The Durham Chronicle - 2017-12-12

It’s up to us to make the right decisions. 

Volume XLIV, Issue 2 chronicle.durhamcollege.ca December 12 - 18, 2017 

- See page 13 

Rockin' in Oshawa 

Seaway makes 

waves page 14 

Arkells hit the stage 

page 16 

Photograph by Aly Beach 

Photograph by Shana Fillatrau 

Muggles play 

Quidditch 

page 19 

The strike ended, 

what now? page 3 

Photograph by 

Photograph by Cassidy McMullen 

Smoke's crowns new 

'King of Curds' page 13 

Photograph by John Cook 

Photograph by Cameron Black-Araujo

2 The Chronicle December 12 - 18, 2017 chronicle.durhamcollege.ca Campus 

BACK 

of the 

FRONT 

DC journalism students look at Durham College and UOIT, 

and beyond, by the numbers and with their cameras 

Jolly Christmas 

Photograph by Tracy Wright 

Riot Radio's Women Of The Campus (from left) Desiree Ajiahmah, Krystal 

Hines and Bambi Kazadi get into the holiday spirit.

Campus chronicle.durhamcollege.ca December 12 - 18, 2017 The Chronicle 3 

Faculty strike: What happened? 

Aly Beach and 

Cassidy McMullen 

The Chronicle 

College faculty are still without a 

contract after a five-week strike, 

the longest in Ontario history, 

ended Nov. 20. Currently, faculty 

are operating under their old contract 

while waiting for mediation 

to begin with the colleges. 

In early July, the Ontario Public 

Service Employees Union 

(OPSEU), which represents college 

faculty, started negotiations with 

the Ontario colleges’ bargaining 

team, the College Employer Council. 

By Aug. 28, the two sides were 

deadlocked. 

That day, OPSEU set a vote on 

Sept. 14 for faculty to give them the 

ability to call a strike. Sixty-eight 

per cent of faculty voted in favour 

Photograph by Cassidy McMullen 

of strike action. 

OPSEU and the council went Durham College faculty on the Oshawa campus during the first day of the strike Oct. 16. 

back to the bargaining table at 

that point but were still unable 

to get around key issues involving Zwiers said. 

five-day strike notice hoping that conceivably, with these temporary 

academic freedom and contract Durham College president Don it could jump-start the negotiations full time. So, they’d be working 

faculty. 

Lovisa, said colleges would like to since the contract of college faculty full-time hours, but getting paid 

The main concern, which became 

have more full-time faculty but On- 

expired Sept. 30. 

at the partial-load rate. There 

the focus of the strike, was tario colleges are under-funded by The two sides made no progress, would be no job security beyond 

contract faculty. 

the government. 

both giving each other last offers the semester they’re teaching. And 

“We can’t continue to have this “This is a chronic under-funding 

before the strike started Oct. 16. entirely at the discretion of the col- 

high level of contract faculty,” said 

problem,” Lovisa said. “So it OPSEU wanted a 50-50 ratio of leges to whether or not they even 

Nicole Zwiers, president of OPSEU puts a lot of pressure on the college contract faculty to full-time faculty need them.” Said Zwiers 

Local 354, representing faculty, system to find efficiencies through and the council made a new type of For the first three weeks of the 

counsellors and librarians at Durham 

your staff. Sixty-five per cent of my temporary full-time position to try strike, the two sides did not talk. 

College. 

budget is my staff. So, you have to and reduce the number of contract On Nov. 2 the College Employer 

Contract faculty make up 81 per find efficiencies and unfortunately workers. 

Council came back to the table and 

cent of college faculty and not only that forces us to hire part-time “They would be eliminating the the two sides spent the weekend negotiating. 

are the jobs insecure, but they are staff.” 

need to hire anyone full time. Because 

also paid less for the same work, On Oct. 10, OPSEU gave its 

they could simply go forever, OPSEU said they were getting 

DC workers react to strike 

close to agreement when the council 

forced faculty to vote on the offer 

faculty had already rejected via 

their strike vote. 

It took 10 days to organize and 

carry out the vote. Ninety-five per 

cent of college faculty voted on the 

new contract and 86 per cent voted 

against it. 

At this point, college faculty had 

been striking for five weeks and the 

provincial government stepped in. 

Back-to-work legislation was 

pushed through Queen’s Park 

over a rare weekend sitting with 

the NDP being the only party opposing 

the proposal. They were 

concerned about infringing on the 

faculty’s right to strike but by Nov. 

20 faculty were back to school organizing 

and planning for the rest 

of the semester. Students returned 

to school on Nov. 21. 

Arbitrator William Kaplan will 

begin mediation with the two sides 

Dec. 12. Both OPSEU and the 

council will fill Kaplan in on background 

information on the issues 

they are facing. He will meet with 

OPSEU on Dec. 14 and the council 

on Dec. 15, says OPSEU. 

Between Dec. 16-17 the two sides 

and Kaplan will come together and 

discuss a new agreement. 

If they can still not come to a 

resolution, the mediation will turn 

into arbitration. 

Kaplan will settle the unresolved 

matters and give the two sides a 

new, legally binding collective 

agreement says OPSEU. 

Arbitration starts January if the 

two sides cannot come to an agreement. 

Chronicle reporters asked Durham College employees, faculty for their thoughts on the five-week strike 

Riley King 

Peggy Forbes 

Jim Ferr 

Marni Thornton 

Oliver Fernandez 

Dwayne Christo 

Media Loans Assistant, 

School of Media, 

Art and Design 

Aboriginal Student 

Advisor 

Technical Coordinator/Service 

Specialist, 

School of Media, 

Art and Design 

Full-time professor 

and Coordinator 

of Music Business 

Management 

Photography and Video 

Support Specialist, School 

of Media, Art and Design 

Lead Faculty Attendant 

of Department of 

Athletics 

Q: What was the attitude 

among students here (at 

DC’s media loans department) 

while you were working 

three hours every day? 

A: “Everyone was venting 

and coming in to give their 

two cents. Most of the time 

everyone was upset. Some 

people didn’t mind the time 

off but some people were a 

lot more heated.” 

Q: How did you feel about 

the strike? 

A: “As support staff, we 

were on strike just over six 

years ago and it’s not like 

you want to go on, you 

know what I mean, but it’s 

a you have to kind of thing, 

right? I felt really bad 

crossing the line during 

this strike, but then I have 

to work as well and, they 

crossed the line during 

ours. It’s like two different 

sides of the house, support 

and faculty." 

Q: What advice did you 

give to your daughter (a 

current DC student) during 

the strike that you would 

like to give to DC students 

now? 

A: “Stick with it, I went 

through the same thing in 

the 80’s as a college student 

… life is stressful, we’ll get 

through.” 

Q: Do you think that 

everything will pick back 

up? 

A: “I think we’re just, I’m 

at least, business as usual, 

picking up where I left off. 

We had to adjust some due 

dates for assignments, but 

otherwise, the students 

seem pretty cool with 

it. I’m fine with it. [The 

semester’s] going to be as it 

should have been.” 

Q: How did you feel about the 

strike? 

A: “I felt bad for the faculty 

and for the students, and you 

know and also it does affect 

me because I am part of the 

whole, I like to feel that I am 

a part of the whole academic 

learning environment. Although 

I am not in front of the 

classroom I am supporting the 

students, I am supporting the 

faculty and when they’re not 

around, you know, I just, I feel 

bad for both sides. I want to 

support the faculty.” 

Q: Did the sports teams 

keep playing during the 

strike? 

A: “[During the strike] 

The training of varsity 

teams still continued. Their 

training was done at night, 

so they never had to be 

impacted by the picketers 

and the strikes, and we 

still had home games and 

we still had teams travel 

to play other schools. That 

wasn’t impacted, by our 

standpoint.”

4 The Chronicle December 12 - 18, 2017 chronicle.durhamcollege.ca 

PUBLISHER: Greg Murphy 

EDITOR-IN-CHIEF: Brian Legree 

AD MANAGER: Dawn Salter 

Editorial 

CONTACT US 

NEWSROOM: brian.legree@durhamcollege.ca 

ADVERTISING: dawn.salter@durhamcollege.ca 

Forcing faculty back doesn’t fix the problem 

Back-to-work 

legislation doesn't 

fix the problems 

colleges and 

students are facing 

While it is true students are back 

in the classroom, faculty still do not 

have a contract and the academic 

workforce still depends on parttime 

labour. 

College-wide, 70 per cent of faculty 

are still part-time. This reflects 

negatively on the college system. As 

a public institution, colleges need to 

set an example for the workplace, 

including types of jobs and how to 

handle negotiations during a strike. 

As members of a union, faculty 

work with a collective agreement. 

That agreement ended Sept. 30. 

The colleges and union could not 

agree on a new collective agreement, 

so the faculty went on strike. 

Even though faculty are back in 

the classroom, they are currently 

working under the contract that expired 

Sept. 30. The ability to strike 

was their biggest bargaining chip. 

The strike came to a close when 

the Ontario government passed Bill 

178. The legislation tramples the 

idea of collective bargaining. 

Instead of reaching an agreement 

through bargaining, the faculty 

have to go through a process 

that starts with mediation and 

could end in arbitration. 

Throughout the lengthy dispute, 

the two sides actually didn’t negotiate 

very often. 

Over the five-week period, the 

two sides met for just four days of 

bargaining. 

Also, several college-related 

Twitter accounts were caught suggesting 

they were at the bargaining 

table when they were in fact, not. 

Not once did the Wynne government 

get involved to stop this 

behaviour. 

Nationwide, Ontario is one of the 

most underfunded for post-secondary 

education. Ontario ranks last 

for per-student funding in Canada. 

This has lead to an increase in the 

number of contract faculty over the 

last ten years. 

Contract faculty are only paid for 

the hours they teach. This means 

they don’t get paid for any time 

they spend marking, planning lessons 

or meeting with students. 

While unfair for the employees, 

this also means in some cases students 

might not be getting a quality 

education. It’s not hard to find stories 

of stressed, out-of-the-loop professors, 

who don’t have time to talk 

after class or return emails. This 

leaves students suffering because 

faculty are not being paid enough 

to support them. 

Having some contact faculty is 

beneficial to the college system. 

They are experienced industry 

professionals who aren’t necessarily 

looking for a full-time or even parttime 

job teaching. The problem is 

there are too many of them in the 

system. 

It’s not just the educational system 

that has a problem with too 

many contract positions. It’s a 

growing trend in the Canadian 

workforce. Positions that have 

Cartoon by Cassidy McMullen 

traditionally been secure jobs like 

teaching, accounting and tech are 

growing into more precarious careers. 

Census data shows less than 

half of Canada’s population aged 

25 to 45 worked a full-time job for 

the whole of 2015: the lowest since 

1980. 

A survey of one of the largest 

temp agencies in Canada, Randstad 

Canada, estimates 20 to 30 per 

cent of jobs in Canada are temp 

work, contract work or self-employed. 

With insecure jobs like these on 

the rise that means, just like contract 

faculty, we could be working 

at the same jobs for years, reapplying 

for that same job every couple 

of months and being paid less that 

our co-workers who do the same 

job but are full-time. So, while no 

one liked the strike, back-to-work 

legislation did not solve the problems 

students are facing. 

Even though students are back in 

the classroom, the issues that surrounded 

this strike are still alive. 

