IN BRIEF
Photo courtesy of CUP.
Mandatory voting the only way to restore government credibility: Senator
Carie Willson, The Projector (Red River College)
WINNIPEG (CUP) — In the last federal election, voter turnout reached an all time low with just 61 per cent of eligible voters casting a ballot.
This trend is concerning politicians, who are now looking for ways to combat growing voter apathy.
Senator Mac Harb was in Winnipeg recently to discuss mandatory voting.
Harb sees the decline in voter turnout as a result of Canadians forgetting the importance of voting. This, in turn, has created a “hollow democracy.”
In an attempt to stop what he refers to as the erosion of the democratic system, Harb introduced a bill on mandatory voting to Senate chambers on Dec. 9, 2004.
Under the bill, voters would be required to vote in all federal elections or face a $50 fine. To avoid the fine, one would be able to refuse the ballot, vote for none of the above, or provide a letter to Elections Canada with a legitimate reason for not voting.
According to Harb, politicians see an individual not voting as “being happy with the status quo.”
“If you want to be lazy and not bother with your duty to other Canadians because you don’t care about your fellow citizens, because you don’t care about those who govern your nation, because you are un-Canadian, then, you know what, take your name off the list because you don’t deserve to vote,” said Harb.
Harb is the first to admit that he does not have the perfect solution, which he said would be for everyone to “get off your rear end, go to the voting booth and vote.”
Bill S-22 is at second reading and has been referred to a Senate committee.
Preparing for a deadly outbreak
Nicholas Moore, The Aquinian (St. Thomas University)
FREDERICTON (CUP) — The possibility of a global flu pandemic that could kill millions is keeping Fredericton health officials busy.
The report predicts that 165 people in the region would “most likely” die within an eight-week period from an outbreak of flu pandemic.
The disease, which right now is not a pandemic, has killed about 60 people in Asian countries since 2003.
Denis Doherty, director of emergency management for River Valley Health in New Brunswick, said the numbers come from a predictive model determined by many factors.
These include population demographics, risk groups in that population and a 35 per cent pandemic “attack rate” the World Health Organization warns of.
One particular model shows that, in the event of a pandemic, River Valley Health facilities will likely see 832 patients admitted to a total of 635 beds within an eight-week period.
Canada’s Public Health Agency is suggesting that an outbreak nationally would make up to 10.5 million people sick, and could kill 58,000 Canadians. The World Health Organization says that at least 2 million people would die worldwide from a flu pandemic.
“We take the advice of the World Health Organization very seriously, and they’ve been saying . . . it’s not a matter of if [a pandemic happens], it’s a matter of when,” Doherty said.
Powerful hallucinogen still legal in Canada
Ashley Bursey, The Aquinian (St. Thomas University)
FREDERICTON (CUP) — Scott Christian stands the required five metres from the front door of St. Thomas University’s Rigby Hall, legally smoking one of the most powerful hallucinogens on the market.
Salvia divinorum is a tropical member of the mint family that can be bought in either leaf or extract form and smoked to get its effect. It produces a state of ‘divine inebriation’ quite unlike the effects of marijuana or alcohol; in fact, it has the potential to generate a buzz much more potent than many of its hallucinogenic counterparts.
“I’m on the top of a building, and then I can see that I’m in a city setting, and then I jump from one building to the next, landing on the roofs,” Christian said, reliving a past high. “I’m falling down — and then I just start to fly.”
The drug can be bought in local stores. It can be sold to minors. Even in the U.S., Salvia is only illegal in one state. In Canada, there have been no moves to make the drug illegal.
“You could sell it to an eight-year-old,” Christian said. “Imagine seeing an eight-year-old tripping out on the side of the road!”
The drug has never been made illegal, she said, because incidences of users being harmed or harming others are rare.
“The plant’s effects are short-acting and lack any known toxicity or health risks,” said Carolyn Sexauer of Health Canada. “No cases of dependency to Salvia divinorum have been reported. Should evidence arise that suggests a significant risk to public health and safety, Health Canada will take action accordingly,” Sexauer said.
A store employee of Things in the Fredericton Mall, one store that sells Salvia, explained that is not a party drug; it’s not recreational. It’s merely good for a brief “lunch-hour” high. The employee recommended users have someone present to make sure they don’t hurt themselves during their high.
Nova Scotia legislation restricts single-parents’ access to post-secondary education
Stephanie Oliver, The Xaverian Weekly (St. Francis Xavier University)
ANTIGONISH (CUP) — St. Francis-Xavier University psychology lecturer Jennifer Sullivan received her degree when social assistance was available for single-parent students.
But times have changed, and recent legislation introduced by the Nova Scotia provincial government has not been kind to single parents looking to earn post-secondary degrees in the province with the highest university tuition in Canada.
