with the mainstreaming of feminism, do women still face barriers when entering the labour market? And how has the labour market responded in turn?

Working girls The second wave feminist movement of the 1960s and 1970s in Canada brought to light the economic dimension of the sexist status quo. By demanding equal pay and equal opportunity, women began to assert themselves as capable of contributing to the economy.

“We had really high hopes, women could do anything.

We had so much fire and determination to do it.”

As the movement gained momentum, advocates began to reap the rewards of their efforts. Canada answered the call for gender parity in the workplace by creating an Employment Standards Act. The act was intended to decrease gender discrimination in the workplace and ensured that women and men would receive equal pay for equal work.

Furthermore, the movement brought about calls for educational reform that would incorporate curricula relevant to women as well as men. These education reforms stressed the importance of including a curriculum based on women’s history and issues in order to acknowledge the barriers they have overcome and continue to face.

By the 1980s, as “Working Girls” flooded the workforce, gender-based discrimination seemed a thing of the past. Everything was better now, right?

In addition to the changes brought forth by the Women’s Movement, the number of Canadian women going on to post-secondary education increased dramatically. Additionally, Canada adjusted policies regarding childcare and taxes to accommodate women’s involvement in the workforce, and allowed for women to work and care for a family.

The attitude that was characteristic of many women throughout the 60s and 70s was that they could “have it all.”

According to Statistics Canada, Canadian women now account for nearly half of the Canadian workforce. As women continue to enter the workforce, their participation produces quick economic growth, as well as stability and development.

University of Ottawa common law professor Debra Steger recounted what it felt like growing up during those years.

So if women are receiving higher education, obtaining jobs and equitable treatment from employers, what’s the issue?

Emily Cecchetti Fulcrum Freelancer

When a woman’s work goes undone

Where did the women go?

While women are becoming a growing part of the Canadian economy, they continue to face gender inequities and other barriers that limit their economic opportunities.

The majority, more than 45 per cent, work in low paying occupations, such as administrative positions and sales jobs.

According to the former director of Economic Development Programs for the Canadian Women’s Foundation, Chanel Grenaway, 1.5 million women in Canada live on a low income as a result. Not to mention that some groups are much more likely to live in poverty than others.

“For example, 37 per cent of First Nations women living off reserve live in poverty, 28 per cent of visible minority women live in poverty, 33 per cent of women with disabilities live in poverty, 21 per cent of single parent mothers live in poverty, and 16 per cent of single senior women live in poverty.”

Since the 1960s and 1970s, a high volume of women entered administration jobs, healthcare service positions, and the field of education. As of 2016, not much has changed, according to Statistics Canada. Women continue to outnumber men in those domains, but remain elusive in STEM jobs, transportation, and the manufacturing sector.

According to Armine Yalnizyan, a senior economist with the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives, there are two current issues with the gender-segregated nature of Canada’s economy. The first being that women tend to work in the caring and education fields, and men in industries such as construction, utilities, and primary resource extraction. Secondly male-dominated fields are valued more because they are more “capital intensive.”

“It is logical to put it that way on the one hand,” said Yalnizyan. “On the other hand, it’s just weird that we value the reproduction of the species essentially … as less important as producing stuff that people can consume.”

institutes the Pay Equity Act which stipulates equal pay for jobs that are “comparable in value based on skill, effort, responsibility and working conditions.” Unfortunately, on a federal level, the loophole still exists.

While some circumstances have changed, women still continue to deal with barriers involving career advancement and development.

Grenaway indicated that “women who work full-time earn about 74 cents for every dollar earned by men. This number is even lower for some groups, such as racialized or Indigenous women.”

“What’s not happening is that they are not being promoted into top positions or leadership roles. They might get that job in the first place,” said Steger. “But the issue is promotion, advancement, or even being given responsibilities.”

In Canada, women hold approximately 8.5 per cent of the highest paid positions, comprise 18 per cent of senior corporate positions, and 20 per cent of board positions.

However, in the most recently published list of Canada’s 100 highest paid CEOs, only two women were on the list.

“Women are also more likely to be moving in and out of the workforce compared to men—maternity leave is one example,” said Grenaway. “This is part of the ‘glass ceiling’ issue: men are often able to stay in the workforce continually, thus keeping an unbroken focus on advancing their careers.”

Despite asserting themselves as economic forces and joining men in a large portion of the labour market, women still continue to make less money than their male counterparts. Even though policies such as the Employee Standards Act have been established to eliminate the obvious formal barriers to pay equity, the gender wage gap is still problematic.

A gaping hole in the Employee Standards Act Despite the progression of feminist issues, women still make less money on average than men for the same work.

The problem hasn’t disappeared, and the gap doesn’t seem to be getting much smaller.

The Employee Standards Act is based on the concept that men and women must receive equal pay for jobs that are substantially the same.

So in theory, men and women who do the same job should be paid the same amount. The issue is that the Act has a major loophole: If the duties or title of the job were adjusted, the pay may be impacted.

Thus, pay differences may emerge on the basis that the job a man has compared to a woman is different. But however minute these differences are is irrelevant. Some provinces, such as Quebec and Ontario have instituted policies to ensure that this loophole is closed. For example, Ontario

While men and women may earn different wages for jobs that are only slightly different, another contribution to the wage gap comes from the fact that women make up 59 per cent of Canada’s minimum wage earners, despite having higher levels of education than men.

However, according to Yalnizyan, both the Employment Standards Act and Pay Equity Act were “really germane” in terms of employment opportunities for women and closing the wage gap.

“Both pieces of legislation, they’ve either been functionally abandoned or challenged in the courts,” she said.

Instead, the repatriation of the Constitution and the introduction of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms in 1982 made the most substantial change, said Yalnizyan.

Section 28 of the Charter states that “Notwithstanding anything in this Charter, the rights and freedoms referred to in it are guaranteed equally to male and female persons.”

Section 28 is also important because it is not subject to the notwithstanding clause that allows Parliament and provincial legislatures to override other parts of the Charter.

It’s lonely at the top Around the globe, women are becoming more and more involved in politics. Currently, there are 18 female world leaders in countries like Germany, Argentina, and Poland. In Canada, upon his election, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau even went so far as to create a gender equal cabinet.

While the presence of women in leadership roles has become noticeably larger for some countries, it is hard to dismiss the fact that the capabilities of female leaders are often called to question on the basis of gender. For Steger, there seems to be a stark contrast between how women in these roles are treated compared to their male counterparts.

“When we do see women in leadership roles, I don’t think they receive the respect that they deserve or the same respect that men do,” she said. “Women politicians and women leaders receive a lot of harassment.”

Unfortunately, this kind of harassment also takes place in the workplace and impacts both men and women.

Women generally experience more sexual harassment in the workplace, which can greatly influence job involvement, absenteeism, and job satisfaction.

