The Community Edition: August 2016

VOLUME 4, ISSUE 11 • AUGUST 2016

SAVE THE EVIDENCE PAGES 8-9

KITCHENER STILL MAKES PAGE 7

ART AND ATTACHMENT PAGE 16

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Volume 4, Issue 11 Next issue: September 7, 2016 75 University Ave. W Waterloo, ON N2L 3C5 519-884-0710 x3564 Advertising All advertising inquiries should be directed to Care Schummer at 519-884-0710 x3560 care.schummer@wlusp.com THE COMMUNITY EDITION TEAM Editor in Chief Jesse Bauman jesse.bauman@wlusp.com Publisher Lakyn Barton lakyn.barton@wlusp.com

General Inquiries info@communityedition.ca Web Manager Care Schummer care.schummer@wlusp.com

Social Media Manager Megan Nourse

CONTRIBUTORS Faisal Ali Douglas Clarke Christopher Emory-Moore Marika Galadza Julian Garrigan-Coatrieux Kristy Guthrie-Roth Stacey Jacobs Allison Leonard

Magdalena Milosz Seth Ratzlaff John Roche Eva Rucki David Siebert Matt Smith Dave Thomas Cara Vandermey

WLUSP ADMINISTRATION President Executive Director Advertising Manager Treasurer Vice-Chair Director Director Director Director Director Corporate Secretary

Meghan Roach Lakyn Barton Care Schummer John Pehar Abdiasis Issa Mynt Marsellus Maddy Cutts Fred Kuntz Gary Doyle Matthew Burley Taylor Berzins

The Community Edition is an alternative monthly intended to engage and inform the community.

Started in 2012, the Community Edition is an editorially independent newspaper published by Wilfrid Laurier University Student Publications, Waterloo, a corporation without share capital. WLUSP is governed by its board of directors.

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Preamble to the Community Edition Constitution The Community Edition will keep faith with its readers by presenting news and expressions of opinions comprehensively, accurately and fairly. The Community Edition believes in a balanced and impartial presentation of all relevant facts in a news report, and of all substantial opinions in a matter of controversy.

The staff of the Community Edition shall uphold all commonly held ethical conventions of journalism. When an error of omission or of commission has occurred, that error shall be acknowledged promptly. When statements are made that are critical of an individual, or an organization, we shall give those affected the opportunity to reply at the earliest time possible. Ethical journalism requires impartiality, and consequently conflicts of interest and the appearance of conflicts of interest will be avoided by all staff. The only limits of any newspaper are those of the world around it, and so the Community Edition will attempt to cover its world with a special focus on the community of Waterloo Region. Ultimately, the Community Edition will be bound by neither philosophy nor geography in its mandate.

The Community Edition has an obligation to foster freedom of the press and freedom of speech. This obligation is best fulfilled when debate and dissent are encouraged, both in the internal workings of the paper, and through the Community Edition’s contact with the community. The Community Edition will always attempt to do what is right, with fear of neither repercussions, nor retaliation. The purpose of community press is to act as an agent of social awareness, and so shall conduct the affairs of our magazine.

FEATURE

Fall begins September 22. MATT SMITH PHOTO

8-9 ARCHITECTURE OF ASSIMILATION A RESIDENTIAL SCHOOL GETS NEW LIFE

INSIDE 3 4 6 6 7 7 10 10 10 11 11 12 12 12 13 14 14 15 16

IN BRIEF ISCT: PAULANDER DRIVE STARVING FOR JUSTICE LONG ROAD FOR LGBTQ+ REFUGEES MANUFACTURING IN DTK MENTAL MATTERS: COMMUNICATE! FOOD BANK MAKEOVER SHORE IN CAMBRIDGE REFUGEES AT MONTH 13 POETRY & ILLUSTRATION SEEKER’S CORNER: MEDITATION SEXPLANATIONS: LOUD PLEASURE SING, GOOD HEARTED WOMEN SO, YOU WANT TO BUY A CAR? CHIPS OFF THE OLD BLOCK 30-DAY WELLNESS CHALLENGE (X30) BRFC ON BEER, AND WOMEN INSTAFAMJAMS AMANDA RHODENIZER’S ART

COVER IMAGES (CLOCKWISE FROM TOP): Magdalena Milosz, Amanda Rhodenizer and Konrad Sauer.

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IN BRIEF

You say potato, we say go to page 13 and read about the best french fries in Waterloo Region. The best fries in the galaxy come from Marina’s.

MATT SMITH PHOTO

NEWS

ARTS

URBAN

TENT CITY PUSHES FOR HOUSING

CAN ART DISTRICT A NEW LOOK FOR GALLERY STAY PUT? ZEHR SQUARE

A group of activists have erected a tent city to draw attention to the need for affordable housing in the region. The activists are protesting gentrification, especially in downtown Kitchener, and are providing meals and other supports to those who wish to join them. Many of the activists are on the long waiting list for affordable housing.

The Art District Gallery, currently located beside the Kitchener Farmer’s Market, has been given a 30 day notice to vacate their space. The unit’s landlord has found a better paying tenant, and the gallery is appealing to the public for help. The now-airy and bright Gallery was formerly a storage facility, and is run by the artists themselves.

The City of Kitchener is collecting more feedback about its renovations of Carl Zehr Square.

The public space in front of Kitchener’s City Hall, which is over 20 years old, may soon see a shallower fountain for wading, a permanent stage, and more green, shady spaces. Consultations are still being made, as final plans are still up in the air.

HUMAN TRAFFICKING ARRESTS

TOUR KWAG IN A NEW LANGUAGE

CYCLIST HIT, TAKEN TO HOSPITAL

After allegedly forcing a 14-yearold girl into sex slavery, four adults have been charged by Waterloo police. Police charged three men and one woman with several offences that include human trafficking, receiving a material benefit and advertising of sexual services. The teenager has been given some assistance to help her escape the situation, says WRPS.

This month the Kitchener-Waterloo Art Gallery is expanding its Walk the Talk: Gallery Tours so that more non-English speaking art enthusiasts can attend. Check out dates online if you’d like to participate in a tour in either Mandarin, Spanish, Polish, Urdu or English. Guides discuss contemporary art, and share about the exhibitions and the featured artists.

A 72-year-old man was taken to hospital in late July, after being struck by a pickup truck and the man driving it. The man was wearing a helmet, and research continues to show that protected bike lanes do more to promote cyclist safety than, for example, mandatory helmet laws. Last May, Waterloo council approved the construction of segregated bike lanes on King Street, uptown.

LOCAL BIG SHOTS OK WITH AIRLINE

LINK FESTIVAL AND CARNIVAL IN DTK

NEW BBALL TEAM GETS A NAME

The Regional Airport general manager, along with local mayors and the regional chair recently wrote a letter to the ministry in support of Canada Jetlines. The airline would be an ultra-low cost carrier, but needs an exemption from Transport Canada’s foreign ownership rules. The foreign investor who would back the project wants 24 per cent more ownership than is currently allowed.

Running from noon to dusk each day, on September 3 and 4, the LINK Picnic Festival & Family Carnival Parade is returning to Victoria Park. The festival features a range of music, including a drumming village and steelpan yard, workshops, a children’s village and large marketplace.

Don’t leave until the top male and female reveler are judged and awarded!

Sorry High Techs, Angry Amish, IONs, Rim Rockers, Quantum Leaps, Berliners and Wrecking Balls, the newest National Basketball League of Canada team will be called the KW Titans. The team also announced that Stu Julius, who was previously coach of WLU’s women’s team, will lead the Titans to near-certain glory. We still prefer the Angry Amish, for the record.

BE NICE TO LRT BUILDERS, PLEASE

COLOURING YOUR BOOK ONLINE

MORE GROCERIES IN DOWNTOWN

Construction workers in uptown Waterloo are having a difficult time at work, and not just because of surprise corduroy roads.

Some have come forward about experiencing harassment from local businesses and people on the street. All parties have been reminded of the special circle of hell for people who are jerks to people just doing their job.

The colouring book craze has transcended paper and pencil crayons. Themuseum’s front window, which faces King Street in downtown Kitchener, is now showcasing a digital colouring book. Participate in a new community art project by connecting to the free hotspot with your phone and then colouring in the images on the screens.

A new grocery store is set to open in downtown Kitchener this. J&P Grocery will soon settle into a renovated spot at 8 Queen Street North, with an entrance off of Goudie’s Lane. The grocer hopes to cater to the downtown crowd, which can’t always wait for the Saturday farmer’s market to roll around. Kale’s goin’ up on a Tuesday.

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Paulander Drive is home to many children, seniors, people with full-time jobs, people on OW and ODSP, newly-arrived immigrants and multiple-generation Canadians. MATT SMITH PHOTOS

IF STREETS COULD TALK: PAULANDER DRIVE SETH RATZLAFF CONTRIBUTOR There is a small wooden chair at the entrance to 65 Paulander Drive, a two-storey, red-brick apartment complex on the corner of Paulander Drive and Victoria Street. Someone sitting in that chair would have a good view of the busy street it overlooks, as well as the neighbourhood born off of it. As long as the weather is nice, Frank Brooks is there late into most nights,

socializing with his many neighbours, keeping an eye out for trouble, and watching the general goings-on of his 45-year-old neighbourhood.

The building Brooks lives in was built in 1973 and its units are subsidized by Waterloo Region Housing.

Brooks is a recipient of the Ontario Disability Support Program. He can’t work like he used to, so now he keeps busy other ways, volunteering at a local second-hand store (which is actually where I first met him), or playing crazy eights with anyone who is willing.

“When I moved here about twenty years ago, I liked it. It had nice people; I got along with my neighbour,” Brooks

said when I recently paid him and his porch a visit. “We have social clubs.

People hold meals every month, like barbecues and potlucks,” he continued, describing life at Paulander.

“Once in awhile I bring hamburgers or hotdogs or whatever, but most of the time I bring myself.”

Those barbecues are put on by the housing committee in his complex, but across the road there is a community centre that hosts neighbourhood-wide events.

Munira Haddad is the community developer at the centre. She is responsible for coordinating programs and events, supporting volunteers, and providing an array of services to

the community members, including professional development.

The Paulander Drive neighbourhood is made up of over five hundred and eighty units and houses, some of which are privately owned homes, or rented at market rates or subsidized

by Waterloo Region Housing. The result is a very diverse population.

Haddad described it as being made up of “families with young children, seniors living independently, people with full-time jobs, people on OW and ODSP, newly-arrived immigrants, and multiple-generation Canadians.”