Contract work is a problem. The 

Canadian workforce is facing this 

issue, now and in the future. If employers 

are uncooperative and uncaring, 

and if the government does 

not fund post-secondary or support 

faculty’s right to bargain, it is hard 

to say where we will find ourselves 

in the future. When we’re in school, 

we look for positive role-models. 

We want hope for our futures. 

How are we supposed to be hopeful 

for full-time jobs if 70 per cent of 

the people who are teaching us our 

skills don’t have one? 

The colleges should have been 

cooperative and thought about 

how their actions would impact 

not only their pay day but faculty 

and students. If their goal is to educate 

their students and have them 

succeed, they, and the rest of Canada, 

need to join in the fight against 

contract work. 

If you want your voice to be 

heard on this issue, write a letter to 

your MPP or tweet us your opinion 

@DCUOITChronicle. 

Cassidy McMullen 

Aly Beach 

EDITORS: Austin Andru, Allison Beach, Cameron 

Black-Araujo, Michael Bromby, Alex Celland, John 

Cook, Liam David, Tiago De Oliveira, Shana Fillatrau, 

Kaatje Henrick, Kirsten Jerry, Claudia Latino, 

William Mcginn, Cassidy Mcmullen, Conner Mctague, 

Rob Paul, Pierre Sanz, Heather Snowdon, 

Shanelle Somers, Kayano Waite, Tracy Wright 

The Chronicle is published by the Durham College School of Media, Art 

and Design, 2000 Simcoe Street North, Oshawa, Ontario L1H 7L7, 721- 

2000 Ext. 3068, as a training vehicle for students enrolled in Journalism and 

Advertising courses and as a campus news medium. Opinions expressed 

are not necessarily those of the college administration or the board of governors. 

The Chronicle is a member of the Ontario Community Newspapers 

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chronicle.durhamcollege.ca December 12 - 18, 2017 The Chronicle 5 

Opinion 

Without names, there will 

be no change in Hollywood 

Harvey Weinstein, the co-founder 

of the two film studios, Miramax, 

and the Weinstein Company, was 

accused of sexual assault against 

numerous female celebrities. These 

women include Angelina Jolie, Cara 

Delavigne and Gwenyth Paltrow. 

These allegations come after The 

New York Times disclosed sexual 

assault allegations going back three 

decades. The Times reports Weinstein 

had settlements with “at least 

eight women.” This included actress 

Ashley Judd. 

The Weinstein saga was a widely-kept 

secret in Hollywood. Celebrities 

like Skeet Ulrich, the father 

of Jughead Jones on Riverdale, admitted 

he knew about Weinstein’s 

assaults. Ulrich told Cosmopolitan, 

“most people knew” about Weinstein’s 

misconducts but Ulrich kept 

Shana 

Fillatrau 

silent because he felt he would lose 

his career if he told. 

Weinstein’s accusers felt the same. 

He had the power and the women 

felt their career would be in jeopardy 

for coming out against the 

man behind Hollywood hits like, 

Good Will Hunting, Scream and 

Pulp Fiction. 

Now, women and men are talking 

about sexual assaults and harassments 

they’ve experienced by other 

Hollywood executives. 

At an Elle Women event, Reese 

Witherspoon talked about being 

sexual assaulted at the age of 16 by 

a director. 

At the same event, Jennifer 

Lawerence talked about her experience 

with a producer who told her 

she needed to lose 15 pounds in two 

weeks, or else she would be fired like 

another young girl who did not lose 

the weight in time. 

Both stories are horrific, but 

not helpful in the grand scheme of 

things since the women didn’t name 

their accusers. The celebrities who 

are not naming their assaulters are 

not making a long-term change. 

If these powerful Hollywood 

executives are not exposed for their 

wrong-doings, then who is to hold 

them accountable? 

Things will not change in Hollywood 

until these people can are 

named and ultimately fired from 

their positions. 

Young women are in danger if 

sexual predators continue using 

their power and status to take advantage 

of young actors. 

Recently, men and women have 

been doing just that. Accusations 

have been made against celebrities, 

producers and politicians like 

Ryan Seacrest, Sylvester Stallone, 

Roy Moore, Brett Ratner, Jeffrey 

Tambor, Al Franken, Kevin Spacey, 

and more. 

This needs to continue. As more 

people come out, others will feel 

safer to tell their story as well. The 

result? Hollywood will be safer for 

generations to come. 

Weinstein is not the only man accused 

of assault in Hollywood and 

this scandal is not going to serve a 

purpose besides keeping him out of 

the business, but what about everyone 

else? People need to keep exposing 

these manipulators or else 

no change will come and maybe we 

will see this controversy repeat itself 

in the next few years. 

If these names stay in the news 

and in people’s mouths, things will 

change. For example, after multiple 

people came forward accusing 

Kevin Spacey of sexual assault, Netflix 

fired him from the final season 

of House of Cards. 

Changes are still needed in Hollywood 

and the change will come if 

men and women publically outing 

their accusers continue to talk about 

the issue. 

Hollywood will be safer and the 

good people will fill the positions 

of power, rather than manipulative 

ones. 

Highway 407 should be more affordable 

Montreal's 

bypass 

highway 

is a model 

to follow 

Multiple highway shut downs this 

summer have affected thousands of 

Durham Region commuters and local 

drivers. 

One week in August, there were 

three road closures. From water 

main breaks to tractor-trailer collisions, 

road closures lasted up to 

11 hours each. 

Ontario Colleges offered a refund 

for students to get their tuition 

money. But what about parking 

money? Durham College is offering 

an extension to all monthly and permit 

passes. This is a great opportunity 

for students at Durham College 

to examine parking cost and space. 

Parking at Durham College is 

stressful. It doesn’t help that every 

morning students are dealing with 

traffic that’s lined up to the street. 

The parking lot is already full of 

cars at 10 after 8. The struggle 

comes down to having to park far 

away and walking a marathon distance 

to get to the school. 

Then there is the cost. At Durham 

College, it costs $4.50 an hour 

to park a maximum of $14.00 dollars 

a day. Students are given the 

option to purchase a monthly pass 

which costs $150.00. However, 

Shanelle 

Somers 

With winter on its way and drivers 

unable to find other regional 

highways as relief, the only option 

left is the 407 ETR toll Highway. 

Unfortunately, as soon as you get 

on, you have to pay. 

This is why the 407 ETR highway 

needs to be more affordable. 

According to Business Insider, 

in 2011, the 401 became known as 

one of the busiest highways in the 

world, handling more than 420, 

there are only so many monthly 

passes to be given out each month. 

Students can opt to buy a semester 

parking pass, which costs 

$325.00. Parking services offers 

only 950 permits for students to buy. 

If students are too late, the passes 

will be sold out and students will be 

placed on a waiting list. Being on 

the wait list could mean students 

may never see a semester parking 

pass. 

Ross Carnwith is the Manager of 

Ancillary services at Durham College. 

When it comes to cost Carnwith 

says, “I think we are comparable 

to other schools.” 

Here at Durham College, parking 

costs $4.50 per hour but parking at 

Algonquin, Humber, and Fanshawe 

costs $4.00 an hour. Seneca College 

in Toronto only costs $2.50 per 

hour with a $7.50 daily maximum. 

Mohawk College is more expensive 

with a $5.00 an hour charge 

for parking. 

Durham College has not offered 

any compensation on next semester’s 

parking. This is not fair to 

students who pay over a hundred 

dollars a month to park. Christane 

Riveiro is a student at Durham College 

who says she paid for a monthly 

pass before the labour strike began 

and is not getting any money back. 

On the strike relief page posted 

by Durham College, the school 

gives students information on how 

000 vehicles a day. The 401 also 

claimed nine spots on the ‘Top 10 

worst highway traffic jams’ list published 

by the Canadian Automotive 

Association. The privatization of 

Highway 407 and its average daily 

commute price set at $30.00 has not 

helped alleviate the 401 congestion 

during shut downs. 

When compared to Montreal’s 

tolled bypass highway, the 407 

could be much more affordable as 

a bypass to the Toronto downtown 

core. The Montreal A30 express toll 

highway is an alternate highway for 

truckers and those who wish not to 

drive through Montreal. 

According to the A30 Express 

website, each vehicle is priced based 

on how many axels there are. Standard 

sized cars cost $1.40 per axel 

and larger vehicles cost $2.05 per 

axel. If a toll system like this was 

implemented for the 407 highway, 

many more drivers would feel better 

about using the 407. 

Drivers would be able to travel 

the 407 for less than $15. As a result, 

more drivers would choose the 407 

over the jam-packed 401 Highway. 

A study by the Conference Board 

of Canada found the 407 would 

allow drivers to cut 26 minutes off 

of their commute to Toronto. This 

also saves gas. 

There are also benefits for Durham 

Region’s cities and towns. If 

the 407 was more affordable, it 

would lessen the overwhelming 

load of traffic heading to and from 

to drop out and accept a semester 

tuition refund. Any student who has 

a fall semester parking permit can 

get refunded if they choose to withdraw 

from their program. The website 

says they will extend semester 

parking passes until January 15th. 

This will help students who bought 

those permits at the beginning of 

September. But those who bought 

a monthly pass and pay everyday, 

are not getting compensated. 

Carnwith says they have extended 

parking for students with 

semester passes and monthly passes 

until January. They tried to give 

those who bought a monthly pass a 

deal by extending the monthly passes 

by five weeks. There are still no 

plans for refunds or discounts on 

student parking. 

Construction on the Simcoe 

parking lot and Founders Lot 5 

401 onramps, causing gridlock on 

local roads. 

Early morning commuters would 

also be able to sleep longer instead 

of starting with a 4:00 a.m. wakeup 

call to avoid traffic on their way 

to work. This would also save gas. 

Overall, the 407 should be more 

affordable because it would help 

alleviate traffic on the 401. This 

would mean local streets would not 

be packed when the 401 shuts down. 

Drivers could also cut 26 minutes 

off of their commute to Toronto and 

maybe even save more gas. Montreal’s 

bypass models an example of 

how we can better our highways. 

Can we implement the same strategies 

here? 

Let’s start asking. 

A striking idea: Refunds, discounts on parking 

Michael 

Bromby 

impacted space this year but space 

is always an issue. “I am always 

pushing for more parking,” says 

Carnwith. “I have put money in 

the budget for new parking next 

year but we’ll see.” Regardless of 

what happens next year, a parking 

refund or a discount for this year 

will not happen. 

Currently, the winter semester 

parking passes have been sold out 

and there is a wait list for students. 

Parking services is not allowing students 

to purchase a monthly pass 

until January. Although there is a 

wait list for parking passes, students 

will be waiting longer to find a place 

to park. 

So, do we park this topic for 

now? Or should we drive this 

home somehow? Tweet us at @ 

DCUOITChronicle and tell us 

your thoughts.


Opinion 

Laurier TA taught system 

about good communication 

University 

officials 

get failing 

grade when 

it comes to 

listening 

Earlier this month, Wilfred Laurier 

teaching assistant (TA) Lindsay 

Shepherd made headlines across the 

province after she shared a recording 

with the media of her being 

reprimanded at the university. 

During a class, Shepherd showed 

a brief video clip from a TVO program 

featuring a controversial 

topic—the use of non-gendered, or 

gender-neutral, pronouns. 

The clip in question features 

University of Toronto professor Jordan 

Peterson, an infamous figure 

many associate with the political 

“alt-right” movement, debating his 

views on the use of gender neutral 

pronouns in an academic environment 

with others who defended the 

use of such terms. 

