KeviZ is a 20-year-old hip hop artist from Canada’s capital of Ottawa. When first starting out KeviZ made gangsta rap music that depicted the street life and everything that comes with it. “That’s the life that mans were living back then” KeviZ stated in an interview with media outlet Lane Switching. But since then KeviZ […]
Maya Scaramozzino
Photos:
November 20, 2023 Revised: November 20, 2023 7:14am
KeviZ is a 20-year-old hip hop artist from Canada’s capital of Ottawa. When first starting out KeviZ made gangsta rap music that depicted the street life and everything that comes with it. “That’s the life that mans were living back then” KeviZ stated in an interview with media outlet Lane Switching. But since then KeviZ has switched gears and has begun to make gospel rap. He states in the same interview “Something hit me you know, I guess you can say the holy spirit or something, and I changed my life around.” With that KeviZ took his smooth melodies and rapping talent and began to use it on music he feels can inspire the youth and keep them out of the streets. Check out his latest music video for his song “Hope” below.
Ontario is being advised to lift its tuition freeze at the province’s post-secondary institutions, while Algonquin College faces high risks to its financial sustainability. In 2019 the Ontario government introduced a 10-per-cent tuition cut and froze fees at that level. That has forced post-secondary institutions to increase their dependence on international student tuition that are […]
Arty Sarkisian
Photos: Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and the Algonquin College president Claude Brulé (on the right) in the B-building of the college on Feb. 10, 2023, after a Q&A session with Algonquin nursing students. Photo credit
November 17, 2023 Revised: January 30, 2024 3:36pm
Photo: Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and the Algonquin College president Claude Brulé (on the right) in the B-building of the college on Feb. 10, 2023, after a Q&A session with Algonquin nursing students. Photo credit
The federal government is considering limiting the yearly intake of international students as a measure to ease the housing crisis.
Photo
Ontario is being advised to lift its tuition freeze at the province’s post-secondary institutions, while Algonquin College faces high risks to its financial sustainability.
In 2019 the Ontario government introduced a 10-per-cent tuition cut and froze fees at that level. That has forced post-secondary institutions to increase their dependence on international student tuition that are much higher than domestic fees.
The government-commissioned report released on Nov. 15 by an external expert panel said ending the tuition freeze would help post-secondary institutions.
“Data shared with the panel confirm that colleges and universities have come to rely more and more on international student tuition fees to the point where the revenue from this source is fundamental to the sector’s financial sustainability,” the report said.
Collectively, Ontario’s colleges received 68 per cent of their tuition fees from international students, according to the Ontario Auditor General’s annual report in 2021.
Algonquin College is a part of that trend.
This academic year, the domestic enrolment was down 5.3 per cent from the projected number outlined in the Approved Annual Budget target, while international increased 13.4 per cent.
The shift has increased the college’s overall revenue almost five times, from the planned $4 million to $19.9 million. This is due to the premium fees — the $5,740 per semester that all international students pay in addition to their tuition fees.
However, not being able to “manage its financial resources to ensure ongoing operations” is considered a “high” risk to the college’s financial sustainability, according to the document.
Risk to financial sustainability is described as both the most impactful and likely among the five that were listed in the document.
The risk that Algonquin College might not effectively manage its financial resources is considered the most impactful and likely out of the five mentioned in the Board of Governors's meeting materials. It's on the border of "high" and "critical" risk scores.
Source: Board of Governors meeting materials of Oct. 23 Photo credit: Arty Sarkisian
The college plans to recruit an “optimal mix of international students to domestic” as one of the key mitigation plans, the document said.
However, on Aug. 21, federal Housing Minister Sean Fraser announced that the federal government is considering limiting the yearly intake of international students as a measure to ease the housing crisis.
In the past two decades, the intake of international students in Canada has been continuously rising and reached 621,600 foreign students in 2021. The number is forecasted to double by 2027. Currently, there are 807,260 valid study permit holders living in Canada.
So the potential federal cap is an additional threat to the college’s financial sustainability, according to the Board of Governors document.
