Sunday 25 November 2012
U of T research contributes to instant verbal translation
When Microsoft’s chief research officer took to the stage in Tianjin, China, last month, his language skills made an auditorium of hundreds of native Mandarin speakers applaud wildly.
But he only spoke English at the conference. As he explained new developments in instantaneous translation and interpretation, Rick Rashid’s English spoken words were simultaneously translated robotically to Mandarin.
The stunned crowd applauded the new computer system that can recognize human speech patterns, thanks to a University of Toronto research team.
See my report in the Toronto Observer.
Sunday 18 November 2012
Awareness, preparation the best defence against life-threatening allergies
For the third time since classes resumed this autumn, the issue of how schools accommodate children with allergies has people talking.
Last week, a mother from Vaugn made headlines after asking her son’s school to remove an acorn tree from the school grounds.
Thursday 15 November 2012
Jarvis bike lane protester arrested during removal
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| Toronto Star photo |
Toronto physician Tomislav Svoboda was arrested around 11 a.m. on Jarvis St. near Shuter St.
“As a family and public health physician, I’m concerned about safety,” Svoboda said.
See my report in the Toronto Star.
Wednesday 14 November 2012
FoodShare mobile food market brings relief to Toronto’s food deserts (with video)
The parking lot at 90 Mornelle Ct. is nestled by high-rise apartment buildings. Fast food joints and convenience stores are steps away while the two nearest grocery stores are both located up steep hills.
But at this parking lot, on a wet and windy October morning, Marlon Neil and his son Israel have bought plantain, ginger, grapes, carrots and much more.
Every week, the Mobile Good Food Market sends a box truck full of nutritious food to Toronto’s food deserts — high-population areas where fresh food is far and expensive — to be sold at wholesale prices.
See my report in the Toronto Observer
Saturday 10 November 2012
Section 37 funds cause a stir in Scarborough
Councillors question use of limited Planning Act funds
It’s a bureaucratic regulation that lasts all of five sentences, but one small section of the Ontario law has Toronto City Council fuming over how to spend the $300 million it brings in each year. Some councillors say communities like Scarborough are missing out.
See my report in The Toronto Observer.
It’s a bureaucratic regulation that lasts all of five sentences, but one small section of the Ontario law has Toronto City Council fuming over how to spend the $300 million it brings in each year. Some councillors say communities like Scarborough are missing out.
See my report in The Toronto Observer.
Tuesday 30 October 2012
My video on the Great Canadian Appathon
I did a video for our magazine class about the Great Canadian Appathon. The story will be posted in a few days when we have our website launch, but here's the video:
Sunday 28 October 2012
Scarborough cookie factory sells treats at cheap prices
This is one of the sillier stories I've done; even got kicked out by security for it. I was sure to lace the article with puns.
Venture northwest of the Scarborough Town Centre and it is easy to start smelling something sweet in the air.
It starts with a whiff passing the chain restaurants along Progress Avenue, and it gets stronger as the inconspicuous industrial outlets west of Brimley Road get closer.
Nestled among the industrial grey is a sign with two red logos: Kraft and Dad’s Cookies.
The Dad’s Cookies Outlet Store sits adjacent to a cookie factory, which has been in operation since 1966. During normal business hours, the public can get Kraft cookies and crackers at kooky prices.
See my report in The Toronto Observer.
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| These bags are on sale for $2 each. |
Venture northwest of the Scarborough Town Centre and it is easy to start smelling something sweet in the air.
It starts with a whiff passing the chain restaurants along Progress Avenue, and it gets stronger as the inconspicuous industrial outlets west of Brimley Road get closer.
Nestled among the industrial grey is a sign with two red logos: Kraft and Dad’s Cookies.
The Dad’s Cookies Outlet Store sits adjacent to a cookie factory, which has been in operation since 1966. During normal business hours, the public can get Kraft cookies and crackers at kooky prices.
See my report in The Toronto Observer.
Tuesday 23 October 2012
I was a (very small) part of a COPA!
The Toronto Star won a bundle of awards at the Canadian Online Publishing Awards this week, and I was a very small part of it.
The newsroom puts a lot of time into training and thinking digitally. It's quite a task, especially for the veteran reporters, to think outside a print medium. But our site has a good mix of interactive features, high-quality videos and bunch of other story-telling tools.
The Star took silver for best news coverage, based on three stories: the Eaton Centre shooting, the federal budget and the Union Station flooding that happened on a Friday at rush hour. I was involved in the latter, writing and updating an article at least 15 times and working the phones while multiple reporters sent me what they saw and heard on the scene. I'm thrilled to have been a small part of our award.
One of the best features the Star won a COPA for was Somalia, Where Famine is a Crime. The site combines videos, photo galleries and captivating writing by videographer Randy Risling and our national security reporter Michelle Shephard (who I'm a huge fan of). You should really take a look at it.
The newsroom puts a lot of time into training and thinking digitally. It's quite a task, especially for the veteran reporters, to think outside a print medium. But our site has a good mix of interactive features, high-quality videos and bunch of other story-telling tools.
The Star took silver for best news coverage, based on three stories: the Eaton Centre shooting, the federal budget and the Union Station flooding that happened on a Friday at rush hour. I was involved in the latter, writing and updating an article at least 15 times and working the phones while multiple reporters sent me what they saw and heard on the scene. I'm thrilled to have been a small part of our award.
One of the best features the Star won a COPA for was Somalia, Where Famine is a Crime. The site combines videos, photo galleries and captivating writing by videographer Randy Risling and our national security reporter Michelle Shephard (who I'm a huge fan of). You should really take a look at it.
Thursday 18 October 2012
FoodShare's mobile food market brings relief to 'food deserts'
Video to be posted next week.
The parking lot at 90 Mornelle Ct. is nestled by high-rise apartment buildings. Fast food joints and convenience stores are steps away while the two nearest grocery stores are both located up steep hills.
But at this parking lot, on a wet and windy October morning, Marlon Neil and his son Israel have bought plantain, ginger, grapes, carrots and much more.
Every week, the Mobile Good Food Market sends a box truck full of nutritious food to Toronto’s food deserts — high-population areas where fresh food is far and expensive — to be sold at wholesale prices.
See my report in The Toronto Observer.
But at this parking lot, on a wet and windy October morning, Marlon Neil and his son Israel have bought plantain, ginger, grapes, carrots and much more.
Every week, the Mobile Good Food Market sends a box truck full of nutritious food to Toronto’s food deserts — high-population areas where fresh food is far and expensive — to be sold at wholesale prices.
See my report in The Toronto Observer.
Don Jail flood sends sewage across 50-bed unit
After a number of overnight shifts due to a wonky course schedule, I was glad to write this story. It was a Star exclusive and my first print byline in weeks, but more importantly it's a story about a serious issue affecting numerous people.
Some of our callers were really distraught, and as a journalist you learn to distance yourself and get the details from people who are suffering. I also co-wrote a follow-up when it this happened again the next day.
Sophia Brown’s 23-year-old son, Tiaven, called her from his unit at the Don Jail.
“He calls me and says, ‘Mom, we’re dying,’ and I can hear the screaming and hollering.”
Three inmates also called the Star Wednesday after a 50-bed section of the jail was flooded with sewage.
See my report in the Toronto Star.
Some of our callers were really distraught, and as a journalist you learn to distance yourself and get the details from people who are suffering. I also co-wrote a follow-up when it this happened again the next day.
Sophia Brown’s 23-year-old son, Tiaven, called her from his unit at the Don Jail.
“He calls me and says, ‘Mom, we’re dying,’ and I can hear the screaming and hollering.”
Three inmates also called the Star Wednesday after a 50-bed section of the jail was flooded with sewage.
See my report in the Toronto Star.
Sunday 14 October 2012
Voyeur websites under scrutiny by police and public
One photo shows a woman in a low-cut top picking up spilled change. Another shows a teenager’s thong rising up her backside.
Colleen Westendorf, a spokesperson for SlutWalk, views such photography on the Internet as harassment of women.
“Voyeurism affects women in the same ways all forms of violence, harassment and sexism affect women,” Westendorf said. “Women are denied ownership and agency of their own bodies.”
Cheap, portable cameras have made it easy to take photos of people without them knowing they’re being watched. But anonymous Internet forums have given voyeurism a means of showcasing thousands of photos of unassuming women exposed to anonymous gazes.
See my report in The Toronto Observer.
Colleen Westendorf, a spokesperson for SlutWalk, views such photography on the Internet as harassment of women.
“Voyeurism affects women in the same ways all forms of violence, harassment and sexism affect women,” Westendorf said. “Women are denied ownership and agency of their own bodies.”
Cheap, portable cameras have made it easy to take photos of people without them knowing they’re being watched. But anonymous Internet forums have given voyeurism a means of showcasing thousands of photos of unassuming women exposed to anonymous gazes.
See my report in The Toronto Observer.
Saturday 29 September 2012
Africentric high school has low turnout
After years of academic research, intense media scrutiny and rowdy debates, Toronto’s first Africentric high school class has launched in Scarborough — with six students.
Officials are blaming delays in promoting the program, which follows the elementary-level Africentric school that launched in 2009 and counts over 200 pupils and a waiting list.
The Toronto District School Board planned to kick off the high school program in 2013, but decided last spring to run a pilot program. Grade 8 students were notified in June, months after most had picked their high schools.
Thursday 27 September 2012
TDSB academies offer specialized learning experiences (with audio clip)
This is my first post for The Toronto Observer, the final module of our reporting courses. After publishing an East York-focused newspaper every two weeks, we have a semester of publishing a hyperlocal news site that focuses on Scarborough, along with two issues of a print magazine.
For my first article, I filed an audio clip and some photos, both of which you can find on the site.
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| Academies like the vocal music module at Heather Heights J.P.S. are helping fill schools with declining enrollment. Dylan C. Robertson photo |
“3… 2… 1—”
One group starts singing the first lines of Barges, a traditional campfire song. The other two groups follow, creating a layered chorus.