Carol Taylor, a 28-year-old mother of two, began her degree in 2002 but has not returned as a result of the Employment Support and Income Assistance Act — legislation that makes it virtually impossible for her to care for her child and get a post-secondary education.
The Nova Scotia provincial government introduced ESIA in 2000. It stipulates that single-parents attending a post-secondary education program of more than two years are not eligible for financial assistance if they have a student loan.
A Nova Scotia provincial government statement released in 2003 found that a quarter of families with children in the province are single-parent families and that the vast majority of these families are headed by women.
McMaster University students rebuke Coke-only campus
Meghan Waters, The Silhouette (McMaster University)
HAMILTON (CUP) — McMaster University will no longer be a Coke-only campus thanks to the result of a student referendum that prevents the student union from renegotiating an exclusivity contract with any beverage company.
“It was very clear-cut. We made quorum by a bunch. It’s a clear mandate for the MSU,” said Rob Gillezeau, one of the “yes” side leaders.
Approximately 1,500 of 2,200 students voted Yes, which means the McMaster Students’ Union will not be able to renegotiate an exclusivivity contract with any beverage company.
The campaigners on the “yes” side were ecstatic about the results.
The referendum was closely watched by other student unions in Canada.
“It serves as a notice to every administration that students are increasingly resentful of the corporatization of their university campus,” said Ethan Rabidoux, president of the students’ union at Queen’s University, which has an exclusivity contract until 2010.
“The ramifications are pretty huge, there’s no understating it. People don’t like exclusivity contracts — I seriously doubt it’s because they don’t like the taste of Coke,” he said.
The referendum will have little impact on McMaster students in the short term, as the contract does not expire until the end of 2007.
The MSU, which will be out $60,000 a year when the contract expires, will have two years to prepare for the revenue loss.
‘K–14’ an option as Alberta PSE review wraps up
Michelle Lennox, The Gateway (University of Alberta)
EDMONTON (CUP) — Full public funding for the first two years of university, referred to as the K–14 proposal, may become a reality in Alberta after government and education officials meet in early November to discuss strategies for improving post-secondary education in the province.
Other options, which aren’t necessarily mutually exclusive, include the complete deregulation of tuition, providing all students with a laptop when they begin their studies, and developing programs that better prepare prospective students for their career programs.
U of A provost and vice-president (academic) Carl Amrhein said he feels that it’s best to consider all of these options.
“The K–14 proposal deals with affordability, but it does nothing for access or quality,” he said.
“The best way possible to spend Alberta’s surplus is on advanced education and education in general,” said the president of the University of Alberta students’ union, Graham Lettner. “But should we get all of our hopes up? Maybe that’s a little over-ambitious.”
Students tear-gassed while demonstrating for free tuition in Quebec
Jesse Rosenfeld and Blake Sifton, The McGill Daily (McGill University)
QUEBEC CITY (CUP) — Five hundred students from around the province converged on Quebec City on Oct. 26 to demand free education. They marched through the city, descending on the National Assembly to mark the one-year anniversary of l’Association pour une Solidarité Syndicale Étudiante’s (ASSÉ) call for a general student strike.
Students, who came from as far away as Montreal, Sherbrooke and Rimouski, carried the message that free education is a right, and that the agreement ending last year’s student strike was not representative or adequate to the steps of the provincial legislature.
“I am here to win my right to free education,” said Laurence, a student from CEGEP Vieux-Montréal.
Jérôme Charaoui, the information secretary of ASSÉ, stressed the importance of continuing to demand free education, which was ASSÉ’s central demand in last year’s student strike.
“We’re here on the one-year anniversary of ASSÉ’s call for a general strike. We are reminding the government, the media and the public that the demands of last winter’s strike weren’t met,” said Charaoui. “We are demanding free education and greater accessibility to [postsecondary] education.”
Some students tore down municipal election signs and spray painted “free education” and “free society” on government buildings, while others threw paint at several banks, a McDonald’s and a Burger King.
As the riot police reached the gap they were met with a volley of projectiles. A standoff continued for about 25 minutes until the crowd wrenched paving stones from the ground to throw at the police, who responded by hurling several tear gas canisters.
While recovering from a dousing of tear gas, demonstrators stayed on message.
“When ASSÉ made demands, the first demand was free education. When FEUQ [la Fédération Étudiante Universitaire du Québec] and FECQ [la Fédération Étudiante Collégiale du Québec] got their hands involved, the focus became the $103-million,” said one student from the CEGEP Vieux-Montréal, referring to the more moderate provincial student lobby groups and their demand that the government reinstate money it had cut from student bursaries.
