Plans for Carleton's new residence underway

This largely unused land will soon become home to Carleton's newest residence. Photo: Farhan Devji.

Thousands of students walk by it every day without thinking twice. Occupied by two worn park benches, a collection of oversized rocks, upwards of 40 rickety trees, and an excess of litter, the vacant land between the Glengarry and Renfrew House residences at Carleton University is not exactly the hotspot on campus.

If all goes to plan, however, this largely unused land will soon become home to Carleton’s newest residence building. Although the architect is the process of completing the final design to adhere to Carleton’s $31 million budget, it is expected that construction for the new residence will begin on May. 1, 2010, so students can occupy it in September 2011.

Dave Sterritt, Carleton’s director of housing and conference services, says the decision to go forward with a new residence so soon after Frontenac House (opened in 2008), came as a result of one thing, and one thing only.

“Demand,” he said without hesitation. “We continue to receive more applications than we have space for.”

The new residence, expected to be named Lennox & Addington, would be a nine-storey building with approximately 430 rooms, both single and double. Unlike Frontenac House, however, Lennox & Addington would be a traditional-style residence, with no kitchen facilities. For that reason, students who occupy this residence would be required to use a meal plan.

As a result of the new building, Sterritt says residence fees would increase five per cent the first year, and an additional five per cent the following year. The cost for a traditional single room, with a 14-meal per week plan, would eventually reach approximately $9,827.  Some students are already questioning the new facility, but not only because of the increase in fees.

Some Carleton students wonder if all the expansion is eradicating the university's green space. You decide.

“I’m totally against it,” said Laura Gupta, a second-year residence fellow for Frontenac House. “All the expansion is getting rid of all our green space.”

When asked to respond to these concerns, Sterritt had much to say, after an extended pause.

“We’re taking a small piece of unused land to make a facility designed to accommodate students,” he said. “If you can’t accommodate students, then where will they go? I can look around the campus and continue to see all kinds of green space. It’s not as if we’ve taken the last bit of green space.”

Whether or not the decision to build a new residence was the right one, there doesn’t appear to be anything that can be done to stop it. And in that case, it won’t be long before many students who walk by the dreary land between Glengarry and Renfrew House on a daily basis, start walking towards it.

Olympic Protesters Go Home!

As we get nearer to the opening ceremonies, I hear more and more about protests around the 2010 Olympic Games.

I’m perfectly okay with people speaking their minds, but decisions were made about these games back in 2003. 7 years ago, the city of Vancouver held a plebiscite in order to decide whether or not Vancouverites wanted to host the Olympic Games.

As a result 64-percent of voters were in favor of the games coming to Vancouver. Those who chose not to exercise their right to vote waived their right to complain, and those who voted against it unfortunately you’re in the minority and the games are coming.

There is a group claiming that there shouldn’t be Olympic Games on “stolen native lands”, but their argument doesn’t stick. The games take place on public and private property.

BC place, home of the opening and closing ceremonies and the Richmond Olympic oval are two venues on public land. GM place and Whistler-Blackcomb are privately owned.

Now, militant protestors affected the Olympic torch relay near Victoria. They turned a public complaint into a private attack when they almost caused a disabled boy to miss his opportunity to carry the torch.

Many people of the lower mainland want to take part in and enjoy this once in a lifetime experience but those few disgruntled people are choosing to ruin the fun for the rest of us.

Maybe it’s our turn to fight back against these anti-Olympic protestors with our pro-Olympic solidarity to help our aspiring Olympic athletes strive for the best and not get bogged down by the disgruntled spiritless Vancouverites.

More Money for Social Programs, Says Victim Services

There just aren’t enough community-based, affordable social programs in Surrey, say Surrey RCMP Victim Services workers.

“There needs to be more money available, more programs available. It’s terrible,” said Victim Services worker Marnie Neal in a Nov. 9 interview, adding that if people need free counselling, there’s only one place in Surrey they can go.