It says the possible impacts of the financial sustainability risk include:
• Deterioration of buildings and facilities beyond acceptable levels • Employee layoffs and incentivized retirements • Increased Governmental oversight • Deterioration of college’s reputation amongst stakeholders • Failure to achieve Key Objectives • Capacity constraints • Inability to invest in initiatives of significance • Capital investments stifled
Featured Story | News
Board of governors | Enrolment | International students | Tuition
For as long as I can remember I’ve been playing soccer. In those many games I played, I’d never once received a significant injury. I thought I was invincible, until I suffered an excruciating injury one rainy night in July 2022 at Immaculata High School where my invincibility no longer existed. I was playing in […]
Stephen Priel
Photos: Justin Hancock-Lefebour
November 17, 2023 Revised: January 30, 2024 3:36pm
Photo: Justin Hancock-Lefebour
I was taught as a young kid both literally and metaphorically, when you get knocked down your first instinct is to get back up and fight.
For as long as I can remember I’ve been playing soccer. In those many games I played, I’d never once received a significant injury. I thought I was invincible, until I suffered an excruciating injury one rainy night in July 2022 at Immaculata High School where my invincibility no longer existed.
I was playing in a 7V7 soccer game and had just scored a goal for my team. The next time I touched the ball I planted my foot on the the ground and turned my body in the opposite direction. A second later, I heard a loud pop. Then, I found myself on the ground with my kneecap dislocated and my leg essentially split into two.
I remember screaming my brother and teammate’s name, “Nari!,” asking him for help, then thinking to myself “oh my god what just happened to me knee?” I always thought to myself that I’d be smart enough, savvy enough to be the player who never gets injured playing a sport and I’d be able to navigate a way to keep myself safe. This injury taught me that I am not immune to getting hurt.
I was on the ground thinking about the the best plan of action for the situation. I was taught as a young kid both literally and metaphorically when you get knocked down your first instinct is to get back up and fight.
So, staying true to the way that I was taught, I popped my kneecap back into place and stood up as if nothing happened and walked off the field. I may have appeared as if I was okay, but the amount of pain I felt in my knee was the most excruciating pain I’ve ever felt in my entire life.
Thankfully, I only had a very slight tear in my meniscus, which is the small bone between your thigh and lower leg that absorbs the shock from your body weight. I gratefully didn’t need surgery, as it was a slight tear. I was however, bedridden for around three to four months whilst doing physiotherapy but was unable to walk properly for nearly half a year.
My experience was also extremely humbling and made me realize how fragile humans are and how quickly things can change from one moment to the next. One second, I was celebrating a goal I scored with my teammates, and the next instant, I’m on the ground thinking I’ll never be able to walk again.
I was unable to play soccer again fully for close to a year. It had been the longest time I’d ever not played the sport, which was very mentally taxing and forced me to pick up other hobbies. Things such as reading and writing poetry became the activities I took up until I fully recovered.
I am not the only one who has experienced an injury like this however, as my good friend and Carleton Ravens men’s soccer team player Kevin Kaba. He had a similar experience.
“I had some crazy injuries this year,” he said. “I pulled my left groin, sat out for about a month and a couple weeks.”
“When you get hurt there’s a lot of feelings that go through your head,” said Kaba. “There’s doubts of when you’ll be back, if you’ll be back the same as before the injury. You have to be strong mentally. Being away from the team while injured, kind of disrupted my mental in a way, for the simple fact that I felt as if I was alone during those times.”
I had seen numerous gruesome injuries in my life so I was familiar with what an injury could look like but I was unfamiliar with the recovery process and just how debilitating it could be. Normally, I would just get an ice pack or sleep it off and be fine the very next day, but this was an significant injury that taught me a lot of lessons.
The big lesson is to appreciate and not overlook the everyday things we can do without even thinking about them. The basic ability most share to be able to walk is truly a blessing. My physiotherapist said that injuries like this can force you to never be able to walk the same or play sports again, so I got off lucky.
Physiotherapist Tony Azzi says that how quickly your knee heals and how severe the injury is can vary based on different factors.
“It depends on the severity of the situation, each individuals body weight, history, assessment everything about them is unique so I’d have to assess them accordingly,” said Azzi.
Watching my family members and friends walk casually and easily while I had to gingerly move myself in slow motion, almost crawling to an extent, to get to where I wanted to go really struck me. Other basic human functions such as tying your shoelaces or picking up grocery bags from the trunk of your car were things I could not do unassisted.
I had to work tirelessly and follow physio instructions to rehabilitate my knee and get the full mobility I had before. I did walks around my neighbourhood and would walk up and down my steps trying to rebuild the muscle I had lost.
It was a very depressing time for me as the soccer season wasn’t over yet. So, to keep myself connected with my team I decided to become their coach and encourage them from the sidelines.