The centre’s schedule is full of events, including food distribution, guy’s groups and girl’s groups, special

events, and monthly potlucks. Many of these are made possible because of hard-working volunteers like Ilaria Hassan.

Hassan helps coordinate a weekly donation program at the community centre.

“We call it Donations Closet and Coffee Program,” she said, grinning at the name — sometimes you just have to call it as it is. Hassan, along with two other volunteers, gathers donations from local churches and then hands them out Friday afternoon, while also opening the centre for snacks and a chance to socialize.

Amie Moresay expressed appreciation for the program. She has found

AUGUST 2016 // COMMUNITYEDITION.CA

shoes and clothes for her five children there, and regularly receives diapers and hygiene products. She also said that the outreach worker helps her fill out forms and applications; for instance, she just applied to enrol two of her children in daycare.

Hassan has been living on Paulander Drive for six years. She admitted that she finds her neighbours a little shy, but said they come out after “a little bit of trust-building.” She was born in India and came to Kitchener in 2008.

“I love it here. I love the trails and Victoria Park — and the fishes,” she added with a smirk. “I travel by bus so I can go as far as the buses go.”

Another inspiring volunteer at the centre is Corinne Vautour, a 58-yearold Micmac woman. She is recovering from breast cancer and recently became disabled with mobility issues.

She had been receiving food from the food bank at the community centre and felt that she wanted to give back.

So Vautour pitched an idea to the community developer at the centre: she wanted to start a group that would empower women in the community.

“In this space,” Vautour explained, “people feel free and safe to talk about what they want to talk about. Whatever we say there stays there.”

She felt that a formal gathering would help women talk about some shameful issues they or someone they knew suffered from, like drug or sex addiction, or having a partner in jail.

The result was a weekly group called Women’s Voices.

“It’s not just about decompressing,” Vautour quickly noted. “It’s about having fun too!”

Vautour drew on her Micmac heritage to help her form the group. She grew up with her grandmother and grandfather, who were living off the land at that time. Her grandmother had a reputation in the community for taking in homeless people.

“Every day someone was eating at our table, doesn’t matter what religion or ethnicity they are. I was taught to give… My Aboriginal tradition is to help one another, to feed one another.

I bring those teachings here with me. We teach respect, honesty, love, wisdom.”

Vautour continued, explaining that “any woman can do this. It’s not about taking any other woman from other communities [and installing them in a different one]. It’s about taking women from their own community to lead their own community. We know. We can taste and smell danger. We have everything we need.”

One strolling through this neighbourhood would likely find people comfortably wearing traditional (non-Western) clothing. And one would almost certainly encounter children. A description of Paulander Drive wouldn’t be complete without mentioning all the kids.

Priscilla Gutu, a single parent who dropped by the community centre to say hello, mentioned that she moved to Kitchener from Toronto because she wanted somewhere less busy to raise her daughter. “[Here] there’s lots of friends to play with,” she said.

Developed in 1971, this suburban community has now become a well-established neighbourhood in Kitchener with a very unique personality.

When asked how the neighbour-

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hood could be improved, a few people mentioned the need for a pedestrian crossing at the intersection of Paulander and Victoria Streets. In order to cross the street there, you need to walk nearly 300 metres down the road to the nearest safe crossing. That’s a long way around just to get to the daycare across the street.

Moresay said she’s had a few confrontations with drivers while trying to cross the four lanes of traffic with her children.

Brooks thought that there are too many trouble-makers out at nighttime. Sometimes he doesn’t feel safe.

Haddad cited a few different issues that the community at large struggles with: a lack of power in decision-making, stable housing, general safety and limited access to children’s programming. All of which, she says, are related to the root issue of poverty.

In spite of this, Aline Smith, the family outreach worker at the centre, reflected that the “neighbours really support each other. It’s like a little village.”

A diverse and tight-knit village seemed to be a common view of Paulander Drive, and it is one that perhaps speaks most appropriately of the neighbourhood. But this written account is by no means complete.

It is wrong to ask if this street could talk. This street does talk. Part of its compelling character is that it will speak quite freely and expressively to anyone who happens to take a stroll through. Why not go exploring?

Corinne Vautour (top right) pushed to create Women’s Voices, a weekly group discussion and safe space, on Paulander Drive. SETH RATZLAFF PHOTO (TOP) AND MATT SMITH PHOTOS (BOTTOM)

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STARVING FOR JUSTICE

MIGRANT DETAINEES REFUSE FOOD TO PROTEST INDEFINITE DETENTION

JESSE BAUMAN EDITOR IN CHIEF As this story goes to press, on August 1, dozens of migrant detainees in two Ontario prisons are in their third week of a hunger strike. They are asking to meet with Ralph Goodale, the minister of Public Safety and, according to the End Immigration Detention Network, “Their demands are simple: they don’t want to be jailed indefinitely, without charges or trial, in maximum security prisons.”

Since last fall, 1,275 Syrian refugees have settled in Waterloo Region, an admirable community effort that – here and across the country – has become a key chapter in the federal goverment’s story of “sunny ways.” However, many I spoke with pointed out that the federal government’s treatment of migrant detainees is hard to square with the arms-wide-open image it continues to project.

In the three weeks since the hunger strike started, “50 Black and Brown men have faced lock-downs, been threatened with segregation and deportation, and had their water turned off. Still they continue. But ultimately, it’s not about conditions, however inhumane they are, but about the fact that they are detained indefinitely, in maximum security, without charges or trial,” says Tings Chak, who is an organizer with the End Immigration Detention Network.

When immigration detainees are considered high risk, they are transferred from immigration holding centres to provincial prisons. Those deemed high risk include detainees with criminal backgrounds, who are consid-

ered to be an escape risk or a danger to themselves or others, and who possess a history of violence or outstanding charges. Many argue that the government exaggerates detainees’ danger to society, and that many are simply caught in a bureaucratic mess of paperwork, or have just overstayed a visa.

Richard Abuwa is one of the detainees. In an interview with CBC’s As It Happens on July 22, Abuwa said that he’s been detained for the last 27 months in Lindsay, although he is not serving a criminal sentence. Because of an “accumulation of criminal charges,” Abuwa, who’s lived in Canada for 31 years, is ineligible for citizenship and is scheduled for deportation to Nigeria imminently – though he doesn’t know anyone there, or speak the language.

Lucia Harrison has met with local MPs to discuss this issue, and has sent each of them a letter outlining her concerns. Harrison is the Kitchener-Waterloo Multicultural Centre’s executive director, and sits on the board of the Ontario Council of Agencies Serving Immigrants, which has also asked Goodale to meet with the detainees.

“With the new government, it’s a chance to correct a broken system that breaks every rule we have about incarcerating people,” Harrison told me by phone, adding that “maximum security prisons are not the only way to keep tabs on people.” She reiterated to me a point she and others made in a letter to Goodale: “Many children are also in detention because the only option given to their parents is to surrender custody – which is not a real choice.”

Health care providers have also recently spoken against indefinite detention, explaining that it puts unreasonable stress upon a detainee’s mental health, among other things.

“We are concerned that a continuing hunger strike will put already vulnerable

people at further risk of physical and mental harm. Three men have died while in immigration detention since you became Minister only nine months ago. At least 15 have died while in the custody of the Canadian Border Services Agency since 2000,” wrote 70 doctors, nurses and other health care professionals in a July 14 public letter to Goodale.

“This is the third time in as many years that men on indefinite immigration hold – people held in maximum security prisons without charges or trial – have gone on hunger strike,” those health care providers wrote in the same letter.

“It concerns us when individuals feel compelled to put their physical and mental health in jeopardy in order to win an audience with elected officials.

They feel unheard and unacknowledged despite repeated calls to your office and to the offices of other Members of Parliament, multiple petitions and letters, and unsatisfactory meetings with representatives of the Canadian Border Services Agency.”

Many European countries cap detention at 90 days, which is also a United Nations standard. Through a spokesperson, Goodale told the Canadian Press that his office is set to release a plan that will “align” with the UN’s global strategy on detention “in the near future.” The spokesperson emphasized that detention is “always a last resort.”

Gandhi is often credited with saying that a community’s greatness should be measured by how it treats its weak and vulnerable. Few are as vulnerable as those whom the government says should not count at all.

“It’s a jail. No jails are fun,” Abuwa said to CBC. “To me, it feels like I’m in segregation and living in a cage like an animal, treated like an animal, and then they expect me to behave rationally. It’s not right. It’s not fair.”

A self-portrait and poem from R.R., who is on hunger strike in detention in Central East Correctional Centre. COURTESY R.R.

A LONG ROAD FOR RAINBOW NEWCOMERS TO WR BEING “OUTED” TO FAMILY “BACK HOME,” AND OTHER RESIDUAL FEARS OF PERSECUTION ARE HARD TO SHAKE DOUGLAS CLARKE CONTRIBUTOR Moving to a new country can be fun and exciting, but it also comes with its share of troubles. You may not have a command of the language, you may not have any friends or family waiting for you, you even have to learn to navigate the streets and transit systems. LGBTQ newcomers often face additional obstacles, and have often faced discrimination (and sometimes violence) in their countries of origin.

A new home, where they can express themselves and embrace their identity, is not so easy to come by.

Shane Bauman volunteers for Spectrum, Waterloo Region’s rainbow community space, where he helps run a “Rainbow Newcomers group.” The group works with other agencies to help rainbow newcomers transition

into the community and holds monthly meetings.

Bauman describes Kitchener-Waterloo as being supportive of his and other agencies’ work. However, not all LGBTQ newcomers feel the same way.

Many LGBTQ newcomers are reticent to express themselves fully in their new homes. The fear of persecution – a hard fear to shake – follows these new Canadians, and responses gathered from a small group of LGBTQ international students reveal that many do not feel completely safe in KW. Many also describe a persistent fear that somebody from their home country may find out that they are LGBTQ and then share this with friends or family “back home.”

There is also the discomfort that comes with living in a homophobic society, and, finally, the fact that the local LGBTQ community is not that diverse.

Many of these difficulties come to a point when newcomers start the process of becoming a Canadian citizen.

“A blunt tool to deal with a deli-

cate issue,” is how Keith Macmillan describes the refugee claims process for LGBTQ newcomers. Macmillan is a lawyer with Legal Aid Ontario, and an expert on the legal process of making a refugee claim based on persecution of sexuality or gender identity.

According to Macmillan, the claims process can be fast, but it is also invasive and very personal. Claimants must provide “proof” that they are being persecuted for their gender or sexuality. This can include police and medical reports from assaults or harassment, descriptions of oppressive laws from home countries and deeply personal facts about personal relationships. Decision makers will often take into account statements from past or current lovers and family members, or your history on LGBTQ dating sites. Macmillan shared about a case where a claimant’s computer’s browsing history, which contained gay pornography, became part of his claim. Decision makers are attempting to be as thorough as possible, and nothing is held back. While claimants

have the right to share only what they want to share, holding back could undermine their claim.