“Quite beyond (sexual harassment) is sexual violence towards women, which affects a very large number of women and does change their economic prospects,” said Yalnizyan. “Sexual harassment in the workplace, while important, is not as important as the larger safety and security issue of women and which may hamper their ability to function at their full potential.”

The future is female?

As women around the world continue to strive toward equality in the workplace, increasing female involvement in the labour market may have tremendous benefits to the economy.

Reports indicate that if the participation of women in the workforce equalled the participation of men, the global economy could grow by $28 trillion dollars by 2025. The Canadian economy has also felt the effects of the growing number of working women. Over the last 30 years, Canadian women have increased annual economic activity by $130 billion.

But the climb toward gender parity in Canada may be getting a bit steeper.

In a report published last year by the World Economic Forum, Canada took 35th place out of 144 countries for gender parity. The ranking from the previous year was 30th, and the drop may be attributed to a decrease in female legislators, officials, and managers. Other reports have noted that the gender wage gap in Canada is double the global gap.

As politicians continue to be called on for solutions to closing the gender gap, the Canadian federal government has pledged support to increasing women’s rights. As the Trudeau government continues to address gender parity concerns, time will only tell if policies will be developed to eliminate the disparity.

The next steps toward gender parity aren’t clear, but for Yalnizyan, budgetary initiatives that take on a gendered approach may be a step in the right direction.

“I hope they’re very serious about changing their approach to budgeting, because if they do it will make a big difference not only to the economy and the tax-base as a consequence, but in the lives of men, and women, and children across the country,” said Yalnizyan. “It’s for that reason I hope that they walk the talk of being a feminist government.”

—with files from Nadia Drissi El-Bouzaidi.

Illustration: Jaclyn McRae-Sadik.

SPORTS

SPORTS EDITOR Nico Laliberté sports@thefulcrum.ca

(613) 695-0062 @FulcrumSports

Gee-Gees on wrong end of two last second thrillers

Poor free-throws and a lack of bench scoring result in two losses to close out the season showing off his stroke from longrange. The Gees took an 18–15 lead into the second quarter, with help from four three-pointers.

Just before the halfway mark of the second quarter, Adam Presutti hit a big three-ball, and followed up the shot with a great defensive block to give the Gees a 30–23 lead.

The Rams came back hard in the last five minutes of the quarter, and took a 35–34 advantage going into the second half, despite Ottawa shooting an excellent 46.2 per cent from the field and 40 per cent from beyond the arc.

The second half started with both teams doing their best to try to pull away. A big three-pointer from the defensive player of the year, Caleb Agada, and a layup by Presutti gave the Gee-Gees a four-point lead.

At the end of the third quarter, the U of O led 58–53 and seemed to take control of the game. Agada continued his impressive play with eight points in the quarter.

The Gees continued to play hard

zack goobie

associate Sports Editor The University of Ottawa men’s basketball team competed in the Ontario University Athletics (OUA) final four tournament on March 3 and 4. They needed a top-three finish for a chance at the U Sports national championship. Unfortunately, the Gee-Gees would come up a little short, and ended their otherwise fantastic season with two tough losses and a fourth-place finish in the league.

Ryerson Rams On Friday, March 3, the Gees faced off in an OUA semi-final game against the nationally second-ranked Ryerson Rams. The Gees lost a heartbreaking 76–75 game that came down to the final second.

Once the ball was tipped at the opening quarter, the energy at the Raven’s Nest in Ottawa was outstanding and continued all game. Matt Plunkett was big for the Gees early in the first quarter, with two three-pointers,

with a powerful Ryerson team on the other side of the court. Agada hit a clutch three-pointer with 4:02 to play in the quarter, and gave his team a 72–66 advantage.

However, the Rams stormed back, and a clutch bucket by Juwon Grannum gave the Rams a 76–75 lead with 52 seconds to go. With mere seconds left, Brandon Robinson collected a defensive rebound, ran the floor, and put up a shot looking to draw contact, but no foul was called and the Gees lost the contest.

“Grannum hit a big shot in the corner, we decided not to foul at the end, they have very good free-throw shooters,” said head coach James Derouin. “We played it out, we got the stop that we wanted, and we got Brandon in transition, he went one on three, and honestly I thought they went straight up on the D.” The game ended in heart-breaking fashion, and the Gees bench was visibly upset with the call.

Agada finished with 24 points to lead his team and Plunkett recorded

15 points off of five shots from downtown.

Free throws hurt the Gees, as they only made 15 out of a possible 25 from the line.

“I think Caleb got a little tired at the end, not his best game. I’m proud of those guys. They played hard,” said Derouin. “Plunkett was great from start to finish, really wanted that last one to go for him because he was excellent tonight.”

Brock Badgers With the Friday loss, the Gees were relegated to the bronze medal game against the Brock Badgers on Saturday, March 4. Both teams were eyeing the wildcard bid to try to qualify for the U Sports National Championship.

Unfortunately, things didn’t go as planned for the Gees and they were again on the wrong end of a last second buzzer beater attempt, losing the game 69–67.

Brock came out hot, hitting their first three field goals. Pierre-Charles converted a great alley-oop to finish

The Gees’ season came to a close on March 4 against Brock.

10 | SPORTS

off the first quarter and the Gees only trailed 21–18 after the first period.

The Badgers took a 29–20 lead with six and a half to go off a three-pointer. A huge block by Pierre-Charles brought the crowd to their feet after a Garnet and Grey turnover.

Turnovers were an issue at the end of the second quarter, resulting in the Gees trailing 38–34 going into the second half.

Agada converted a steal into a basket to tie the game up at 40–40 with 6:27 left to play in the period. Two three-pointers in less than a minute gave the Badgers a 56–48 lead heading into the last quarter.

The Garnet and Grey clawed their way back to within two points of the Badgers in the final quarter, after Robinson hit two clutch free-throws with 33 seconds to go. Agada had a chance to tie the game with shots from the charity stripe, but could only convert one which allowed the Badgers to maintain a one-point lead.

After Brock went one for two at the line, the Gees had a chance to win or tie the game with less than 20 seconds on the clock.

Agada looked poised to take the last shot, having already drained 22 points. But he decided to pass the ball to Robinson after being pressured hard. Robinson‘s turn-around shot failed to hit rim, and the game was over.

Derouin talked about the last seconds of the game and how it played out.

“You put it in Caleb’s hands, a fifthyear senior, your best player, obviously you want him to make a play,” said Derouin. “He didn’t get the look he wanted.”

Robinson was big for the Gees on the offensive end with 14 points. Jean Emmanuel Pierre-Charles had two key blocks to help his team defensively.

For the second straight game, a lack of bench scoring hurt the Garnet and Grey as their reserves were only able to put together 11 points.

“At times we just didn’t have the energy today, but you know what, more so that was what Brock did to us. They took the energy out of us,” said Derouin.