It’s not known how many students 

took offense to the clip—that’s protected 

under the university’s privacy 

policy. 

John 

Cook 

However, at least one irate student 

lodged an official complaint 

with the school. 

What was said in the complaint 

(or complaints) is also a mystery, 

but it resulted in a meeting between 

Shepherd and three of her 

superiors. 

During that meeting, Shepherd 

was bullied, belittled, and scolded 

to the point of tears. 

On the recording, her superiors 

can be heard making presumptions 

about her character, accusing her 

of violating laws, including human 

rights laws, and comparing 

the Peterson clip to “a speech by 

Hitler.” 

Shepherd defends herself honourably 

through the ordeal. Although 

she becomes emotional, she remains 

steadfast in her belief that she presented 

the clip in an unbiased way, 

and did not mean to cause any 

offense to students. At one point, 

she is told showing the clip without 

attaching her views on the subject 

“is kind of the problem.” 

In a moment sure to offend any 

student fresh out of high school, 

Shepherd’s supervising professor, 

Nathan Rambukkana, informs 

Shepherd of how first-year university 

students’ minds are not wellequipped 

enough to assess videos 

like the TVO clip. Shepherd rightly 

questions the panel’s view that the 

video was not “age-appropriate” for 

18 year-old students, and counters 

with the simple, yet effective, 

“they’re adults.” 

For the record, Peterson is not 

Hitler. 

Unlike Hitler, Peterson has not 

killed millions. No matter how abhorrent 

someone’s views may or 

may not be, unless they have committed 

genocide, they are not Hitler. 

Most people on the Internet know 

this, and know wrecklessly throwing 

Hitler’s name into an argument is 

offensive to the victims of his atrocities. 

On the recording, the university 

officials charged Shepherd with 

creating a “toxic environment.” 

An ironic statement, considering the 

sheer toxicity heard in the recording 

could choke a small city. How can 

university officials be expected to 

foster a caring, socially-conscious 

environment by bringing together 

three people in positions of power 

to gang up on a young grad student 

who, in all likelihood, did not mean 

any harm? 

So, why has it become more and 

more prominent in society (as it was 

in that fateful meeting) to close our 

ears to the thoughts and views of 

others? In debate, it better to know 

what your ideological rivals believe—if 

only to better discredit 

their points—rather than take shelter 

from “harmful” ideas and foolishly 

pretend they are not out there. 

Maybe when we stop talking over 

each other and placing labels on 

people, we can better come together 

with mutual respect. 

Maybe this whole month-long 

saga could have been avoided had 

the aggrieved student(s) approached 

Shepherd personally, rather than 

having taken the retaliatory measure 

of putting in an official complaint. 

It probably would have been 

more impactful coming from the 

student(s) affected anyway. 

The class that was shown the 

TVO clip was a communications 

class. Communication can be considered 

equal parts speaking and 

listening. 

The way the university officials 

failed to take Shepherd’s position 

into account or hear out her concerns, 

and their rambling, often 

confusing responses to questions 

demonstrated a clear lack of both. 

The following is a direct, 

unedited quote from the recording, 

of the communications department 

attempting (and failing) 

to second-handedly explain how the 

anonymous student was affected by 

the video: “If you look at statistically 

the degree of suicide attempts of 

trans people, young people… It’s 

the highest of any group in society. 

And, you know—it’s… You go 

through Indigenous People and so 

on. There are things that have no 

academic credibility and I just don’t 

think… I personally think I have 

some problems, I have no problem 

with the fact that these things are 

out there and people are going to 

engage them but we have to think of 

the atmosphere also that we create 

for the learning process.” 

Incoherent responses like this are 

the result of prejudicial wrath from 

a group of people who, although 

they oversee the communications 

department, fail to communicate 

their point effectively. 

Shepherd should have never been 

disciplined for showing the video 

clip. 

Her actions were merely an effort 

to get students thinking about and 

analyzing controversial ideas without 

the typical knee-jerk reaction to 

shut out those ideas. 

Unfortunately, Laurier’s own staff 

demonstrated a lack of listening 

abilities, and a failure to properly 

analyze and evaluate the intentions 

of one of their students. 

Electric vehicles are the future for Oshawa 

Did City 

choose 

money over 

environment? 

The city of Oshawa has recently 

made a bad decision: not to 

purchase electric vehicles (EV’s) 

for their fleet. Why? The cost. 

The city should have considered 

the fact that EV’s have no greenhouse 

gas emissions, government incentives 

lower the price, and electric 

vehicles are easier to maintain than 

conventional gas guzzlers. 

Emissions 

Unlike conventional vehicles, 

EV’s don’t have emissions. They 

run on battery power, not gasoline. 

Conventional vehicles, on the other 

hand, need to be tested to make sure 

they have low enough emissions for 

public roads. 

The issue with electric vehicles 

Kirsten 

Jerry 

comes from the power source. 

Power generating plants in some 

Canadian provinces, and in America, 

create power through burning 

coal. 

This power would then be used to 

charge an electric vehicle. Burning 

coal gives off greenhouse gas emissions, 

making the electric vehicle 

no better than a conventional one. 

Other power generating methods 

are hydro and nuclear power. 

The type of power source differs 

depending on where you live. Ontario, 

British Columbia, Manitoba 

and Quebec all have hydro and 

nuclear power systems that significantly 

lower greenhouse gas emissions, 

but Alberta and Saskatchewan 

run mainly on coal burning 

power, according to Alternatives 

Journal. 

Coal-burning plants have been 

banned in Ontario since 2014. 

In contrast, no matter where 

you go, conventional vehicles run 

on gasoline, a fossil fuel, which is a 

diminishing resource. 

This source also releases greenhouse 

gases on a regular basis 

through the use of conventional 

vehicles. 

The city of Oshawa should have 

chosen EV’s to avoid using a diminishing 

resource. 

Government Incentives 

Despite the benefits EV’s have 

for the environment, like the city 

of Oshawa, people are intimidated 

by the price. 

At first glance, EV’s are more 

expensive when compared to conventional 

vehicles. However, the 

Ontario government has incentives 

in place to help make vehicles more 

affordable. 

The Electric Vehicle Incentive 

Program (EVIP) was updated at 

the beginning of 2017. 

The new EVIP eliminates caps 

on incentives up to 30 per cent of 

the suggested retail price. 

For electric vehicles which cost 

$75,000 to $150,000, it also eliminates 

the cap of $3,000 of incentives 

for electric vehicles. 

In comparison, the government 

doesn’t have incentives for conventional 

vehicles. 

They are bad for the environment. 

Despite this, they are being 

sold at lower prices than electric 

vehicles before incentives. 

The main price difference comes 

in the cost of running the vehicle. 

While the price of electricity must 

be considered, electric vehicles 

don’t use gasoline, making them a 

cheaper option on the road. 

Therefore, with EV’s the city 

could save money on gas. 

Maintenance and Care Costs 

EV’s require less maintenance 

when compared to conventional 

cars. EV’s don’t need oil changes, 

mufflers, exhaust systems or coolant 

flushes, like conventional vehicles 

do. 

This is because their quiet battery 

powered engines don’t require as 

much lubrication. 

Savings can be anywhere from 

$1,500 to $2,000 on vehicle maintenance 

per year, and there is less 

chance of lubricants being released 

into the environment. 

Electric vehicles are still more expensive 

than conventional vehicles. 

However, they can be better for the 

environment than conventional vehicles 

when powered with hydro or 

nuclear power. 

They are also low maintenance. 

In the End… 

In the end, responsibly powered 

fully electric vehicles are healthier 

for the environment. 

Thus, EV’s in Oshawa’s fleet 

would improve the lives of Oshawa’s 

citizens.The question now 

is: did the city of Oshawa consider 

cost to be more important than the 

environment?


Opinion 

Increasing minimum wage 

will doom local businesses 

Alex 

Clelland 

The Ontario government’s decision 

to increase minimum wage to $14 

per hour this January is impractical. 

This change will ignore small business 

owners who already struggle to 

make ends meet. 

Although shift workers look forward 

to a fatter paycheck, this hike 

in hourly pay doesn’t consider the 

little people – the local businesses 

and families in our community who 

can’t afford to pay employees like 

the other big players. 

According to an article written 

by CBC’s Alexandra Sienkiewicz, 

small business owners will pay the 

price for the looming wage hike, 

and jobs will be lost – fast. 

The Ontario government plans 

to hike the minimum wage rate to 

Want good grades? Get some more sleep 

Claudia 

Latino 

Wake up students. You are not getting 

enough sleep. According to a 

group of international doctors, not 

getting enough sleep is turning into 

a global epidemic, confirmed by 

sleep clinic network Medsleep. 

However, it is not just students. 

Canada is the third most sleep-deprived 

country in the world, according 

to insurance provider Aviva who 

conducted a study last year as part 

of their UK health check. 

Small business owners will 

pay the price for wage hike 

$14 per hour this January, followed 

by $15 per hour in 2019. 

Premiere Kathleen Wynne announced 

the planned wage increase 

this past May. 

Local business owners are already 

bracing themselves for cutting 

jobs, and in the worst-case scenario, 

closing down altogether. 

Sienkiewicz interviewed Karl 

Baldauf, vice-president of policy 

and government relations at the 

Ontario Chamber of Commerce. 

Baldauf says he is concerned there 

has been no analysis of the workplace 

change. 

“If you increase minimum wage, 

how many job losses will occur as 

a result, because businesses can’t 

afford to pay their employees? Or 

how much will everyday products 

cost consumers because of the price 

But students have a hectic life. As 

a result, we might think studying at 

night is the answer to a busy schedule. 

This is leading to sleep deprivation, 

and as a result, lower grades. 

Sleep gives you the energy you need 

to tackle the day. So wake up and 

take note. Adolescent psychologist 

Dr. Jennifer Vriend sees how lack of 

sleep affects Canadian youth. 

She produced an analysis within 

the last year on high school students. 

Results from the study showed 

28 per cent of students fell asleep 

during class, 22 per cent dozed off 

while doing homework, and 14 per 

increases that come with extended 

benefits?” 

According to Statistics Canada, 

small and medium-sized businesses 

employ 87.3 per cent of all Ontarians. 

These smaller businesses will suffer 

from the wage increase. 

The big corporate businesses 

will manage just fine regardless of 

change. 

Premier Wynne was quick to 

dismiss concerns when asked about 

how the change will affect local 

businesses. 

In an interview with Lisa Wright 

of the Toronto Star, Wynne defends 

the potential job loss by focusing on 

how impoverished Ontarians currently 

don’t make ends meet. 

“I have been very clear that in a 

province as wealthy as Ontario, to 

cent of students were late to class 

because they overslept. 

Vriend recommends Canadians 

get at least 7 to 8 hours of sleep 

each night. A study done in 2010 by 

University of Toronto psychologists, 

found 46 per cent of students get six 

hours or less of sleep each night. 

The University of Montreal suggests 

students need an extra 90 

minutes of sleep during the week, 

according to a study done by the 

institution in 2016. 

Completing homework at night 

causes memory loss in students. 

“Reasoning and memory may be 

have people who are working full 

time at maybe two jobs and still 

[have to] go to the food bank… it’s 

unacceptable,” Wynne says. 

She vaguely defends people living 

under the poverty line in Ontario, 

but Wynne fails to acknowledge the 

businesses across the province that 

will be forced to cut jobs, inevitably 

making the poverty problem in Ontario 

grow exponentially. 