“You get one session, and it’s first come first serve on a Tuesday night, and that’s it. If you have no money and you don’t get Crime Victims Assistance you don’t get any counselling,” she said. “There’s big lapses in that.”

Surrey also needs to improve access to mental health services, according to Neal. “People will be in a mental health crisis, and they’ll phone Surrey Mental Health, and they’ll say yeah, can you come in in February?” she said.

Free or low-cost programs for families of people who have attempted or committed suicide and for survivors of suicide are also lacking, she says. Although there are a few youth programs in place, nothing is available for adults.

Added to this, past and present funding cuts by the B.C. government have affected support services for seniors in the Surrey area. According to the B.C. NDP website, funding cuts have affected some 5,600 seniors. Programs that have had their funding cut include social housing and the Ministry of Community Development.

When community support funding is cut, “the people who don’t have friends and neighbours [end up] eating cat food,” Neal said.

She’s pragmatic when asked what effect the lack of support services has on the community.

“What do the people do? They do without.”

Bringing fun back to Ottawa

The Press Box’s Ottawa correspondent Farhan Devji reports on day one of the city’s public delegation on the proposed Lansdowne Live project.

Erin Kelly thinks the proposed Lansdowne Live project will bring fun back to Ottawa's core. Photo courtesy of the Ottawa Citizen.

Although Erin Kelly was one of Lansdowne Live’s lone supporters Thursday in the first half of the project’s public delegation at Ottawa City Hall, her presentation may have had the greatest effect.

Kelly, the executive director of the Ottawa Chamber of Commerce, made several candid remarks in support of the proposal throughout her speech, some of which were challenged strongly by members of the council. At one point, mayor Larry O’Brien ordered city councilor Jacques Legendre’s microphone to be turned off after he told Kelly: “I’m not going to get the value out of you that I was hoping for,” which drew a great deal of upheaval among those in attendance at the hall.

Not from Kelly, however. She wasn’t the least bit surprised with the reaction her presentation garnered.

“I wasn’t surprised at all because I think you’ll notice that there were a lot of people that went in who had loosy, goosy ideas and there was no comment whatsoever,” she said in an interview after her formal address. “But the Chamber of Commerce is always met with derision when it comes to some city councilors. They just don’t like commerce and they don’t like business. I fully expected it.”

Although Kelly said she did not take offense to any of the comments made by the councilors, she was upset with the line of questioning.

“Asking me what the BIA thinks is ridiculous. I mean, I’m not the Glebe BIA,” said Kelly, regarding councilor Clive Doucet’s question about the Business Improvement Area’s position on the matter at hand. “Ask me what the chamber thinks and I’ll tell you.”

So, what does the chamber think?

“The Ottawa Chamber of Commerce is in favor of this project. We’ve been meeting with the various groups involved since April. We looked at the financials, and we sat down with the board and said ‘do we want to support this project?’ And the decision was yes.”

Kelly argued that the Lansdowne Live project would bring fun back to Ottawa’s core, an element that it is currently lacking.

“The city shuts down at 5 o’clock; it’s been known as the city that fun forgot,” she said in her address. “I want to put the fun back into Ottawa and that’s what this project does.”

Another one of Kelly’s main points during her presentation spoke to the positive impact the proposed project would have on the economy.

“Much has been made that Ottawa was skipped the economic recession. We haven’t skipped it; it hasn’t hit us yet. What’s our plan? We need economic stimulus and this is natural economic stimulus in the center of our city. This is going to bring people into the Glebe that don’t shop in the Glebe today.”

Most speakers who had the courage to voice their opinion Thursday chose to urge city councilors to vote against the proposal, on the grounds that they didn’t want taxes to be raised, they were displeased by the cancellation of the open design competition, and because they feel the conditional offer of a CFL franchise is rushing the process. Kelly had much to say about each of these points, especially the latter.