As the clock struck zero, the GeeGees’ great season came to an end, the loss officially eliminating them from national tournament contention for the first time since 2012.

Photo: Marta Kierkus.

thefulcrum.ca

Gees synchro swimming team takes home national honours Competitive club claims first place title in the team, duet, and solo events Nico Laliberté sports Editor

The University of Ottawa’s synchronized swimming competitive club achieved its best-ever result at the Canadian University Synchronized Swimming league’s national championship at McGill on Feb. 24 and 25. Not only did the team take home the John Drake trophy for placing first in the varsity team event, they also finished first in the varsity duet and varsity solo events.

This was the second year in a row that the Gees have taken home the John Drake trophy, and the first year that they took home all three major varsity awards.

Fourth-year student Marie Albert, who competed in the team and duet events, said that last year they came into the national championship as underdogs, while this year they dominated every com-

The U of O takes home the John Drake trophy for second year in a row.

petition they participated in.

“Last year we did not win at the eastern division competition, and we did not win in the prelim competition, and so winning the final competition was very exciting. This year we won every single competition.”

Photo: Courtesy of Dan Robichaud Photography.

Head coach Katie Simanzik explained that coming up with the winning routine is a collaborative process that involves all of the girls.

“A lot of the creativity comes from them and I play a role in organizing the routine, making sure everything

makes sense, that each part has a purpose. I’m trying to remember what the judges are looking for when they’re going to be watching that routine and sort of bringing that perspective back to them.”

Albert said that even once the routine is done, it’s still

constantly being tweaked and adapted.

“We do the same routine for the full year, but after easterns we changed a few things. We adjusted some things that needed to be changed to make it even better. So it was the same routine but with a few things that were different.”

For freshman Carlie Cholette, this year marked her first time back in the pool since 2013. But she didn’t show any signs of rust in the competition itself, as she came first in the team event, the duet event with Albert, and the solo event.

“I actually tried out for our Olympic team, and that didn’t go so well, so I decided not to swim for three years,” explained Cholette. “Didn’t really expect anything much but I decided to swim all three routines ... and ended up winning all three at nationals.”

Cholette said that of her

three wins, her solo win was the sweetest, since she only came third at that event in the eastern championship.

“We changed a few things in my routine to make it more technical, cause that’s what the judges were looking for in the first competition,” said Cholette. “I was not happy about that result and I worked my butt off in and outside the pool … I was going for gold at nationals, and I did it. So it means a lot.”

Albert is graduating this year, but said that if she returns to do a masters she would definitely compete again. Cholette plans to continue swimming for the Gees, but still hopes to one day compete on the international stage.

“I definitely want to swim again next year, whether it’s for the national team or the university,” said Cholette. “I just want to keep swimming, like Dory would say.”

Multiple Gee-Gees honoured with all-star recognition

Athletes from basketball, hockey, and volleyball teams recognized for individual success nizations such as the Canadian Association for the Advancement of Women and Sport and Physical Activity.

Nico Laliberté sports Editor

A number of varsity athletes from the University of Ottawa have been named as Ontario University Athletics (OUA) or Réseau du sport étudiant du Québec (RSEQ) all-stars. This title recognizes the top players in the league as “first-team all-stars” and the next group as “second-team all-stars.”

Men’s Basketball Two Gees from the men’s basketball team were recognized for their excellent hustle this season. Caleb Agada was named the OUA defensive player of the year for the second year in a row, and the fifthyear guard was also named a first team all-star for the third consecutive season.

Jean Emmanuel PierreCharles was also named as a first team all-star. It is PierreCharles’ first time being named an all-star, and in the fourthyear guard’s first season with the Gees after transferring from Carleton in the summer.

Women’s Basketball The women’s basketball team also boasted two OUA all-

Pierre-Charles (left), Besselink, Lemay, and Neuwald were among those named as all-stars this year.

stars. Fourth-year guard Sarah Besselink was named to the second all-star team. She led the Gees with 13.8 points per game. It’s her first all-star recognition since being named to the OUA rookie all-star team in her freshman year.

First-year Amélie Hachey was named to the all-rookie all-star team. She ranked third overall on the Gees squad with

an average of 6.8 points per game, despite limited playing time.

Women’s Hockey Three women’s hockey players received RSEQ honours for their play this season.

Second-year forward Mélodie Bouchard was named as a first-team all-star for the second year in a row. Bouchard

had 23 points in 18 games this year, and her season was highlighted by a trip to Kazakhstan to represent Canada at the 2017 Winter Universiade.

Fourth-year defender Bryanna Neuwald joined her teammate in receiving first-team all-star recognition. Neuwald transferred to Ottawa from Ohio State this season, and went on to be one of the most

Photos: Kim Wiens and Marta Kierkus.

physically dominant forces on the Gees’ blueline this year.

Fourth-year forward and Gees captain Vickie Lemire was also honoured with the Leadership and Community Engagement award. Not only did Lemire serve as the Gees’ ambassador for several committees on campus, but she’s also being recognized for her volunteering work with orga-

thefulcrum.ca

Women’s Volleyball Not to be outdone, the women’s volleyball team also boasted three RSEQ all-stars.

Fifth-year setter Kira Tome was named to the first all-star team. She was once again the quarterback for her squad, earning praise from her coach, Lionel Woods, who told the Fulcrum he thought she had her best all-around season this year.

Tome was previously named an OUA first-team all-star in 2015.

Third-year left side Caroline Lemay, and third-year libero Sabrina Roy were both named to the second all-star team. Lemay had a breakout season, leading the Gees with 3.26 kills per set.

Roy stepped up in a leadership role for the Gees, and was dominant defensively, recording 4.24 digs per set, the highest mark in the RSEQ. Despite some disappointing team finishes, the standout individual performances of GeeGees athletes this year can’t be overshadowed.

Sports | 11

OPINIONS

OPINIONS EDITOR Eric Davidson

opinions@thefulcrum.ca (613) 695-0062 @eric_davidson93

When it comes to politics, boring may be better Critics shouldn’t be so quick to dismiss NDP race’s lack of star power Natasha Lomonossoff staff contributor

O

ne could say that Canadian politics has become much more interesting ever since TV personality Kevin O’Leary entered into the Conservative leadership race.

Besides creating a lot of buzz, he has also been able to raise more money than any of his opponents, according to various media reports. The New Democratic Party (NDP) leadership race, on the other hand, has been a completely different story.

None of the candidates who have publicly considered running are particularly well-known, despite the fact that they are all sitting MPs. In the view of University of British Columbia political scientist David Moscrop, this lack of celebrity will be detrimental to the NDP’s chances of forming government in the next election: “People now, like it or not,

Critics have called the list of NDP leadership hopefuls too boring.

love the celebrity behind certain politicians,” Moscrop told the CBC in February.