The class consists of 11- and 12-year-olds, most of whom are wearing cartoon sweaters. But rhythm, melody and harmony are already familiar to these Grade 6 students at Heather Heights Junior Public School, near Ellesmere Road and Scarborough Golf Club Road.
See my report in The Toronto Observer.
Wednesday 29 August 2012
Cogeco email outage leaves thousands in Ontario frustrated
The school year’s just around the corner, but you may have some trouble enrolling your kid in the Halton Hills Blue Fins swim club.
That’s because head coach Mike Thompson is among thousands of Ontarians who woke up Monday to no email service.
Cogeco offers free email accounts to its Internet subscribers across Ontario. The company says its personal email service has been down since 4 p.m., though some have been in the dark since Sunday night.
See my report in the Toronto Star.
That’s because head coach Mike Thompson is among thousands of Ontarians who woke up Monday to no email service.
Cogeco offers free email accounts to its Internet subscribers across Ontario. The company says its personal email service has been down since 4 p.m., though some have been in the dark since Sunday night.
See my report in the Toronto Star.
Tuesday 14 August 2012
Blog post: Language skills can be handy in the newsroom
I helped translate for an article in the today's business section of the Toronto Star.
Canadian businessman Frank Stronach is starting a political party in his native Austria. Vanessa Lu, one of our savvy business reporters, was on the story and seeking help with some German-language articles.
The Star has an internal list of the languages spoken by people on-staff. Our native germanophone was on holiday, so I got an email asking to interpret an article and a video. I'm not so great at speaking German, but I can read an article with little help from a dictionary, and understand most of a normal conversation.
It only took about 20 minutes to watch a rather confrontational interview and read through an Austrian web post.
It was good to be a useful intern, and to make a contact. Something I really value about working at a large newspaper is the ability to share resources. We're constantly busy, but everyone in editorial seems willing to share sources, pointers and skills to make our reporting the best it can be.
Canadian businessman Frank Stronach is starting a political party in his native Austria. Vanessa Lu, one of our savvy business reporters, was on the story and seeking help with some German-language articles.
The Star has an internal list of the languages spoken by people on-staff. Our native germanophone was on holiday, so I got an email asking to interpret an article and a video. I'm not so great at speaking German, but I can read an article with little help from a dictionary, and understand most of a normal conversation.
It only took about 20 minutes to watch a rather confrontational interview and read through an Austrian web post.
It was good to be a useful intern, and to make a contact. Something I really value about working at a large newspaper is the ability to share resources. We're constantly busy, but everyone in editorial seems willing to share sources, pointers and skills to make our reporting the best it can be.
Friday 10 August 2012
Halifax Ikea fan trucks millions to the Maritimes
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| MyBoxBuyer.com photo |
The Halifax entrepreneur is halfway through a monthly ritual of rolling through Ikea stores with “a suitcase of a shopping list,” loading trucks and delivering orders to scores of Maritime customers.
My Box Buyer started last fall as a delivery service for Ikea-deprived Maritimers. The company has since handled $1.5 million in products, from bed sets to salad tongs.
See my report in the Toronto Star.
Tuesday 26 June 2012
Elliot Lake mall roof collapses
Jean-Marc Hayward used to joke about cars caving in through the wrecked roof of the Elliot Lake mall.
On Saturday afternoon — while he was grabbing a coffee at Hungry Jack’s restaurant in the food court — they did.
A section of the rooftop parking lot of the Algo Centre gave way around 2 p.m. after years of stability issues. One person was reported trapped and four were sent to hospital.
Read our report in the Toronto Star.
Monday 18 June 2012
Kayak.com investigates after customers discover security breach
We had a caller and landed an exclusive on this story, which is a pretty interesting situation.
He was trying to clarify a line on his credit card bill, but ended up accessing scores of strangers’ personal information.
Kevin Hunt travels whenever he finds time off and a good deal. So when his credit statement listed Kayak.com, he went to the travel booking site to see which trip the charge was for.
The site allows people to find reservation details by searching their last name and the last four digits of their credit card. When Hunt keyed in his information, he found his hotel booking for an upcoming trip to Vermont.
But he also found bookings for people named Hunt in Oklahoma and Massachusetts, complete with their home addresses, phone numbers and emails, as well as credit card expiry dates.
Read my report in the Toronto Star.
He was trying to clarify a line on his credit card bill, but ended up accessing scores of strangers’ personal information.
Kevin Hunt travels whenever he finds time off and a good deal. So when his credit statement listed Kayak.com, he went to the travel booking site to see which trip the charge was for.
The site allows people to find reservation details by searching their last name and the last four digits of their credit card. When Hunt keyed in his information, he found his hotel booking for an upcoming trip to Vermont.
But he also found bookings for people named Hunt in Oklahoma and Massachusetts, complete with their home addresses, phone numbers and emails, as well as credit card expiry dates.
Read my report in the Toronto Star.
Sunday 10 June 2012
Weather stories: some how-and-why
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| File photos like these can really boost your weather stories. Toronto Star photo. |
They're popular with both print and online readers because everybody's affected by it. It's hardly glamorous work, but it's important because it helps news organizations use local issues to maintain strong ties with their readers.
Last year, the Star ran a weather blog compiling the many, many stories we do on the topic. We even write a blog post every weekday morning on our blog, Toronto Now.
The challenge with these stories is to make them interesting and unique. It's easy to fall into a cookie-cutter pattern, which you can avoid by identifying stakeholders, finding quirky angles or digging up past records. Good journalists dig out context rather than just the first available facts.
My best weather story was about how this summer the dry weather matters more than the temperatures everyone focuses on. I explained what caused a record to be broken, how farmers are affected by ongoing trends and how to take caution in the looming heat.
I've also written about weather warnings, be they gusty, muggy or smoggy, and a number of record-breakers. My favourite was one that didn't actually get published. We looked at the affect of a city service strike that almost happened in February, and the unique challenges of a winter strike (yo-yo temperatures cracking more potholes) vs. a summer strike (hot, smelly garbage).
Dog dies in hot car at Vaughan Mills mall parking lot
As temperatures soared, a Chocolate Labrador mix died in the backseat of a parked car Sunday afternoon at Vaughan Mills shopping centre.
Two Sudbury residents in their early 20s face animal cruelty charges after a passerby spotted the dog in distress around 2:15 p.m. and notified mall security.
A security guard said his colleagues were called to the south end of the parking lot near Bass Pro Mills Dr. and notified emergency services. He said he’s never heard of a similar occurrence in his three years on the job.
See my report in the Toronto Star.
Two Sudbury residents in their early 20s face animal cruelty charges after a passerby spotted the dog in distress around 2:15 p.m. and notified mall security.
A security guard said his colleagues were called to the south end of the parking lot near Bass Pro Mills Dr. and notified emergency services. He said he’s never heard of a similar occurrence in his three years on the job.
See my report in the Toronto Star.
Knives flash in spate of violence across Toronto
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| Toronto Star photo |
Three men were arrested at gunpoint in the busy market after witnesses reported seeing the group running north from Bellevue Square Park around 2:30 p.m., with at least one brandishing a knife.
Bystanders watched the drama unfold as a police officer drove his cruiser to Augusta Ave. and Baldwin St., pulled his gun and ordered two men to the ground. A third man, who fled on foot, was arrested shortly afterwards. All face a mix of robbery, drug and weapons charges.
Ozzie Pavão, owner of Casa Acoreana café, saw the arrests from across the street.
See my report in the Toronto Star.
Sunday 3 June 2012
Cyclists take over DVP in Ride for Heart
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| A scene from the 2011 Ride for Heart. Toronto Star photo. |
Around 13,000 cyclists are taking over the two main arteries from 2 a.m. to 2 p.m. for the annual Becel Heart and Stroke Ride for Heart.
For its 25th anniversary, the fundraiser has reached its maximum number of registrants.
“We’re essentially sold out,” said Teresa Roncon of the Heart and Stroke Foundation.
See my report in the Toronto Star.
Friday 1 June 2012
Union Station flooding shuts subway
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| A TTC worker escorts a passenger from the flooded concourse. Toronto Star photo. |
It was just before Friday evening rush-hour when Toronto's largest transit hub was evacuated after a sewer burst, mixed with heavy rain and created a foot-deep pool of water.
Here's the story I was in charge of. I filed at least 15 updates in four hours as the story developed. We had reporters at the scene sending what they saw, videographers capturing the drama and beat reporters working their sources to get all angles to the story.
An updated explainer story ran in the print version, while this one was on the homepage for the rest of the day to let commuters know what was going on and how to get around the chaos.
One of the things I enjoy the most about my internship is working with other reporters. You get to break some really exciting stories and work as a team to get it quick, accurate and contextualized. You also learn a lot by working with some extremely talented people.
Cat found at Markham-Steeles with stomach tube
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| Photo courtesy of Toronto Animal Services |
A city works crew noticed a cardboard box moving on the side of the road at 4220 Midland Ave., a shopping plaza near Steeles Ave., around noon Tuesday.
A worker called Toronto Animal Services, who found a black plastic garbage bag inside containing a 1- to 2-year-old female cat with medium-long red fur. They named the cat Wilma, after the red-haired Flintstones character.
See my report in the Toronto Star.
Penny cancellation worries fundraiser
Pennies are futile enough that the federal government eliminated them in its March budget. But one Toronto mother worries the death of the penny will halt her quest to gather a million of them.
Anita Adams started a penny drive last year for Netherton syndrome research. The genetic condition, a form of ichthyosis, makes skin red, patchy and frequently peeling.
“I know times are tough and asking people to donate to a cause, it’s tough,” she said. “But in everybody’s house is a drawer of pennies. It doesn’t hurt your pocket.”
See my report in the Toronto Star.
Anita Adams started a penny drive last year for Netherton syndrome research. The genetic condition, a form of ichthyosis, makes skin red, patchy and frequently peeling.
“I know times are tough and asking people to donate to a cause, it’s tough,” she said. “But in everybody’s house is a drawer of pennies. It doesn’t hurt your pocket.”