I’m now able to play freely but there’s always a thought in the back of my mind to be cautious when I’m playing so that I don’t hurt something else or re-injure the same knee as I did many years ago.
To this day, I still feel some minor clicks in my knee, and I’m forced to be attentive of the fact that it isn’t as strong as it used to be. I have been back to the field of the incident, but I have not played on it. However getting the injury i sustained truly taught me a lot.
I will never forget the first time I laid eyes on a Yu-Gi-Oh! card. It was a winter day in early 2013. I was a 10-year-old kid and my cousin, my uncle and I went to Toys R Us ahead of a sleepover at his house. We wandered the aisles until my cousin wandered into […]
Dave Green
Photos: Alex Lambert
November 17, 2023 Revised: January 30, 2024 3:36pm
Photo: Alex Lambert
The author, a fan of the the game since childhood, says the Yu-Gi-Oh! community is welcoming and open to new duelists.
I will never forget the first time I laid eyes on a Yu-Gi-Oh! card. It was a winter day in early 2013. I was a 10-year-old kid and my cousin, my uncle and I went to Toys R Us ahead of a sleepover at his house. We wandered the aisles until my cousin wandered into the section containing the Yu-Gi-Oh! cards.
It had two decks, one featuring a blue box with a creature resembling a sea dragon on it, and other a red box featuring a creature resembling a phoenix, sporting a multitude of colors on its massive wings. My cousin asked my uncle to buy us each a deck, and he agreed. My cousin got the blue box, and I got the red box. We went home and played.
With the game’s 25th anniversary slated for February 2024 and the release of the 25th Anniversary Rarity Collection on Nov. 2, long-time fans, myself included, have begun reminiscing and speaking on the love we have for this card game.
On my first day with my deck, I ended up getting beat bad and I figured it would be a one-off time. I quit playing for a few months, until someone at my elementary school brought a deck of Yu-Gi-Oh! cards and asked if anyone else had any. The next day we all showed up with our decks and started playing. We played Yu-Gi-Oh! the entire lunch period that day and many other days after, and we continued to play after school at each other’s houses, with my front yard being the most usual location.
We’d play on the school bus seats on the way to field trips and sports tournaments, we’d play at lunch on the pavement, we’d play at home on my walkway. Even though we didn’t really know what we were doing and didn’t even play by the rules, it didn’t matter.
We were transfixed.
Yu-Gi-Oh! is a simple game. Each player starts with eight thousand Life Points and the goal of the game is to reduce that number to zero through the use of Monster Cards, which are summoned to your “field” as pieces to attack your opponent’s life and monsters with Spell Cards, which can have a variety of effects. Trap Cards are typically used to counter an opponent’s play in some way.
One thing that separates Yu-Gi-Oh! from its competitors is that unlike games like Magic the Gathering and Pokémon, cards of every era are playable. That copy of Dark Magician or Cyber Dragon you pulled out of a pack when you were a kid is still as useful today as it was 20 years ago.
The game, created by mangaka Kazuki Takahashi for his manga of the same name, was released in 1999 in Japan and 2002 in North America, with what fans know as The Legend of The Blue-Eyes White Dragon, otherwise known as Vol. 0 in Japan. The game was featured in his story about a young teenager possessed by an ancient Egyptian pharaoh, and people liked the concept of the game so much that they sent letter to Takahashi and Yu-Gi-Oh!’s publisher Shonen Jump asking where they could play Yu-Gi-Oh!
That was just a teaser of what was to come in terms of the fans’ love for the game. Over the 25 years the game has been out, fans have still remained dedicated to the art of dueling.
“The game is a means to make friends,” said Peter Howe, a former student in the business administration program at Algonquin College. ” A means to have a non-toxic hobby that keeps my brain thinking. I enjoy it because it invokes math and problem-solving skills. “
“The sensation is just great,” said Jefferson Colin, an Ottawan and avid Yu-Gi-Oh! fan who plays at Carta Magica, an east-end card store where the Yu-Gi-Oh! players go to play. “I love the collecting, getting my rarities up. I love playing against other people face to face, like in person.“
In high school, we expanded our friend group, and although almost everyone petered off, even in senior year I would still play Yu-Gi-Oh! with my friends at the cafeteria lunch table. (Now with sleeves, better decks and deck boxes to prevent our cards from ending up like our older ones.) We’d go to local card shops to play, and some of us even played in tournaments, getting beaten down by the regulars in the place.