While charisma and personal appeal certainly can go a long way in building political capital, it shouldn’t be the only factor in determining who will be the best leader for the country.

Personal style needs to be balanced out with substance to ensure that we aren’t just voting for a brand name. While the policies of Donald Trump south of the border may be

Photo: CC, Asclepias, Marc DeMouy, Guy Caron Facebook, BCNDP.

the most acute example of this, one only needs to look at O’Leary’s campaign to see the dangers in voting based on excitement or popularity.

During the first debate in which he participated, O’Leary provided little in the way of answers on how he would approach the country’s most pressing problems, choosing instead to circle back to his experience as a businessman and primary domain of economics.

Recent outbursts directed towards premiers and populist proposals—

such as declaring that he would force Nova Scotia to permit naturalgas fracking in order to create more jobs—also haven’t done much to reassure Canadians that O’Leary truly has their best interests at heart. As Globe and Mail columnist Campbell Clark wrote, “It’s not really about what he’d do, or the answers to a variety of issues. It’s all about Kevin O’Leary.”

But being the leader of a country involves more than just name recognition and hobnobbing with ce-

lebrities—it requires a clear grasp of various issues and knowledge of the consequences that every decision can have.

Though the NDP leadership contenders may not be famous, they each have relevant experience to the position which they are seeking. Peter Julian, for instance, has served as an MP since 2004 and as the party’s critic for portfolios such as natural resources, energy, and finance.

Another candidate, Guy Caron, is trained as an economist, candidate Charlie Angus has experience advocating for Indigenous rights, and candidate Niki Ashton has fought economic inequality.

Sure, they may not have the star power that O’Leary does, but their collective experience should speak for itself. If a candidate’s political campaign has boiled down exclusively to their fame, it may be worth asking if they are really qualified for the position of prime minister in the first place.

Canada should offer universal coverage for essential drugs Federal government needs to take action to improve this country’s health-care Cherie Wong

Fulcrum contributor Unlike our neighbours to the south, Canadians like to feel proud of our healthcare system. But would it come as a surprise to say that our socalled “universal healthcare” is not universal after all?

New research in the journal CMAJ Open has criticized Canada’s lack of policy in this area, and says a list of prescription drugs to receive public funding is needed.

Although the Canadian health care system covers all essential medical services for residents, medication and prescriptions are not covered by this plan. In fact, Canada is one of the few countries with universal healthcare that do not offer a medication access program. Provinces and territories have their own programs to supplement part of the medication costs, but none are able to provide subsidy for essential medications.

And here comes the bombshell statistics: about 1 in 10 Canadians cannot afford prescription medication.

12 | OPINIONS

People are calling on Canada to offer coverage of more drugs.

This is made even worse by the fact that Canada has the secondhighest medication cost in the world. In the past five years, our government wasted $15 billion over highly priced prescription medications. At this point, it should be obvious that the Canada Health Act is not a “universal healthcare plan” for

Photo: Jaclyn McRae-Sadik.

Canadians.

What’s even more infuriating is that the notion of essential medicines is not new in the healthcare community, and Canada has done little to work on it despite rising costs. The World Health Organization (WHO) first published the WHO Model Lists of Essential Med-

icines in 1977, which includes 208 medications.

The WHO updates this list of essential medicines every two years and 2017 will mark the 40th anniversary of the list, which now includes over 410 medications. More than 155 countries followed the WHO model and created their own national lists of essential medication.

On the opposite side of the globe, New Zealand’s medication subsidy program negotiates and purchases medication at prices about 90 per cent lower than Canadian prices.

New Zealand created a universal list of essential medication to the health and disability sector. The subsidized medication charges at $5, and prescriptions for children under 13 are free. With this in mind, you can’t say that government action won’t make a difference in this arena.

Five years ago, the House of Commons’ Health Committee called on the federal government to establish a list of essential medicines to receive funding and lower costs

for people who use the medicine, but Canada has yet to adopt one. To emphasize the significance of the WHO model, this list accounts for 44 per cent of prescriptions filled by pharmacies in 2015.

On top of the current coverage in healthcare, essential medication should be included in the government’s plan for Canadians’ healthcare future. We need to see federal leadership in creating a national pharmacare system, which would create an agency responsible for the purchase, safety screening, and distribution of essential of medications for the nation.

Similar to the New Zealand approach, Canada as a nation should create a list of essential medication.

Through this method, Canada will be able to offer subsidy and cost reduction for essential pharmaceuticals. Furthermore, the pharmacare system will ensure Canadians have access to safe medications.

It’s time for Canadians to live up to our reputation on a global stage, and endorse a truly universal healthcare system.

thefulcrum.ca

The “dumb phone” isn’t such a stupid idea after all Reducing distractions is hard, but taking a temporary step back could help Eric Davidson Opinions Editor

If you asked to see my phone and I whipped out an old Nokia brick, you would probably laugh in my face. Best case scenario, you’d wonder how you accidently walked into some kind of time machine.

But wait! Nokia is bringing back its old-school, app-less, 2.4-inch-screened Nokia 3310. And I might want to buy one, at least for a while.

If you think that’s a silly idea, I can’t blame you. We live in age where phones can do almost anything you need. They can tell you what song is playing at the bar, help you use a word processor, and take and share videos instantly. I could have typed and shared this article just on my smartphone alone.

On the other hand, oldmodel phones can play Snake.

Now, I for one do not plan on ditching the

smartphone for the rest of my life. In addition to all their functionality, they have fun social uses. Social media apps make it easy to connect with people wherever you are, ride-sharing apps can make going out easier, and the list goes on.

But for all their benefits, I can think of serious drawbacks as well.

A 2016 Deloitte survey in the U.S. found that young adults in the 20–24 range check their phones around 82 times a day.

That’s a lot, and I know it’s accurate for me. What’s more, the study found that people were checking their phones at all hours, including the middle of the night.

I do this without thinking, and I often catch my thumb rocketing towards the bright blue Twitter icon without ever considering that I wanted to browse through celebrity thoughts or cat pictures.

But perhaps the statistics from the survey that

Photo: Jaclyn McRae-Sadik. CC, themidnyteryder83. Edits: Jaclyn McRae-Sadik.

hit me the hardest was how we use smartphones while we do other things.

For example, 93 per cent of people reported using their phones at work, and the same number said they stared at the small screen

during leisure time, such as while watching television or interacting with friends.

Working, hanging out with friends, and relaxing make up a big chunk of how I spend my time.

Looking back, it feels a bit weird that during all of these important aspects of my life I’m not focusing 100 per cent. In fact, I’m probably focusing far less.

Studies have shown that multitasking will slow you

down if you’re working, and no matter the activity, it can result in a drop in IQ comparable to losing a night of sleep.

This is where I think getting a “dumb phone” could, ironically, make me smarter. By taking away this maze of distractions, if only for a month or two, it would give me a chance to reset my brain and shed some bad habits. I think it would feel nice to know Twitter can’t mind control me to open its app.