See my report in the Toronto Star.
Sunday 27 May 2012
Stray dog joins China mountain bike race, travels 2,000 kilometres
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| weibo.com photo |
The China Daily reports that Zhang Heng, 22, took up a grueling, mountainous bike race as a graduation trip to see if he could make it alone.
On a stop in Sichuan province, he encountered a ratty white dog that looked hungry.
See my report in the Toronto Star.
Tuesday 22 May 2012
My work with the G8 Research Group
I just got back from a few days in Chicago with the G8 Research Group. It's a group of University of Toronto students (grads and undergrads) and professors who track the Group of Eight, both throughout the year from Toronto and at summits as the action unfolds.
By far, the group's largest division is compliance, which tracks how each country follows each commitment. Hundreds of students are assigned specific topics and assign a rating, which is culminated in a report that tracks and scores each country's actions.
The smaller two divisions include civil society (researching NGOs, public participation and protests) and my division: media. We follow G8-related articles in the written press of each country and code data for what issues and countries are mentioned, and the position of editorials toward the G8 and its commitments.
The media unit is only a few years old. I joined the group last year and was the Italy analyst, coding 200 articles from Italy's three big papers and contributing my findings to a report. I was also chosen as one of the two media unit members to go to the summit in Deauville, France last year. We completed an summit research project by interviewing journalists about how much they were filing, what issues they planned to cover and who they were using as sources.
This year we had a similar research project, which I did interviews for in addition to providing general support for the other division (other divisions would throw me their last-minute outstanding work and I'd meet the deadlines like any good journalist). On my spare time, I blogged about how few journalists showed up in Chicago until the NATO summit kicked off, and how the latter overshadowed the G8. I also filed some posts about the summit's main developments.
The research group was set up to help bolster U of T's goals to make the Munk School a prominent international relations institute. Students participate to get research experience to further their academic career. The reports are cited by journalists and read by government officials, who often reply with critiques.
I joined the group because I'd chosen U of T because it's a high-profile school that offers undergraduates opportunities to do research in a way that lot of schools with journalism programs don't. I've learned how to create a research proposal, complete a dataset, deduct findings from said data and review other people's work. I've also gained professional contacts, learned about topics I'd like to cover as a journalist and met some amazing friends.
As a Scarborough campus student, I was able to have last year's summit travel costs paid through the campus' academic travel fund. (I'm applying again for my Chicago trip).
Chicago itself was really cool. I was really impressed by the mix of architecture and the green spaces that complimented all the concrete. We only had a few hours in the afternoon to waltz about, but I really enjoyed it. And I was sure to have a deep-dish before the downtown shut down for the rowdy protests.
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Me being a total tourist in downtown Chicago. Note the NATO flags. |
The smaller two divisions include civil society (researching NGOs, public participation and protests) and my division: media. We follow G8-related articles in the written press of each country and code data for what issues and countries are mentioned, and the position of editorials toward the G8 and its commitments.
The media unit is only a few years old. I joined the group last year and was the Italy analyst, coding 200 articles from Italy's three big papers and contributing my findings to a report. I was also chosen as one of the two media unit members to go to the summit in Deauville, France last year. We completed an summit research project by interviewing journalists about how much they were filing, what issues they planned to cover and who they were using as sources.
This year we had a similar research project, which I did interviews for in addition to providing general support for the other division (other divisions would throw me their last-minute outstanding work and I'd meet the deadlines like any good journalist). On my spare time, I blogged about how few journalists showed up in Chicago until the NATO summit kicked off, and how the latter overshadowed the G8. I also filed some posts about the summit's main developments.
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| A look at the glamorous work we do. Photo courtesy of Mahdi Hussein |
I joined the group because I'd chosen U of T because it's a high-profile school that offers undergraduates opportunities to do research in a way that lot of schools with journalism programs don't. I've learned how to create a research proposal, complete a dataset, deduct findings from said data and review other people's work. I've also gained professional contacts, learned about topics I'd like to cover as a journalist and met some amazing friends.
As a Scarborough campus student, I was able to have last year's summit travel costs paid through the campus' academic travel fund. (I'm applying again for my Chicago trip).
Chicago itself was really cool. I was really impressed by the mix of architecture and the green spaces that complimented all the concrete. We only had a few hours in the afternoon to waltz about, but I really enjoyed it. And I was sure to have a deep-dish before the downtown shut down for the rowdy protests.
Tuesday 8 May 2012
My first international byline
I made the front page!
I got back from a week in Europe yesterday after visiting some friends and doing some freelance work. I pitched a story on the French election to the Star's foreign editor. We wanted to focus on the economy, as debates around identity have already been extensively covered.
I spoke with voters and a Parisian professor who researches political economy. I also consulted the main national papers to be sure I had a good understanding of the issues at hand.
In the end, we folded in details from our wires on what's next for the new president, François Hollande. I filed quite late in the night, but it was really fun to cover such a large story as it broke.
The story ended up on the front page, making two of my goals for working at the Star: a front-page story, and an international byline.
I've focused a lot of my academic work on the continent, and I would like to cover European politics in some capacity in the future.
You can read my article here.
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| Click to enlarge |
I spoke with voters and a Parisian professor who researches political economy. I also consulted the main national papers to be sure I had a good understanding of the issues at hand.
In the end, we folded in details from our wires on what's next for the new president, François Hollande. I filed quite late in the night, but it was really fun to cover such a large story as it broke.
The story ended up on the front page, making two of my goals for working at the Star: a front-page story, and an international byline.
I've focused a lot of my academic work on the continent, and I would like to cover European politics in some capacity in the future.
You can read my article here.
Monday 23 April 2012
Michelle Shephard: finding grey zones in the 9/11 world
I interviewed Michelle Shephard along with two other students in my interviewing class. I was thrilled she agreed to come. Some fellow Star interns were a tad jealous. I had 10 minutes and focused on Shephard's process as a reporter and how she deals with the challenges of her job. She was a total trooper, giving honest, thorough and funny answers. Here's the article I submitted:
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| Michelle Shephard has been on the terrorism beat since 9/11. Supplied photo. |
“It's probably taught me to go into every interview completely open-minded because you don't know what you're going to get, and to try and explain the complexities as best you can.”
Her book, published on the 10th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks, is called Decade of Fear: Reporting from Terrorism's Grey Zone. For Shephard, the subtitle holds the most weight.
“For 10 years we've looked at these issues in such stark terms, in black-and-white terms,” she said. “Really there's very few, as Bush called them, the ‘evil-doers’ — it's politics, so much of it.”
Shephard used this open-mindedness last week on a trip to Yemen, where she interviewed the father of Anwar al Awlaki, a terrorist killed with his son by a U.S. drone last September. It’s an interesting culmination to a job that started on 9/11.
“I saw it on the TV and just called my assignment editor,” she said. That evening she stood at Ground Zero as pieces of the World Trade Center continued falling. “We didn't know how big this was.”
The day changed everything for Shephard, who had been a journalist for just over five years.
Shephard had written for The Mike, a U of T student paper, while studying political science and English.
“I’ve always liked writing, but I never thought of journalism as a career,” she said.
She was about to write LSAT tests when she was accepted for Ryerson University’s master of journalism. Shephard interned at the London Free Press and the Toronto Star before being hired full-time in 1997. She covered crime and education, but neither were a great fit.
Loving travel and lacking a beat, Shephard took hostile-environment training and started reporting on the origins of terrorism in Somalia, Yemen, Pakistan and beyond.
She said coming home from such poor countries takes her some time.
“Everything seems so unfair when you come back,” Shephard said. “I get mad at the clothes in my closet; I get mad that I'm in line paying $5 for a Starbucks.”
Her busy career affects others too.
“I think a lot of the time journalism can be a selfish profession. Especially when you do foreign correspondence, and you go to places that are dangerous.”
It’s not a problem for her husband Jim Rankin — a Star photojournalist she met on her first day as an intern — but Shephard knows her job has been challenging for her parents. While it’s caused some sleepless nights, it’s also brought them closer together.
“I hate that word journey, it’s so it's corny, but if it's been a journey for 10 years, they've been coming along with me,” said Shephard, the youngest of four daughters. “They're incredibly patient; they're great.”
Shephard turns 40 in August. She told Canadian Interviews that she planned to slow down after the book’s first draft, finished last May.
“I haven't slowed down at all. I know I keep saying that,” laughed Shephard, quick to her praise for a paper that has financed trips across the globe during uncertain economic times.
“I’m so fortunate. But it is exhausting. You're often jet-lagged and have this kind of double-life,” she said. “It's hard because that where my passion is now, foreign reporting.”
Shephard’s off to Guantanamo next week for the 24th time, covering the trial of the alleged planner of the 9/11 attacks. She’s extensively covered the base’s absurdity, from quirky tourist souvenirs to being told that carrying two pens threatens national security.
Her knowledge of the base helped her write Guantanamo’s Child, a 2008 biography on Canadian detainee Omar Khadr, whose surname she pronounces with an uvular push.
Shephard was among four journalists the Pentagon banned from Guantanamo after naming an officer who had volunteered his identity years before a closed trial. A media campaign ensued, successfully pressuring Obama to restore access for the four.
“We went from being persona non grata to getting an invite to the Pentagon to address a roundtable,” she said. “Four months later I'm a the Pentagon with 60 uniformed officer advising them how to have better media relations.”
It’s one of many experiences that proved to Shephard that nothing has been black-and-white in the decade of terror.
Thursday 19 April 2012
My radiocast
Yesterday I did my solo newscast for radio class. We've been learning how to write for broadcast (cut the jargon, short and snappy sentences, source info in second paragraph, etc.) and going live on air in groups a few times. For someone who's not a huge fan of broadcast, you learn how to get over your nerves, to speak clearer and write the way people talk (and not how they read).
For the final class, we do our own newscast. We're in charge of the line-up, writing and talking. We also chose another student's story to play on air. Here's mine:
For the final class, we do our own newscast. We're in charge of the line-up, writing and talking. We also chose another student's story to play on air. Here's mine:
Monday 16 April 2012
Toronto ComiCon radio story
For class, I reported on the Wizard World Toronto ComicCon on April 14-15, 2012. The quote I got at the very end was golden.