The claims process is meant to stop fraudulent cases from being processed and accepted, but it is anything but easy. Written statements must match any verbal statements given at a hearing and any discrepancy can lead to negative inferences against the claimant. At a time when getting a job, securing housing, and attempting to put a potentially violent past behind you is ever present in your mind, making exact and verifiable statements can be difficult. Experiencing trauma, for example by fleeing your home, further affects a person’s memory.

However difficult and traumatic the process might be, Macmillan says it’s not all “doom and gloom.” He has personally worked on many successful claims, and many LGBTQ refugees continue to be admitted to Canada.

And while LGBTQ newcomers face many problems, many also describe feeling hope and a sense of satisfaction with the work done by commu-

nity groups. It’s clear that KW isn’t perfect – though it is doubtful that any place is. We can do more, and better, to welcome LGBTQ newcomers, including advocating for more low-cost housing, and helping those folks find jobs.

Supporting the work being done by community groups is an excellent first step. Volunteers like Bauman and the many others who work tirelessly to make LGBTQ persons feel welcome are inspiring and a much needed resource in our ever-expanding community.

In Kitchener-Waterloo you can get help from the Solidarity Alliance, the Mennonite Coalition for Refugee Support, ACCKWA, SPECTRUM and the KW Multicultural Centre, among other places. All of these bodies have information on the city, social resources and can help people navigate the legal claims process. It is important, at such a trying time, to know you are not alone.

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THE PLANE TRUTH ON CRAFTING WORLD-CLASS TOOLS IN KW

Konrad Sauer makes world-class handplanes with his hands, tools and quality wood. KONRAD SAUER PHOTOS

DAVID SIEBERT CONTRIBUTOR In Waterloo Region high tech is king.

The cities of Kitchener and Waterloo have recently announced contributions to Communitech expansions in the hundreds of thousands of dollars. Meanwhile, Lear Canada and Schneider’s — two iconic Kitchener factories — have quit production. But manufacturing in Waterloo Region is not dead, and in the shadow of those downtown factories and condos, Sauer & Steiner Tools is keeping small scale manufacturing alive.

Konrad Sauer makes hand planes in a converted two-story garage behind his house. Handplanes are indispensable tools for smoothing, shaping, or straightening wood. Sauer’s planes, nearly all custom made, are loved by cabinet makers or luthiers who appreciate the care and quality Sauer puts into his tools.

Sauer worked in design in Toronto for a little over ten years before realizing that making furniture for his house was far more enjoyable than working as an art director. At some point in those years he purchased an old Scottish-made infill plane, and was blown away by how well the tool worked and how much he enjoyed using it.

The plane was handmade, and Sauer wanted another one like it. Describing his thought process at the time, he says he realized that “someone was capable of doing it, so why can’t I?” Sauer and his friend, Joe Steiner, decided that they might as well try making one themselves.

“I grew up in Victoria Park renovating old homes with my parents,” he says. “One of the most important things I learned from my dad was ‘don’t be afraid to try anything new’, because what’s the worse thing that can happen? You screw up. And that’s the barrier that most people run into and it stops them.”

At a trade show someone saw the plane they’d made and asked where it came from. Sauer and Steiner admitted they’d made it, and the woman asked if they’d consider making one for her too.

“We sat down at a Tim Hortons and wrote out a business plan, and the first thing we wrote was ‘If it’s not fun it’s not worth doing.’” They quoted their first client a number, one they thought too high, but ended up getting the commission. After two years there

were enough commissions for Sauer to buy Steiner’s share in the business, and the reigns amicably transferred over to Sauer and his workshop.

The values placed on particular objects in our society are, Sauer believes, off kilter with the actual value of the materials, and the immense amount of knowledge that is required to create quality products. Value of material and labour is intrinsic to Sauer’s work and life. His planes are generally made with rare, slow-growing, equatorial woods, like Rosewood, which is stable, and does not expand and contract like other woods.

“People are so separated from anyone who makes anything anymore. I’m making planes for furniture makers who are still using their hands to make stuff. I have very few conversations about pricing because they automatically get it. They understand what it takes to make something,” says Sauer.

“Getting soil under your fingers, that’s making,” he exclaims, then pauses. Sauer has little love for the term “maker” or “maker culture.”

“The word’s been annexed,” says Sauer, “it gets tossed around so flippantly that it doesn’t mean anything anymore.”

But don’t discount Sauer as a Luddite. He believes the high tech sector in Waterloo Region has an important role to play, and points to the money and investment in high tech that allows specialty businesses, like local coffee shop Smile Tiger, and highly skilled creators, to thrive.

Sauer says it doesn’t matter how we get people to recognize the true value of things, so long as we start to recognize that our consumeristic culture is harmful to consumers and producers alike.

Food producers at farmers markets and local coffee shops, believes Sauer, may be a redeeming aspect of consumer society.

“People are becoming more aware of what they’re eating, and much more willing to spend money to buy high quality food.” To Sauer this is the same side of the same coin as his work, and the high quality furniture his own clients create.

The solution to society’s rampant consumerism? According to Sauer, people need to start making things.

“Gardening, just doing shit!” he says passionately. “People doing things again, and being engaged in the making of things, the creating of things.”

An attitude Sauer learned from his father, and which has clearly informed his work, was to approach life thinking, “Why not try?”

FOUR STEPS TO IMPROVING YOUR COMMUNICATION answer. Here are his four steps to dramatically improving communication.

JOHN ROCHE COLUMNIST “Use your words.” As a kid, that’s the extent of what I was taught about communication. As the years went by, I learned about times tables, the French Revolution, and condom use.

But somehow my education on how to communicate effectively with other human beings never evolved beyond, “when you have a problem with someone, you should talk about it.” To be sure, that’s great advice. But it begs the question: how?

It wasn’t until I discovered the work of Marshall Rosenberg that I found the

OBSERVE, DON’T EVALUATE The first step to effective communication is to learn to make observations instead of evaluations. Evaluation involves sweeping statements about a person’s character, assumptions about someone’s intentions, or the use of judgmental words. Observation means simply noting the facts of a specific situation.

Notice the difference, for example, between saying, “You’re a flake,” and “You called me to cancel half an hour before we were supposed to hang out.”

EXPRESS FEELINGS The next step is expressing feelings.

A very human tendency is to mix up thoughts and feelings. “I feel that

you’re a flake” is a thought, not a feeling. Feelings in such a situation may include sadness, frustration, anger, insecurity, disappointment, or even relief.

Notice the difference between saying “I feel like you don’t care about me” and “I feel sad.”

CONNECT FEELINGS TO NEEDS This step is critical. Our tendency is to blame other people for our feelings and say something like “I feel this way because you did that.” In reality, our feelings are the consequence of our needs, not another person’s behaviour.

Imagine our scenario. If our need is for connection, intimacy, or reassurance, then a friend bailing on us will probably leave us feeling hurt, sad, or disappointed. But if our need is for solitude, then we’re likely to feel

relieved or even happy when our friend bails. Therefore, it is our unique needs that determine our feelings, not the situation. (Note: some needs, like safety, are not unique but universal and constant.)

In our example, notice the difference between “I feel like you don’t care about me because you bailed on me” and “I felt sad because I was really hoping to connect with you.”

MAKE REQUESTS We tend to expect people to know what we want and resent them for not guessing. Or we avoid asking for what we want so we don’t seem “selfish.”

Or we tell people what to do. None of these are inherently wrong, but they’re also not very effective or sustainable ways of getting our needs met. Making requests, by contrast, gives us the

best chance that people will respond positively to our needs.

That being said, sometimes people say no. And that’s allowed. If someone consistently says no to our requests, we may want to re-evaluate whether or not we want them to be a central part of our lives.

Putting it all together, effective communication would look something like this: “When you cancelled half an hour before we were supposed to hang out (observation), I felt sad (feeling), because I was really hoping to connect with you (need). In the future, do you think you could give me at least a few hours of notice (request)?”

Now that’s some badass communication.

John works as a therapist in Waterloo.

ARCHITECTURES OF (DE)COLONIZATION LOCAL INDIGENOUS COMMUNITIES REPURPOSE FORMER RESIDENTIAL SCHOOL WORDS AND PHOTOS BY MAGDALENA MILSOSZ

Follow the Grand River towards Lake Erie and you will find a bend in its waters encircling a significant place.

From a nearby street, you can glimpse the building down a long driveway flanked by trees. The approach is leafy, and only upon emerging at its entrance is its grandiosity fully revealed: symmetry, neoclassical features, a cupola rising above the three-storey red brick façade. It’s one of fewer than a dozen former residential schools for indigenous children left standing in Canada, and it’s an hour’s drive from Kitchener-Waterloo in southeast Brantford.

The Mohawk Institute, as it was known, closed in 1970 and was repurposed in 1972 as the Woodland Cultural Centre. The institution’s dehumanizing environment and assimilationist goals, common to all 139 residential schools supported by the Canadian government, were the focus of a tour I went on last month with Paula Whitlow, the Centre’s museum director, and Lorrie Gallant, education coordinator, as well as a small group of visitors from Kitchener and Brussels.

Walking up a half flight of stairs to the verandah, Gallant, who has intergenerational experience with residential schools, describes how children came to be at the school. In 1920, an amendment to the Indian Act made schooling compulsory for First Nations children between seven and fifteen, and parents faced prison if they did not comply. Once at school, most students remained until the following summer.

“That was the only way you could leave—if your parents picked you up,” says Gallant. Even then, long distances to home communities, including some in Quebec, meant certain children stayed for years at a time.

As we cross the threshold into the building, the heavy wooden door becomes a symbol of the divide between the children’s cultures and the narrow world of the institution.

Inside, Gallant tells us how parents were only able to see their children in the “Indian reception room” beside the entry, and how conversations were monitored to ensure no Indigenous languages were used. Often, families sat in silence as parents knew little English and children had forgotten their native tongue; children who retained their language risked punishment if they used it to speak with family.

Similarly, siblings at the Mohawk Institute often had little contact with one another.

Now under the direction of three member communities (Mohawks of Tyendinaga, Mohawks of Wahta, and Six Nations of the Grand River), the Centre encompasses a museum, library, art gallery, and language depart-

ment focusing on the cultures of the Haudenosaunee (Iroquois) peoples.