As for the functionalities I could lose, I’m not too worried. I have a strange feeling my friends won’t ditch their smartphones en masse. Someone will have Uber. It’ll be ok.

Are dumb phones the way of the future? Probably not. Will they ultimately replace your farmore-capable smartphone?

Also not likely. But that doesn’t mean they can’t play a useful role in your life, at least for a while.

Taxing robots isn’t the path to economic stability

Halting technological progress is sure to create more problems than it solves Nicholas Robinson staff contributor

Beware the rise of the robots! These metallic strangers are coming to our shores to steal our jobs and cause the collapse of our society! Before you know it, we will all be ruled by artificial intelligence like in some sort of dystopian sci-fi novel!

At least, that’s what some would have you think, judging by the headlines circulating the news these days. The latest idea being floated about is that of a “robot tax”—a tax on companies that use robots instead of human workers.

The problem is that this idea, in practice, is actually quite a bad one.

It’s all nice to talk about a robot tax when it comes to things like making cars, but the issue is that robotics don’t end there. How would feel if next time you needed surgery your doctor told you the surgeons would be using outdated technology because

Bill Gates is calling for a robot tax to save human jobs.

medical advances were too expensive?

Few people would be happy with that scenario, and hopefully no surgeon would be content either. And with good reason. It doesn’t make much sense to argue “let’s make our lives better by stop-

ping improvements.” That’s essentially what the proponents of a robot tax are arguing.

New technology tends to open the door to a lot more new jobs than it takes away.

Think, for instance, of mobile phones. Sure, jobs might have

Illustration: Anastasiia Cherygova.

been lost in the rotary phone industry, but mobile phones still need to be built, apps need to programmed, operating systems need to be coded, new phone networks need to be established, among other tasks.

Again, the argument for

a robot tax fails—while machines may take away some jobs, they will open the door to a lot more.

If the government really wants to create more employment opportunities and prepare society for the upcoming demographic shock and rise in automated work, there are plenty of others paths that it could take.

For instance, governments can start by cutting red tape so that it’s easier for people to find jobs and for people to create new businesses. They can also help out by making things like education and training more accessible and affordable so that people can get the skills they need for their life. Putting an emphasis on immigration and trade will also make it easier for people to find meaningful employment.

As with pretty much everything, the solution here is to empower people and give individuals the freedom to

thefulcrum.ca

shape their own lives. The answer is not to pigeonhole people and tell them it’s for their own good. It’s not to create more bureaucracy and red tape. And it’s most definitely not a good idea to stop people and businesses from being creative and innovative.

This debate isn’t anything new. For as long as change and invention have been pushing society forward, there have also been people pulling us back. Since nobody can see into the future, it’s understandable that some people chose to be afraid of the unknown. But closed, cautious, protectionist societies can only stand still for so long until the currents of time will sweep them off their feet.

If the government really wants people to have jobs and to prosper, it can do so by giving them the tools and space to innovate and take charge of their own lives. It can’t do so by punishing innovation with taxes.

OPINIONS | 13

Canadian universities welcome international students with open wallets Post-secondary schools are stepping up to fill the void in their bank accounts Eric Davidson Tomato Editor In the wake of the Trump administration’s anti-immigration rhetoric, many foreign students are now setting their sights on Canada. In a truly moving display, universities across the Great White North are generously encouraging international students to study with them—for a small markup, of course.

“We’re very excited to see more international students taking interest in our school,” said Jacques Frémont, president of the University of Ottawa, at a press conference on Monday. “Having students from all over the world means more diversity of thought, cultural exchange, and higher tuition f—I mean academic rigour.”

Some critics at the president’s jovial speech noted that interna-

tional students face tuition rates that are significantly higher than those for regular students.

“That’s ridiculous,” Frémont shot back. “International students actually pay less than domestic ones… in some countries. Probably.”

Frémont also urged reporters to remember that, for many international students, coming to study in Canada has many non-scholarly benefits that are worth a bit of extra cash.

“Canada has its own unique atmosphere, who wouldn’t want to pay more for that?” he asked as a gust of winter wind blew over the crowd, dropping the temperature to around -25 °C. However, Fremont’s speech did little to ease the minds of international students.

“Honestly, it’s a little insulting,” said Natasha Smalls, a first-year arts major who hails from Australia. “I was so excited to come

Universities are welcoming potential international students ... for a cost.

to the U of O to study witchcraft and poker 101, but now I just feel ripped off.”

“I was planning on attending the U of O,” said Shelly Davis, an Irish student. “But because of this increase in fees, I had to take my

Photo: Jaclyn McRae-Sadik.

second choice, a full scholarship to Oxford.”

“Look, the university needs to take income wherever it can get it,” said Walter Dale, a third-year political science student from Canada. How else could it have paid

for that shrub in the green space or raises for its executives? It seems a little selfish to deny them that.”

“I don’t get why people say we need lower fees for international students. The university is fine as is,” said Dave Wesson, a U of O public relations representative.

“It’s not like the U of O is dropping precipitously in the university rankings or anything—we’re fine as is!”

As a result of recent criticism, the university has announced it will make some changes to its international student plan.

“Obviously there has been some kind of misunderstanding,” said Frémont. “To make the situation more palatable, the university has promised to take pictures of Mounties hugging all new international students.

“We’re confident that should end any public backlash over increased fees,” said Frémont.

U of O hot dog guy under microscope after Subway chicken scandal

Some fear there might be disgusting things lurking in his sausages Eric Davidson Tomato Editor Canadians’ faith in their Subway sandwiches has been rocked to its core over allegations that the restaurant’s chicken is actually only 50 per cent fowl (though how foul is still up for debate).

In yet another blow to students’ faith in culinary excellence, industry watchdogs are shifting their scrutiny towards the University of Ottawa campus—right at the hot dog guy.

“I was shocked that the paragon of food preparation, Subway, had chicken that wasn’t up to snuff,” said Jake Thompson, a first-year law student at the U of O. “If it turns out that the guy who sells hot dogs out of a cart isn’t legit, I really won’t know who to trust anymore.”

“Honestly, these revelations don’t shock me,” said Evelyn Ben-

People are starting to wonder how the sausages are made.

ford, a third-year biology student.

“Ever since I learned that there’s no real fruit in Skittles, I knew the whole system was based on a lie.”

When faced with the prospect of learning what was in their hot dogs, some students simply cov-

thefulcrum.ca

Photo: CC, Justin Labelle.

ered their ears and ran away.

Other students are trying to prepare themselves for this strange new world.

“Just in case, I’ve decided to switch to a strictly beer-based diet,” said Chad Jones, a first-year

engineering student. “Safety first, right?”

“All this controversy over meat is making me want to go vegan,” said Stephen Smith. He then burst out laughing. “I’m just kidding.”