Here's my story:
Here's my story:
Monday 2 April 2012
My layout project: Helvetia Gazette
Last semester I had a design course, where we learn the essentials of layout and pagination. We learn the rules for good layout, drew up sketches and ultimately made pages that were attractive and easy to read. I learned a lot of this just before the course as a summer copy editor intern at The Gazette in Montreal. But the course gave me a better understanding of layout, and made me realize some of the mistakes I made starting out. My supervisors were stern but patient!
Our final project was to individually design a newspaper with a set criteria of pages and elements, using body copy from any source (as long as it was attributed) but our own display type. We also had to come up with our own style and stick to a detailed contact sheet we had designed. We could pick a community or theme; I went with Switzerland as I had visited the month before and had stories and pictures to use.
Here's the final project I completed back in early December. I got 90%. It suddenly occurred to me that it would be worth posting:
Our final project was to individually design a newspaper with a set criteria of pages and elements, using body copy from any source (as long as it was attributed) but our own display type. We also had to come up with our own style and stick to a detailed contact sheet we had designed. We could pick a community or theme; I went with Switzerland as I had visited the month before and had stories and pictures to use.
Here's the final project I completed back in early December. I got 90%. It suddenly occurred to me that it would be worth posting:
Saturday 31 March 2012
Occupy protester charged, demands investigation
A woman charged after an Occupy Toronto protest is calling for an investigation of the officers that arrested her.
Angela Turvey, 36, appeared in Old City Hall court Saturday with swollen black eyes. She was charged with assaulting a police officer.
A video of her arrest shows Turvey being restrained on her side by a police officer as blood drips from her face onto the pavement.
See my report in the Toronto Star.
Angela Turvey, 36, appeared in Old City Hall court Saturday with swollen black eyes. She was charged with assaulting a police officer.
A video of her arrest shows Turvey being restrained on her side by a police officer as blood drips from her face onto the pavement.
See my report in the Toronto Star.
Thursday 29 March 2012
CUPE 79: Inside workers split on city's offer, recreation centres could close
I worked the overnight shift when the CUPE 79 vote result broke. Here's the story I filed shortly after the announcement that a web editor quickly threw on the website from home. It was beefed up the next day for a print version with more details and quotes.
Two of the four bargaining units representing City of Toronto inside workers voted Wednesday to accept the city’s final offer, which could prompt a lockout or strike involving part-time recreation workers.
While a full-time and part-time unit accepted the deal, both part-time recreation workers and long-term care workers voted against the deal, which union leadership had decided not to endorse.
Because long-term care workers are considered an essential service, both sides are to enter arbitration. But for part-time recreation workers, the future remains unclear.
“This is an administration that’s out to cut services and contract out services,” CUPE Local 79 president Tim Maguire told reporters as results were announced Thursday shortly before 2:30 a.m. The union represents 23,000 inside workers.
Both sides are in a legal strike-lockout position, and the union is calling the city back to the bargaining table.
Earlier this week, the city’s executive director of human resources said that if Local 79 members rejected the offer, the city “could lock them out, or we ... could impose these (offered) terms and conditions; we could implement other terms and conditions.”
Maguire repeated Wednesday that, should the city move to impose employment terms and conditions on his members, he will have little choice but to use the strike mandate that 85 per cent of his members gave him in a vote.
He also stated that only units in dispute would go on strike, not all CUPE 79 workers.
In the event of a strike, all city-run programs would be cancelled at community centres, indoor swimming pools, arenas, curling clubs and fitness centres. This includes programs offered at satellite locations and public, separate and community schools such as camps, classes and drop-in clubs.
With files from Star staff
 |
| Tim Maguire speaks to media outside of the Sheraton hotel. Toronto Star photo |
While a full-time and part-time unit accepted the deal, both part-time recreation workers and long-term care workers voted against the deal, which union leadership had decided not to endorse.
Because long-term care workers are considered an essential service, both sides are to enter arbitration. But for part-time recreation workers, the future remains unclear.
“This is an administration that’s out to cut services and contract out services,” CUPE Local 79 president Tim Maguire told reporters as results were announced Thursday shortly before 2:30 a.m. The union represents 23,000 inside workers.
Both sides are in a legal strike-lockout position, and the union is calling the city back to the bargaining table.
Earlier this week, the city’s executive director of human resources said that if Local 79 members rejected the offer, the city “could lock them out, or we ... could impose these (offered) terms and conditions; we could implement other terms and conditions.”
Maguire repeated Wednesday that, should the city move to impose employment terms and conditions on his members, he will have little choice but to use the strike mandate that 85 per cent of his members gave him in a vote.
He also stated that only units in dispute would go on strike, not all CUPE 79 workers.
In the event of a strike, all city-run programs would be cancelled at community centres, indoor swimming pools, arenas, curling clubs and fitness centres. This includes programs offered at satellite locations and public, separate and community schools such as camps, classes and drop-in clubs.
With files from Star staff
Tuesday 27 March 2012
I got a CAJ nomination!
I'm one of three nominees for the student award. It's for a January 2011 story in The Varsity about a private university residence that went through students' belongings, threatened to charge them collectively for vandalism and were stingy on food plans.
I'm honoured! The other nominees are really talented.
I'll be at the conference, as a volunteer. Early-bird registration ends soon; you should check it out.
Monday 26 March 2012
U of T lipdub: smells like campus spirit
A campus group wants to raise school spirit by producing an over-the-top video. Will it be more than just lip service?
You don’t go to U of T for the fun. We’re a serious school, see. If you want a busy social life, you’d better sacrifice your marks and/or sleep. The result is three large campuses of over-achievers who stay in their chosen groups and don’t have time for big community events.
But a group of students is out to fight our campus-wide apathy. Their tools: some cameras, pop music, and the occasional flaming baton.
“It’s gonna be big,” says project director Sandra Zhou, a second-year psychology major.
These students are doing a lip dub.
See my feature-length article in The Varsity.
But a group of students is out to fight our campus-wide apathy. Their tools: some cameras, pop music, and the occasional flaming baton.
“It’s gonna be big,” says project director Sandra Zhou, a second-year psychology major.
These students are doing a lip dub.
See my feature-length article in The Varsity.
Wednesday 14 March 2012
Toronto spiritual healer, wife violently robbed in Ecuador
I shared a byline for this story, a Star exclusive. Made a lot of international phone calls and painstakingly pieced the facts together.
They had gone to Ecuador to find peace, rejuvenation and spiritual healing. Instead, a Toronto couple was taken hostage by a gun-wielding gang in a perplexing robbery that has left officials in both countries tight-lipped.
Stephen Aube, a 40-year-old self-described spiritual healer, and his wife, Laura Milcawich, left their Toronto home three weeks ago for Vilcabamba, a village near the southern city of Loja. Aube was leading spiritual workshops from the popular meditation destination, known as the Valley of Longevity.
But on Thursday, during a walk through the mountainside, Aube and Milcawich were approached by a group of men reportedly armed with guns and machetes.
See my story in the Toronto Star.
 |
| Stephen Aube and his wife, Laura Milcawich, were attacked in Vilcabamba, Ecuador, last Thursday. Facebook photo, hosted on thestar.com |
Stephen Aube, a 40-year-old self-described spiritual healer, and his wife, Laura Milcawich, left their Toronto home three weeks ago for Vilcabamba, a village near the southern city of Loja. Aube was leading spiritual workshops from the popular meditation destination, known as the Valley of Longevity.
But on Thursday, during a walk through the mountainside, Aube and Milcawich were approached by a group of men reportedly armed with guns and machetes.
See my story in the Toronto Star.
Saturday 10 March 2012
Popular food truck fights bylaw after being told to close shop
 |
| Supplied photo |
“It’s extremely stressful,” said Helen Antonopoulos, who co-runs Food Cabbie with husband Spiros Drossos. “We were shocked.”
Drossos is a chef from Napa Valley who serves burgers, Philly cheese steaks and burritos with a New York City taxi theme. In California, chefs can pull up to a parking meter and serve food on the spot.
See my story in the Toronto Star.
Wednesday 7 March 2012
World Vision Canada head David Toycen a pragmatic man of faith
NGO head discusses balancing priorities, donor influence
Last week, David Toycen was offered a cart of fresh vegetables from a group of poor farmers in Mali.
Toycen was visiting the village as head of the Canadian branch of World Vision, a large Christian humanitarian relief and development agency that was providing resources and training to the drought-stricken country.
"In most situations I try to accept [the gift], but I had to say to them, ‘Where I come from, and according to our tradition, I simply could not accept this when I know you have hungry children in your community.'"
He told the farmers he'd be delighted to accept the gift in better times, when they had a successful harvest. Toycen said embracing people’s generosity is essential in development work.
"It's very important to allow people, that are poor by our standards, for them to express what they have to give to you," he said. "I always find that really humbling and compelling."
Whether it’s respecting cultural traditions or balancing donor influence, Toycen is pragmatic. It’s a skill he’s learned through his 23 years with World Vision, including the last 15 as its president.
In an interview with Toycen just days after visiting West Africa. WVC is focusing its resources on a looming food crisis that threatens 13 million in the Sahel region surrounding Mali.
A man of faith
Toycen, a slim, tall man who runs regularly and keeps fit at a health club, said he’s able to adjust to different time zones. But other adaptations take more time.
"You never fully acclimate when you're been in places where people are living with so little," said Toycen. "One of the things I try to avoid is going to a grocery store right when I get back because it's really so overwhelming."
Toycen lives in Mississauga with his wife, with whom he shares a love of film. The two have an adult son and daughter. Toycen became an Anglican as a young adult, and earned degrees in philosophy and divinity.
He starts each day with prayer, for himself, his organization – and this morning, his five-year-old grandson’s operation. Toycen is motivated by prayer and a belief in a better world.
