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N OVEM B ER 0 9, 2017
TH E O NTA R I O N
Rohingya humanitarian crisis continues U.N. CALLS IT A “CASEBOOK” EXAMPLE OF ETHNIC CLEANSING, HUMAN RIGHTS VIOLATIONS | of violence in Myanmar have led to more than 600,000 of the country’s Rohingya fleeing the country since August amidst accusations of ethnic cleansing and violations of human rights. The Rohingya people are an ethnic Muslim minority who reside in Myanmar and differ f r o m My a n m a r ’s d o m i n a nt Buddhist group ethnically, linguistically, and religiously. They are often called “the world’s most persecuted minority,” and have endured decades of persecution and discrimination. Though many Rohingya can trace their ties to the land back many centuries, they have been denied citizenship for decades, making them stateless persons. An article appearing on the Council on Foreign Relations’
ESCALATING LEVELS
PHOTO OBTAINED VIA GOOGLE MAPS
‘Institutionalized discrimination’ through restrictions on marriage, family planning, employment, education, religion choice, and freedom of movement.
Longo’s donates $500,000 to U of G FOOD INNOVATION L AB TO CONTINUE RESEARCH INTO CONSUMER BEHAVIOUR B U KO L A TO LU Y E M I
LONGO’S SUPERMARKET,
a new grocery store in the south end of Guelph, has donated the sum of $500,000 to the University of Guelph’s Food Innovation Research Laboratory. Longo’s is a family business that is run by the second and third generations of the Longo family, who specialised in selling vegetables before venturing into the grocery store business. An anonymous source told The Ontarion that Longo’s works directly with farmers across Ontario, and is committed to research on Ontario farmers. According to Rosanne Longo, the spokesperson of Longo Brothers Fruit Markets Inc., “The University of Guelph has a great team of academics and researchers examining wide-ranging issues on how we interact with and engage with food. We were founding supporters of Guelph’s Food Innovation Research Lab and we’re pleased that we could support this important centre.” The Ontarion was spoke to Mike von Massow, associate professor of
MONEY Breakdown
$ 500,000
$400,000
$240,000
Donated to the University
Supports lab research
Used to help build the lab
food, agricultural, and resource economics at the University of Guelph to discuss the Food Innovation Lab. Bukola Toluyemi: What is the Food Innovation Research Lab? Mike von Massow: The lab is
a facility that will allow us to do research to understand that better.
B T: H ow v a l u a b l e i s t h e $500,000 for your research? MVM : The Longo’s company
donated $500,000; about $400,000 of that came to the lab. It’s invaluable. Support for research really is essential to drive research programs forward. About $240,000 of the amount that was given went directly to building the lab, so putting computers in, changing the facility, allowing us to build a mock grocery store, and acquiring the technology, including eye tracking technology, so that we can do cutting-edge research in the facility. Some of the money goes to funding ongoing research programs, like doing experiments, but also funding graduate students to undertake research.
BT: Was Longo’s expecting any benefits from the donation? MVM: Well, the Longo’s com-
pany made a donation to the University some years ago and then some of it was allocated to this laboratory. So they weren’t
directly funding the lab at the start, but we proposed building the lab. I think all companies have an interest in understanding consumer behaviour better, but I think the foundation of the objective was to support research into food, and if they learned something, that was great. But fundamentally, it was a belief by the senior leadership of the Longo’s company that supporting research in Ontario, and specifically at the University of Guelph, would make the industry stronger. BT: Stronger how? MVM: I think understanding
how consumers make food decisions is valuable for a number of reasons. It’s valuable so that we can provide them with the products they are looking for; it’s valuable for policy makers to understand, if they are trying to get people to eat more healthy, what sort of things they need to do to improve healthy choices; it’s valuable for companies that are bringing new healthy products to the market to understand how they can help consumers identify good products and buy them. So, I think the more we understand, which is fundamentally what research is about, the better we are able to meet the demands of consumers.
website cited that in Myanmar, the Rohingya have suffered from “institutionalized discrimination” through restrictions on marriage, family planning, employment, education, religion choice, and freedom of movement. Aung San Suu Kyi, Myanmar’s de facto leader, has come under considerable international criticism for failing to speak out against the atrocities. Suu Kyi is a winner of the Nobel Peace Prize and was granted honorary Canadian citizenship in 2012, an honour that many Canadians are calling to be revoked in light of recent events. However, while she is the de facto leader, she does not control the military and has limited power to intervene. Last week, Suu Kyi pledged to allow the return of refugees who can prove they were residents of Myanmar.
CAELAN BEARD
Unfortunately, there is skepticism as to the validity of this promise, considering how the Rohingya have been denied citizenship in Myanmar for decades. World University Service of Canada (WUSC) Guelph Local Committee held a “Fast Facts and Mythbuster” event on Tuesday, Nov. 6, with the goal of making the campus community more aware of the crisis, as well as what it means to be stateless and how it differs from, or is similar to, being a refugee. It is still unclear what steps will be taken by the international community in response to this crisis. In the meantime, thousands of Rohingya continue to flee into neighbouring countries, primarily Bangladesh, putting a strain on resources in an already impoverished country.
DISTRACTED: Fines for crossing the street while texting? C O N T I N U E D F R O M P G . 03
The bill sets the lowest fine at $50, but Baker is confident that even without imposing fines, the bill will be effective at raising awareness about the dangers of being distracted while crossing the street. Critics of the bill have argued that by fining pedestrians for being distracted, you are putting the onus on the pedestrian to prevent injury, instead of on drivers. In an interview with The Ontarion, MPP Baker emphasized that this bill does not point the finger at any particular group, but instead hopes to encourage pedestrians to think twice and to change their habits. I n a dd it ion t o imp o s able fines, the bill would also require the Minister of Transportation to launch an annual campaign warning of the risks of distracted driving, Baker noted. “Just through that mechanism alone, I think I’m very clear that I acknowledge that we have a distracted driving problem in Ontario,” Baker said. “And we have problems with other types of traffic violations by drivers as well.” The bill was set to be presented to the Legislature on Nov. 5. While Baker knows
that private members’ bills are of t en challeng ing t o pass, he expressed optimism about the future of the bill, adding that he has received tremendous support from his colleagues up to this point. “This is really about saving lives and preventing injuries,” he said. “And if we can save one life a year, to me it’s worth it. One life lost is one too many.”