“It’s not a rushed process,” she said in an interview. “I mean Lansdowne Park has been sitting there for 10 years with nothing happening. Why are we worried about rushing when we should be worried about the fact that we’ve been dragging our feet for 10 years?”

In her formal presentation, she also spoke to this matter: “The risk of not taking this project is the bigger one. Ottawa’s problem is that they’re not taking action. Let’s not waste any more time, let’s not do any more analysis-paralysis.”

Public delegations are scheduled to continue on Friday, before the city councilors debate and ultimately vote on the project’s future. It is expected that the final vote will take place on Monday. If Kelly gets her wish, the Lansdowne Live proposal will be approved and Ottawa will go from the city that fun forgot, to the city that fun finally remembered.

Farhan Devji is a freelance journalist based in Ottawa. Help send Farhan to the 2010 Olympics by voting for him in the Globe and Mail’s journalism dream contest. Votes are allowed once a day.

Beating billboards by branding B.C.

Squamish First Nations have recently announced their decision to construct massive billboards on Reserve land located near high-traffic locations like the Sea to Sky Highway and Burrard Bridge.

This strategic business move has forced Vanoc into a corner, caught between an attempt to monopolize advertisement during the Games, keeping their word with their corporate sponsors and pleasing downtown municipalities who do not want corporate advertisements spoiling the view.

Whether or not the Squamish First Nations’ decision is aesthetically ethical is beside the point: they’ve found a loophole in the system, and there is nothing Vanoc can do about it.

What Vanoc can do however, is make the best of the current situation.

Why not take advantage of having billboards in prime high-traffic locations? In fact, why not make the best of both worlds and showcase B.C.’s beautiful landscape in these high-traffic areas?

Let’s brand the province’s brand.

Nature Valley, Aquafina, Happy Planet or some other biological health brand that uses nature in its marketing ads should seize this opportunity to make known their name by displaying… well, nothing.

Rip out the interior of the billboard, leave the exterior frame, slap on a name in the bottom right hand corner of the billboard and voila! This magnificently pure and pristine landscape, found only in beautiful British Columbia, is brought to you by (insert name here).

Not only does the see-through billboard attract passerby’s attention to the landscape, but in such a commercialized society, the ad becomes an anti-advertisement perfect for a brand that’s looking to stand out from the clutter.

And most importantly, everybody wins. The Squamish First Nations, Vanoc, the corporate sponsors, the municipalities, even the province of B.C.

HST A Good Thing, Says Vancouver Film Studios COO

The HST is a good thing for the film and television industry in BC, according to Vancouver Film Studios COO Pete Mitchell.

“There’s a lot of anti-HST hysteria, and that’s just what it is. Hysteria. If you take away dining out, which is a luxury, not a right, everybody’s going to benefit other than that,” said Mitchell. “We feel that HST is the best possible tax construct out there, and it’s certainly good for the film and TV industry.”

Under the current tax system, PST is embedded in the cost of a product at every stage of its production. The final consumer pays all of that PST, and is charged GST and PST on top of that.

Under HST, tax is claimed back at every step of production, so the consumer only pays tax on the final product. This will reduce the cost for clients to rent equipment from studios, which will attract business.

The HST will also make the BC film industry more competitive with provinces like Ontario, which have recently increased their tax credits, in addition to other incentives. “Ontario has had a PST exemption for the film and TV industry for the last 10 years that we obviously don’t have, so them going to HST and us going to HST puts us on a level playing field,” explains Mitchell.

The effect of the HST panic is already being felt. “What we’ve seen is a decrease in inquiries for next year. We’re pretty well done through the end of the year in terms of our occupancy,” Mitchell says.

“In a typical year, we would be getting lots of calls for shows starting up in January and February, and that’s pretty well at a standstill,” he says.

The BC film industry was worth an estimated $943 million in 2007.