"When it doesn't upset you, you should leave," he said. "You need to be into this for deep and good reasons."
Toycen echoed these feelings in his 2005 address to Christian convocants at U of T's Wycliffe College, his alma mater. He urged graduates to live out their faith with enthusiasm and use their outrage as a motivation to serve others.
Toycen joined World Vision seeking a summer job before his last year of seminary. Though the BlackBerry-toting executive works from WVC's Mississauga headquarters, he visits many poor countries regularly to asses the ground situation.
Before his term as president he had a much more boots-on-ground career, working in post-genocide Rwanda, visiting emaciated children in North Korea and providing aid in war-plagued Sudan.
He now makes short-term visits, including his recent trip to Mali, which he tweeted. Toycen says social media is key to raising awareness.
"We're using every means we can to basically distribute the message," he said.
Managing images
Under Toycen's direction, WVC has used Facebook promotions and issued over 200 YouTube videos. The charity has raised money through celebrity partnerships, Polar Bear swims and a 30-hour famine initiative that is popular with high schools. Toycen also helped design the organization's recent global rebranding.
WVC had been criticized for graphic commercials with images of poor African babies accompanied by emotional music. The approach has been deemed "poverty porn" by critics who say the spots show a disempowering image of Africans.
Toycen told reporters he seldom receives complaints about the commercials, explaining in a recent YouTube video that making people uncomfortable is less important than exposing stark realities.
But it’s not just at home that WVC has to manage its image.
"It's become more problematic but our goal is to be seen as non-partisan," said Toycen, adding that NGOs are seeing "more people killed doing relief and development in the past 10 years than ever before."
Toycen pointed to how virtually no Western outreach takes place in south-central Somalia, as aid organizations are overwhelmingly deemed imperialistic. He said a similar challenge is putting pressure on oppressive governments who can send pesky outreach organizations packing.
"I don’t think one size fits all. There are times when you need to speak up and leave. There are other times when you need to keep your mouth shut and just be helping the people over the long haul.
"I don't think any of these issues are simple, but I think you have to have principles," he said. "I think you have to be humble about it. Sometimes you're probably going to get it wrong, hopefully you get it right more than wrong."
It’s a dilemma Toycen said he encountered weeks ago reflecting on the Talisman Energy scandal.
In 2000, Toycen was at the forefront of an NGO effort to make public an investigation by the Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade into the Canadian company’s oil pipeline in south Sudan, following allegations that the company's $800-million project helped fuel the country's civil war.
NGOs alleged the company displaced certain tribes who were ultimately killed. Toycen said that since Talisman left in 2002, Indian and Chinese companies bought up its infrastructure.
"Did we do the right thing? Now the people in charge have even less concern than Talisman did. There's always the issue of unintended consequences,"Toycen said.
"I'm just a little bit dubious when people […] are so certain that the way they do things it is the right way. I'm always a bit cautious about that."
Toycen said these experiences affect how WVC shapes its corporate partnerships, like its two recent partnerships with Canadian mining giant Barrick Gold.
"We were very cautious," Toycen said, noting that its first partnership, launched in 2003, started after two years of on-the-ground investigation in Peru.
WVC said it would focus on its child-sponsorship programs so it could cut the partnership if they disagreed with the company.
Ultimately, Toycen said the project was a large success, and WVC entered a larger five-year partnership near the mine in 2007.
"One of the most challenging things that we're facing right now is that Barrick also has interests in a couple of other countries where it's been much more problematic," he said.
Barrick Gold has come under fire over allegations of forced dislocation, environmental harm and unsafe labour conditions, though not at its Peru site.
"One of the questions you have to ask is does that taint our whole relationship with them? And I think that has to be an open question. You could decide at one point things are OK now, but not later," Toycen said.
"We think the good that’s being done outweighs the bad. But it's always fluid. You have to be flexible on this, because you're talking about the lives of children and families. And we’ve always been clear our first priority is them."
Partnering cautiously
Toycen said last month’s decision by the governmental Canadian International Development Agency to pledge $41 million to WVC’s Barrick Gold partnership "added a whole other dimension."
Critics say CIDA's increasing financial support of charity-company partnerships uses taxpayer money to subsidize corporate social responsibility projects.
"The programs might be welcome and worthwhile, but they should be paid for by the companies that are reaping the profits and getting much of the credit," wrote Elizabeth Payne of the Ottawa Citizen editorial board. "CIDA’s involvement in the partnerships potentially tars all Canadians, by default, for any bad corporate behaviour, or environmental damage, that results from those mining operations."
Toycen said that WVC’s approach is to stick to its mandate.
"We just have to be convinced that they’re not meddling in any way with our ability to do good work development work," said Toycen. "You have to bring that same kind of diligence whether you’ve got CIDA as a partner or Barrick or somebody else," he said, adding that WVC monitors its projects to avoid compromises.
"There’s risk involved in this. But sometimes you have to take risks to actually do something that in the long run turns out to be better," he said.
More recently, Toycen is taking his pragmatic thinking to the looming food crisis in West Africa.
"I know the challenge we’re up against, to get the message out," he said. "I just think you gotta struggle at it the best way you can, be as creative as possible, be persistent and invite others to do the same."
Toycen’s current goal is to prompt action before the situation in the Sahel goes from bad to worse.
"We really have two choices. One choice is to not do anything … wait until we see pictures of children, skeletal babies. That could easily be some months down the road," he said.
"The other choice is we have is to do whatever we can right now, so that we can bring in emergency food, we can bring in emergency assistance so we can start helping people before it deteriorates to that level.”
Toycen’s hopeful that a crisis can be avoided. Ultimately, he looks forward to visiting that village in Mali to collect his cart of vegetables.
This is a magazine-length profile I wrote for interviewing class. In groups of three we interview a newsmaker for half an hour. The session is filmed and we're critiqued by our peers for using the techniques we learned.
UPDATE 27/3/2012: I took my instructor's advice and truncated certain bits. While she recommended cutting the section on his personal life, I've added subheads so people can skip over it if they're looking for the hard news (as this is still a profile piece).
 |
| Courtesy of World Vision Canada |
Toycen was visiting the village as head of the Canadian branch of World Vision, a large Christian humanitarian relief and development agency that was providing resources and training to the drought-stricken country.
"In most situations I try to accept [the gift], but I had to say to them, ‘Where I come from, and according to our tradition, I simply could not accept this when I know you have hungry children in your community.'"
He told the farmers he'd be delighted to accept the gift in better times, when they had a successful harvest. Toycen said embracing people’s generosity is essential in development work.
"It's very important to allow people, that are poor by our standards, for them to express what they have to give to you," he said. "I always find that really humbling and compelling."
Whether it’s respecting cultural traditions or balancing donor influence, Toycen is pragmatic. It’s a skill he’s learned through his 23 years with World Vision, including the last 15 as its president.
In an interview with Toycen just days after visiting West Africa. WVC is focusing its resources on a looming food crisis that threatens 13 million in the Sahel region surrounding Mali.
A man of faith
Toycen, a slim, tall man who runs regularly and keeps fit at a health club, said he’s able to adjust to different time zones. But other adaptations take more time.
"You never fully acclimate when you're been in places where people are living with so little," said Toycen. "One of the things I try to avoid is going to a grocery store right when I get back because it's really so overwhelming."
Toycen lives in Mississauga with his wife, with whom he shares a love of film. The two have an adult son and daughter. Toycen became an Anglican as a young adult, and earned degrees in philosophy and divinity.
He starts each day with prayer, for himself, his organization – and this morning, his five-year-old grandson’s operation. Toycen is motivated by prayer and a belief in a better world.
"When it doesn't upset you, you should leave," he said. "You need to be into this for deep and good reasons."
 |
| Toycen visited victims sof the 2004 Asian tsunami. Courtesy of World Vision Canada |
Toycen echoed these feelings in his 2005 address to Christian convocants at U of T's Wycliffe College, his alma mater. He urged graduates to live out their faith with enthusiasm and use their outrage as a motivation to serve others.
Toycen joined World Vision seeking a summer job before his last year of seminary. Though the BlackBerry-toting executive works from WVC's Mississauga headquarters, he visits many poor countries regularly to asses the ground situation.
Before his term as president he had a much more boots-on-ground career, working in post-genocide Rwanda, visiting emaciated children in North Korea and providing aid in war-plagued Sudan.
He now makes short-term visits, including his recent trip to Mali, which he tweeted. Toycen says social media is key to raising awareness.
"We're using every means we can to basically distribute the message," he said.
Managing images
Under Toycen's direction, WVC has used Facebook promotions and issued over 200 YouTube videos. The charity has raised money through celebrity partnerships, Polar Bear swims and a 30-hour famine initiative that is popular with high schools. Toycen also helped design the organization's recent global rebranding.
WVC had been criticized for graphic commercials with images of poor African babies accompanied by emotional music. The approach has been deemed "poverty porn" by critics who say the spots show a disempowering image of Africans.
Toycen told reporters he seldom receives complaints about the commercials, explaining in a recent YouTube video that making people uncomfortable is less important than exposing stark realities.
But it’s not just at home that WVC has to manage its image.
"It's become more problematic but our goal is to be seen as non-partisan," said Toycen, adding that NGOs are seeing "more people killed doing relief and development in the past 10 years than ever before."
Toycen pointed to how virtually no Western outreach takes place in south-central Somalia, as aid organizations are overwhelmingly deemed imperialistic. He said a similar challenge is putting pressure on oppressive governments who can send pesky outreach organizations packing.
"I don’t think one size fits all. There are times when you need to speak up and leave. There are other times when you need to keep your mouth shut and just be helping the people over the long haul.
"I don't think any of these issues are simple, but I think you have to have principles," he said. "I think you have to be humble about it. Sometimes you're probably going to get it wrong, hopefully you get it right more than wrong."
It’s a dilemma Toycen said he encountered weeks ago reflecting on the Talisman Energy scandal.
In 2000, Toycen was at the forefront of an NGO effort to make public an investigation by the Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade into the Canadian company’s oil pipeline in south Sudan, following allegations that the company's $800-million project helped fuel the country's civil war.