The government has been too 

hasty to meet the demands of protesters. 

It’s beginning to seem like Ontario 

is hiking up the minimum 

wage simply for the sake of change, 

while glossing over how this will impact 

Ontario’s economy over time. 

Increasing minimum wage to the 

eventual $15 per hour will be a step 

backwards, with family-run stores 

negatively affected for up to four full 

days,” according to Gregory Brown 

and Mitchell Moffit, both studied 

Biological Science at the University 

of Guelph and are creators of You- 

Tube channel AsapScience. 

According to clinical child psychologist 

and professor at McGill 

University Dr. Reut Gruber, lack 

of sleep may disrupt the ability of 

students to concentrate for long periods 

of time. 

Dr. Gruber says doing homework 

at night may affect a student’s sleep 

in three ways: 

Work done close to bedtime may 

shutting down, and job losses occurring 

more frequently. 

The change in wages needs to be 

introduced gradually, in order to 

accurately analyze how the economy 

responds to increasing rates. 

Otherwise, we could quickly see the 

economy crash. 

The solution for preventing the 

economical crisis in Ontario is 

simple – the government needs to 

slow down and stop meeting every 

demand protesters make. 

There needs to be more analysis, 

more evaluation, and most importantly, 

more consideration of the 

small businesses who will suffer. 

Why should our favourite “momand-pop” 

businesses suffer from this 

wage hike without heavier consideration? 

Before making this huge change 

to our economy, Premier Wynne 

and the rest of Ontario’s government 

needs to sit down and weigh 

the detriments of changing minimum 

wage this quickly, before it’s 

too late. 

Not sleeping enough can affect memory 

Fight back against the backpack ban 

leave students too energized to fall 

asleep, the time it takes to finish an 

assignment may take up the time 

needed for sleep, and if a student 

completes homework near or on 

their bed, they may associate that 

space with working and stress. 

Students need to stop staying up 

all night to complete homework. 

Studying during sleep time is not 

the way to get better grades. Not 

enough sleep means memory loss, 

low concentration, and reduced 

energy levels in the brain. 

Go back to bed students, you need 

more sleep. 

Students should be allowed to have backpacks in classrooms 

Heather 

Snowdon 

Catholic schools in Durham have 

banned backpacks. The reason? 

Backpacks clutter classrooms and 

are a tripping hazard. In October, 

students at Notre Dame Catholic 

Secondary School in Whitby protested 

the ban. 

Schools should provide storage 

for backpacks. The weight shouldn’t 

be carried by students. 

Backpacks help students carry 

textbooks, binders, laptops and 

pencil cases. This leaves students’ 

hands free. 

A ban on backpacks is irresponsible. 

Injury may result from banning 

backpacks because students 

carrying a multitude of books have 

their arms full and are unable to 

hold hand rails while going down 

stairs. 

In Dufferin-Peel Region, where 

there is also a ban, a Grade 10 student 

at Cardinal Leger complained 

about having small cuts on her arms 

from carrying multiple books from 

classroom to classroom. 

From the teacher’s perspective, 

there are complaints of tardiness. 

Students are spending too much 

time going to their lockers to get 

supplies, ultimately resulting in less 

time spent in classrooms. 

Students need backpacks in classrooms 

and throughout the school. 

Backpacks allow students to 

carry any item they may need while 

keeping their arms free in case of a 

slip or fall. 

Backpacks are beneficial because 

they distribute weight and hold essential 

items without strain. 

Backpacks would not be a tripping 

hazard if schools accommodated 

them. 

During cold weather, backpacks 

are essential for carrying what a 

student may need to stay warm. 

Backpacks promote organization 

and neatness while allowing for easy 

and convenient storage. 

The feelings of students at Notre 

Dame Catholic Secondary School 

are justified. They have the right to 

protest and deserve to have backpacks 

in classrooms. 

Instead of banning something necessary 

to students, the school board 

should make space for backpacks in 

classrooms. A simple solution would 

be chairs that accommodate backpacks. 

Another cheaper and easy 

suggestion is to line backpacks along 

one wall of a classroom.


Global Class links DC to the world 

Aly Beach 


Imagine a place on campus where 

you could communicate with 

people throughout the world. This 

is what Durham College's Global 

Class aims to do. 

The Global Class is located in 

room A150 in the Gordon Willey 

Building. Through the advanced 

technology available in the class, it 

can connect groups of people from 

the class with groups of people 

from 30 different countries. 

“This is the place on campus 

where anyone can come to have a 

class with the rest of the world,” 

says Lon Appleby, Global Class 

creator and instructor. 

Appleby believes a global 

mindset is crucial to a student's 

success and that it is impossible to 

live without one. 

“In order for students to become 

future ready, you’ve got to 

have that broader global perspective. 

That will help you succeed,” 

says Appleby. 

In today's society we live in two 

worlds, according to Appleby. 

The first is our local community 

and the second is the global 

world. 

“The world has become a planet 

now, it’s not just the world of 

our family, or our community or 

our country. It has really become 

a planet.” 

Appleby says the class is crucial 

to those who wish to gain a 

global perspective and want to 

learn about different cultures and 

places, but cannot afford to travel. 

“It does give you the opportunity 

to open your mind to the ideas 

of people from other cultures, just 

through talking and collaborating 

on projects together,” says Appleby. 

“We have the technology now 

and the contacts for you to sit in 

the classroom and go there, or at 

least meet the people.” 

The class starts with a host 

coming up with an idea. The host 

then contacts guests they want to 

be on the show, who participate 

via a platform called Polycom. 

Sundeep Singh is the Collaboration 

Manager for Global Unified 

Solution Services, an external 

company that assists with technology 

in the Global Class. He says 

the platform is best-in-class. 

“It really is the best platform 

I've seen,” says Singh. 

Singh says the class is unique 

because of the various perspectives 

that come together. 

“Even if you’re talking to people 

in the same profession, but from 

different geographies, everyone has 

a different perspective.” 

The idea for the Global Class 

came to Appleby seven years ago 

when he was asked to create some 

general education courses. They 

included Short History of the 

World and Humanity’s Destiny. 

Appleby says the Global Class 

started in the Short History of the 

World Class. In this class the students 

would host a smaller version 

of the Global Class. Appleby says 

the students liked it, so he continued 

with it. 

“It started because students 

liked the idea and (it) has just kind 

of grown from there,” says Appleby. 

The Global Class is being 

moved to the new Centre for 

Collaborative Education (CFCE) 

building which is being built along 

Simcoe Street next to the Student 

Services Building. The building is 

replacing the aging Simcoe Building. 

The class is planned to be on 

the first floor and be about twoand-a-half 

times the size of the 

current room. The room will include 

a 30 foot by eight-foot interactive 

TV that Singh says is stateof-the-art. 

“It (the TV) is massive and it’s 

the largest of its kind in North 

America,” says Singh. 

Appleby describes the new 

Global Class as a hub of world 

learning and thinks this project 

could put Durham College on the 

map. 

“There’s real ambition here to 

say to the rest of the world ‘Durham 

College is where it’s at’,” says 

Appleby. 

Fire prevention week comes to Durham College 

Alex Clelland 


Lon Appleby, Global Class creator and instructor, giving a lecture to Durham College students. 

Durham College firefighting students 

have once again taken off 

their boots to raise money and 

awareness for fire safety. 

This fall, they collected donations 

in the annual boot drive to 

raise money for Camp BUCKO 

(Burn Camp for Kids in Ontario), 

a program that supports burn victims 

as part of National Fire Prevention 

Week. 

Brendan Needham, a firefighting 

student, says raising money for 

children in need is the best part of 

the week. 

“We’re going around asking 

people to drop money in this boot 

– it’s a little weird and smelly – but 

some of these burn victims feel left 

out, they can be on their own,” 

Needham says. “We raise money 

and help give them a chance to go 

to a camp and feel like they belong.” 

Students ran a bake sale, trivia 

games, and a meet and greet with 

Oshawa’s fire department. Sparky 

the Dog, Oshawa Fire’s mascot, 

wandered around campus greeting 

students while dancing and 

taking photos. 

More active events included 

the “Activate the Fire Alarm 

Challenge,” where students were 

allowed to pull a display fire 

Photograph by Alex Clelland 

Durham College students trying on firefighter equipment in the Oshawa campus bus loop. 

alarm and see the inner-workings 

of the fire alarm system. 

The last event was a race between 

firefighting students in the 

bus loop, where firefighting students 

raced against one another to 


put on their firefighting gear and 

carry an 80-pound dummy across 

the lawn. 

Fire prevention inspector Paul 

Hunt from Oshawa Fire Services 

was on campus, spoke with students 

in the hallways. He spent 

the day discussing safety measures 

for evacuating a fire and how 

to properly test fire alarms and 

smoke detectors. 

Hunt says it’s important that 

students who are on their own 

know how to take safety measures. 

“This is the first time a lot of 

these kids [on campus] are on 

their own, mom and dad aren’t 

around anymore,” Hunt says. 

“They need to be aware of what 

kind of system is in their building, 

on or off campus, so hopefully if 

they have the right questions today. 

They can ask any of us here 

and be prepared.” 

His biggest piece of advice is to 

never disconnect a smoke alarm, 

under any circumstances. 

“Whether the battery’s chirping 

because it’s dying, or if you accidentally 

burn dinner and it goes 

off, never disconnect the smoke 

alarm because they’re life saving 

devices, and they can buy you precious 

minutes to get out of a fire 

safely,” he says.

Community chronicle.durhamcollege.ca December 12 -18, 2017 The Chronicle 9 

Eating, 

chatting 

for 

success 


Kiruthiga Shanmuganathan, 

Youth Coordinator for 

Durham Tamil Association, 

looks for a job opportunity. 

Shana Fillatrau 


Like speed dating, except with students 

meeting employers, not a new 

partner. About 120 students and 50 

employers attended the event held 

by the Durham Tamil Association 

(DTA) 

College and university graduates, 

as well as third and fourth year 

students, joined employers for an 

evening of meeting, mingling, and 

hopefully, job opportunities 

Reyl Coronado, a recent graduate 

from Computek College who 

studied network engineering, was 

excited for the dinner, and the 

chance to meet new people. 

He attended to meet people in a 

similar field, and to find a job if the 

opportunity presented itself. 

“I’m here for, like I said, networking 

and opportunities to find 

people who are interesting and to 

see what I can accomplish,” he said. 

“I can always try to seek further 

opportunities to see if one is on my 

way and try and grab it.” 

Kiruthiga Shanmuganathan, the 

youth coordinator for DTA, was 

herself, looking for job opportunities 

at the dinner. 

“There are a lot of large companies 

that will give us a lot of opportunities, 

especially like for new 

graduates,” she said. 

“It shows that they’re trying to 

do an initiative to give younger 

generations an opportunity, and 

there are a lot of people that are 

unemployed with a lot of degrees 

in their aspect.” 

Employers and students first met 

at a reception before dinner. 

The attendees visited a variety of 

booths such as the YMCA, Forces 

Canada and Nava Law. 

Esther Enyolu, executive director 

of the Women’s Multi-Cultural 

Resource and Counselling Centre 

of Durham, brought young people 

from her centre to the event. 

“It is a youth-focused event, and 

it has a lot of potential businesses 

and community organizations 

who are potential employers, so as 

a community partner, 

I feel that my presence is required 

tonight and I am happy that I could 

make it,” she said. 