Sports Talk Ep.504: The Pigskin and Puck Show

This week Zam welcomes guest-host Jeremy Bosch to get into the upcoming CFL Playoffs a few weeks away, the NHL season has started and they get into the oddities of this season so far. NFL week 5 is over and they get into Brett Favre’s 5-0 record and SFU and UBC go into Saturday’s 32nd Shrum Bowl.

Listen to the full show here

Subscribe to the podcast here

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The new and entertaining, Steve-O!

I know this could be considered old news but I am doing some work with this video and this clip and it just doesn’t get old. Over the summer our Prime Minister Stephen Harper has been in the news continously. Most of the reasons he has been making headlines are related to politics, the economy, the Olympics, and coalitions! But not this time. A couple weekends ago Harper was in Ottawa at the National Arts Centre.

Not only did our good ol’ PM make an appearance but – he who cut funding to the arts just a little while ago – got on stage and performed with the famous cellist Yo Yo Ma. Harper got behind the ivory keys of the piano and played with a band as well as sang the song “With A Little Help From My Friends” by The Beatles. And he’s actually good! How ironic eh? Anyways, have a looksy below. Pay particular attention to the musician to the right, behind the PM. He seems completely stunned that the robotic Conservative is able to carry a tune. He can jam.

Canadian Judges Using Hockey as Political Statement

It is time for judges and crown prosecutors to stop picking out hockey players for fighting. The most recent occasion was when last season in a QMJHL game where the son of Hockey Hall of Famer Patrick Roy, Frederick Roy, cross-checked an opponent prior to an impending fight. He was subsequently charged for an assault with a weapon and a Quebec judge found him guilty.

Judges and prosecutors have to stop going after hockey players and vilifying the game of hockey and start going after the real criminals like gangster and murderers. How is this in the public interest of any of the tax-paying public? Its not in my interest. The sports field is too easy for a prosecutor to find fault in any play, just the act of playing hockey by some bleeding heart socialist can be argued that they’re breaking some law. Its time for us all to grow a pair and start taking risks again.

All players understand what they are getting into when they step on the ice and what the risks involved are. Soon enough we will see all our children wearing helmets to school and shin pads when walking around on a regular basis. How did we become so sterile and over litigious wasting money on ridiculous court cases.

Just a tip for you prosecutors all across the country, before you go after hockey players for fights and hockey plays, first go after real criminals like those drug traffickers who are importing cocaine into Canada, and those gangsters who are shooting their way through night clubs in different cities, and the murderers who are around. Only once you’ve solved those problems then feel free to go after athletes.

Rugby Tackle=Murder?

Today an 18 year old boy was convicted of manslaughter for none other than a rugby tackle. The accused who’s identity is protected by the Youth Criminal Justice Act was involved in a tackle with an opposition player Manny Castillo. Castillo was tackled head-first and suffered head and spinal cord injuries causing his death. The act that resulted in Castillo’s death was a tackle as a result of a rugby scrum and teammates of the accused testified that it was initiated by Castillo by placing the accused in a headlock before the accused in his defense took Castillo’s legs out from under him, he landed on his head and back and suffered injury and died.

We all feel for the Castillo Family’s pain, but this act during a game resulted in a fatal accident was just that, an accident. Having seen my fair share of rugby games, its safe to say that rugby is not a game for the faint at heart. Each time one steps on the field they are at risk for injury, though the risk isn’t overly high, one always has to remember that the possibility is there. The rugby tackle tackle that caused Castillo’s death was described by rugby veterans as “clean and fair” due to the consentual nature of violence in the sport should not be prosecuted.

In sports like rugby, football, and hockey where physical confrontations are part of the game, one can not be prosecuted for an accident, or actions that are conducted on the field or rink. The judiciary needs to stop overstepping its bounds and inserting itself in our everyday lives. A Crown Prosecutor’s job isn’t to go after athletes that are involved in accidents, they have a more important responsibility to find those murderers and drug dealers and gangsters that make our cities less safe, and too me this shows a complete falacy in our already backlogged and overcrowded judicial system.