NGOs alleged the company displaced certain tribes who were ultimately killed. Toycen said that since Talisman left in 2002, Indian and Chinese companies bought up its infrastructure.
"Did we do the right thing? Now the people in charge have even less concern than Talisman did. There's always the issue of unintended consequences,"Toycen said.
"I'm just a little bit dubious when people […] are so certain that the way they do things it is the right way. I'm always a bit cautious about that."
Toycen said these experiences affect how WVC shapes its corporate partnerships, like its two recent partnerships with Canadian mining giant Barrick Gold.
"We were very cautious," Toycen said, noting that its first partnership, launched in 2003, started after two years of on-the-ground investigation in Peru.
WVC said it would focus on its child-sponsorship programs so it could cut the partnership if they disagreed with the company.
Ultimately, Toycen said the project was a large success, and WVC entered a larger five-year partnership near the mine in 2007.
"One of the most challenging things that we're facing right now is that Barrick also has interests in a couple of other countries where it's been much more problematic," he said.
Barrick Gold has come under fire over allegations of forced dislocation, environmental harm and unsafe labour conditions, though not at its Peru site.
"One of the questions you have to ask is does that taint our whole relationship with them? And I think that has to be an open question. You could decide at one point things are OK now, but not later," Toycen said.
"We think the good that’s being done outweighs the bad. But it's always fluid. You have to be flexible on this, because you're talking about the lives of children and families. And we’ve always been clear our first priority is them."
Partnering cautiously
Toycen said last month’s decision by the governmental Canadian International Development Agency to pledge $41 million to WVC’s Barrick Gold partnership "added a whole other dimension."
Critics say CIDA's increasing financial support of charity-company partnerships uses taxpayer money to subsidize corporate social responsibility projects.
"The programs might be welcome and worthwhile, but they should be paid for by the companies that are reaping the profits and getting much of the credit," wrote Elizabeth Payne of the Ottawa Citizen editorial board. "CIDA’s involvement in the partnerships potentially tars all Canadians, by default, for any bad corporate behaviour, or environmental damage, that results from those mining operations."
Toycen said that WVC’s approach is to stick to its mandate.
"We just have to be convinced that they’re not meddling in any way with our ability to do good work development work," said Toycen. "You have to bring that same kind of diligence whether you’ve got CIDA as a partner or Barrick or somebody else," he said, adding that WVC monitors its projects to avoid compromises.
"There’s risk involved in this. But sometimes you have to take risks to actually do something that in the long run turns out to be better," he said.
More recently, Toycen is taking his pragmatic thinking to the looming food crisis in West Africa.
"I know the challenge we’re up against, to get the message out," he said. "I just think you gotta struggle at it the best way you can, be as creative as possible, be persistent and invite others to do the same."
Toycen’s current goal is to prompt action before the situation in the Sahel goes from bad to worse.
"We really have two choices. One choice is to not do anything … wait until we see pictures of children, skeletal babies. That could easily be some months down the road," he said.
"The other choice is we have is to do whatever we can right now, so that we can bring in emergency food, we can bring in emergency assistance so we can start helping people before it deteriorates to that level.”
Toycen’s hopeful that a crisis can be avoided. Ultimately, he looks forward to visiting that village in Mali to collect his cart of vegetables.
This is a magazine-length profile I wrote for interviewing class. In groups of three we interview a newsmaker for half an hour. The session is filmed and we're critiqued by our peers for using the techniques we learned.
UPDATE 27/3/2012: I took my instructor's advice and truncated certain bits. While she recommended cutting the section on his personal life, I've added subheads so people can skip over it if they're looking for the hard news (as this is still a profile piece).
Friday 2 March 2012
Toronto contra dancing group attracts the young and old
Here's my radio story, followed by my article:
A woman in a country dress calls out dance moves next to a fiddler and a banjo player. Below the stage, three lines of couples are dancing on a thumping wood floor, laughing and cheering. It's just like a barn dance, but it's happening two minutes from the subway.
“I love contra dancing,” said Kat Cosburn, a Torontonian in her twenties who discovered the dance while studying in North Carolina.
“It's really fun; it's kinda hippy-ish,” she laughs. “It's a fun alternative to going to the club.”
For 29 years, the Toronto Country Dancers have been meeting in church halls across the city. Their current home is St. Barnabas Anglican Church, on the Danforth at Chester Avenue where they meet every second, fourth and fifth Saturday from 7:30 to 10:30 p.m.
“It's pretty fun,” said first-timer Kelsey Archambault, wiping the sweat off her brow. “It's a little complicated but because it repeats so much by the time you get to the end you've done it a bunch of times so you get used to it.”
Contra dancing is a form of folk dance that originated in New England and popularized between the two World Wars. It’s a mix between line and square dancing where partners start by facing each other in straight lines and form a quartet with another couple.
The two couples dance a routine by following 10 or less call-outs from the stage. The partners finish a sequence and rotate on to another couple in under a minute.
“It's not square dancing; it's a lot more flowing,” said Cosburn.
While the steps, twirls and swings remain the same the groups rotate. By the end, it’s almost guaranteed everyone has danced with everyone else in the room.
“It's very human. You look into each others' eyes so you don't get dizzy,” said 71-year-old Maryanne Ells. “Young and old people get together. You meet everyone.”
Some come in suits, others wear jeans, and a few strut barefoot in tie-dye T-shirts. Everyone wears a name badge. It’s a dance that welcomes amateurs and pros, from all walks of life.
“Contra dancing is simple, and it's a lot of fun,” said TCD President Richard Stafford. “There's kind of a fluid geometry to it.”
Around 70 to 90 people show up for each dance, with newcomers arriving half an hour early for training sessions.
“I saw it and fell in love,” said Leigh Godfrey, a contra dancer for four years who's helping organize the group's festival in mid-April. “It's a real workout and it brings you closer to people.”
She's not kidding. I have 30 seconds as a wallflower before I'm thrust onto the dancefloor.
“We’re all a little confused,” says a stranger with the name Diane as she grabs my hand and tugs me in line for the next number. “That’s part of the fun.”
This article was published in the East York Observer on March 2, 2012.
A woman in a country dress calls out dance moves next to a fiddler and a banjo player. Below the stage, three lines of couples are dancing on a thumping wood floor, laughing and cheering. It's just like a barn dance, but it's happening two minutes from the subway.
“I love contra dancing,” said Kat Cosburn, a Torontonian in her twenties who discovered the dance while studying in North Carolina.
“It's really fun; it's kinda hippy-ish,” she laughs. “It's a fun alternative to going to the club.”
For 29 years, the Toronto Country Dancers have been meeting in church halls across the city. Their current home is St. Barnabas Anglican Church, on the Danforth at Chester Avenue where they meet every second, fourth and fifth Saturday from 7:30 to 10:30 p.m.
“It's pretty fun,” said first-timer Kelsey Archambault, wiping the sweat off her brow. “It's a little complicated but because it repeats so much by the time you get to the end you've done it a bunch of times so you get used to it.”
 |
| Contra dancing takes place 2-3 times a month in a church hall minutes from the Toronto subway line. photos by Dylan C. Robertson |
Contra dancing is a form of folk dance that originated in New England and popularized between the two World Wars. It’s a mix between line and square dancing where partners start by facing each other in straight lines and form a quartet with another couple.
The two couples dance a routine by following 10 or less call-outs from the stage. The partners finish a sequence and rotate on to another couple in under a minute.
“It's not square dancing; it's a lot more flowing,” said Cosburn.
While the steps, twirls and swings remain the same the groups rotate. By the end, it’s almost guaranteed everyone has danced with everyone else in the room.
“It's very human. You look into each others' eyes so you don't get dizzy,” said 71-year-old Maryanne Ells. “Young and old people get together. You meet everyone.”
Some come in suits, others wear jeans, and a few strut barefoot in tie-dye T-shirts. Everyone wears a name badge. It’s a dance that welcomes amateurs and pros, from all walks of life.
“Contra dancing is simple, and it's a lot of fun,” said TCD President Richard Stafford. “There's kind of a fluid geometry to it.”
 |
| With rotating sets, it's almost guaranteed everyone in the room has danced with each other by the end of the night. |
Around 70 to 90 people show up for each dance, with newcomers arriving half an hour early for training sessions.
“I saw it and fell in love,” said Leigh Godfrey, a contra dancer for four years who's helping organize the group's festival in mid-April. “It's a real workout and it brings you closer to people.”
She's not kidding. I have 30 seconds as a wallflower before I'm thrust onto the dancefloor.
“We’re all a little confused,” says a stranger with the name Diane as she grabs my hand and tugs me in line for the next number. “That’s part of the fun.”
This article was published in the East York Observer on March 2, 2012.
Tuesday 21 February 2012
Audio slideshow: How reliable is the TTC?
I completed an audio slideshow for my multi-platform project on transit delays in Toronto.
I took to the streets with a radio recorder and asked 10 commuters for their thoughts on the TTC.
I picked the four whose comments best reflected what I'd heard Some were quite satisfied, while others complained of unpredictable service.
Here it is:
I took to the streets with a radio recorder and asked 10 commuters for their thoughts on the TTC.
I picked the four whose comments best reflected what I'd heard Some were quite satisfied, while others complained of unpredictable service.
Here it is:
Saturday 18 February 2012
East York's low prices, chummy neighbourhoods attract homebuyers
Linda Reid loves living on the western edge of East York.
“It's a fabulous neighbourhood,” she said, citing its diversity, good schools and nearby transit.
Reid likes exploring local shops and catching up with neighbours.
“It's almost like a small town,” she said.
This sense of community, along with recent trends in the real estate market, is what’s attracting people to East York.
This month the National Post reported on the neglected two-storey house next-door to Reid that fell into disrepair after its owners took ill. Though people who toured the house encountered peeling paint, piles of clothes and the smell of cat urine, the house sold for $1 million.
Reid says the new owners are already planning big renovations.