Enyolu hoped students could 

make connections and find jobs 

through the event. 

Students talked with employers at 

the reception, as well as during the 

dinner. When registering, students 

were asked for their field of study 

and tables were organized to pair 

students and employers with similar 

job interests at the same tablet to 

make connections. 

The night ended with speeches 

from local employers and politicians, 

as well as Ajax MP Mark 

Holland who delivered a statement 

from Justin Trudeau. 

The chair of the dinner hopes to 

hold the event again next year. 

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Photograph by Tiago de Oliveira 

Writers Community of Durham Region president Jenny 

Madore takes time to be interviewed about the Bookapalooza 

event at Durham College’s Whitby campus. 

Book lovers 

meet at DC's 

Whitby campus 

Bookapalooza 

showcases 

Durham's 

authors 

Tiago de Oliveira 


The secret is out. 

Durham Region has its own 

community of successful writers, 

and Bookapalooza was the place 

to meet them. 

The annual event is a great 

opportunity for community pride 

and to meet the authors who grew 

up in our neighbourhoods, says 

Jenny Madore, program coordinator 

of the event and president of 

the Writers Community of Durham 

Region (WDCR). 

“What we’re trying to do is 

promote awareness that there are 

people that are national, international, 

bestsellers, New York 

Times bestsellers, right here in 

Durham Region,” she says. “They 

can come and meet them, and buy 

the books and support them local.” 

Bookapalooza was hosted at 

the CFF at the Whitby campus of 

Durham College. The event is fouryears-old 

and was previously held 

on the UOIT campus. 

The Whitby Campus is more 

easily accessible for the public, according 

to Madore. 

She says attendance has been 

slowly building over the past few 

years and she is pleased with the 

increasing turnout. 

“I think people are more aware 

now,” Madore said. “They remember 

what this is all about and its actually 

starting to build for us.” 

Madore said an event like Bookapalooza 

has a great deal of innate 

value. “A lot of people don’t realize 

we have so many award-winning 

authors in our own backyard.” 

This year, the authors were stationed 

at a convention style area 

bustling with eager guests meeting 

some of their favourite local authors. 

A few dozen people attended the 

event, both men and women. This 

was reflected in the author turnout 

as well, as most authors had a demographic 

they were catering to. 

The authors covered a diverse 

selection of genres. From the 

mass-appeal of romance, Sci-fi, 

Young Adult, and travel all the 

way to the obscure and niche such 

as a collaborative comic book about 

intergalactic alien love stories. 

The event itself hosted 40 authors 

from in and around the Durham 

Region, as well as people from industry 

such as Morning Rain Publishing 

and the Toronto Romance 

Writers. 

In addition, vendors peddled 

their goods, mostly bath and soaps 

and jewelry. 

Writers said the event was a good 

venue to showcase their work as it 

helps with visibility and connecting 

with readers. 

“It’s a great venue, it’s an annual 

event so people know about it,” said 

author Katrin Murphy, who showcased 

her debut novel Gentlemen, 

Gigolos & Gelato at Bookapalooza. 

She said there was a good variety 

of authors. 

“And so not only is it a great place 

to showcase the work but it’s also 

a great place to learn from fellow 

authors who’ve gone through the 

trenches and learned a lot along the 

way,” she said. 

Bookapalooza also featured 

45-minute panel talks. 

Guests presented on genres such 

as non-fiction, young adult, and 

women’s fiction. 

The name itself, Bookapalooza, 

was chosen to reflect the nature of 

the event. Madore said her girlfriend, 

Dawn, came up with the 

name. 

“She said we really need to have 

our own event, and she had thought 

Bookapalooza,” Madore said. “It 

had our purpose right in the name, 

but it also expressed the fact that it 

is just fun and whimsical. We want 

people to not be intimidated, that 

these are just regular people, they 

just happen to write books.”

Campus chronicle.durhamcollege.ca December 12 - 18, 2017 The Chronicle 11 

Photographs by Shanelle Somers and Michael Bromby 

Stillness 

at Simcoe 

Inside DC's original building 

DC's Simcoe Building is in its final year of life. As the original building left on 

campus, it is scheduled to be demolished on the completion of the new Centre 

for Collaborative Education next year. In our hour long visit to the Simcoe 

Building, Chronicle photographers captured (Top photo) Steven Mard, (Middle 

right photo), Totem pole outside the Aborignal Centre, (Bottom right photo) 

Omar Alrefai and Mike Coulter, (Bottom left photo) old and new Simcoe 

Building (Middle left photo) Katarina Ferri, Ashley Alladdin, and Karissa Park.

12 The Chronicle December 12 - 18, 2017 chronicle.durhamcollege.ca Community 

Ajax visits Pumpkinville 

Michael Bromby 


Residents of Ajax celebrated fall 

with the annual Pumpkinville 

event. Volunteers dressed as Batman, 

clowns, and the Incredibles, 

while entertaining the crowd with 

everything from dancing to a 

haunted house. 

Debbie McGregor has lived in 

Ajax for many years but this was 

her first year at Pumpkinville for a 

special reason. She rarely sees her 

grandchildren because they live in 

Buffalo, N.Y. They surprised her 

by coming up for the weekend, so 

she took them. 

“It’s wonderful when the community 

does stuff like this,” says 

McGregor. “We love the music, and 

we like to dance.” 

Pumpkinville provided attractions 

for people of all ages, including 

a bouncy castle, kettle corn, live 

music, tractor rides, and a haunted 

house. 

“It’s great to see how much of a 

turn out this event has, and it brings 

everyone closer,” says a haunted 

house volunteer, who did not want 

to come out of character by giving 

her name. 

This was her third year volunteering 

for the event. She likes 

how it gets people in the fall spirit. 

William McGinn 


More than $20,000 was raised in 

an annual walk organized by the 

AIDS Committee of Durham Region. 

About 100 people of all ages 

took part in the event held Sept. 

16 which started at Oshawa’s Memorial 

Park. Activities took place 

at the park such as dancing, face 

painting and free lunch. This was 

the 19th walk the committee has 

organized. 

“It doesn’t matter what you’re 

wearing or whether you’re dressed 

in orange or red, or you have a 

costume on today,” Oshawa mayor 

John Henry told the group before 

the walk started. “You’re here for 

the right reason. You’re building 

community.” Since becoming mayor 

in October of 2010, Henry has 

not missed one year of this walk. 

Henry was not the only 

high-ranking politician in Oshawa 

in attendance. Oshawa MP 

Colin Carrie, Whitby-Oshawa 

MPP Lorne Coe and Oshawa MPP 

Jennifer French were also on hand. 

Other familiar faces included 

Adrian Betts, an HIV survivor 

and executive director of the AIDS 

committee. He has been working 

at the committee for 10 years and 

has been in the business of fighting 

the disease for almost 30. He got 

hired by the AIDS Foundation in 

Toronto in 1989 and has worked for 

several AIDS organizations since. 

When the AIDS committee of 

Durham Region opened in 1991, 

there were only two employees. 

When Betts came to Oshawa a 

It's wonderful 

when the 

community does 

stuff like this. 

She plans to return next year with 

friends to help. 

About 6,000 people attended 

Pumpkinville, about half as many 

as the previous year, according to 

Amanda Bell, with Ajax’s recreation 

and culture department. She 

hopes the drop in attendance was 

because of the rain and cold weather 

and not the event itself. 

“The weather was a factor. We 

usually get up to 10,000 people and 

last year we got 12,000,” says Bell. 

This year, Pumpkinville had new 

live demonstrations, including a 

lumberjack show, a First Nation cultural 

tour performance, drumming 

workshops, and a live bird show. 

decade ago, there were only four. 

“We’ve evolved since then,” explained 

Michael Morgan, manager 

of operations for the AIDS committee. 

“We [now have] 14 people 

Kaileb McDonald hands out kettle corn at Ajax's Pumpkinville. 

working for the agency. We have 

about 200 volunteers.” 

According to Betts, the volunteers 

are very active. 

“There are volunteers for the 

Photograph by William McGinn 

Participants at the 2017 AIDS walk model the T-shirts they wore as part of the event. 

speaker’s bureau, volunteers who 

do driving, taking people for appointments, 

use phones, run the 

food bank. We couldn’t run without 

all these volunteers,” he said. 

Photograph by Michael Bromby 

Durham Region AIDS walk raises more than $20,000 

He also said the Durham Region 

committee is so successful, it has 

worldwide acclaim. 

“Oshawa managed to create 

campaigns that are recognized 

globally,” he said. 

One example of a successful 

campaign is the Cat and Rooster 

campaign, which had a brand of 

T-shirts, posters, stickers and educational 

pamphlets. The campaign 

was used to recognize safe sex by 

giving humorous slogans. It was 

also erotic, with some of the materials 

saying “Cover Your” above 

a picture of a rooster and “Protect 

Your” above a cat. There was controversy 

when the materials showed 

up at a high school in Ajax, but 

before then, they were displayed 

at public health agency and social 

services across Durham without 

backlash. 

The campaign was also recognized 

by the Center for Disease 

Control in Atlanta, Georgia. 

Carrie supported the committee, 

saying, “when you think about 

AIDS and outreach, here in Durham 

Region, we really are leaders 

in the country and around the 

world.” 

While Betts has been in the industry 

for decades, there was also 

a new face leading the walk. Katie 

Namek, who has been working at 

the committee for three months, 

was the director this year. 

She was pleased with how the 

walk turned out. When asked if 

the politicians were invited, she 

replied, “we organized [everyone 

who came], but we’re always happy 

when politicians come to support us 

because we couldn’t do our work 

without their support.”

Community chronicle.durhamcollege.ca December 12 - 18, 2017 The Chronicle 13 

Chew up the competition 

Professional 

eaters 

swallow 

their way 

to the top 

John Cook 


Annual Smoke’s Poutine Eating 

Contest Crowns New “King of 

the Curds.” 

Fries were flung, shirts were 

stained, and by the end of the day, 

a new champion had emerged. 

Eleven ‘professional eaters’ from 

across the globe descended upon 

Yonge-Dundas Square in Toronto 

in mid-October to compete in a 

test of will and strength—of stomach: 

The Eighth Annual Smoke’s 

World Poutine Eating Championship 

(or WPEC). 

Thousands of people watched 

as seemingly endless boxes of poutine 

were served. 

The aim of the competition was 

to eat as much Smoke’s poutine—a 

Canadian comfort food consisting 

of fries and cheese curds smothered 

in gravy—as possible in a 

set time. Water was provided and 

utensils were not used—they are 

too slow to effectively grab large 

mouthfuls of the Canadian treat. 

This year, Carmen Cincotti, 

a software engineer from Mays 

Landing, N.J. took home first 

place by consuming just over 20 

pounds of poutine in ten minutes. 

It’s another impressive title for 

the 150-pound Cincotti. At 25, 

he holds multiple Guinness World 

Records in speed-eating, including 

most bratwurst sausages (101 

in 10 minutes), and most sweet 

corn (61 ears in 12 minutes) eaten. 

At last year’s WPEC, he finished 

second. 

The winner in 2016 was Joey 

“Jaws” Chestnut, who skipped 

this year’s events. Coincidentally, 

the self-proclaimed sporting organization, 

which sanctions competitive 

events such as the WPEC 

(known as MLE—Major League 

Eating), ranks Cincotti as the 

second-greatest competitive eater 

worldwide, while Chestnut has 

long held the number one spot. 