Over time those friends left my life, and I stopped playing. By this point my cousin had stopped playing as well, meaning the only option was to go to the card store and just play there, which wasn’t fun without my friends. However, that all changed one night, as I laid in bed scrolling YouTube, I found a video by the channel MoonDoggie about his personal experiences with the game, and I returned yet again, still playing to this day.
And, for those who see this and think “this looks pretty cool, I want to learn to play Yu-Gi-Oh!”, our community is always welcoming and open to new duelists. I am certain that someone who plays would be happy to introduce you to the game and show you the ropes. My other piece of advice is to find some resources to help you get started. I would recommend watching this video by Team APS, a popular Yu-Gi-Oh! YouTube Channel, for some insight on things you can do to get started easier.
Or, if you want to get started, the red box of cards that got me hooked over a decade ago is being reprinted starting Dec. 7. The Fire Kings structure deck is a great way to learn the game and the cards inside include that phoenix-loke creature, now called Sacred Fire King Garunix, who you’ll grow to love as much as I loved my version of Garunix from a decade ago.
Sadly, Kazuki Takahashi, the game’s creator, passed away in 2022 while attempting to save three other people from drowning in a rip current. He will not be here to witness the 25th anniversary, but the game he dreamt up has changed the lives of thousands of people, myself included, forever.
As Ottawa gets set to plunge into yet another Canadian winter, student volunteers from Algonquin College set out to raise money for homeless youth, returning for the first time since 2016. Students from the college’s community and justice services program took to Elgin Street over a damp weekend in late October for 24 hours to […]
Alex Lambert
Photos: Alex Lambert
November 17, 2023 Revised: January 30, 2024 3:36pm
Photo: Alex Lambert
(Left to right) Basil Belliveau, Cat Baron and Kianna Tikivik fundraising for the 24-hour homelessness event on Oct 20.
As Ottawa gets set to plunge into yet another Canadian winter, student volunteers from Algonquin College set out to raise money for homeless youth, returning for the first time since 2016.
Students from the college’s community and justice services program took to Elgin Street over a damp weekend in late October for 24 hours to raise awareness and fundraise for Operation Come Home.
The fundraiser has generated over $1,500 so far and will continue as a yearly exercise for the program.
Cat Baron, the event’s organizer and a community and justice services professor, has been involved with the 24-hour homelessness fundraiser for over a decade.
“I’ve done this for 12 years when we used to do it and I’m really glad to have brought it back,” she said.
The event started on Friday, Oct 20., ending at 2 p.m. the next day,
Eight per cent of homeless youth remain living on the streets, according to Operation Come Home. Photo credit: Alex Lambert
Brittany Moore, a community and justice services program alumni working for Operation Come Home, says human decency is the first step to helping the homeless.
“If you’re doing your thing and see someone experiencing homelessness, just show them some respect and decency,” she said. “Even if you don’t have money just give them a smile and ask them how they’re doing. It goes a long way.”
Moore visited the year-two students at the fundraiser to drop off some merch and show support for the outreach initiative.
“There’s an absolute need for safe and affordable housing, more shelter beds and more supportive housing options,” she said. “It’s essential and everyone deserves it.”
Operation Come Home launched the 24 Hours Of Homelessness event in 2002 with a goal of drawing attention to the realities of poverty and things we take for granted, along with fundraising efforts.
After 50 years of helping homeless youth, the non-government organization has served 16,512 hot meals, and helped 280 youth participate in employment programs in 2022 alone.
“Everyone deserves to have a safe place to go so I’m really excited to be able to contribute to that,” said Abbey Kutyma, a student in the community and justice services program.
To support the cause, donations can be made on GoFundMe.
Featured Story | News
Community and justice services | Fundraiser | Operation Come Home
Sex can be a taboo topic for many students, which is why the Students’ Association and Project Lighthouse organized Sex Fest. Many students enjoyed learning about and buying sex toys, as well as learning about consent and safe sex. The event was held in the Student Commons on Nov. 9 from 11 a.m. to 1 […]
Kit Gervais
Photos: Kit Gervais
November 16, 2023 Revised: January 30, 2024 3:36pm
Photo: Kit Gervais
Mari Meneilley sets up her booth on behalf of Pleasures and Treasures at Sex Fest.
Sex can be a taboo topic for many students, which is why the Students’ Association and Project Lighthouse organized Sex Fest.