When questioned by the Tomato, the hot dog guy expressed clear shock at the allegations coming his way.

“These allegations are just preposterous,” said hot dog guy. “I keep a low profile, but my cart is actually certified as a Michelin three-star restaurant, so I would never allow anything like this to happen.”

“This is just the university’s dining hall trying to sink the competition,” he continued. “Their crusty pizza could never compete with my meat.”

To help the hot dog guy through these tough times, students at the U of O are thinking of starting another GoFundMe

campaign for him.

“I can’t think of a better cause for us to raise money for, can you?” said Ben Wallace, a firstyear history student.

Some people were concerned about the legitimacy of the investigation after one food inspector was spotted with dots of ketchup and mustard on his face, while his partner was discovered with dollops of relish on his tie. Both vigorously denied any connection, swearing that they went to McDonalds after a hankering for Filet-OFish.

In the end, their investigation concluded that the hot dog guy’s products actually contain fat, gristle, offal, feet, blood, and liver—passing the inspection with flying colours.

“What a relief!” cried Smith. “I thought they were going to find tofu in there.”

THE TOMATo | 14

Université d’Ottawa

|

University of Ottawa

Discover undergraduate research!

2017 Symposium – Thursday, March 23 More than 300 students will present their findings during the seventh Undergraduate Research Opportunity Program (UROP) Symposium.

10 a.m. to 12 p.m.

Poster presentations for faculties of Education, Engineering, Medicine and Social Sciences

1:30 p.m. to 3:30 p.m.

Poster presentations for the Telfer School of Management and the faculties of Arts, Health Sciences, Law (Common and Civil Law) and Science

Ground floor, Jock Turcot University Centre 85 University FREE ADMISSION research.uOttawa.ca/urop

SUMMER EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITIES SP100 Forest Firefighting Training Wildfire Specialists Inc. Course Location: Carp Course Date:March 22-26 or March 29- April 2 Course Cost: $865 + tax Name of Accredited Training Agency: _______Wildfire Specialists Inc. __ Address:____2233 Radar Rd, Suite #5, Hanmer ON P3P 0B4_ _ Telephone:___705-698-4342_e mail:_bjan@kwic.com_ ________________ MNR Accredited Training Agency; No Guarantee of Employment www.wildfirespecialists.ca

DISTRACTIONS Dear Di,

Dear Di

FEATURES EDITOR Nadia Drissi El-Bouzaidi

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

Dear Di,

I’ve been in a loving relationship with my girlfriend for over two years. Although I’m happy with how things are going, I find myself occasionally being attracted to other people. Nothing’s happened outside of my relationship, but I feel guilty when I start fantasizing about someone who isn’t my girlfriend. Is there something wrong with me?

My boyfriend and I have been dating for over three years. We still love each other, but I’ve been wanting to sleep with other people.

We both agreed that we want to get into an open relationship, but don’t really know how to go about it. Any advice?

-Swingers for Beginners

-Casual Crush Dear SB,

Dear CC, Even for people in a relationship, the occasional crush is not uncommon. Unfortunately, humans don’t really have control over their feelings, which means it’s totally normal for you to be experiencing this, especially in a long-term relationship.

Remember that being committed to someone does not mean you are forbidden from finding other people attractive. Love cannot physically blind you, nor can it prevent you from objectively thinking that someone is good-looking.

Unless you feel like cheating on your girlfriend, being attracted to other people shouldn’t be setting off any alarm bells.

But if you are seriously considering being unfaithful to your partner, then you might need to reconsider your relationship.

In this case, think about what could be pulling you away from your girlfriend, and what you find in others that you don’t find in her. You may discover that crushing on strangers may be the product of a lack of interest for your current partner.

Another solution would be to try creating distance between you and your crush, and see how that goes. For all you know, you might not really have feelings for this person, and just find yourself to be physically attracted to them, no strings attached.

If all else fails, you might also want to consider trying an open relationship. Of course, this can be a little tricky, but your girlfriend might be game to give it a test run. Whatever you do, make sure to communicate with your girlfriend before doing anything rash. Remember, although you don’t have control over your feelings, you still have control over your actions.

You and your boyfriend are experiencing something that is increasingly normal, as polyamorous relationships are becoming less taboo. You’d be surprised by how many couples have considered them as an alternative to strictly monogamous relationships.

In order for this to go smoothly, you’ll want to make sure that you and your partner reach a consensus about the type of open relationship you want to engage in. “Open” bears a different meaning across different relationships, ranging from swinging to polyamory to monogamish, and many more. By establishing the kind of open relationship you and your boyfriend want, the transition away from strict monogamy will be a lot easier.

After zeroing in on your new framework, you’ll also want to establish some ground rules. Try asking yourselves questions such as: do I want to know when my partner has sex with someone else? If we live together, do I want him to have partners over when I’m around? Can we sleep with people within our circle of friends? Try to take different factors into consideration before jumping into anything. It’s better to be prepared for any possibilities from the get-go than to just see what happens.

Plus, it bears repeating that regardless of the relationship you guys decide on, make sure you and your partner are using protection when hooking up with other people.

But before jumping into anything, I would advise that you both reflect on why you want to open up your relationship in the first place. Because you definitely don’t want to use polygamy as a way to not deal with a breakup. Make sure you are both clear on your motivations and intentions before switching things up.

Love, Di

Love, Di

To get all your sexy and saucy questions answered,

email Di at deardi@thefulcrum.ca ;) 16 | DISTRACTIONS

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March 2–9, 2017

THRYLLABUS

MUSIC arts Sports

FUN Thinking

Thursday, March 9

2:30 p.m.

uO2.0 Graduating Students and Alumni Career Fair, free admission, University Centre—10 a.m.

Catch Me If You Can The Musical (opening night), Centrepointe Theatre—7:30 p.m.

Moonlight (2016 Academy Award Winner, Best Picture), Mayfair Theatre—4:30 p.m.

Ottawa Irish Festival, opening ceremony, Ottawa City Hall—4:30 p.m.

The Pick Brothers, The Haig, Mavericks—8 p.m.

Jackie (2016 Academy Award Nominee, Best Actress, Natalie Portman), ByTowne Cinema—9 p.m.

Friday, March 10 Understanding HonourBased Violence and Gender Equality, free admission, Fauteux Hall (room FTX570)—10 a.m.

Feminism and Transnationalism Lecture Series, free admission, Vanier Hall (room 3075)—

Yoga, presented by Art of Living, free admission, 90 University (room 140)— 5:30 p.m.

Tuesday, March 14

Saturday, March 11 St. Patrick’s Day Parade (Ottawa Irish Festival), Ottawa City Hall—11 a.m.

Grand Irish Party (Ottawa Irish Festival), Aberdeen Pavilion—12 p.m.

Magic and Mystery Show presented by Michael Bourada, Mayfair Theatre—1 p.m.