“A lot of people move for location,” said East York realtor Linda Ing-Gilbert. “Everything else in a home can be changed.”
Reid knows this well. She said her neighbourhood has been under “constant renovation” over the last 10 years. While she's enjoyed meeting new neighbours, she knows house prices – and her own taxes – are going up drastically from when she moved in three decades ago.
“I could afford to move here then; I couldn't now,” Reid said. “I'm one of the few that are left.”
Like the rest of the city, East York house prices have been on the rise because of a shortage of homes on the market. Last week, the Canadian Real Estate Association announced that the cost of a single-family home in Toronto hit $606,600 as of January, a 50 per cent jump in six years. That's $100,000 higher than the Canadian average and slightly higher than the surrounding GTA.
These rising costs are making East York's Second World War-era bungalows attractive as buyers can build on these smaller homes to fit their needs.
“What East York offers is more land,” Ing-Gilbert said. “There are lots of World War II bungalows with a lot of space. That can be hard to find.”
While some people choose bungalows to accommodate reduced mobility many homeowners add and extend floors at a lower price than buying a large house.
Madeline MacKay lives in a three-storey build-up down the street from Reid.
“You'd never know you were downtown,” she said. “It feels like a real community. You get one-of-a-kind businesses and lots to see. My son loves the parks and the attractions.”
MacKay says she can hear streetcars rolling by from her third floor on quiet Sundays.
“It's magical,” she said.
Jane Pitfield, head of the East York Historical Society, says she welcomes a mix in housing, but feels it's important to preserve the area's identity.
“People choose a neighbourhood because of the character of the neighbourhood. When the character begins to change it does affect real estate values potentially and all of the sudden it doesn’t feel like the neighbourhood you chose to live in.”
Ing-Gilbert agrees that a community's feel is important for homeowners and suggests concerned residents form preservation groups.
“I think that history's important for our neighbourhoods,” she said. “Houses have to conform to the streetscape to maintain the feel of their neighbourhood.”
Pitfield remembers pioneering real estate guidelines for Leaside when she served as councillor for Ward 26/Don Valley West, until 2006. The community's suggestions included maintaining most of the house's height, materials and distance from street. The guideline was “consulted like a bible” by the city's adjustment committee and promoted to residents.
“If you had property sold beside you, you could make sure the developer knew about the guidelines,” Pitfield recalled. “90 per cent of the time, just by talking about it, I found that builders and private citizens who owned the land tried to get it right; because they wanted to conform and build something that would fit into the neighbourhood, knowing it was important.”
Reid says she's confident about her neighbourhood, regardless of house prices and building norms.
“No matter how it changes, I'm sure this will still be a special place.”
This article was published in the East York Observer on February 17, 2012.
“It's a fabulous neighbourhood,” she said, citing its diversity, good schools and nearby transit.
Reid likes exploring local shops and catching up with neighbours.
“It's almost like a small town,” she said.
This sense of community, along with recent trends in the real estate market, is what’s attracting people to East York.
This month the National Post reported on the neglected two-storey house next-door to Reid that fell into disrepair after its owners took ill. Though people who toured the house encountered peeling paint, piles of clothes and the smell of cat urine, the house sold for $1 million.
Reid says the new owners are already planning big renovations.
“A lot of people move for location,” said East York realtor Linda Ing-Gilbert. “Everything else in a home can be changed.”
Reid knows this well. She said her neighbourhood has been under “constant renovation” over the last 10 years. While she's enjoyed meeting new neighbours, she knows house prices – and her own taxes – are going up drastically from when she moved in three decades ago.
“I could afford to move here then; I couldn't now,” Reid said. “I'm one of the few that are left.”
Like the rest of the city, East York house prices have been on the rise because of a shortage of homes on the market. Last week, the Canadian Real Estate Association announced that the cost of a single-family home in Toronto hit $606,600 as of January, a 50 per cent jump in six years. That's $100,000 higher than the Canadian average and slightly higher than the surrounding GTA.
These rising costs are making East York's Second World War-era bungalows attractive as buyers can build on these smaller homes to fit their needs.
“What East York offers is more land,” Ing-Gilbert said. “There are lots of World War II bungalows with a lot of space. That can be hard to find.”
While some people choose bungalows to accommodate reduced mobility many homeowners add and extend floors at a lower price than buying a large house.
 |
World War Two-era bungalows are being dwarfed by built-up homes as homebuyers seek the location and space of East York. photo by Dylan C. Robertson |
Madeline MacKay lives in a three-storey build-up down the street from Reid.
“You'd never know you were downtown,” she said. “It feels like a real community. You get one-of-a-kind businesses and lots to see. My son loves the parks and the attractions.”
MacKay says she can hear streetcars rolling by from her third floor on quiet Sundays.
“It's magical,” she said.
Jane Pitfield, head of the East York Historical Society, says she welcomes a mix in housing, but feels it's important to preserve the area's identity.
“People choose a neighbourhood because of the character of the neighbourhood. When the character begins to change it does affect real estate values potentially and all of the sudden it doesn’t feel like the neighbourhood you chose to live in.”
Ing-Gilbert agrees that a community's feel is important for homeowners and suggests concerned residents form preservation groups.
“I think that history's important for our neighbourhoods,” she said. “Houses have to conform to the streetscape to maintain the feel of their neighbourhood.”
Pitfield remembers pioneering real estate guidelines for Leaside when she served as councillor for Ward 26/Don Valley West, until 2006. The community's suggestions included maintaining most of the house's height, materials and distance from street. The guideline was “consulted like a bible” by the city's adjustment committee and promoted to residents.
“If you had property sold beside you, you could make sure the developer knew about the guidelines,” Pitfield recalled. “90 per cent of the time, just by talking about it, I found that builders and private citizens who owned the land tried to get it right; because they wanted to conform and build something that would fit into the neighbourhood, knowing it was important.”
Reid says she's confident about her neighbourhood, regardless of house prices and building norms.
“No matter how it changes, I'm sure this will still be a special place.”
This article was published in the East York Observer on February 17, 2012.
British home children author connects with her roots
 |
| Sandra Joyce holds a photocopy of the Pier 21 record of her father's arrival in Canada. The discovery lead her to travel the world and author a historical novel. photo by Dylan C. Robertson |
A few years after her father's death, Sandra Joyce was on a visit to Halifax. She stopped by Pier 21 to check if they had records of her father's arrival in Canada.
“It says here: Orphan Homes of Scotland,” the English teacher says, pointing to a photocopy. “I never knew he was an orphan.”
It was a discovery that would lead to publishing a book and travelling halfway across the world.
The Street Arab: The Story of a British Home Child is Joyce's first novel. Based on her father's life, it tells the story of one of the 100,000 orphans that Britain sent to Canada between 1869 and 1939.
Joyce spoke to members of the East York Historical Society on Jan. 31 at the S. Walter Stewart library. Though the characters are fictional, her book sticks closely to the history of home children. The novel took Joyce four years of research and a trip to the Scottish orphan house where her father lived.
“It's very rewarding, but also the hardest thing I've ever done in my life,” Joyce said.
Faced with crowded orphan houses following the First World War, Britain created a scheme, in connection with Canada's agriculture department, to send young labourers to the sparsely populated colony. Some were sent over in boats that shipped Canadian timber to Britain, since they were empty for return routes.
The children, who mostly came from large cities, were sent to rural Canada to work as domestic or farm labourers. Seen as deviants on both sides of the Atlantic, the children had several derogatory nicknames.
One term, the inspiration for the title of Joyce's book, comes from a quote in Anne of Green Gables: “No London street arabs for me ... I’ll feel easier in my mind and sleep sounder at nights if we get a born Canadian.”
While governments only monitored if farmers were satisfied with the children's behaviour, many children suffered isolation and abuse. The program was axed after a number of suicides.
“It was luck of the draw. Some had terrible lives, some got lucky,” said Joyce. “But really, what they didn't have was love in their lives.”
She recalls growing distant from her father and says many descendants of home children never got to know their family members and their history.
“These children were not able to form relationships very easily. While I was a child he was very sweet, but as I got older he grew away from me,” Joyce said. “I feel like I was robbed of that side of my family.”
Although being told from birth that her grandmother was dead, Joyce found out she had died in 1985. In her research, she came across a photograph of the dozen children who arrived in Canada from the same orphanage in 1925.
“I have scanned it over and over and I still don't know which is my father.”
Joyce, who is working on a sequel to her first novel, is pushing for awareness of this episode of history. Her book's foreword is written by MPP Jim Brownell, whose grandmother was a home child from the same Scottish orphanage. With Joyce's help, he enacted an annual British Home Child Day. Her book launched on the inaugural commemoration on Sept. 28, 2011.
Estimates say roughly 10 per cent of Canadians descend from home children. Britain had smaller child emigration schemes with Australia, New Zealand and South Africa. Within the past decade, Australia and the United Kingdom have apologized, but Canada has only issued a statement of regret.
“That made me angry and motivated me even more,” Joyce said. “As Canadians we tend to think of ourselves as advocates of human rights and freedom. And here we were doing things to children not so long ago. So how can we point the finger at other countries?”
This article was slated for the February 3, 2012 edition of the East York Observer, but was published Feb. 17.
Friday 27 January 2012
A crude directive for Canadian industry
The Canadian government fears an EU plan to limit fuel emissions will prompt an end to the lucrative oil sands
The Newfoundlanders’ Club is a bar with tartans, lobster traps and live Irish music. It's also the most popular pub in Fort McMurray, a northern Alberta town of 50,000 people.
With hanging photographs of rocky shorelines and small port towns, the pub serves Newfie dishes and beers with a side of nostalgia.
“It's a home away from home,” said cook Shirley Grandy, who moved to Alberta from Marystown, Nfld. seven years ago. “I first came to visit my son when he bought me a ticket. I found work and never went back.”
Fort McMurray is a boomtown at the centre of the oil sands, a collection of semi-solid deposits in northern Alberta comprising the world's second-largest crude oil reserves. Commercial production began in 1967, but thrived as oil prices spiked in the late '70s and early 2000s.