This year, Cincotti emerged as 

front-runner almost immediately, 

and led by a wide margin for most 

of the event. He focused intensely 

as he ate heaping handfuls of 

poutine, only looking up from the 

table to take necessary gulps of 

water. 

Cincotti said he doesn’t have any 

special tricks for devouring box 

after box of poutine so quickly. 


Four 'professional eaters' stuff their faces at the eighth annual WPEC in Toronto on Oct. 15. 

“I close my eyes and keep shoveling 

it down,” he said. 

“I wish there was a technique.” 

As the winner, Cincotti was the 

recipient of a $6,000 grand prize, 

along with endless glory (and likely, 

some heartburn). 

Second place in this year’s competition 

went to newbie Darron 

Breeden from Orange, VA., who 

finished 15.5 pounds in his first 

showing at the WPEC. Gideon 

Oji, a six-foot-nine tall veteran of 

competitive eating, came in third 

with 13.75 pounds. 

John Jugovic, one of only two 


Carmen Cincotti wins trophy. 

Canadians in this year’s contest, 

said Toronto is one of his favourite 

cities to compete in because the 

audience is large and engaged. 

“I love having so many people. 

There are some other competitions 

I’ve been to—like Portland, 

ORE.—where maybe ten people 

show up, but here we have thousands 

of great people, because Toronto, 

Ont. loves sports.” 

Just one week later, Cincotti 

went on to win the World Championship 

Bratwurst Eating Contest 

in Tulsa, OKLA. by eating 90 

brats in 10 minutes. 

The year of No Excuses 

Claudia Latino 


At 16, Drew Nicholson was like 

many teenagers. He didn’t want 

to listen to his parents. 

He wasn’t living at home because 

all he thought about was going out 

with friends and didn’t know what 

he wanted for himself. 

“I wasn’t living in the best place 

and I wasn’t treated the way I 

should’ve been. It then came to the 

realization of what my parents were 

trying to tell me,” said Nicholson. 

Two years later, he is a Durham 

College student in plumbing and 

has launched a clothing line connected 

to his past. He created No 

Excuses in May 2017. 

He says he used to make excuses 

for little things, such as not waking 

up to his set alarm and not completing 

his assignments on time. 

He encourages people wearing 

his clothing to not make excuses 

for things: don’t push the snooze 

button every morning, complete 

the bonus question on a test, start 

assignments early rather than later. 

“I haven’t made the right decisions 

before and I’ve learned from 

them. There was a situation where 

I wasn’t making the right decisions 

and I didn’t know. 

Until one day I just learned 

from my past. Now I always take 

that extra second to think,” said 

Nicholson. 

He started by setting his own 

goals. 

Nicholson used to be a soccer 

player. He loved it and wanted to 

get fit for the sport since he stopped 

playing for a while. He would run 

every day and document his progress. 

It's up to us to 

make the right 

decisions. 

“I told myself, I’m going to show 

my audience this is my goal and 

this is how I’m going do it. Day 

one, jog, day two, sprint. And then 

people would start messaging me 

saying, “Drew how long could you 

keep this up, how long could you 

keep going?” said Nicholson. 

He ran into a day where things 

weren’t going the way he wanted, 

leaving him unmotivated to finish. 

He says this only pushed him harder 

to complete what he started. 

“I told myself that I have a priority 

and the priority is to run. I ended 

up running that day and it felt 

great,” said Nicholson. 

He shares his story on Snapchat 

and encourages his audience to also 

set goals, by not making excuses. 

His online clothing brand sells 

T-shirts, crop tops, and hoodies. 

All products have a solid base colour 

with a camouflage background 

with white letters across saying, 

“No Excuses.” Solid colours come 

in white, black, grey, and pink. 

Shirts sell for $25 and hoodies for 

$40. At this point, Nicholson has 

sold to his friends and more people 

in his community. 

He says more products, along 

with a new collection called, ‘We 

Own the Streets’, will come out 

within the next year. 

This collection is also connected 

to his past experiences. 

“We, the community, own up 

to our decisions on the street and 

it’s up to us to make the right decisions,” 

said Nicholson. 

He says his brand has taught 

him to not give up on the things 

he wanted to accomplish. 

His message makes him a living 

example of learning by trial and error. 

He says he wants people to find 

their moment to make a difference. 

“I can’t be ‘No Excuses’ and then 

make excuses,” said Nicholson. 

Photograph by Claudia Latino 

Drew Nicholson, creator of No Excuses shows off his creations.


Entertainment 

Post-hardcore legends at Music Hall 

Aly Beach 


Post-hardcore pioneers Silverstein 

rocked the socks off Oshawa’s Music 

Hall, sharing the stage with upand-coming 

Canadian bands. 

The band has been headlining 

a North American tour with 

Cedar Green, Like Pacific and 

Seaway. The tour went from Nov. 

1-25, with a stop in Oshawa Nov 

24 with Canadian stops including 

Kingston, Quebec City, Saskatoon, 

Oshawa and Vancouver. 

“I’ve been a fan (of Silverstein) 

since about 2009. So about eight 

years,” said Brendan Perish, who 

purchased VIP tickets to the show 

in Oshawa. “I’m just so excited to 

see them live, honestly. And Like 

Pacific. I love both of them.” 

When Silverstein started its set, 

the crowd went wild. There were 

more circle pits, stage diving and 

crowd surfing. Everyone was signing 

along with lead vocalist Shane 

Told. 

“I am enjoying the show so 

much right now. It’s my second 

concert (in) my whole life. 

I’ve seen Silverstein twice,” said 

UOIT criminology student Allen 

Orzechowski. 

Silverstein played a variety of 

songs off its nine-album discography. 

The crowd ate up everything 

the band had to offer and Silverstein 

played an encore of one of 

its most well-known songs “My 

Heroine.” 

“Since I’m in a relationship 

right now, and I really like her, 

there’s a song called “My Heroine” 

and it’s basically like, not the 

drug, but somebody you really care 

about. That song is like dedicated 

to her now," said Orzechowski. 

Silverstein is from Burlington, 

Ont. The band has been creating 

music for 17 years and has released 

an album every odd year since 

2003. The five-piece band is currently 

signed to both Rise Records 

and New Damage Records. They 

have been described as post-hardcore, 

emo, or punk. 

“I am here 100 per cent for 

Silverstein. Seaway kicked a**, I 

like them a lot, they’re awesome. 

Shout out to those guys,” said 

Orzechowski. 

Cedar Green opened the show 

with its youthful spunk. The upand-coming 

pop-punk band from 

Philadelphia were the lone American 

band on the bill. The band is 

currently in the process of making 

its first full-length album. 

Toronto’s Like Pacific amped 

up the energy with its performance 

which sparked the night’s first circle 

pit. 

The band released its debut 

full-length album Distant Like You 

Asked with Pure Noise Records 

last February. 

The single “Distant” has gotten 

more than one million plays 

on Spotify. Oakville’s pop-punk 

band Seaway took the stage next, 

playing songs from all three of its 

albums. 

The excitement was palpable, 

with many concert-goers crowd 


Shane Told (top corner), Billy Hamilton (middle left) and Josh Bradford (right) of Silverstein. 

Seaway's pop-punk song on travelling the world 

surfing and stage diving. 

Seaway is a five-piece band that 

formed in 2011. They are signed 

to both Pure Noise Records and 

Dine Alone Records and have 

toured with some of pop-punk’s 

heaviest hitters including Neck 

Deep and The Wonder Years. 

“It’s (the show) is so good. I enjoyed 

Like Pacific and Seaway, so 

it’s pretty cool. I don’t even know 

Like Pacific’s songs that well but it 

was kind of cool. And for Seaway I 

knew a few of their songs, but I’m 

mainly here for Silverstein,” said 

Durham College music business 

student Evan Spencer, who has 

seen the band live six times. 

Aly 

Beach 

Has the cold weather got you 

down? Canadian pop-punk band 

Seaway has the cure with their 

long-awaited album, Vacation. With 

summer-themed jams like “Something 

Wonderful” and “Lula on 

the Beach”, the band’s third album 

reminds listeners of hot summer 

beach days, pool parties and longweekends 

at the cottage. 

Seaway is from Oakville, Ontario, 

and is currently signed to 

Pure Noise Records and Dine 

Alone Records. Lead singer Ryan 

Locke’s vocals have improved and 

the overall Seaway sound has matured. 

Like many pop-punk bands, 

there are two vocalists: one for the 

rough vocals and the other for the 

more clean sounding vocals. Covocalist 

Patrick Carleton and Ryan 

Locke’s vocals complement each 

other perfectly. 

Most pop-punk albums only 

have a few “bops” but Vacation is 

made up almost entirely of light, 

up-beat songs that make you want 

to dance and sing along. The 

“bop” works for Seaway. 

Throughout the album you 

can hear influences from Weezer, 

Third-Eye Blind, as well as hints 

Lead vocalist Ryan Locke (left) and guitarist Andrew Eichinger (right) of Seaway. 

of Blink 182. With its classic poppunk 

vibes, Vacation throws you 

back to summers in the 90s, when 

the second wave of pop-punk had 

reached its mainstream peak with 

bands like Blink 182 and New 

Found Glory dominating the scene 

at Warped Tour. 

From the opening tune “Apartment”, 

Vacation takes you on a trip. 

The album starts in your apartment 

and travels to the beach, 

London, Winnipeg, Hollywood, 

Indiana, Amsterdam and Portland. 

This album makes you want 

to jump in your car and take a lastminute 

road trip. 

“Something Wonderful”, the 

second single, is the epitome of 

summer with its upbeat tempo and 

references to typical summer activities. 

From concerts to canoeing, 

this song sends you to a cottage on 

the lake with friends. “So baby, 

let’s go to the lake and have a party 

for two/Come on let’s get drunk, 

go adventure, flip my uncle’s canoe/And 

we’ll sing pop songs by 

the fire from 2002/ We’re on our 

own now. We kind of smell now, 


but I’m down.” 

The lyrics reference classic 90’s 

shows like Friends and Saved by 

the Bell, with iconic couples like 

Rachel Green and Ross Geller as 

well as Kelly Kapowski and Zack 

Morris. 

“Lula on the Beach” is arguably 

the album’s catchiest song. 

The fourth song on the album is 

aesthetically reminiscent of The 

Beach Boys. 

Although the song starts off 

sounding like pop, it builds into a 

sound not unlike Weezer’s Green 

Album. The lyrics and tempo 

transport you to a hot day on 

the beach. You can almost taste 

a sweet, cold drink. Notably the 

track shows a softer side to Locke’s 

rough-style vocals. 

“Scatter My Ashes Along the 

Coast or Don’t” is modern poppunk 

at its finest. You can’t sit still 

to this song. It’s the kind of song 

you’d put on to re-energize a long 

summer road trip.The vocals display 

the talent of both singers and 

hardcore-punk band Beartooth’s 

Caleb Shomo is featured as a guest. 

His smooth and silky vocals add an 

interesting contrast to the album’s 

otherwise consistent sound. 

“40 Over” is a complete 180 

from other tracks on Vacation. The 

overall sound starts soft and slow 

then builds to an intense sound. 

Every album needs a song to tug 

on the heartstrings and this is it. 

Think of it as a pop-punk power 

ballad. 

Even though there is some stiff 

competition, Vacation has the potential 

to be pop-punk album of 

the year. 