Being located at a former residential school, the organization grapples with the often divergent goals of keeping First Nations cultures vibrant while memorializing an era of severe oppression against those same cultures.

The Mohawk Institute was the oldest and longest-running residential school in Canada, its roots extending to a school founded in the 1780s by the Mohawk leader Thayendanegea (Joseph Brant) not long after the resettlement of the Six Nations to the Haldimand Tract. Having himself experienced cultural exchange at a school in the United States, teaching Mohawk to European students while learning English, Brant’s vision was one of productive cultural combination.

This goal, however, was displaced by the New England Company, a non-sectarian Protestant missionary organization which had briefly and unsuccessfully run a school in New Brunswick. In 1829, they established a “mechanics’ institution” for Six Nations children in the Mohawk Village, in present-day Brantford. The school began to admit girls as well as take in boarders, focusing on occupational and domestic training to spur assimilation. After a fire in 1854, it was rebuilt on its present site, about half a kilometre to the west, in 1859.

The federal government began financially supporting residential schools as a means of assimilating Indigenous peoples under Prime Minister John A. MacDonald in 1880, with various Christian denominations continuing to operate them. The red-brick building that still stands today was built in 1904 after a second major fire, this one almost certainly set by students protesting harsh conditions.

“They always did everything in the order of their numbers,” Gallant explains — a system staff used both to dehumanize the children and to keep brothers, sisters, and cousins apart.

But like most coercive total institutions, the Mohawk Institute bears evidence of inmates’ resistance to their incarceration. In the library, located in the former girls’ reading and sewing rooms, we see traces of graffiti left by young people struggling to lead normal lives in abnormal conditions.

On the second floor, we visit the girls’ dormitory, recently vacated

by The DAM Studio, a music studio owned by David Moses. In the basement, the 1959 kitchen addition was, according to the annual report of the Department of Indian Affairs, “designed to make it a modern residential school.” It remains largely untouched to this day, bearing the large vats used to make the often bug-infested gruel that gave the Mohawk Institute its

nickname “mush hole.”

The third storey is off limits until repairs to a massive roof leak are completed, but at one time held both boys’ and girls’ dormitories and, more recently, Woodland’s language department. The language revitalization efforts at Woodland are complemented by language courses at Six Nations Polytechnic, immersion programs for adults, and pre-school, elementary and secondary programs.

Gallant tells us, “Tuscarora is almost lost, but all the others” — Mohawk, Oneida, Onondaga, Cayuga, and Seneca — “are revitalizing.” Consider how incredible a feat of resilience it is to be increasing the number of speakers of languages against which the federal government waged a hundred-year war, through residential schools and other oppressive policies. We end the tour on this more positive note, then walk around the exterior of the building to see names and messages carved into brick, evidence of perseverance.

The museum and art gallery are located in an adjacent classroom block built in 1955, separated physically and chronologically from the worst of Canada’s oppressive regime against indigenous peoples. Inside the museum is a temporal journey through Iroquoian and Alkonkian prehistory to the present day. The gallery features art exhibitions that demonstrate contemporary expressions of indigenous cultures: last month saw the closing of the annual First Nations Art show as well as Michigan-based artist Jennifer Lickers’ excellent solo exhibition, “Salvage Anthropology.” Starting on August 19 will be “Tyonatyerenhtòn:ne – They Were the First,” focusing on the matrilineal society of the Onkwehon:we (Original People).

I first visited the Centre three years ago. At the time, the institution was at a crossroads — chronic underfunding had left the old residential school in bad shape, and the roof leak precluded use of the attic storey. In the fall of 2013, staff held a community consultation to determine the fate of the building. No option was off the table — other residential schools owned by indigenous communities had been demolished due to disrepair or as a means of dealing with a difficult past. The 500 comments gathered by Woodland staff, however, indicated that most were in favour of keeping the building as a memorial to the residential school era.

Soon after, Woodland launched Save the Evidence, an ongoing campaign to raise funds for the building’s restoration as a residential school museum — the first of its kind in Canada. The most immediately critical goal, $1.5 million for the roof, was recently met and will permit construction to begin this fall. This past May, a $1.4

million contribution by the Province of Ontario was accompanied by an apology for its role in perpetuating the residential school system. The second phase of the project, estimated to cost $2.5 million, will cover the renovation of mechanical and electrical systems.

The third phase, at $6.5 million, will see the architectural and interpretive elements of the museum come to life.

As the numbers show, many more contributions are needed to realize the vision for this project.

“We’re going to run it like the community consultation,” says Whitlow of the final phase. An advisory committee will spearhead the long-term vision for the museum, with input from the community. The plan is still in the works, but won’t likely result in a frozen-in-time, historicist interpretation. Rather, Whitlow tells me, the restoration and exhibits will reflect the diverse experiences of survivors and highlight the changing nature of the institution over its century-and-ahalf history.

Emerging from the museum and gallery, the imposing residential school building is a stark reminder that there is much work to be done before the truth of this history is acknowledged by all Canadians. Having endured to this day, it seems to pose the question, how should we remember? Beyond remembering, how do we reconcile?

In Kitchener-Waterloo, we live on part of the Haldimand Tract — which was granted to Six Nations in 1784 and extends six miles deep on either side of the Grand River — most of which was sold or otherwise illegally transferred to white settlers. Like the river, the past flows through us, affecting us in the present. In the past, we may also find guidance on how to correct our course as we move forward.

For example, the Two Row Wampum Treaty is an agreement made in 1613 between the Haudenosaunee (then Five Nations) and representatives of the Dutch government, and provides a model for peaceful relations between indigenous and settler peoples.

The Treaty is embodied in a wampum (shell bead) belt, with a white background setting off two rows of purple beads, which symbolize the courses of a Haudenosaunee canoe and a European ship. Side by side, they navigate the white river of peace and friendship, together but not interfering with one another. The Treaty reminds us that reconciliation is not simply a goal to be achieved and then forgotten — it is an ongoing process in which we must actively participate.

Visiting the Woodland Cultural Centre and contributing to Save the Evidence is a great place to start.

Clockwise, from top: In the former boys’ play room,

each child’s possessions would have fit in one cubby of the shelving unit; Kelly Greene’s “The Haldimand Coupe” and Kent Monkman’s “Les Demoiselles” were installed behind the Mohawk Institute after being exhibited in Toronto for Planet IndigenUS in 2015; and, originally the girls’ dormitory, this space bears messages from its time as a music studio. COURTESY WOODLAND CULTURAL CENTRE

AUGUST 2016 // COMMUNITYEDITION.CA

10

FOOD HAMPER PROGRAM EXPANDS TO MEET DEMAND

LARGEST FOOD BANK GETS A MAKEOVER, BUT HUNGER A SYMPTOM OF POVERTY, COORDINATOR SHARES

JESSE BAUMAN EDITOR IN CHIEF Waterloo Region’s largest provider of emergency food assistance is about to get bigger and, hopefully, more welcoming.

“Walking through the front door of the emergency food hamper program is never an easy experience. There are lots of feelings of shame and guilt and all of the trauma that has brought someone here. So we want to update the look and feel of the program so it’s less of a dingy warehouse and a warmer, more inviting place,” says Matt Cooper, explaining his organization’s decision to renovate the space that houses House of Friendship’s Emergency Food Hamper Program.

“With the state of food security in the region and province and country, there’s a continued need for food banks, so we’ve made the decision to expand and reconfigure, so people can feel a bit safer and more dignified,” he continues.

Cooper runs the program for the local social service charity, and was my boss for two years. We start chatting while stacking boxes of halal meat in a temporary freezer-trailer, and then together fold up a large tent, under which program patrons can find shade as they wait for their number to be called.

To maintain continuity of service,

the program is currently operating out of a parking lot next door – thanks to the Knights of Columbus, says Cooper – until construction finishes. Each day requires set-up and tear-down, like a concert tour that never moves.

One in twenty residents of Kitchener-Waterloo visited a food bank last year, according to the Food Bank of Waterloo Region. About 850,000 Canadians visited a food bank every month, in 2015.

The Emergency Food Hamper Program started in 1985, as a temporary response to the recession. In that first year of service, staff shared 4,173 food hampers. Now firmly entrenched in the constellation of social services, in 2009, during the height of another recession, the program distributed over 33,000 hampers. When I worked there, patrons routinely told me that they had been referred to our program by their welfare or disability case workers at the Region, because their monthly assistance could not cover rent plus food.

Many have pointed out that food insecurity is a symptom of a deeper problem – income insecurity and unaffordable housing, among other things – and that food banks are ill equipped to address those root causes.

Cooper agrees, and doesn’t.

“We help people with food everyday, but food isn’t necessarily exactly or only what they need. The bigger problem is not having enough money,” he says. “But taking food banks away will cause dramatic and immediate harm.”

In the same breath Cooper emphasizes that “income security programs

[like welfare or disability] fundamentally fall short of meeting basic needs.

The talk about a guaranteed annual income is positive, but realistically we cannot wait for the policy problem to get solved, we need to invest in infrastructure now.”

Cooper is not making this up, or exaggerating. Local public health researchers found that the average monthly rent for a bachelor apartment in the region is $693, and that it costs $284 a month for a single person to eat healthily. A single person receiving welfare has a total monthly income of $740.

Wrapping up our conversation, Cooper emphasizes that food banks are part of a much larger movement, and that people can get involved in a variety of ways.

“Donate a can of food, or volunteer and hand out that can, or jump into the policy debate and advocate for change. Politicians have a hard job balancing competing interests, but if we get in their ear and make hunger visible, that’s important,” he says.

“Food security is part of a broader web of interrelated concerns and questions, of sustainability and social justice. If we all have enough money to buy food, but it’s imported from countries with no laws protecting agricultural workers, or we only import pristine and symmetrical food…well there are a whole host of problems to solve from farm to table, and hunger in Kitchener-Waterloo is one manifestation.” House of Friendship is still fundraising to complete their food hamper renovation project.

HOUSEHOLD FOOD INSECURITY AFFECTS 1 IN 6 CANADIAN KIDS UNDER THE AGE OF 18.

GRAPHICS AND DATA COURTESY PROOF FOOD INSECURITY POLICY RESEARCH

NEW SHORE CENTRE REFUGEE SUPPORT DRIES UP? EXPANDING SERVICES FOR PREGNANT PEOPLE

DAVE THOMAS CONTRIBUTOR Pregnant people in Cambridge now have more resource and support options, thanks to the SHORE Centre’s recent expansion into downtown Galt.

The centre, formerly known as Planned Parenthood Waterloo Region, has started offering services on Friday afternoons from 1 to 4 p.m., in space provided by the Cambridge Self Help Food Bank. Funding from the Cambridge and North Dumfries Community Foundation will allow a year-long pilot.