Many students enjoyed learning about and buying sex toys, as well as learning about consent and safe sex.
The event was held in the Student Commons on Nov. 9 from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m., with organizers and volunteers excited to talk about everything sex.
A popular table was hosted by Project Lighthouse’s manager of sexual violence prevention, Sarah Crawford.
“We want to make talking about sex fun. I think it’s a good way to encourage students to have conversations about sex and consent,” Crawford said. “I think a lot of students think that when we talk about how to get consent, how to talk to your partners about sex, it has to be boring. We want to make it more fun and engaging.”
To make the conversation fun and engaging, the booth organized a competition to see who could put a condom on properly the fastest. Crawford would explain the rules, including checking the expiration date, using hands and not teeth to open the packaging and making sure the participants are unrolling it the right way on fake models. Many students were excited to participate in the competition since they earned prizes such as condoms and sex toys with their win.
While they focused on protection, another table hosted by business and marketing student Mari Meneilley focused on education about sex toys and kink.
Meneilley has been working at a sex shop, Pleasures and Treasures, for about four years and received permission from management to sell some of their products at the event.
Between vibrators and toy cleaners, they also sold sexy photoshoot opportunities through the brand. Some things on the table weren’t for sale but were left as a display for education on kink.
“I even brought these ones here, they’re just like rope bondage, tape and a crop, so these are examples. These aren’t for sale, but I wanted to be able to explain some of the kink aspects of, like toy use and stuff like that,” Meneilley said, pointing to a roll of red tape and purple bondage rope.
Another table was hosted by the Ottawa Rape Crisis Centre (ORCC), with resources on how to get support in the event of sexual violence, such as accessing individual or group counselling. They provided pamphlets with crisis lines and information about the centre, along with social media links, which are all featured on their website.
Communications lead at ORCC, Roselin Dixon, explained why the event was so important for students.
She said sex, consent and safety are important topics of conversation.
“Safety first, right?” Dixon said. “ORCC is really passionate about serving everybody throughout Ottawa over the age of 16.”
At all the booths, every volunteer and organizer was excited and willing to discuss sex in a safe environment to help students feel more comfortable.
Arts & Entertainment | Featured Story
Project Lighthouse | Safety | Sex | Students' association
Dressed in coats, hats and mittens to brace against the cold, students with the Young Communist League rallied outside the Robert C. Gillett Student Commons on Nov. 8 to fight for free education. “We believe that free education is a right for all people,” said welding student alumni and former communist club leader at the […]
Meg Wall
Photos: Meg Wall
November 15, 2023 Revised: January 30, 2024 3:36pm
Photo: Meg Wall
The Youth Communist League/Ligue de la Jeunesse communiste protested on Nov. 8 against the high tuition costs. The group believes that free education is a human right.
Dressed in coats, hats and mittens to brace against the cold, students with the Young Communist League rallied outside the Robert C. Gillett Student Commons on Nov. 8 to fight for free education.
“We believe that free education is a right for all people,” said welding student alumni and former communist club leader at the college, Cashton Perry. “We have the resources, but we believe that it’s a political decision to not provide free education for people. So we want to try to fight for that and change that.”
“I feel like this is a crucial moment in the student movement,” said community and justice services student Harmon Pope, who is also the club leader of Algonquin College’s Horizon club. “We’re seeing economic conditions worsen and we’re seeing a lot of tuition spikes, certainly in Quebec. We haven’t learned any of the lessons from the Maple Spring.”
The Maple Spring refers to a seven-month-long protest in 2012 where students in Québec went on strike in response to a planned 75 per cent increase in university tuition fees. It was the longest student strike in both Québec and Canadian history.
Now, over a decade later, the costs of everything from rent to food prices can make a person feel “squished,” said Perry, and taking tuition fees off the backs of students would be a “big alleviation of pressure.”
“It’s something that everyone’s feeling,” said Perry. “Some people are supported by their parents, but they’ll still have to live with the debt. So, it’s something that’s in everyone’s interest.”
While most students passing by were apathetic to the rally, some students were left confused.
“When I heard they were protesting or doing something for communism, I came out here expecting a full-blown kind of group or a riot,” said Matt Pybus, a radio student. “But they’re just standing here.”
In contrast to the recent protests the City of Ottawa has seen, such as the “Freedom Convoy” in 2021 and this year’s “1 Million March 4 Children,” the tuition rally on campus did not produce swarms of angry demonstrators and caused no closures.