Sunday, March 12 Concert: Celebration of Canada’s 150th, free admission, Tabaret Hall— 7:30 p.m.

Monday, March 13 Introduction to Lean for Government, Centre for Continuing Education—9 a.m.

Ottawa Senators vs.

Tampa Bay Lightning (Irish Hockey Night), Canadian Tire Centre—7:30 p.m.

Between Ethnic Options and Ethnic Boundaries, free admission, Social Sciences Building (FSS 4006)—3 p.m.

Wednesday, March 15 Rhythm and Burgundy & Crush Improv, Gladstone Theatre—7:30 p.m.

Thursday, March 16 Ottawa Senators vs.

Chicago Blackhawks, Canadian Tire Centre—7:30 p.m.

Matthew Good (I Miss the New Wave Tour), National Arts Centre—8 p.m.

thefulcrum.ca

DISTRACTIONS | 17

LETTER TO THE EDITOR

How the SFUO stole the election from the students Dear Editor,

Those who have been subjected to one of my long-winded anti-SFUO rants know that I am by no means their biggest fan.

To be completely honest, I can’t recall the last time I had something nice to say about the SFUO. Every time I criticize them, the “SFUO cronies”—you know who you are— say “if you don’t like it, then why don’t you run,” in a near Pavlovian way. So I decided to bite the bullet and run for a spot on the Board of Administration. Instead, I got a glimpse into what the most corrupt student union in Canada will do keep out those they don’t like.

I was first approached to run by Justin Patrick and the Students First slate.

I agreed instantly. From the outset, the sense of camaraderie and the high level of intellectual diversity within the slate amazed me. For example, our BOA Social Sciences team consisted of four people: a moderate republican, a Bernie-loving democrat, a conservative-turned-NDPer, and a libertarian (that’s me). Despite our political differences, we all agreed something in the SFUO wasn’t right and it was in desperate need of repair.

But it’s really hard to fix the SFUO when the establishment actively tries to derail your campaign at every turn. What I’m going to explain to you is very simple—how the SFUO stole the election from the students.

The easiest way to steal an election is to buy off the Chief Electoral Officer (CEO). His job is to enforce the election rules, so this is naturally the easiest place to start. I say unreservedly that this year’s CEO (Qussai Abu-Naqoos) is the most unqualified and corrupt CEO in our history. I would argue he is not sufficiently bilingual—he doesn’t speak French, and his English (especially in the written form) is questionable.

What angered me most about the CEO’s conduct is how he selectively enforced rules, improperly applied rules, made up rules that do not exist, and even refused to follow the orders of the Elections Committee when they struck down his illegal rulings. This was all done in an effort to keep Students First out and keep the establishment gravy train moving along (or else they’d have to stop mooching off students).

I could fill up a whole edition of the Fulcrum with everything bad he’s done, so I’ll just give you two examples:

• He quarantined our slate for 40 minutes over a rule that doesn’t exist. When I asked him for his justification he referred to Electoral Regulation 18.5.2, which grants him the power to levy any penalty he sees fit. That’s all fine and good, but the CEO isn’t allowed to levy a punishment for breaking a rule that doesn’t exist. Even if such a rule exist, he did not properly communicate the rule change to us pursuant to Electoral Regulation 1.6. Therefore his ruling was completely out of order.

• He cherry-picked rules and took them out of context to disqualify my Official Representative (JP Dubé). The CEO knows this (he isn’t that dumb, after all).

When the Elections Committee overturned the ruling, he threw a temper tantrum and said, “I deny this decision and will not act upon it.” With all due respect, just because you disagree with the ruling doesn’t mean you get to ignore it.

That’s not how democracy works.

For me, the final straw came when the CEO disqualified me and four other candidates. The timing of the disqualification was telling. As students started waking up, the SFUO establishment knew the writing was on the wall and the jig was up. So they had two options—either run a better campaign than us, or use the puppet-CEO and disqualify us. They chose the latter.

While I leave the U of O never having realized my dream of sitting on the BOA, I treat my unceremonious departure from university politics as a victory. Although it wasn’t the result we hoped for, we exposed the man behind the curtain within the SFUO. We forced the establishment to come from the shadows and show their true colours.

RE: la Rotonde’s “Nouveau logo pour la FÉUO: Un visual désuet à réinventer” Dear Editor, This letter is in regards to la Rotonde’s recent article “Nouveau logo pour la FÉUO: Un visual désuet à réinventer.”

I was talking with a friend this morning while she was skimming la Rotonde. Both of us were unprepared to feel the horror and disgust at our student paper for publishing a racist, sexist, and homophobic cartoon in their article making suggestions for a new SFUO logo.

For readers who haven’t seen the article, the cartoon is a female of colour, presented as a fairy, waving a magic wand to make money appear. The fairy has unshaven legs, an LGBTQ+ rainbow on her dress, and natural hair. This cartoon is clearly mocking women of colour with natural hair who do not conform to sexist body standards, and are part of the LGBTQ+ community.

Regardless of la Rotonde’s intentions, this cartoon is discriminatory. It harkens back to an era of minstrel shows and blackface, when people of colour were mocked and

degraded. It is especially nauseating that they included this horribly racist comic in an issue of their paper that also includes an editorial, written by editor-in-chief Fredérique Mazerolle, touting the influence and importance of student journalism.

Maybe before they pat themselves on the back for working long hours and writing controversial stories, la Rotonde should focus on being a more inclusive paper that represents students of all races, sexual orientations, and gender identities.

I have never been so ashamed of my student paper. I believe that la Rotonde should take serious sanctions against staff who illustrated this comic. It is also reprehensible that the editorial staff allowed such a degrading illustration to be published, and they should also take full responsibility for this action. La Rotonde should issue an official apology, or retraction of this comic from their paper.

—Juliana McLaren, third-year linguistics and psychology student at the U of O.

To the next generation of students, your job is to keep the fight alive. When I was in first year, it was taboo to say the SFUO is corrupt. Now, it’s public knowledge. They know they’re on borrowed time. This election convinced me the only solution is to abolish the SFUO and start over. The SFUO is morally bereft and corrupt beyond repair. They have forgotten that they’re a student union first, and not a tyrannical echo chamber for the U of O’s regressive left.

In the words of my mentor, the late Jeremy Wright: “the answer to 1984 is 1776.”

The SFUO’s 1776 is all but inevitable.

—Michele Di Franco, fourth-year economics and political science student at the U of O.

18 | LETTERS

Photo: Jaclyn McRae-Sadik.

thefulcrum.ca

Volume 77, Issue 21, mar. 9, 2017 Obeying our robot overlords since 1942.

Phone: (613) 695-0061 | Fax: (613) 695-9006 631 King Edward Ave. Ottawa, ON K1N 6N5 Recycle this, or we’ll steal your dumb phone.