Because the oil is trapped in sand, processing it is much more energy-intensive than other sources. Layers of trees and soil are removed before sand is either scooped up or pumped out with steam. This natural bitumen is then heated with natural gas and extremely hot water to separate oil for processing. The remaining sand, water and oil residue is kept in on-site tailings ponds.
Environment Canada deemed the oil sands the country's fastest-growing source of greenhouse gases in 2010. But the project is staggeringly lucrative, with the provincial and federal governments predicting a $490-billion gain in royalties over the next 25 years. In that same period, an average 450,000 jobs will be added annually, according to an industry-sponsored survey.
This exponential growth is seen in towns like Fort McMurray, where immigration exceeds housing. The town census says population grew 80 per cent from 2000 to 2010.
Statistics Canada began tracking a steady rise in movement from Newfoundland to Alberta in the 1970s. Annual numbers have fluctuated, but estimates place up to 10,000 Newfoundlanders who have moved to northern Alberta in the past decade.
With high-paying jobs and rich scenery, Alberta brings in many from the aging island with dying towns and limited job prospects.
“I would be a millionaire if I were back in Newfoundland,” said Grandy, adding that it's common to hear Newfie accents around town.
But the Canadian government fears EU legislation targeting high-carbon fuels could end the project and its nationwide economic growth.
The EU fuel quality directive was introduced in 2008, legally binding EU oil suppliers to reduce carbon emissions from road transport fuels by 6 per cent of 2010 levels by 2020. The directive is part of a wider effort to eliminate a fifth of EU carbon emissions by the same year.
To enforce the directive, the European Commission has to define the carbon value of various fuels. The commission’s environment committee ordered a study by Stanford University of the oil sands' overall carbon emissions, including extraction and processing.
Published in January 2011, the study found oil sands to have 23 per cent more carbon emissions than conventional sources. In October, the environment committee voted to ascribe this higher emission value to oil sands fuel, deterring suppliers aiming to meet their 6 per cent carbon reduction.
“The directive aims for a discrete measure to differentiate between low- and high-carbon oil,” said Suzanne Dhaliwal, co-founder of the UK Tar Sands Network. The group works with environmental and Aboriginal groups to protest oil sands development.
“It's essential,” said Dhaliwal. “We're heading towards catastrophic climate chaos.”
The Canadian government fears the EU directive will set off a global chain reaction of negatively labelling the oil sands and has defended them since the directive's launch.
In October 2009, cabinet ministers publicly contemplated initiating a World Trade Organization challenge. The directive later became a major sore point in ongoing negotiations for the Canada-European Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement.
In December 2009, the federal government launched a “pan-European oil sands advocacy strategy” to “protect and advance Canadian interests.”
A series of freedom-of-information requests by media and advocacy groups revealed a team including employees of the Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade. The group monitored activists, responded to negative media coverage and helped oil companies lobby European parliamentarians.
“While Europe is not an important market for oilsands-derived products, Europe legislation/regulation, such as the EU Fuel Quality Directive, has the potential to impact the industry globally,” read an April 2011 email released this week.
The lobbying was discussed at the European Parliament in March 2011, with Finland's former environment minister decrying coercive meetings with key politicians.
“The government of Canada has been lobbying us in a manner that is not acceptable,” said Satu Hassi of the Green Party.
Lobbyists and industry officials now argue the directive singles out oil sands while turning a blind eye to other heavy crude sources like converted shale and coal. But these sources do not apply to the transport-focused directive.
“Canadian producers are supportive of people working to reduce their emissions,” said Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers spokesperson Travis Davies. “But the directive discriminates against a Canadian product.”
Davies noted that certain oil-producing countries like Nigeria are not being targeted by the EU despite using carbon-intensive processes that are illegal in Canada.
“From a policy viewpoint, discriminating against a country like Canada, one that openly publishes its figures, acts as a disincentive to others to publish their information,” he said.
The European Commission's environmental committee will discuss the directive in late February and likely send it to a parliamentary vote.
Canada, which withdrew from the Kyoto Protocol in December, continues to oppose the directive, especially after plans for an American bitumen pipeline were delayed indefinitely.
Two weeks ago, Natural Resources Minister Joe Oliver denounced “radical” and “foreign-funded” environmentalists for opposing oil-sand expansions.
Speaking from her UK office, Dhaliwal described Oliver's comments as “hypocritical.”
“The jobs pay well [...] but aren't stable. Canada should invest in green jobs. The most difficult project of this generation will be weaning ourselves off of oil dependence.”
This was my entry for the 2012 EU-Canada Young Journalist Award, which requires a 1,000-word submission "focusing on a current issue facing the European Union or EU-Canada relations." I didn't win, but I'm glad I entered.
The Newfoundlanders’ Club is a bar with tartans, lobster traps and live Irish music. It's also the most popular pub in Fort McMurray, a northern Alberta town of 50,000 people.
With hanging photographs of rocky shorelines and small port towns, the pub serves Newfie dishes and beers with a side of nostalgia.
“It's a home away from home,” said cook Shirley Grandy, who moved to Alberta from Marystown, Nfld. seven years ago. “I first came to visit my son when he bought me a ticket. I found work and never went back.”
Fort McMurray is a boomtown at the centre of the oil sands, a collection of semi-solid deposits in northern Alberta comprising the world's second-largest crude oil reserves. Commercial production began in 1967, but thrived as oil prices spiked in the late '70s and early 2000s.
Because the oil is trapped in sand, processing it is much more energy-intensive than other sources. Layers of trees and soil are removed before sand is either scooped up or pumped out with steam. This natural bitumen is then heated with natural gas and extremely hot water to separate oil for processing. The remaining sand, water and oil residue is kept in on-site tailings ponds.
Environment Canada deemed the oil sands the country's fastest-growing source of greenhouse gases in 2010. But the project is staggeringly lucrative, with the provincial and federal governments predicting a $490-billion gain in royalties over the next 25 years. In that same period, an average 450,000 jobs will be added annually, according to an industry-sponsored survey.
This exponential growth is seen in towns like Fort McMurray, where immigration exceeds housing. The town census says population grew 80 per cent from 2000 to 2010.
Statistics Canada began tracking a steady rise in movement from Newfoundland to Alberta in the 1970s. Annual numbers have fluctuated, but estimates place up to 10,000 Newfoundlanders who have moved to northern Alberta in the past decade.
With high-paying jobs and rich scenery, Alberta brings in many from the aging island with dying towns and limited job prospects.
“I would be a millionaire if I were back in Newfoundland,” said Grandy, adding that it's common to hear Newfie accents around town.
But the Canadian government fears EU legislation targeting high-carbon fuels could end the project and its nationwide economic growth.
The EU fuel quality directive was introduced in 2008, legally binding EU oil suppliers to reduce carbon emissions from road transport fuels by 6 per cent of 2010 levels by 2020. The directive is part of a wider effort to eliminate a fifth of EU carbon emissions by the same year.
To enforce the directive, the European Commission has to define the carbon value of various fuels. The commission’s environment committee ordered a study by Stanford University of the oil sands' overall carbon emissions, including extraction and processing.
Published in January 2011, the study found oil sands to have 23 per cent more carbon emissions than conventional sources. In October, the environment committee voted to ascribe this higher emission value to oil sands fuel, deterring suppliers aiming to meet their 6 per cent carbon reduction.
“The directive aims for a discrete measure to differentiate between low- and high-carbon oil,” said Suzanne Dhaliwal, co-founder of the UK Tar Sands Network. The group works with environmental and Aboriginal groups to protest oil sands development.
“It's essential,” said Dhaliwal. “We're heading towards catastrophic climate chaos.”
The Canadian government fears the EU directive will set off a global chain reaction of negatively labelling the oil sands and has defended them since the directive's launch.
In October 2009, cabinet ministers publicly contemplated initiating a World Trade Organization challenge. The directive later became a major sore point in ongoing negotiations for the Canada-European Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement.
In December 2009, the federal government launched a “pan-European oil sands advocacy strategy” to “protect and advance Canadian interests.”
A series of freedom-of-information requests by media and advocacy groups revealed a team including employees of the Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade. The group monitored activists, responded to negative media coverage and helped oil companies lobby European parliamentarians.
“While Europe is not an important market for oilsands-derived products, Europe legislation/regulation, such as the EU Fuel Quality Directive, has the potential to impact the industry globally,” read an April 2011 email released this week.
The lobbying was discussed at the European Parliament in March 2011, with Finland's former environment minister decrying coercive meetings with key politicians.
“The government of Canada has been lobbying us in a manner that is not acceptable,” said Satu Hassi of the Green Party.
Lobbyists and industry officials now argue the directive singles out oil sands while turning a blind eye to other heavy crude sources like converted shale and coal. But these sources do not apply to the transport-focused directive.
“Canadian producers are supportive of people working to reduce their emissions,” said Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers spokesperson Travis Davies. “But the directive discriminates against a Canadian product.”
Davies noted that certain oil-producing countries like Nigeria are not being targeted by the EU despite using carbon-intensive processes that are illegal in Canada.
“From a policy viewpoint, discriminating against a country like Canada, one that openly publishes its figures, acts as a disincentive to others to publish their information,” he said.
The European Commission's environmental committee will discuss the directive in late February and likely send it to a parliamentary vote.
Canada, which withdrew from the Kyoto Protocol in December, continues to oppose the directive, especially after plans for an American bitumen pipeline were delayed indefinitely.
Two weeks ago, Natural Resources Minister Joe Oliver denounced “radical” and “foreign-funded” environmentalists for opposing oil-sand expansions.
Speaking from her UK office, Dhaliwal described Oliver's comments as “hypocritical.”
“The jobs pay well [...] but aren't stable. Canada should invest in green jobs. The most difficult project of this generation will be weaning ourselves off of oil dependence.”
This was my entry for the 2012 EU-Canada Young Journalist Award, which requires a 1,000-word submission "focusing on a current issue facing the European Union or EU-Canada relations." I didn't win, but I'm glad I entered.
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