The centre served almost a thousand clients at its Kitchener office in the last year. Almost ten per cent of those were from Cambridge. Realizing that getting to downtown Kitchener is an obstacle for many, the centre staff have been planning for the Cambridge expansion for about a year, says Lyndsey Butcher, SHORE’s executive director. They consulted with local agencies, and soon connected with the food bank, which has been “enthusiastically welcoming.”

The organization’s new name stands for sexual health options, resources and education, so its free services reflect that mandate, says client support coordinator Kayla Orr. These include prenatal advice, abortion counselling and referrals, and providing pregnan-

cy tests, lubricants and condoms.

Education is also part of the expansion to Cambridge and North Dumfries. The funding from the community foundation will help to make workshops more widely available at this end of Waterloo Region.

“Health Matters program is our sexual health education workshop that we provide in local schools, community centres, youth shelters and with different community groups,” says Orr. “We cover all ages and a pretty comprehensive range of topics. We cover everything from healthy relationships to puberty, anatomy, safer sex and condoms, STIs, pregnancy, pregnancy options, consent, gender and sexuality.

We try to tailor each workshop to the request of the organization and the needs of the community they’re working with.”

Dianne McLeod, program coordinator at the Cambridge Self Help Food Bank, says SHORE’s services are needed in Cambridge. “We would often have pregnancy tests that we would give to women who wanted to know if they’re pregnant. But we didn’t have the resources to give them the additional support that goes along with that. We would have to refer them elsewhere,” she says. But for many people, making a trip to downtown Kitchener was a huge obstacle.

“We are really pleased that the SHORE Centre is now here,” says McLeod.

NEW ARRIVALS MUST WORK OR GET SOCIAL ASSISTANCE AT MONTH 13

FAISAL ALI CONTRIBUTOR “One of the things we worry about at Reception House is just: what happens in month 13?” says Christian Snyder, who works as a community educator at the local organization. Refugees lose their federal government or private sponsorship after one year, and as public and political interest shifts, it’s a task that many new-to-the-region families could find increasingly difficult to bear.

Since last fall, Canada has welcomed 28,640 refugees from Syria, about 1,275 of whom have settled in the region – mostly in Kitchener. The Canadian public has played a huge part in this, as almost 10,000 Syrians have been privately sponsored. Through these sponsorships, ordinary groups of Canadians commit to taking on the expenses, housing, and general well-being of a single family for a full year.

“The month 13 transition for refugees off of federal government/private sponsorship assistance is a challenge,” agrees Tara Bedard, manager of the Waterloo Region Immigration Partnership. “Many refugees will not have been successful in finding meaningful work yet and may transition to Ontario Works.” As we’ve reported elsewhere, Ontario Works rates re-

main below the poverty line for most recipients.

“The community response has been incredible,” says Kaylee Perez, a refugee sponsorship associate at the Mennonite Central Committee (MCC).

As an officially recognized sponsorship agreement holder, the MCC works to connect refugee families with willing sponsors in Canada, and facilitate their entry and settlement into Canada. Remarking on the groundswell of public empathy, Perez notes how the MCC had to expand in size, to go from working with an average of eight sponsorship groups in any given year, to well over 200 groups seeking families to host.

But while there was a tremendous interest and desire to help in the beginning, both Perez and her colleague Sara Brubacher stress that part of a strong community response is to maintain that level of commitment as media attention starts to fade.

A main issue now, explains Brubacher, is that it takes time for families to participate in this community, and to develop the skills necessary to meaningful participation in the workforce.

“They’re not going to go and work the next week [after their assistance ends]. They need to learn how the financial system works. They need to learn to navigate the bus system, to shop and live and learn English,” says Brubacher, who says the focus for families in their first year is to create a “sustainable standard of living.”

Many people I spoke with mentioned a tension between refugees’ desire to

work and the importance of learning English, which doesn’t necessarily happen in every workplace.

Bedard says that, at month 13, “employers can play a huge roll… by being open to hiring refugees and possibly by supporting their integration at work, for example, offering English at work support for refugees who are still learning English.”

“After a year in this community, many will have navigated the service sector but social connections in the community will still be very much in development - residents can look for ways to connect and offer friendship - in schools, grocery stores, parks wherever you connect with people in the community,” says Bedard.

Perez shares a similar point at the end of our conversation, as we discuss how people can help. On the one hand there are many organizations, like Reception House and MCC, doing good work supporting families, that need our help.

On the other hand, simply taking an active role in the community is a great and holistic way to help. Through volunteering at the food bank or an after-school program at the YMCA you will in some capacity be supporting these newer arrivals, and participating in a community that has been transformed since last fall.

“With so many newcomers, you’re going to run into them in the street, in the grocery stores,” says Perez. They are part of this community.

AUGUST 2016 // COMMUNITYEDITION.CA

11

untitled under a fruitless tree, you consider

the crackle overhead transmission lines strung with intermittent messages – short thoughts expiring with the dying whine of cicadas the grass quivers, stomach all tied up in knots a naturally-occurring electromagnetic field palms firmly grounded against the earth

CARA VANDERMEY ILLUSTRATION

- MAGDALENA MILOSZ

SITTING IN SILENCE WITH STRANGERS AN EXPERIENCE OF MEDITATING WITHOUT GUIDANCE, BUT QUITE POSSIBLY TOO MUCH CAFFEINE

CHRISTOPHER EMORY-MOORE COLUMNIST Meditation is a daunting word. But could it just mean showing up and shutting up?

Every Sunday morning a group of Buddhist sympathizers convene for two hours on the top floor of a nondescript three-story office building uptown. They meet at the Waterloo Riverview Dharma Centre (WRDC).

They meet to meditate.

After enjoying an early morning coffee, on the Sunday of the Waterloo Jazz Festival I paid a visit to the WRDC. I was greeted at the open front door by a middle-aged woman named Penny. She was seated at the Buddhist lending library directly below a large wall poster of the smiling

Dalai Lama. She seemed surprised to see me and asked if it was my first time visiting the Centre. I explained that it was but that I was happy to sit through the coming hour of unguided meditation — recommended on the Centre website for those with previous meditation experience.

Self-identifying as a “non-sectarian centre for meditative practice in the Buddhist tradition,” WRDC offers an eclectic program that includes meditation instruction in Theravada and Vajrayana traditions, as well as Qigong classes. Part of what intrigued me about Sunday morning sessions, however, was their lack of instruction.

I took my seat on a round black floor cushion in the front half of the room, set apart by Japanese-style dividers and marked by a modest shrine between the teacher’s cushion and a large east-facing window to the treetops lining Dupont Street. On a thin black table sat a sandy Buddha statue surrounded by a medley of pinecones,

stones, and flowers dried and alive.

Potted plants dotted the floor like patient disciples.

Legs crossed and hands folded, Buddha seemed to watch our small group approvingly as we assumed his posture one by one in silence. Just after 10 a.m. someone rang a singing bowl three times to commence the sit.

Just before 11 a.m. the bowl rang thrice more to conclude. And that was it.

I think I expected an hour of crosslegged silence in a group of strangers to feel longer than an average hour. In fact, it flew by, and not because I was absorbed in single-pointed concentration. The time did not slow because my thoughts did not slow, at least for the first 30 minutes. After a half hour of semi-caffeinated “monkey mind” (a technical term in Buddhism), something of the room’s air-conditioned stillness crept into my mental space, I suspect by sheer osmosis. In the final minutes of meditation I found myself peacefully gazing at sandy Buddha and

the trees swaying silently behind him.

When we had all returned to the meditation room with mugs of herbal tea, legs stretched and whistles wet, Penny spoke gently: “This is a time for people to share their experiences and maybe ask for advice on particular aspects of their meditation practice.

But first, because there’s someone new here today, let’s introduce ourselves.”

I appreciated the chance to hear how long people had been meditating, and was struck both by the range of experience in the room (from about one to 30 years) and by the absence of “cradle” Buddhists raised in the tradition.

Perhaps related to the fact that those gathered had discovered meditation as questing adults, the preferred approach to meditation and the Buddhist tradition seemed to be personally directed exploration rather than programmatic execution of instructions, at least at this freestyle Sunday sit.

I asked if it was a bad idea to meditate after a strong morning coffee, as I had unwittingly done. The group consensus was “not necessarily.” I was assured that coffee might help some people to meditate while it would surely hinder others. To one practitioner’s question of what would happen if we stopped fearing worst-case scenarios, someone replied that such scenarios would simply disappear. To a question about the fairly bleak Buddhist scenario of samsara (the cycle of uncontrolled rebirth), the group consensus was “not necessarily.” We were assured that Buddhist cosmology need not be adopted to benefit from Buddhist meditation.

A core principle of practice seemed to be “whatever works,” with an understanding that what works will be highly personal. But if merely sitting in group silence can make a caffeinated newbie a touch calmer, perhaps just showing up is as core a principle.

AUGUST 2016 // COMMUNITYEDITION.CA

SEXPLANATIONS

12

ANYONE WITH A GOOD HEART IS WELCOME

TCE TALKS RECONCILIATION AND INDIGENOUS/POLICE RELATIONS WITH LOCAL SONG CIRCLE LEADER

STACEY JACOBS COLUMNIST I was recently at the University of Guelph for their annual Sexuality Conference. I was asked to close my eyes, put a chocolate in my mouth, slowly suck on it and savour the moment.

This was the easy part.

I was also asked to make noise to show everyone else how much I was enjoying the chocolate.

This was the hard part.

I realized I was not 100 per cent comfortable making a lot of noise. I was comfortable making a bit of noise, but not too much. Why was this, I wondered? I’m a vocal person. I am not afraid to speak my mind. Why was this so hard for me?

It turned out I was not alone. Many others in the room were also uncomfortable making too much noise, or any noise at all.

The point of the exercise, according to Jessica O’Reilly, Ph.D, a Toronto based sexologist, was to make a connection between pleasure and our comfort with expressing it. We need to let our sounds go to fully feel pleasure.

She further discussed how pleasure is celebrated in most parts of our lives: food, art, sports and physical beauty, among other things.

But, she argued, when it comes to sex, pleasure is not celebrated as it should or could be. If we truly celebrated sexual pleasure, it would increase our overall sexual health and our happiness within relationships, because we would not be uncomfortable discussing sexuality with our children, healthcare professionals or partners.

Imagine a world where physical, emotional and sexual pleasure was taught, respected and celebrated.

Think about how much happier and relaxed people would be.

We would not slap children’s hands away when they touched their genitals.