Though he doesn’t mind their intentions, Pybus doesn’t believe the protest will accomplish anything.
After protesting at the college, the group moved to Parliament Hill to join with like-minded groups from the University of Ottawa and Carleton University to continue the rally for free education for students.
In March 2020, something very odd happened at TD Place. At the time when COVID put everything on pause, 12 people in masks one by one entered the lobby of the empty arena with some weirdly shaped black cases. They stood 15 feet apart from each other, put on headphones, took out their instruments and…made […]
Arty Sarkisian
Photos: Aaron Desilva
November 14, 2023 Revised: January 30, 2024 3:36pm
Photo: Aaron Desilva
The Commotions are celebrating its 10th anniversary of expanding on the music of the Motown era. “It's a privilege to play it again and keep it relevant to a younger generation,” Jeff Asselin said. “Otherwise, it just gets lost.”
In March 2020, something very odd happened at TD Place.
At the time when COVID put everything on pause, 12 people in masks one by one entered the lobby of the empty arena with some weirdly shaped black cases.
They stood 15 feet apart from each other, put on headphones, took out their instruments and…made some music.
Those were the 12 members of The Commotions, an Ottawa-based soul-funk band working on their Volume III album that would come out on Oct. 20, 2023.
“It was tough,” said the band’s drummer, Jeff Asselin, remembering those days. “Music is such a collaborative effort, right? And you feed off the energy of each other, so being separated doesn’t help.”
If you look up “commotion” in an Oxford dictionary, it means “loud and confusing noise.”
It was the band’s guitarist, David Guy, who came up with the name.
“It’s such a cool word,” said Jeff’s twin brother, Brian Asselin. He is the musical director of the band and the music industry arts program co-ordinator at Algonquin College. “We are causing a stir, creating a lot of noise.”
The “noise” is loud but very familiar. It’s the noise of Motown from the times when Ray Charles was asking the poor Jack to “hit the road.”
“I’m inspired by that era,” Brian said. “We’re trying to take that inspiration and make music of our own.”
This is not the kind of music that would instantly become an international hit today. Some might call it outdated. But this is the music The Commotions love.
However, Brian did achieve international success at one point.
Thirteen years ago, still a student at the University of Ottawa getting his bachelor of education, he had to do an assignment answering a question, “What does education mean to you?”
He decided to write a song — for the first time in his life.
The song has almost 5 million views on YouTube and there are dozens of different versions sung by students to those “who inspire them today.”
“Googling it and hearing choirs singing all over the world, I get a huge kick out of it,” Brian said.
After that, he decided to create a band.
A band that would give him those “kicks” all the time.
A band that is now celebrating its 10th anniversary of expanding on the music of the past.
This year they even made this “new past” tangible in the form of their first vinyl record.
“It was kind of surreal,” Brian said, remembering the day he first got to hold that record. “It’s been coming for so long. I don’t think I’ve ever had a record that I’m more proud of.”
It’s the kind of music he and Jeff listened to growing up.
“It’s a privilege to play it again and keep it relevant to a younger generation,” Jeff said. “Otherwise, it just gets lost.”
The Commotions are having an album release party on Jan. 20 at the Bronson Centre. Tickets are available on their website.
From the onset of the Industrial Revolution, approximately 2.5 trillion metric tonnes of carbon dioxide has been released, leading to the build-up of greenhouse gasses in the atmosphere. From January to October, the global temperature has risen 1.43ºC above the 1850-1900 pre-industrial average, making 2023 the warmest year on record, according to Copernicus. Carbon Removal […]
Kate Playfair
Photos: Kate Playfair
November 14, 2023 Revised: January 30, 2024 3:36pm
Photo: Kate Playfair
David Keith, founder of Carbon Engineering, explaining how carbon dioxide affects the climate.
From the onset of the Industrial Revolution, approximately 2.5 trillion metric tonnes of carbon dioxide has been released, leading to the build-up of greenhouse gasses in the atmosphere.
From January to October, the global temperature has risen 1.43ºC above the 1850-1900 pre-industrial average, making 2023 the warmest year on record, according to Copernicus.
Carbon Removal Canada, an independent policy initiative focused on carbon removal solutions, is determined to make Canada a global leader in carbon dioxide removal and reaching net-zero by 2050. The organization, which has been two years in the making, had their official launch Wednesday, Nov. 8 at the National Art Centre.
