The CAMROSE BOOSTER, October 12, 2021 – Page 38
Be ready for added ballots By Murray Green Follow your nose
The power of the nose is considerable. Whether it’s the rich aroma of morning coffee, the enticing smell of Thanksgiving dinner, the lingering fragrance of a romantic partner, or the nagging odour of dirty laundry, scents permeate our daily lives. Not only does our sense of smell keep us safe by helping us detect odours, such as smoke and rotten food, but it Stephanie Oliver, English, is also connects us to powerUniversity of Alberta ful memories and emotions. Augustana Campus When we have a cold or flu, or, worse yet, the COVID-19 virus, we may temporarily lose our sense of smell (and with it, much of the flavour of the foods we eat), temporarily losing these experiences. Yet despite the important role our sense of smell plays in making sense of the world around us, we rarely reflect on its importance. But what might we learn from turning our attention to smell? What can scent tell us about ourselves and the world? It turns out that literature can help us explore these questions. As argued by the authors of the influential book Aroma: A Cultural History of Smell, scent’s boundary-crossing abilities and ties to memory and emotion were deemed a threat to Enlightenment-era societies that privileged vision, a sense that seemed to more readily lend itself to scientific objectivity, classification, reason, and rationality. The denigration of scent continued in the work of major 18th and 19th century thinkers like Emmanuel Kant, Charles Darwin and Sigmund Freud. Freud, for example, suggested that smell embodied the antithesis of that which was physically–and by extension, intellectually and morally–upright. Smell became linked to savagery, madness, hedonism, and the seemingly superfluous. As a result, many Western cultures still marginalize smell as a so-called “lower order” sense. Compared to other senses like sight and hearing, smell lacks a well-developed vocabulary in English, so literature plays a crucial role in expanding our olfactory language. Odours tend to be framed as ephemeral phenomena associated with gut reactions as opposed to the rational realm of language. Yet it is precisely because scents seem to escape language that the way we do describe scents is significant. Moreover, because it is so difficult to permanently capture scents, written descriptions play an important role in recording encounters with smell. It is not surprising, then, that literature has played an influential role in shaping our understanding of scent. Take Swann’s Way, a 20th-century novel by French writer Marcel Proust. In a famous scene, the smell and taste of petite madeleines (small French cakes) triggers a flashback for Proust’s narrator, transporting him to an earlier time enjoying the cakes as a child. Proust’s meditation on the link between smell, taste, and memory was so novel and detailed that it provided scientists with a new language for describing and understanding involuntary memory; the scene now appears in numerous scientific publications on the topic. It is perhaps because smell-centric literature is so rare that novels such as Patrick Suskind’s Perfume: The Story of a Murderer (1985) and Tom Robbins’ Jitterbug Perfume (1984) still have cult-like followings, despite both being published over 30 years ago. More recently, Korean filmmaker Bong Joon-ho used scent in subtle ways to explore class divisions and social hierarchies in his film Parasite, a film that won the 2019 Oscar for Best Picture. Whether we pay close attention to our sense of smell or not, it plays a significant role in our daily lives and society at large. If, like Proust’s narrator, you begin to follow your nose, the journey may surprise you.
You have the opportunity to vote for mayors, councillors and school board trustees in the October 18 election. However, you need to be prepared to vote on several other additional items along with your ballot. You will be supplied with two referendum questions. The two questions are: Should section 36(2) of the Constitution Act, 1982–Parliament and the government of Canada’s commitment to the principle of making equalization payments–be removed from the constitution? A “yes” vote would be to send less Alberta money to Ottawa, while a “no” vote would be to keep paying equalization payments. According to the Canadian Taxpayers Federation, key findings include: equalization has cost Alberta taxpayers $67 billion since its inception in 1957; the cost of equalization per Albertan has been $20,200 since 1957; in 2021, equalization will cost Alberta taxpayers $2.9 billion; on average, equalization will cost each Albertan $650 this year or $2,600 for a family of four; Albertans have received less than .02 per cent of all equalization payments. The last equalization payment Alberta received was in 1964-65. And the second is: Do you want Alberta to adopt year-round Daylight Saving Time, which is summer hours, eliminating the need to change our clocks twice a year? A “yes” vote means you support a permanent change to summer hours and no longer turning clocks forward in March and backward in November. A “no” vote means you support continuing the current practice of turning the clocks forward in March and backward in November. Dr. Michael Antle is a professor at the University of Calgary professor in the department of psychology. Antle disputes the twicea-year time change because
the weeks following the “spring forward” in April, when we switch our clocks ahead by an hour, we see an increase in car accidents, strokes, heart attacks and workplace injuries. However, he asserts that the proposed move to permanent DST is the worse of the two dreadful choices. The referendum question regarding Daylight Saving Time is a non-constitutional question asked under section 5.1 of the Referendum Act. The result of the vote on the Daylight Saving Time question is binding. For more information about the referendum, visit www.elections.ab.ca, call toll free at 1-877-422-VOTE (8683), or look on Facebook or Twitter. Senate
You can also vote for three of 13 candidates to represent Alberta in the Senate. The Order in Council and Writ of Election for the 2021 Alberta Senate Election was issued on June 23 to hold an election to select three Senate nominees, who may be summoned to the Senate of Canada to fill a vacancy or vacancies relating to Alberta. The candidates are Erika Barootes of Edmonton, Rick Bonnett of Ponoka, Pam Davidson of Red Deer, Doug Horner of Edmonton, Duncan Kinney of Edmonton, Kelly Lorencz of Red Deer County, Mykhailo Martyniouk of Edmonton, Ann McCormack of Mannville, Jeff Nielsen of Olds, Karina Pillay of Southern Alberta, Chad Jett Thunders Saunders of Calgary, Sunil Sookram of Edmonton and Nadine Wellwood of Cochrane. To be nominated for election, Senate candidates must have collected 500 signatures from eligible electors in Alberta. Visit www.elections. ab.ca/sen ate- an dr efer en dum/s en a t e candidates/who-are-thesenate-candidates/ to receive more information on the candidates.
In loving memory of
Robin Trach 1961 ~ 2016 It’s hard to believe it’s been five years since we lost Robin. Remember him for all the belly laughs you shared with him. Recall his sense of fairness and patience, whether working or playing. And, in his words, “Have a drink and talk about the good times.” Always remembered by Connie, Dan (Brenda), Colette (Dallas), Jase and Jessie
In loving memory of
Eva Shea Olesen 1925 ~ 2011 Greatly missed along life’s way, Quietly remembered every day. Forever in our hearts, Your loving family
In loving memory of
Ty Christian Naslund 1999 ~ 2014 Remembering you, missing you, loving you… Forever Always in our hearts, Mom, Dad, Ryan, Devin
Memorial Poems CHASE ACE
Murray Green, Camrose Booster Camrose Chase the Ace September 8 winner Alan Fielding of Camrose, left, accepts the $452 presented by Rotary Club of Camrose Daybreak member Cliff Drever on behalf of the Camrose Service Clubs Group. This is the presentation of proceeds from the fourth event in the Camrose Chase the Ace Progressive Raffle.
Now available for publication in The Camrose Booster. Ask for our 24-page booklet of poetry. Words of comfort to remember someone special.