We would teach sexual health in a positive and inclusive way to everyone, never leaving the clitoris out of the anatomy lesson. We would talk about orgasms and how to have more of them. We would not have to buy sex toys in a special store, they would be available everywhere. You would not be judged for what you wear or the sexual activities you enjoyed.

Our society tends to think of sexual pleasure in terms of the penis, the young, the able-bodied and the beautiful. This obviously leaves out the vast majority of people.

According to O’Reilly, we need to think of pleasure in the way we think about food.

What brings one person pleasure may not bring another person pleasure. Some of us love Indian food.

Some of us love Italian. We can’t always have a seven course meal, and sometimes a quickie at the counter is just as satisfying. This is ok.

Do not feel guilt or shame around pleasure. Pleasure should be present in many parts of our lives, including our sex life – self-pleasure included.

So go on and make noise without excuses, without shame, without guilt and enjoy the last lazy days of summer.

MARIKA GALADZA CONTRIBUTOR Police brutality against people of colour is again in the headlines, following the death of Somali-Canadian Abdirahman Abdi, who witnesses say was beaten by police in front of his apartment, and the sentencing of Toronto constable James Forcillo for the shooting death of Sammy Yatim. As many go to the streets to protest the police’s racialized violence, one local group is approaching police relations through song.

“We try not to sweep [all police officers] with the same brush” says Kelly Laurila, songkeeper and facilitator of Mino Ode Kwewak N’Gamowok, which means Good Hearted Women Singers in Anishnaabe.

The circle includes up to 40 indigenous and non-indigenous women and children, who use song for personal as well as collective healing. The circle was formed in 2004 by indigenous elder, Jean Becker, and since 2012 they have sometimes performed with the Waterloo Region Male Police Chorus, comprised of officers and civilians who aim to foster community engagement and gain public trust.

They call the collaboration with the

Police Chorus “bridging communities through song.”

But singing with a group of police officers in uniform was not an easy sell to the women of Mino Ode Kwewak N’Gamowok. According to Corrections Canada, one in four incarcerated persons in Canada is aboriginal. For aboriginal women, incarcerations rates have increased 130 per cent since 2004.

Through systemic racism, forced assimilation and other forms of discrimination, the police have not historically been allies to indigenous peoples of Canada, but as Laurila tells me, this doesn’t have to be the case forever.

Laurila got the idea for bridging these seemingly disparate communities through an accidental meeting with a member of the Police Male Chorus at a club’s fair at Conestoga College.

The officer manning the booth was Bob Brown, former supervisor for Truth and Reconciliation Commission testimonies in Waterloo Region. When

they got to talking, Laurila found they had both been touched by the grief and trauma of colonization, and that both used song for therapeutic purposes.

“I brought the idea of singing with the Male Police Chorus to the circle” she says, but was met with resistance.

Some of the circle members had had negative interactions with police in the past, but Laurila convinced the group that this was all the more reason to start working together.

Brown and Laurila recall that the first few practices were tense, but as the groups grew more familiar with one another, they began to break down barriers through simple, casual conversations.

“We get to see them in their civilian clothes, as their everyday selves” says Laurila, which helps to build comfort between “communities that don’t usually intersect.”

Just this past winter, Laurila recalls a watershed moment in their collaboration. The groups were practicing in separate spaces, in a church that the Police Chorus rented at the time. The women’s circle was interrupted by a deacon who accused them of practicing “pagan rituals,” and who then asked them to leave the premises.

“Whether you’re doing a funeral song in English, or a healing song in Ojibwe….we are all equal” says Brown.

“We told the church they had evicted our guests,” and in an act of solidarity, the Police Chorus retracted their rental contract with the church. At their next concert, they sang a heartfelt version of “You’ll never walk alone,” by the Righteous Brothers, dedicated to the women.

Although the incident brought a lot of pain and hurt, it brought us closer together, says Brown, who recalls one of the indigenous circle members telling him that “no white person had ever stood by her like this.”

“Now that they know us personally” Laurila said, “it’s harder for them to turn their backs on us.”

While many people are critical of the slow pace of reconciliation between police and the public, it is heartening to hear that at a grassroots level, relationships of trust are forming.

In September, both Mino Ode Kwewak N’Gamowok and the Police Male Chorus will be singing as part of the “Mush Hole Project, a collection of Artistic Articulations of Reconciliation at Canada’s First Residential School” in Brantford.

“For the police to have a presence there, and for Six Nations to have agreed to it, is monumental” says Laurila.

“You’ve got a great car - yeah, what’s wrong with it today?” - The Dandy Warhols. MATT SMITH PHOTO

SO YOU WANT TO BUY A NEW (USED) CAR?

YOU’RE A GROWN-UP NOW, WHICH MEANS IT’S TIME TO BUY A USED CAR ON THE INTERNET

JULIAN GARRIGAN-COATRIEUX CONTRIBUTOR I’m a mechanic, and it seems that every single person I know wants my help when buying a used car through a private sale. If you’re not a car person, or you don’t know a car person, how can you be sure that you’re making a good purchase that won’t break down the day after you buy it?

There is a ton of overpriced junk on kijiji, but online classifieds – especially kijiji – are still a great place to find a great vehicle at a great price, without all of the fees and added costs of a used car dealer. Your kijiji car might not come with the deluxe engine, shampoo package, or tires so shiny you need sunglasses to look at them, but those are things you can do yourself for about ten dollars.

Start by setting yourself some guide-

lines. This includes things like your budget, desired type of vehicle, age and mechanical or cosmetic condition.

These guidelines will need to be flexible, but it’s a good way to get yourself on the right track to finding what you want, especially through online classifieds.

Once you’ve gone through the search options and found a few vehicles that interest you, now is the time to compare the ads.

Take note of how many pictures the seller provides inside and out. If there is only one picture and it’s posted upside down, feel free to ask for more.

Sellers who pay more attention tend to be sellers you want to buy from.

Getting as many questions and concerns answered before looking at a car makes the whole process a lot easier when you see the vehicle in person – and may even save you from making the trip. Figuring out if there is wiggle room to negotiate a price isn’t a bad idea either, especially if your budget is $500 or more below the asking price.

More often than not, a private seller’s

listed asking price is listed on the high side.

When talking to a seller, ask things like: What was the car primarily used for? How long have you owned the vehicle? Why are you selling?

Be sure to ask if the vehicle comes with a valid safety and an emission test. Those two things are the biggest hurdles when buying a used car, so if you have any doubts regarding the vehicle’s mechanical condition, ask if you can have your mechanic look at the vehicle. And pay attention to the seller’s reaction. If they are hesitant, this could mean the vehicle needs a lot of work or that there is something they aren’t disclosing about the vehicle.

Comments like, “I get my car serviced at the dealership” or “original owner” are generally good signs. They show both loyalty and responsibility.

Avoid the seller who boasts that their “Civic rides great off-road.”

Look at the car before you make an offer. Check the body for any paint defects, rust or other damage. Be sure

that all interior functions are operational. Every little thing that doesn’t work is going to cost money to fix.

Absolutely make sure that you can test drive the vehicle. A test drive tells you whether you enjoy driving the car and lets you listen for squeaks in the engine, noises over bumps or when applying the brakes and how the vehicle shifts between gears. If something doesn’t feel right, it most likely isn’t.

Now it’s time to talk about money.

Negotiating a price is sometimes tricky. Offer too little and you piss off the owner. Start by figuring out the cost of repairs, and asking to take that much off the asking price.

If you can’t come to an agreement on a price, take a day to think over the price and make a detailed comparison between the vehicles you have looked at.

It’s not easy to buy a used car but it also doesn’t have to be hard, if you know what you want and what to look for. While the process can be grueling, if you ask the correct questions, the outcome should be satisfying.

AUGUST 2016 // COMMUNITYEDITION.CA

CHIPS OFF THE

OLD BLOCK NOTHING SAYS SUMMER LIKE THE ALLURING SCENT OF FRESH CUT FRENCH FRIES IN A GREASE-BATH

WORDS AND PHOTOS BY MATT SMITH Chip wagons, those small outposts of gluttony and deliciousness, appear to be a dying breed in KW. With only a few bastions of deep fried-ness remaining, do the survivors maintain the cheap and greasy fast food commandments of their ancestors?

MANITOU TAKEOUT Despite the name, Manitou Takeout isn’t located on Manitou Drive — a few years ago it moved to its current home, tucked between two nondescript commercial buildings on Courtland Avenue. Manitou makes its home in an actual trailer that’s been converted to sling chips and burgers to the masses.

And boy, do they sling em’. The chips you’ll find here fall between a traditional fat cut wagon fry and a McDonalds shoestring style, and they do not disappoint. (For the non-expert, this means they’re neither too thick, nor too thin.

Serving sizes are large, whether you get them in a combo, as a side or as part of their dizzying selection of poutines. The pint sized kitchen also serves up a wide range of standard beef, poultry, fish and pork based meals, but the golden, plentiful fries and the left over crispy bits are the real reason to visit. Next time you’re in south Kitchener, skip the drive thru and search out this classic chip wagon.

SEATING: Indoors and patio DELIVERY: Yes WAIT AFTER ORDER: Under 10 minutes DAVID’S FRESH CUT FRIES David’s has been around for more than a decade, after graduating from an actual chip wagon on King Street to their current standalone drive-in on Lancaster Street, just north of the railway tracks. The old school takeaway style building tells passersby that their fries are fresh cut and Straight

Outta Newfoundland. After making my order at the window I waited at the side patio for my clichéd order of burger and plain fries. And, not that presentation should be a factor at a place like this, when my food arrived it looked somewhat grim: a smaller serving of fries than I expected, and a tinfoil disc the size of a small frisbee.

But presentation be damned! That tinfoil disc was hiding a seriously solid burger patty on a bakery bun (about half an inch too big, but thankfully I like my breads). The classic chip wagon style, thick cut, crispy outside and soft inside fries were gone in what felt like seconds. Two greasy thumbs up.

SEATING: Patio only DELIVERY: Call ahead, take away WAIT AFTER ORDER: Under 10 minutes

SONNY’S “Famous since 1965,” reads the sign that greets arrivals to this local mecca of fast food goodness. Sonny’s has been slinging patties of chuck and fries for a long time, and the small joint oozes old school nostalgia from the Ms. Pac-Man machine (still 25 cents per play) in the corner to the red tiles and the weathered neon marquee out front.