Savannah “K-9” Awde Editor-in-Chief editor@thefulcrum.ca Kim “Bubo” Wiens Production Manager production@thefulcrum.ca Kyle “Johnny Five” Darbyson Managing Editor content@thefulcrum.ca Graham “Astro Boy” Robertson News Editor news@thefulcrum.ca Anchal “Kickpuncher” Sharma Arts and Culture Editor arts@thefulcrum.ca Nadia “WALL-E” Drissi El-Bouzaidi Features Editor features@thefulcrum.ca Nico “Ro-Man” Laliberte Sports Editor sports@thefulcrum.ca Eric “BB8” Davidson Opinions Editor opinions@thefulcrum.ca Jaclyn “C.H.O.M.P.S.” McRae-Sadik Visual Editor visual@thefulcrum.ca David “C-3PO” Campion-Smith Social Media Coordinator social@thefulcrum.ca Zainab “The Colossus” Al-Mehdar Associate News Editor associate.news@thefulcrum.ca Zack “B.E.N.” Goobie Associate Sports Editor associatesports@thefulcrum.ca Jodie “The T-X” Coté-Marshall Associate Features Editor associate.features@thefulcrum.ca Marta “Ava” Kierkus Staff Photographer photographer@thefulcrum.ca Lucas “Sonny” Ghosn General Manager manager@thefulcrum.ca

EDITORIAL

Canadian authorities must adapt to recognize the severity of sexual cyber crime

Without your consent, suddenly their eyes are on your body. Their eyes are in your room without you knowing it, watching you undress. They might be making sexually explicit comments about parts of your body they were never supposed to see.

And you can’t see them, or hear any of their words. But you can feel the effects everywhere you go.

Sounds a lot like sexual assault—what Canada defines as sexual contact or behaviour that occurs without explicit consent from the recipient. But it’s not.

This is the reality of revenge porn, the act of posting sexually explicit images or videos of a person online, without the consent of the subject. This hateful activity made headlines in late February, when a University of Moncton student filed a complaint with the police when a mass email, containing sexually explicit photos of the student, was sent to other students and staff at the university without her consent.

Now, there are a few things you should know about revenge

porn and its interactions with our legal system.

First of all, the act of posting sexually explicit photos of another person without their consent only became legally actionable under the Criminal Code in early 2015, when the Protecting Canadians from Online Crime Act came into effect.

In Canada, we’ve had limited exposure to the consequences of the Act, with the only related conviction to date having resulted in the accused being sentenced to 90 days of house arrest to be served on weekends. Meanwhile, the maximum sentence for the charge is a five-year prison term.

Sexual assault, on the other hand, carries a harsher penalty of a maximum 10-year sentence.

But why exactly do we treat a virtual invasion of sexual autonomy as inferior to a physical one?

The phenomenon of our laws becoming quickly dated by the rise of technology and the Internet is anything but new. For example, in June 2016 privacy commissioner Daniel Therrien

advised Prime Minister Justin Trudeau that Canada’s privacy laws fall short in addressing safety concerns borne from modern technology. In another attempt to keep up with the rapid changes in automation supply chain technology, business mogul Bill Gates suggested a tax be legislated for companies using robotic technology.

It’s clear that in many areas of life, people are pushing for changes to our laws in response to the impact technology has on our everyday lives. So why aren’t we updating the severity of laws around revenge porn to match sexual assault?

According to section 265, subsection 1, of Canada’s Criminal Code, a person commits assault when “without the consent of another person, he applies force intentionally to that other person, directly or indirectly,” or “attempts or threatens, by an act or a gesture, to apply force to another person, if he has, or causes that other person to believe on reasonable grounds that he has, present ability to effect his purpose.”

Shanèl “Iron Giant” Dear Advertising Representative ads@thefulcrum.ca Reine “Elle” Tejares Webmaster webmaster@thefulcrum.ca

Contributors

Eric “Tobor” Davison Anastasiia “Huey” Cherygova Ryan “Otomo” Pepper Perushka “B.R.A.I.N.” Gopalkista Madison “Atom” McSweeney Emily “Twin Cities” Cecchetti Natasha “SID 6.7” Lomonossoff Cherie “Ilia” Wong Nicholas “Mandroid” Robinson

Board of Directors

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In worst-case scenarios, the accumulation of these effects drive people to suicide, as we saw with the Amanda Todd case in 2012.

Todd is among over 50 percent of revenge porn victims who report that their photo was accompanied by identifying information, such as their full name.

And yet, we choose a lesser punishment for this horrible and vindictive crime. Not only have we settled for a lesser punishment in court, but, as Todd’s family learned, these types of cybercrimes might not even be addressed after complaints made in excess to police services.

Unfortunately, this attitude is far from surprising, as there’s no shortage of commentary around prominent nude photo leaks and revenge porn that seeks to blame the victim, rather than look at the root cause—we are still prone to shaming women and their sexuality. There’s a reason that 90 per cent of revenge porn survivors are women.

Whether it’s classifying revenge porn as sexual assault, or initiating an overhaul in how our police services deal with sexual cybercrimes, it’s clear that something has to change. No matter your background, gender, or lifestyle, sex is natural—it’s not a mechanism of guilt to leverage against someone. But when it is treated as such, there must be heftier consequences.

Raghad “Jinx” Sheikh-Khalil Will “MAX” Hume Kate “Tik-Tok” Murray Jonathan “Chani” Rausseo Mackenzie “Hector” Gray Niharika “AMEE” Namulla Thivya “Proteus IV” Naganathan Julia “Vision” Miraflores Fadi “Necron 99” Azzi Spencer “Beta” Murdock Maggie “Dot Matrix” Gollish Cover: Jaclyn McRae-Sadik.

When someone chooses to put sexually explicit photos of their partner online, that is a blatant showing of force applied without the other person’s consent. There is undeniable reason to believe that the person is displaying an ability to effect harm. Harm that’s strong enough to stigmatize a victim, ruin their relations with others, and render them unemployable.

Photo: CC, Claude Boucher.

EDITORIAL | 19

#PlayoffRace

Tuesday, March 14 @ 7:30 PM

Thursday, March 16 @ 7:30 PM

Saturday, March 18 @ 7 PM

Bobblehead Night presented by Carleton University

Alumni & Throwback Thursday Get a $1 hot dog and $1 regular-sized Coke® before 7 pm!

Bobblehead Night presented by Decisive™

First 2,500 fans receive a Shaun Van Allen bobblehead!

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Thursday, March 23 @ 7:30 PM

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Saturday, April 8 @ 12:30 PM

Alumni & Throwback Thursday Get a $1 hot dog and $1 regular-sized Coke® before 7 pm!

Bobblehead Night presented by Vistaprint

Fan Appreciation Night

25th Anniversary Poster Night presented by Bell

First 2,500 fans receive a Laurie Boschman Bobblehead!

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