Its light-hearted jams make you 

long for bonfires and days on the 

lake. Seaway will be hosting a holiday 

event at Toronto’s Mod Club 

on Dec. 23. 

They will also be joining poppunk 

heavyhitters Neck Deep on 

their “The Peace and the Panic 

USA” tour. The tour comes to Toronto’s 

Phoenix Feb. 8, 2018.

Entertainment chronicle.durhamcollege.ca December 12 - 18, 2017 The Chronicle 15 

Performer with a personal piece 

Eminem 

releases his 

first album 

in years, 

discussing 

status in the 

music world 

Shana Fillatrau 


Eminem’s new song discusses 

an important topic. Celebrities 

shouldn’t be worshiped. In the single, 

Walk on Water, the Rap God 

tells his audience he is not Jesus, 

and he has insecurities just like the 

average person. 

The song begins with Beyoncé 

singing the chorus, “I walk on water, 

but I ain’t no Jesus, I walk on 

water, but only when it freezes”. 

The chorus refers to the godlike 

status some fans give their favourite 

musical artist. 

Eminem opens with, “Why, 

are expectations so high? Is it the 

bar I set?” The song seems to 

talk about Eminem’s decline in 

fame. Relapse, released in 2009, 

was Eminem’s second-least sold 

album, and his comeback since 

Encore, released in 2004. Eminem 

returned sober and without 

his bleached hair. This new image 

wasn’t as popular and he seems to 

refer to this in Walk on Water. 

In the post-chorus, Beyoncé 

sings “I don’t think you should 

believe in me the way that you 

do, ‘cause I’m terrified to let you 

down.” Whether musicians choose 

to or not, people look up to them. 

Some, are seen as role models and 

as a result they face constant pressure 

to not only be a good person 

Eminem, the singer behind his song about fame and the challenges that face it. 

but keep their audience satisfied 

regarding the music they release. 

In the third verse, Eminem 

raps, “…but the only one who’s 

looking down on me now’s Deshaun.” 

This is a reference to his 

late friend, Detroit rapper, Deshaun 

“Proof ” Porter, who was 

killed in a gunfight in 2006. 

At his first live performance of 

the song, Eminem looked up and 

pointed to the sky, honouring his 

best friend. The rapper opened 

the MTV Europe Music Awards 

(EMA’s) this year, and received the 

Best Hip Hop reward. When given 

the award, Eminem said what everyone 

was thinking, “I’m not really 

sure how I got this because I 

haven’t had an album out in a few 

years.” His last album, the Marshall 

Mathers LP 2, was released 

four years ago, and Walk on Water 

is his first single of the year. 


To wrap the song up, Eminem 

jumps in after Beyoncé’s chorus. 

He raps about his famous song, 

Stan, which has been turned into 

slang – meaning a highly obsessive 

fan. The instrumental is broken 

up by scratching turntables and 

he boasts “…but as long as I got 

a mic, I’m god-like, so me and you 

are not alike,” finishing with, “B- 

--h, I wrote Stan." 

This is used to wrap up his vulnerability 

shown in this song. He 

discusses his insecurities about his 

“decline”, and he uses this line to 

show that he still has his confidence 

and deserves respect for his music. 

Walk on Water is Eminem’s first 

single from his upcoming album, 

Revival, which is the end of a trilogy 

of albums for Eminem, starting 

with Recovery, then Relapse. Eminem 

recently announced Revival 

will be released Dec. 15. 

The biggest television flop of 2017 

TV show 

Riverdale 

falls short 

Alex 

Clelland 

Fans of the classic 1939 Archie 

Comics rejoiced when it was announced 

last December The CW 

was finally bringing Archie and the 

gang to life in a new, live-action 

adaptation of the famous books 

from many people’s childhood. 

However, with Riverdale well into 

its second season, the show has 

turned out to be a predictable and 

cringe-worthy flop. 

For those who have been living 

under a rock for the past year, 

Riverdale is a young adult TV 

show aired on The CW based on 

Archie Comics. However, it’s not 

your grandparents’ version of the 

comics you buy in the grocery 

store checkout aisle. Riverdale has 

been revamped to be sexy, edgy, 

and mysterious. The show is presented 

as a murder-mystery/teen 

romance, following the adventures 

of Archie, Jughead, Betty, and Veronica. 

Riverdale has turned out to 

be a “whodunit” mystery, with the 

season finale predictably revealing 

the most obvious culprit. 

Despite a surprising rating of 

87 per cent on Rotten Tomatoes, 

many Riverdale fans came to realize 

that the show fell short of 

expectations after the first season 

concluded last spring. So how did 

a show with so much promise and 

hype turn out to be a guilty pleasure 

that you can only watch while 

feeling secondhand embarrassment? 

It all begins with the first season. 

The premise of season one focuses 

on the murder of Riverdale 

teenager Jason Blossom, the son 

of the richest family in town. Archie 

and gang begin to investigate 

the murder and discover who the 

culprit is at the end of the season. 

In between the murder mystery is 

an overrated love triangle, a creepy 

teacher/student love affair, and 

gang violence that isn’t very violent. 

But hey, it’s an all-ages show. 

After watching the first few episodes 

of the show, viewers began 

to have flashbacks to their preteen 

years. 

It was during this dark time of 

2006 when young girls across the 

world began obsessing over Troy 

Bolton in Disney’s High School 

Musical franchise. Fast-forward 

ten years and enter Archie Andrews, 

played by New Zealander 

K.J. Apa. He’s a good-looking, 

popular football player who 

dreams of breaking free from the 

status quo by becoming a singer. 

Sound familiar? The show offers 

one of the most overdone high 

school tropes of all time. The “I’m 

not giving up my dream, dad, I’m 

giving up yours” teen stereotype 

leaves a bad taste in the mouth and 

sends eyes rolling. 

That being said, K.J. Apa 

brings charm and innocence to his 

portrayal of Archie, and does his 

best to make him a likeable character. 

The problem with his character 

isn’t the acting, but rather the 

terrible dialogue written for Archie 

and most of the other characters. 

Many lines of dialogue leave you 

pausing to think, really? How 

did this script get approved and 

filmed? 

The disappointment falls on the 

fact that Riverdale had so much 

potential. A new teen drama that 

doubles as an edgy murder mystery 

seemed like an exciting TV 

idea. But the idea was poorly executed. 

Overused plotlines, embarrassing 

pop culture references, and 

laughable dialogue showed that it 

had potential, but all hope seemed 

lost after season one. 

The writers need to figure out 

what they want from the show. 

With so many overlapping plot 

lines and no single focus in any 

episode, Riverdale leaves you wondering 

oftentimes “what was even 

the point of that episode?” before 

finally unveiling the murder culprit 

in a 13-episode season that could 

have been cut in half. Despite the 

failure of the first season (and fans 

waiting to see how season two will 

unveil), Riverdale producers have 

signed on to reboot a Sabrina the 

Teenage Witch crossover in 2018, 

hoping to bring a supernatural element 

into the Riverdale series. 

As if there wasn’t already 

enough going on in the show. 

But if good-looking people, 

cheesy plotlines, and random musical 

numbers are your thing, feel 

free to check it out on The CW or 

on Netflix. Just be prepared to be 

wanting more from a show that 

could have been great, but ended 

up feeling like High School Musical 

and Scooby Doo had a baby.

16 The Chronicle December 12 - 18, 2017 chronicle.durhamcollege.ca Entertainment 


Matt Mays opens for Arkells 

Matt Mays opened up for the Arkells on November 23 at the 

Tribute Communities Centre in downtown Oshawa.


Sports 

TFC: Built to contend 

Reds have 

strong core 

of returning 

players 

Pierre Sanz 


Over the years, Toronto FC has 

been a franchise looking to make a 

statement in the city, but has failed 

many times by finishing at the bottom 

of the league. 

But the last three years have 

seen a change, with a remodeled 

stadium, the addition of star players, 

a new backroom staff and on 

field success, Toronto FC are now 

back-to-back Eastern Conference 

champions. 

This has all led the franchise to 

be one of Toronto’s most successful 

teams, says John Molinaro, Sportsnet’s 

chief sports writer. 

Toronto FC kicked off its first 

season in 2007 and went down 

as one of the worst ever teams in 

the MLS, winning six of their 30 

league games in their expansion 

season. 

Attendance averaged just over 

20,100 people per game in the 

opening season and dropped over 

the next few years. Average attendance 

dropped overall by 2,000 fans 

a game from 2007-2012. 

In 2015, Maple Leaf Sports Entertainment 

(MLSE) added 8,400 

seats, along with the star players 

such as Sebastian Giovinco, Jozy 

Altidore and Michael Bradley. 

After success in the last couple of 

seasons, the average attendance 

in 2017 was just over 27,600. Success 

on and off the field has raised 

the average attendance by 9,000 

people from 2013-2017. 

Molinaro says with the work 

TFC has done on and off the field, 

it’s the best team in the MLS. 

“The last three to four years this 

has become a model franchise,” he 

says. “I think there’s been a major 

culture change where they expect 

David Dengis 


The UOIT Ridgebacks men’s 

hockey team swept the UQTR 

Patriotes in a two-game series to 

enter the mid-season break with 

eight straight victories. 

Toronto FC fans showing their pride during the Major League Soccer playoffs at BMO Field. 

to win and everything is far more 

professional than it was.” 

This franchise is also having 

a big impact on the city, says 

Molinaro. 

He says young Canadians are 

finding a new motivation to want 

to play for their hometown team 

after the franchise won its first ever 

Supporters’ Shield this season. 

The Supporters’ Shield is the 

team who has the most points after 

34 games in the East and West 

combined. 

TFC fan Chris Lozanovski, who 

has been there since the start, says 

everything changed after the appointment 

of head coach Greg 

Vanney, who just won Coach of 

After a 4-3 overtime win Dec. 1 

and a 3-2 regulation win Dec. 2, 

UOIT now takes a 33-day hiatus as 

the league is shut down until Jan. 5. 

Despite languishing at 2-5-1 to 

start the season, the Ridgebacks, 

with head coach Curtis Hodgins 

at the helm, have since turned their 

luck around in spades. 

“Well, we’re on an eight-game 

winning streak, so things are going 

well right now,” Hodgins said. 

“We had a slow start but we’ve 

rebounded nicely: 10-5-1 at the 

break here. We’re off for a month 

now and then we’ll have 12 games 

to close things out.” 

the Year and general manager Tim 

Bezbatchenko. 

“The culture and atmosphere of 

the stadium changed, the way the 

club treated the youth players was 

a lot more exceptional and I think 

that gives younger players a motivation 

to want to get their foot stuck 

in with TFC,” said Lozanovski. 

Canadians Jontahan Osorio, 

Jay Chapman, Raheem Edwards, 

and Tosaint Ricketts an integral 

part of TFC’s success, according 

to Molinaro, and they are players 

Canadians can look up to and try 

to emulate. 

“I think it’s important for young 

Canadians to have something to 

aspire to, to have Canadian soccer 

Mike Robinson leads the team in 

scoring – in fact, he’s tied for most 

goals in the Ontario University 

Athletics (OUA) with 13. Additionally, 

UOIT centre Ben Blasko 

was named one of the OUA Athletes 

of the Week after picking up 

a goal and four assists in the series 

against UQTR. He currently sits at 

20 points – five goals and 15 assists. 