When your food is ready you instantly understand why Sonny’s has stood the test of time. The burgers, while frozen, are more than enough to hit the spot, but still only act as a side to the main attraction, the french fries. If I was getting married I’d only have a Sonny’s fry buffet, and I’m pretty sure the guests wouldn’t miss their steak and mash. They’re just that good. The only downside to Sonny’s are the seagulls swarming above the building. But can you really blame them?

SEATING: Patio and indoor standing DELIVERY: Nope WAIT AFTER ORDER: Five minutes

BEST CAT? BEST BEARD? YOU DECIDE.

THE BEST OF WATERLOO REGION NOMINATIONS OPEN THIS MONTH. FOLLOW OUR SOCIAL MEDIA TO FIND OUT HOW TO CAST YOUR VOTES.

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AUGUST 2016 // COMMUNITYEDITION.CA

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THIRTY DIFFERENT 30-DAY WELLNESS CHALLENGES

CHANGE YOUR HABITS IN A MEANINGFUL WAY BY TRYING SOMETHING NEW, EVERY DAY, FOR A MONTH

KRISTY GUTHRIE-ROTH COLUMNIST We’ve all heard of the 30-day challenge, right? It’s a fun way to make changes by committing to doing something every day for 30 days.

These challenges have become so popular because they are designed to form new habits. You can kick start your health, relationship, business, learning, and creativity goals, among other things. You’ll be building momentum, a rhythm, and a routine that works – for you.

Not sure where to start? Here are 30 30-day challenges that you can start today: 1. YOGA – Five minutes, 60 minutes, 90 minutes – your choice. I put this one first, because I know personally that it can be life changing.

2. WRITE – In the morning, on your lunch break, or before bed. Thirty minutes or 1,500 words or 150. You choose. Get your thoughts on paper.

3. MEDITATE – Take 10 minutes to re-set your brain and change the way

you see and react to the world.

4. RUN – Get your butt moving every.single.day. Consider marking your challenge completion with a race to keep you motivated and amp up that feeling of accomplishment.

5. COOK – This is good if you’re prone to eating out or “heating up” most of your meals. Choose a meal or two (breakfast, lunch or dinner) and make them from scratch every day.

6. JOURNAL – There’s power in putting your thoughts on paper. Invite change into your life by spending 15 minutes journaling ever day.

7. CALL A FRIEND – Tell your family members that you love them, ask a co-worker about their life or re-connect in real life with your Facebook “friends.”

8. EAT VEGETARIAN – No meat for 30 days. Not even bacon. It’s the right thing to do.

9. EAT VEGAN – No animal products for 30 days. No meat, dairy, eggs, or honey. Lots of vegetables, grains, legumes and fruits. It’s the kind thing to do.

10. EAT RAW – Nothing heated above 105 degrees for 30 days. It’s totally doable and delicious. It’s an adventurous thing to do. (Do it in the summer!)

11. GO TO THE GYM – This could mean a lot of things, so decide exactly what the challenge is for you. Thirty minutes of exercise? Three hundred calories burned?

12. READ – I know there’s a stack of books you’ve been meaning to read.

Grab one (or two) and let’s go. Want an extra challenge? Choose a specific book – like the Bible – and make that your challenge.

13. NO SUGAR – You can choose to ignore all refined sugars (like white sugar and processed foods) or completely ditch all sugars (including fruits, maple syrup and honey).

14. FLOSS – Do it. Every day.

15. NO SHOPPING – Groceries notwithstanding, no clothes, no nail polish, no Starbucks, no gifts.

16. GRATITUDE JOURNAL – Wake up each day and write down three (or 10) things you’re grateful for.

17. PRAY – Make a concerted effort to connect with your higher power in prayer every day for a month.

18. PLAY AN INSTRUMENT – Are you losing your touch on the piano?

Always wanted to play the guitar?

Start with 15 or 30 minutes a day.

19. DRINK WATER – Is it true that drinking eight cups of water a day will change your body? Test it out for

yourself.

20. SPEND TIME OUTSIDE – In my opinion, there is nothing nicer than being outside – especially in a green space, especially in the summer.

Unfortunately, many of us seem to spend most of our time inside. Sitting.

Looking at screens.

21. NO TV – Unplug your cable. Step away from Netflix. Watch a whole new world of opportunities open up.

22. NO COFFEE – I’m not going to do it, but you could give it a whirl.

23. DRINK GREEN TEA – Doctors say drinking green tea everyday lowers your cancer risk and improves virtually every function in your body.

24. RANDOM ACTS OF KINDNESS – Eeeeep. I love this one. Do one random, nice thing for someone else.

Buy a stranger’s coffee, bring a snack to the office, let driver’s merge into your lane.

25. NO GOSSIP – Thou shall only engage in (and listen to) kind, honest, and productive conversations. This should extend to your reading (no gossip blogs).

26. NO CHOCOLATE – Maybe you’ve done this before for Lent and so this will be easy. Maybe it’s a major food group for you and this will be nearly impossible. Find a friend and

commiserate together while staying away from chocolate.

27. NO SOCIAL MEDIA – They say the average person is now spending 45 days A YEAR on their mobile devices.

No Facebook. No Twitter. No Instagram. For. A. Month. Imagine all of the time you’ll have.

28. TAKE A PHOTO – Maybe you’re practicing your photography skills, maybe you’re capturing a new baby or puppy, maybe you just want to mark a month of your life.

29. CLEAN SOMETHING – The bathroom, the baseboards, your closet.

Engage in the ultimate month of spring cleaning anytime throughout the year.

30. TAKE A BATH – Make time for yourself to unwind, relax and rejuvenate in the tub. Experiment with oils and powders and soaps and candles and podcasts.

Once you’ve completed your 30-day challenge you’ll (likely) be feeling accomplished and experiencing the benefits of including these productive behaviours in your daily life. You have more energy, saved money, written your novel. You’re feeling great, sleeping well, and look refreshed. This is wellness! Enjoy.

LADIES DRINK FREE

LOCAL BREWER KAT ROGERS-HERN TALKS SHOP

JON JOHNSON COLUMNIST One of the first times I met Kat Rogers-Hern she was speaking at a homebrewing event. She shared about how stoked she was that there were four other women there, and encouraged all of us to make sure that the women in our lives knew that they were accepted, welcomed and encouraged to attend all of these events. I liked her immediately.

Rogers-Hern is a librarian and teacher, but is equally passionate about her work with her husband Rob Hern at Short Finger Brewing Co, where she is the education coordinator, competition organizer, social media person and the self-proclaimed “voice of reason.” She is also a part of a group that is organizing Canada’s first women’s only homebrew competition called The Bush League.

While becoming friends with Rogers-Hern our conversations have often turned to discussions of her perspective as a woman in the typically male-centric craft beer scene, and how her experiences differ from mine.

Rogers-Hern is quick to point out that her own experiences differ even from other women, as she has spent a lot of time learning about beer, personally and professionally.

Rogers-Hern probably knows more about beer than most people you know, and she’s confident about it.

“A lot of my confidence in my knowl-

edge of beer comes from the pieces of paper that I have that say I have knowledge of beer,” she says.

When she and her husband decided she would run the education side of Short Finger, she insisted that she wanted to get Prud’homme certification first. Even though she has a masters of education degree, a great palette and strong knowledge of beer styles, without that piece of paper she says she couldn’t be confident that her perspectives on beer would be respected.

On the flip side, I’m just a guy with opinions about beer and brewing culture, and every month I get space in this paper to write about how I feel about beer.

As I was thinking about the tone and perspective of this column recently, I realized Rogers-Hern could bring a new and valuable perspective. And, although she claims she’s not the best candidate to talk about women in beer, because her intense involvement in the scene is relatively uncommon, I say she’s a torch bearer.

“For a lot of women at [beer] events, it’s so dude heavy that you don’t see a commonality,” she says, explaining that craft beer scene isn’t necessarily sexist, just unbalanced.

But there’s Rogers-Hern: standing out in the crowd of dudes showing women that solidarity; high-fiving her husband when they had their first female customer buying for herself rather than her partner; giving talks; and helping educate women and men alike on how to brew. I’m super excited to get her perspective in here as well.

Getting familiar with local beer options. COURTESY KAT ROGERS-HERN

AUGUST 2016 // @THECOMMUNITYED

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ARTS & CULTURE EVENT LISTINGS THURSDAY, AUGUST 4 THE ROCKY HORROR SHOW THE REGISTRY THEATRE It’s a cult classic. What more do you want? It’s playing a few nights until August 13, so no excuse to miss it.

Performance • 18+ • Showtimes online

KITCHENER BLUES FESTIVAL DOWNTOWN

DAD & DAUGHTER EXPLORE CANADA’S WEIRD (AND, YES, WONDERFUL) MUSIC

MEGAN NOURSE CONTRIBUTOR Old and Weird and B.A. Johnston rank among seven-year-old Clover’s favourite Canadian musicians. She’s one half of danddlistens, a father-daughter duo who listen to and review obscure Canadian bands, and then Instagram their feelings about those bands. (Before you roll your eyes, go to their page and witness their cuteness.)

Clover and her dad Marc Lecompte inherited a tonne of records, 45s and cassettes from Weird Canada founder Aaron Levin and Weird Canada executive director Marie LeBlanc, who last year moved to Germany together.

They left their stock of Canadian music, including a lot of early submissions to Weird Canada, in the hands of Lecompte for safekeeping.

Danddlistens randomly pick a recording out of a box and listen to it in full, usually while playing UNO. They each have their own notebook to write their reviews in, and Lecompte copies them to Instagram, verbatim.

“I think Clover’s got a really cute voice and articulates herself in a way that’s fun to listen to. But also, part of the reason the Instagram account is awesome is I transcribe directly from her notebook.

So its got spelling mistakes here and there and funny little things and that’s part of the charm,” Lecompte said.

For example, they recently reviewed local band Hawkeyes’ album, “Poison Slows You Down.”

Writes Clover: “This really supries me

because their are four guitar players I think and that is just really cool.”

And Marc: “Kitchener Ontario heavy stoner kinda psych doom wall of sound guitar times 4 band that makes you feel like you’re drowning in lava.”

A few months ago, the pair dove into Wrong Hole’s LP “2012.”

Clover, again: “I looked this band up and the singer has no shirt on and in most of them the singers pants are down. My dad says the lyrics are funny but I can’t under stand them.

Says Marc: “Ex-Brutal Knights/ Teen Crud Combo / Deadly Snakes / Teenanger / etc... Fast drum machine punk band with some nice weird synth noise bits... Also worth mentioning that I didn’t let Daughter randomly Google “wrong hole” to find pics of nude men - we were looking at photos of Brutal Knights and that’s just how that goes.”