“The change in atmosphere and carbon is completely dominated by fossil fuels,” said David Keith, founder of Carbon Engineering, at the event. “No amount of planting trees can undo this long-term effect of burning a ton of carbon.”
Now, the planet is in a climate crisis battling against rising global temperatures, and the consequences associated with the heat. The path to saving the planet is a long one, and will inevitably fall into the hands of the current students and youth.
“Our kids are going to make real decisions about how to do this on a giant scale,” said Keith.
Carbon dioxide emissions is a major contributor to global warming, but there is a chance to reverse the effects and lower the global temperature by removing and reducing carbon emissions.
“Carbon removal is not a silver bullet to fighting climate change,” said Na’im Merchant, the executive director of Climate Removal Canada. “It is one critical and currently under-utilized tool in the climate toolbox.”
The Carbon Removal Canada panellists (left to right) Sharleen Gale, Grégoire Baillargeon, Mike Kelland, Stacy Kauk, and Na'im Merchant. Photo credit: Kate Playfair
What is the group’s goal?
Carbon Removal Canada is an independent non-profit organization committed to creating social, economic, and climate benefits for Canada and the globe through carbon removal practices. They are focused on rapid and responsible action for carbon dioxide removal to help meet Canada’s net-zero goals and create a negative emissions world within the century.
“I believe that Canada is so well positioned to meet this challenge, and become a global leader in this field,” said Merchant.
What is their plan?
Creating new policies to enhance carbon dioxide removal that are inclusive, encourage community engagement, and promote environmental justice is the first priority of Carbon Removal Canada. To do this, there must be a supportive network of stakeholders essential to the early stages of carbon dioxide removal, including governments, private sectors and Indigenous communities.
To fully understand what carbon removal policies should be pursued, Carbon Removal Canada has conduced over 70 stakeholder interviews while discussion information on low-carbon technologies.
“We need this to be a community project as a nation,” said Grégoire Baillargeo, President of the BMO Financial Group and a panellist at the Carbon Removal Canada launch event.
Developing technologies needed to sufficiently remove and reduce carbon dioxide from the air is essential to meeting Canada’s climate goals. While still in early development, similar low-carbon technologies such as solar photovoltaic and the solar industry can be useful teachers in upcoming carbon removal developments.
Carbon Removal Canada is urging policymakers to create set goals for building carbon dioxide removal within this decade, detailed in their report Ready for Removal.
Why now?
“This is an absolute must,” said Baillargeon. “There is no passage without this.”
Carbon dioxide levels in the atmosphere are continuing to rise and show no sign of slowing. The consequences of the steady increase will be devastating. In 2023, global mean surface temperatures were broken in June and July, and the sea surface temperatures suffered their largest spike on record, Science Alert.
Source: This graph is based on carbon emissions data from Statista
This year, Canada experienced its most destructive forest fire season on record, burning 16.5 million hectors by Sept. 5, Natural Resources Canada. Noxious smoke blanketed most of the country, drifting across borders into the United States and threatening the air quality even more.
“We are running against the clock,” said Jonathan Wilkinson, Minister of Energy and Natural Resources, a speaker at the Carbon Removal Canada launch event. “A clock that has a short fuse.”
Predictions for several years of staggering heat are all but sealed. If action is not taken now, the consequences could be dire. The fight against climate change will be an indefinite one.
Source: This graph is based on global temperature data from Natural Centers for Environmental Information
“The single most important thing about climate change is that the moment we eliminate emissions we don’t solve the problem,” said Keith. “All we do is we stop the problem getting worse.”
The battle has begun, but it is far from making a mark. Carbon removal is not solely a Canadian project, but a global one.
“There’s no question large-scale carbon removal is possible,” said Keith. “Humans can remove millions of tonnes of CO2 from the atmosphere, that is a doable thing that we as a species could do.”
I come from a family of mountaineers, and nothing excites me more than a rocky trail. I grew up in the Atlas Mountains in North Africa trying to walk its unpredictable paths and turns safely. Both on the mountain and in my day to day life, I was predisposed to face change. In life, I’ve […]
Brahim Ait Ouzineb
Photos: Brahim Ait Ouzineb
November 14, 2023 Revised: January 30, 2024 3:36pm
Photo: Brahim Ait Ouzineb
Sylvain de Margerie, a self-taught chef and CBC Ottawa Trailblazer, does not regret untaken paths. He sees all that he's done so far as stepping stones on a connected path of exploration.