Hodgins offered praise for 

Robinson and Blasko, who share 

39 points between them after 16 

games. However, he pointed out 

that contributions have come from 

the entire roster and his “team 

first” philosophy suggests the fine 

players to emulate and to look up 

to,” he said. 

The introduction to the Canadian 

Premier League (CPL) in 

2018 will also be an asset for TFC, 

said Molinaro. The CPL will provide 

a stage for young Canadians 

who share a dream of playing for 

Toronto FC to showcase themselves 

at a higher level, he added. 

“The best thing new fans can 

do is watch other MLS games 

and they will realize how good 

this team is and how special the 

atmosphere is,” said Lozanovski. 

“Hockey is the dominant sport in 

this city and basketball is growing 

rapidly, so I think TFC’s immediate 

success has got them on the 

points are equally important to attaining 

victory. 

“I don’t often draw any attention 

to the guys that score goals but I 

like to draw attention to guys that 

maybe blocked a shot or had a huge 

backcheck,” he said. 

“All the little things matter and 

they add up to the big thing at the 

end of the day which is winning or 

losing.” 

The Ridgebacks will return for 

a two-game series on Jan. 5-6 in 

Kingston against Queen’s University. 

The two teams are tied for fifth 

place in the standings and Hodgins 

says they share an ongoing rivalry. 

Photograph by Pierre Sanz 

map in this city.” 

A big question is whether TFC 

will be able to maintain this success 

over a period of years. Since Vanney 

and Bezbatchenko signed new 

contracts in the summer, Molinaro 

expects the core of the team will 

stay put for the coming years. 

“Key contributors like Altidore, 

Giovinco, Bradley and Vazquez 

are locked up for a couple more 

years,’ said Molinaro. 

“The club has a core of young 

players like Delgado, Edwards, 

Osorio and Bono also locked up 

for multiple years, so I think this 

is a franchise who can challenge 

for MLS Cup every season for the 

coming years.” 

Robinson, Blasko lead charge for UOIT men's hockey 

'Backs on 

eight-game 

winning 

streak 

“I’d say our biggest rival probably 

is Queen’s right now but 

there’s so much parity in the East 

Conference that every game is an 

absolute battle and a war,” Hodgins 

said. 

The Ridgebacks had a heated 

series with Queen’s in the playoffs 

two years ago, which Hodgins says 

carried over to some good games 

last year as well. 

They’ve already split two games 

against Queen’s this season, winning 

4-2 and losing 4-0. 

Hodgins feels the stage is set for 

a couple more competitive clashes 

come the New Year.

18 The Chronicle December 12 - 18, 2017 chronicle.durhamcollege.ca Sports 

N.Y. Islanders, Sabres 

will play in Oshawa 

Upgrades 

at TCC 

help 

bring NHL 

game in 

September 

Conner McTague 


The NHL is making its way to 

Oshawa - but for one day only. 

The New York Islanders will host 

the Buffalo Sabres for a pre-season 

matchup at Tribute Communities 

Centre on Sept. 28, 2018 at 7 p.m. 

“This event will bring today’s 

heroes of hockey to the Tribute 

Communities Centre, Durham 

Region’s premier sports and entertainment 

facility, located in 

downtown Oshawa,” said Oshawa 

Mayor John Henry. 

The Generals have helped more 

than 200 players reach the NHL 

over their history, including hall of 

famers, Bobby Orr, Dave Andreychuk 

and Eric Lindros. 

Generals president and governor, 

Rocco Tullio said the process 

of bringing a pre-season game to 

Oshawa has been in the works for 

about a year and it became a possibility 

because city council acted 

quickly and approved the necessary 

upgrades to TCC to fit NHL 

standards including new glass and 

mesh around the seats. 

The Islanders being included will 

be a treat for Oshawa residents as 

the team has Generals alumni in 

captain John Tavares, Cal Clutterbuck, 

Calvin de Haan, Mitchell 

Vande Sompel and Michael Dal 

Colle. 

Vande Sompel and Dal Colle 

were members of the 2015 Memorial 

Cup-winning team. 

Tavares is the most notable of the 

names as he posted 383 points in 

four seasons with the Gens. He had 

his number retired by the team in 

September of 2014. 

“I think JT having his number 

retired here and being a hometown 

favourite was obviously a major 

factor for everybody involved,” 

Tullio said. While he’s a pending 

free agent, Tavares will be a big 

draw should he re-sign with the 

Isles thissummer. 

Speaking in a conference call, 

Sabres assistant general manager 

(AGM) Randy Sexton said, “we 

have absolutely no doubt that it will 

be a wonderful experience for our 

players and the Islanders players 

and most importantly the fans in 

Oshawa.” 

Islanders AGM Chris Lamoriello 

also spoke briefly about the 

excitement to both host the game 

and celebrate the history of hockey 

in Oshawa. 

“I think for young people in our 

Photograph by Conner McTague 

On hand to announce a pre-season game in Oshawa between the New York Islanders and Buffalo Sabres in September were 

(from left) On-Ice president John Graham, Generals' president Rocco Tullio, Oshawa mayor John Henry and councillors Nester 

Pidwerbecki and Rick Kerr. 

communities across this country, 

seeing an NHL game and our 

heroes of today, is so amazing,” 

Henry said. 

Tickets went on sale to the general 

public on Monday, Dec. 11 at 

10 a.m. 

Ticket prices range between 

$84.99 and $110, plus taxes. 

Former Gens, now NHLers, return to junior roots 

Tavares, 

de Haan 

headline 

Oshawa 

alumni who 

could play in 

September 

at TCC 

Cameron Black-Araujo 


Some current NHLers are getting 

another chance to lace up their 

skates at the Tribute Communities 

Centre – the name of their home 

arena (then called the GM Centre), 

when they played for the Oshawa 

Generals. 

Current New York Islanders and 

Generals’ alumni, John Tavares, 

Cal Clutterbuck and Calvin de 

Haan will get the chance when they 

play host to the Buffalo Sabres in a 

pre-season NHL game on September 

28, 2018. 

John Tavares will be back on 

the ice in the town that led him to 

becoming the current Islanders’ 

captain. Tavares would be a lock 

to play in the game should he decide 

to stay in New York as he is 

set to become a free agent on July 

1st (de Haan is also set to become 

a free agent). 

“I think JT having a retired jersey 

here and being a hometown 

favourite was obviously a major 

factor for everybody involved,” 

said Rocco Tullio, president of the 

Generals. 

After tallying 383 points in a 

Generals’ uniform over four years, 

it will be Tavares’ first time stepping 

back on the ice at the TCC 

since the Generals traded him to 

London in his final season. Nine 

years later, with his name and number 

in the rafters, it could be the 

final time he will play in Oshawa. 

Tavares all-time ranks with the 

Generals’ prove why he was taken 

first overall by the Islanders in 

2009 as he sits first in goals, second 

in points and fourth in assists. 

Clutterbuck played with the 

Generals’ from 2004-2007 and 

was known for scoring and physicality 

as he posted two 35-plus goal 

seasons and two 130-plus penalty 

minute seasons. He was drafted in 

the third-round by the Minnesota 

Wild in 2006 before being traded 

to the Islanders in 2013. 

de Haan played with the Generals 

from 2008-2011 where he was a 

force on the back end. This led to 

de Haan being a first-round, 12th 

overall selection to the Islanders in 

2009, where he has spent his entire 

NHL career. 

“It’s important to them because 

this was the start of their careers. 

But what’s really important is those 

young people who watch them on 

Saturday nights,” said Mayor John 

Henry. “It’s the image of what these 

hockey players do in their communities.” 

More recent Generals graduates 

like Michael Dal Colle and Mitchell 

Vande Sompel will also try to 

crack the lineup as they currently 

suit up for the Islanders’ farm team, 

the Bridgeport Sound Tigers. 

With the game happening late in 

the pre-season, the game is likely to 

feature key players from both sides 

and especially former Generals.

Sports chronicle.durhamcollege.ca December 12 - 18, 2017 The Chronicle 19 

Quidditch 

growing 

rapidly 

across 

Canada 

Durham 

Sports tourism 

coordinator 

hopes tourney 

grows the 

game in 

the region 

Cameron Black-Araujo 


Quidditch has quickly grown from a fictional 

game in Harry Potter books, to a 

real-life played all over the world. 

Quidditch is a sport played by two seven-player 

co-ed teams. They compete 

against each other to score more points 

than the opponent by the time the ‘snitch’ 

is caught. 

This fall, Durham Region learned about 

the popularity of the game itself when it 

hosted the Quidditch Canada Eastern 

Regional Championships. Fourteen quidditch 

clubs from eastern Canada, including 

eight clubs from Canadian universities, 

competed at the Oshawa Civic Fields. 

In quidditch, there are always three 

‘chasers’, one ‘keeper’ and two ‘beaters’ 

on the pitch while the seeker is off-pitch. 

The chaser’s job is to pass the quaffle 

and score points. Keepers are similar to 

goalies in other sports. They try to stop 

the opponent from scoring. Beaters try to 

hit opposing players with bludgers while 

stopping their players from being hit with 

them. Lastly, seekers try to catch the snitch. 

Hugh Podmore, captain of Quidditch 

Canada, describes the sport as “sort of like 

a mixture of handball, rugby, basketball, 

dodgeball and tag all rolled into one sport.” 

McGill University and Carleton University 

introduced the sport of quidditch 

to Canada just four years after the sport 

began in 2005 college in Vermont. It is now 

played across six continents and well over 

12 countries, including Uganda, Argentina 

and Spain. 

While quidditch has grown worldwide, 

it is still relatively unfamiliar to the Durham 

Region. Players here must travel into 

Toronto to play, but Lori Talling, Durham 

Sports Tourism coordinator, hopes this 

tournament will change that. 

“One of the things we’re really looking 

forward to with bringing the Eastern 

Regional Championships here is really exposing 

the sport of quidditch to our community 

and hopefully as a legacy we will 

be able to set up a team in Durham,” says 

Talling. 

Clubs typically begin in high school at 

the earliest and have grown very popular in 

colleges and universities. While most teams 

are represented and formed by a school, 

some teams are not. 

It takes seven players to field a team but a 

team is allowed a maximum of 21 players. 

Since quidditch came north of the border 

in 2009 through McGill and Carleton, the 

sport has grown by 18 teams as Quidditch 

Canada officially recognizes 20 different 

clubs across the country. 

Although the sport has grown in the 

number of teams, players still find many 

people are unaware the sport exists outside 

of Harry Potter. 

Cory Smithson of Valhalla Quidditch 

in Toronto, the champions of the Eastern 

Regionals, hopes to see the game grow 

enough to be recognized as a sport by the 

general public. 

“Nine times out of ten when you mention 

you play quidditch and people always 

say ‘Sorry, what? You play what sport?’” 

he says. 

As quidditch continues to look for growth 

in Canada, players and representatives 

from Durham Region hope hosting the 

Eastern Regional Championships is the 

beginning of a future for quidditch in Durham. 

“It would be great if we could branch 

out a little and have a team in Pickering, a 

team in Whitby and a Team in Oshawa,” 

says Bill Whyte of Valfreya, Valhalla’s development 

team. “We have the people and 

I think there’s interest, we just need to get 

the word out a little more.” 

Photograph by Cameron Black-Araujo 

Quidditch is relatively unknown in Canada, but Lori Talling is hoping to change 

that.

20 The Chronicle December 12 - 18, 2017 chronicle.durhamcollege.ca

The Durham Chronicle - 2017-12-12

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