One of the weirder recordings they have reviewed thus far is the hypnosis tape, Beings are Beings: Overcoming Your Fear of Extra-Terrestrials Through Self-Hypnosis. “It like talks of aliens but there is music playing in the background,” Clover said of the cassette.

When asked if this was the start of her career in the music industry, Clover answered with a confident “yes.” Her hobbies right now range from video games to baseball to Sean Mendes.

The project isn’t really about making money or getting recognition, but is an interesting way for a dad and daughter to spend more time together and explore Canadian music. That said, Lecompte and Clover are scheduled to appear on the second episode of CANADALAND’s new arts and culture, The Imposter. You can find that on the internet.

Matt Schust’s exhibition Working Space is on display at Open Sesame until August 20. Stop by the store for a presentation about Schust’s style and practice, rooted in geometric abstraction.

Art • Free • 7-8pm

FRIDAY, AUGUST 5*

INSTAFAMJAMS

ARTIST TALK OPEN SESAME

Get ready to enjoy tons of blues music this weekend, at numerous downtown venues. Big Sugar will be there among many other great musicians. *Until August 7.

Music • Free

FRIDAY, AUGUST 12 SALSA DANCING OUTSIDE QUEEN’S SQUARE, CAMBRIDGE The KW Salseros Dance Club will be on hand to teach a thing or two about salsa dancing. Shine your shoes and drink sangria!

Fun • $30 • 8-10pm

CAMBRIDGE RIB FEST RIVERSIDE PARK Is there a better way to celebrate summer than by eating BBQ’d meat outside? Probably, but you should go to Rib Fest anyway. *Until August 7.

Food • Free • 11am-7pm

BOATHOUSE MUSIC THE BOATHOUSE Must Stash Hat! The Magnetic Revelators! Mandala! All bringing sweet jams to the Boathouse on the same night. Be there, or be somewhere else.

Music • $10 • 9pm

SATURDAY, AUGUST 6 GROWING & USING HERBS WATERLOO REGION MUSEUM Want to learn how to grow and harvest your own herbs? This is literally the perfect place to do that.

Workshop • $10 • 1:30pm

MONDAY, AUGUST 8*

SATURDAY, AUGUST 13 ARTIST-AT-WORK KPL, MAIN BRANCH City of Kitchener’s Artist in Residence, Sarah Granskou, will be working on her year-long project and answering questions.

Art • Free • 3pm

NOOCH: A POP-UP RAINTREE CAFE

SUNDAY, AUGUST 14

Stratford-based chef Stepfanie Spencer will be cooking up diner classics with a vegan twist. *Nightly until August 11.

Food • $50 prix fix • 5:30pm and 8:30pm

BREWER’S BRUNCH BINGEMANS Craft beer and brunch food (also known as the best food) together at last. That’s all you need to know.

Food • $37 • 10am-2pm

TUESDAY, AUGUST 9

MONDAY, AUGUST 15

YOGA IN THE PARK WATERLOO PARK Free yoga every Tuesday night in August in Waterloo Park. Bring your own mat and positive vibes.

Exercise • Free • 5:30-6:30pm

GARDEN TOUR CENTRAL FREDERICK

CHARITY TRAY RACE ETHEL’S LOUNGE Local restaurants compete in a relay obstacle race carrying trays of water to raise money for Cystic Fibrosis research. What a great way to spend a Monday.

Fun • Donation • 1-4pm

The Kitchener Horticultural society is hosting a tour of five gardens in the Central Frederick neighbourhood. So many Instagram opportunities.

Community • Free • 6-8pm

WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 10 RECONCILLIATION CANOE KIWANIS PARK Reconcilliation - Leading the Way is hosting a community canoe trip to bring together indigenous groups, justice partners, the police and others in Waterloo Region. The trip starts in Conestogo and ends with a celebration in Kiwanis Park.

Outdoors • Community • Free • 8am-2pm

THURSDAY, AUGUST 18 CLIMATE TOWN HALL KITCHENER CITY HALL After the historic agreement signed at COP21, the Canadian government is seeking public input on Canada’s climate strategy.

Have your voice heard at Waterloo Regions’ town hall #democracy.

Discussion • Free • 7-9pm

SIERRA EP RELEASE STARLIGHT Sierra will perform their brand new EP “72” in its entirety! And Hawkeyes and Low Orbit will be there to help celebrate.

Music • $8 • 8pm

THURSDAY, AUGUST 11

FRIDAY, AUGUST 19

CANADIAN CLIMATE GIGI Learn about what you could be doing to help curb your carbon footprint, and how to engage larger communities and governments to do the same.

Discussion • Free • 7pm

FEM ALES DECENDANTS BREWERY Do you like craft beer? Identify as female? If you answered yes to both, mark your calendar and go to this event celebrating beer and the ladies who drink it.

SATURDAY, AUGUST 20 THE TRAGICALLY HIP APOLLO CINEMA Miss out on tickets for the Hip’s final tour? No worries, you can watch it at the Apollo downtown!

All proceeds going towards cancer research.

Music • PWYC • 6pm

SUNDAY, AUGUST 21 OPEN STREETS UPTOWN WATERLOO The second last Open Streets of 2016 takes over Waterloo Public Square! Construction can’t stop a good summer festival.

Fun • Free • 12-5pm

WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 24 MOVIE IN THE PARK WATERLOO PARK The Angry Birds Movie will play on the big screen in Waterloo Park.

Bring yer lawnchairs and blankets.

The movie starts at dusk and there will be live music beforehand.

Movie • Free • 7pm

FESTIVAL OF FOOLS RIM PARK Support KW Counselling while enjoying live entertainment, food and alcohol. What a great combination!

Fun • $60 • 7:30pm

THURSDAY, AUGUST 25* BUSKER FESTIVAL UPTOWN WATERLOO World-class performers will take over uptown for the annual Sun Life Financial Busker Carnival. So much family fun! *Until August 28.

Fun • Free

SATURDAY, AUGUST 27 THE MARAS + GUESTS STARLIGHT Local band The Maras will be dropping a new album, and a few special guests will also be opening with sweet tunes.

Music • $10 • 7pm • 19+

MERIVAL AND FRIENDS OPEN SESAME Toronto-based artist Merival (Anna Horvath) will be performing and promoting her latest EP, Lovers, along with some special guests.

Music • $TBA • 8pm-11:30pm

SUNDAY, AUGUST 28 DOON CRUISE IN WATERLOO REGION MUSEUM Classic cars will be on display at the Waterloo Region Museum for the sixth year in a row. Check ‘em out and listen to some tunes by the John McKinley Band. More old cars than your average church service.

Cars • $10 • 9:30am

THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 1 UB40 CENTRE IN THE SQUARE Reggae/pop legends UB40 will be launching their North American tour in downtown Kitchener. Get ready for lots of red, red wine.

Music• $50 • 8pm

Beer • $35 • 7pm

Clockwise from top: Marc and Clover in the Princess Cafe; Babysitter and Korean Gut, one of the many albums danddlistens has so far reviewed; and their notebooks, full of old reviews. LAKYN BARTON PHOTOS (TOP, BOTTOM LEFT) AND COURTESY MARC LECOMPTE

COMMUNITYEDITION.CA @THECOMMUNITYED

AMANDA RHODENIZER’S ARTISTIC ATTACHMENTS LOCAL ARTIST’S WORK EXPLORES TENSIONS WITHIN RELATIONSHIPS

JACQUELINE MARTINZ CONTRIBUTOR Amanda Rhodenizer isn’t afraid to try something different.

Her latest art collection is proof. Entitled “Attachment,” it will be displayed at Rotunda Gallery at Kitchener’s City Hall in August 2016.

“It’s definitely a departure from my previous work,” she said. “My last two shows were about landscapes, and this is about intimate relationships. Specifically, it’s about the tensions within intimate relationships. Presence and absence is a strong theme.”

For Rhodenizer, the desire to walk down an unexplored path with her work was inspired by a number of factors, especially her role as a new mother. The parent of a two-year-old boy, she encountered a range of feelings and experiences after his birth.

“I felt like I was in an intimate, isolated arena with my son,” said Rhodenizer. “It’s interesting seeing yourself as a parent, and seeing yourself in your child. There are a lot of roles we play, and each with different expectations.”

When people in the city experience “Attachment,” many will connect the visuals to relationships in their own lives. Rhodenizer is eager to see their reactions, and has experienced all kinds in the past.

She recalled one individual’s reaction that stood out at a past show, which featured a series of paintings, some looking like church basements.

“He was made very uncomfortable by a piece of my art,” she said. “He had strong anxiety – it reminded him of something. That piece of art made me uncomfortable as well. Without people around, church basements can look creepy.”

Throughout her colourful journey as an artist, the willingness to do something different has frequently motivated Rhodenizer.

Originally from rural Nova Scotia, she was raised in a creative family.

Rhodenizer’s grandfather was a folk

artist and boat builder. Her brother followed in his footsteps, and she honed her talent in high-school art classes and at the Nova Scotia College of Art and Design (NASCAD).

Soon, Rhodenizer developed an interest in oil painting.

“The history of oil painting is so loaded,” she said. “It also seemed very exclusive – it was mostly men doing it. It looked a bit like a boys’ club and I wanted to get in there.”

When asked to describe who influenced her, Rhodenizer cited Eric Fischl who is famous for his raw, figurative paintings. She explained that she was attracted to the immediacy of his paint application, and found it made the art “charged” in an emotional way.

After completing her education at NASCAD, Rhodenizer traveled to Ontario and started a master’s in fine arts at the University of Waterloo. During her time as a grad student, the gifted Caroline Walker served as another influence.

Rhodenizer spent six weeks in London, England as a studio assistant for Walker, and enjoyed candid conversations with the Scottish artist.

“Caroline is continuing in Eric’s tradition, but exploring the female dynamic in domestic settings,” she said.

Now, as a full-fledged artist, Rhodenizer is excited about her projects and planning for the future.

Along with the opening of “Attachment,” this August will mark another milestone for Rhodenizer. Open Sesame, which is a design shop and arts venue located beside Kitchener City Hall, will publish a full-colour zine about her work entitled “Works on Paper.” It was inspired by Rhodenizer’s fall 2015 exhibition at the gallery.

“The truth of the matter is, I have to make art or I will go crazy! I have always thought art making helps us to better understand ourselves,” she said.

“I’d like to continue to explore the possibilities of painting in a contemporary context, and that the construction of these narratives encourages people to continue to explore their own histories and narratives.”

Amanda Rhodenizer’s paintings, counter-clockwise from top: “Attachment,” “Rare Offering,” and “Blue Room.”

COURTESY AMANDA RHODENIZER