I come from a family of mountaineers, and nothing excites me more than a rocky trail. I grew up in the Atlas Mountains in North Africa trying to walk its unpredictable paths and turns safely. Both on the mountain and in my day to day life, I was predisposed to face change.
In life, I’ve found walking a steady path is boring and pitiful. Throughout my career, I always went out of my comfort zone. I accepted a job offer as a student events coordinator from the first international American university. I moved from academia to an automobile company to be a corporate trainer.
I lived in small cities then moved to the noisiest city in Morocco, Casablanca. In Canada, I was a customer representative for Quickbooks Online, an accounting service provider. I was the first check-in point for the Canadian Architecture Certification Board.
Prince Harry in his book Spare compares succession to the throne to the weather, the position of planets or the turn of the seasons. He did not worry about unchangeable things.
“Being a Windsor and working out which truths were timeless and then banishing them from your mind,” says Prince Harry in his audiobook. “It meant absorbing the basic parameters of one’s identity.”
I am not a Duke of Sussex but do share his view of things.
Timeless truths are the work of divinity, and I will not challenge that. All other aspects of life invite change and are worth exploring.
Growing up, my dad would always repeat “you succeed it is for you and if you fail it is on you.”
This simple statement kept me going. Unlike my peers who’d enjoy summer vacation, I’d toil in my home town, Azilal as a young man to buy my course material. With the absence of financial resources, I had to sell plastic bags, cigarettes and boiled eggs to make some money. This continued for years.
The different challenges we face in our lives open new paths. We cannot try them all.
In 1998, when I was 23 years old, I volunteered for Operation Smile, a non-governmental organization working to reduce the occurrence of cleft lips and palates worldwide. While having my vacation in Azilal, my sister summoned me to Rabat to do translation for some American doctors.
I studied basic concepts of translation but the medical jargon was daunting. However, the three weeks I spent in Rabat with the organization were amazing. In the final week, I was having a chat with the elderly American nurse whom I was assisting. It was her tenth year volunteering as a surgical nurse. She explained that she is living alone in Maryland and her two grown sons have their own places.
“You can come study or work and I will take care of everything. I know you are going to do well in the US,” she said.
I was shocked and did not believe her.
I spoke to my parents, and they were adamant. I was not to leave anywhere unless I got my bachelor’s degree. I did not contest their decision. I did not go to Maryland. I did not regret choosing to stay with my parents.
In life, the road you choose to walk may lead to a dead-end or result in a better self. A friend told me once, favoring the family over a better life does not make you happy. She declined a life-changing opportunity because she wanted to be with her family. But everything happens for a reason, and she realized family is not always blood-related.
In Antoinee Domitillah’s case, regret does sometimes surface about the paths she didn’t take. However, as she is now intern-architect in Toronto and mom of two, she is very content with her new self.
“Nothing will make you happy till you choose to be happy,” said Domitillah. “Happiness will not come to you but it’s within you. I choose to be happy in any circumstance. I find happiness in the darkness.”
My choice of my family instead of a new life in the United States certainly did not emanate or result in the loss of self-confidence. Perhaps I was too young to fully understand the situation. Still, I never felt any anger or hopelessness.
Tamara Cherry, author of The Trauma Beat, a book about trauma survivors, calls the challenge of life-changing decisions growth through discomfort. Cherry took a lot of chances throughout her career and is grateful for them.
Like Cherry, Sylvain de Margerie, a self-taught chef and CBC Ottawa Trailblazer, doesn’t regret untaken paths. But he says he would have loved to have enough time to pursue them all.
After several careers ranging from scientist, entrepreneur, researcher to development consultant and government executive, De Margerie thinks of these disconnected things as actual stepping stones of a connected path of exploration.
“It is life transition rather than a new beginning,” says Susan Krauss Whitbourne in her article in Psychology Today.
The richness of the new chapters of my life made up for the untaken paths.
The choice to stay next to my parents instead of going to the US was rewarding. My whole life’s plan could have been altered right there on a hospital bench.
In 1998 when I volunteered for Operation Smile, I chose to fail that academic year because I was not ready to enter the job market yet. Everybody said I would lose a year of my life. Ironically, a year bound to be the worst of my life turned out amazing.
My dad’s words to leave it in God’s hands calmed me down. Plan it all you want; the puppeteer has already drawn your path.
