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Vancouver Public Library o ers employment resources for persons with disabilities
People with disabilities suffer a disproportionate employment rate
NIVEJA ASSALAARACHCHI NEWS WRITER
In The Compass, a man named Ernest shared his story. He grew up in foster care, and at age six he started to lose his hearing. As a young man, he looked for jobs to help out his family, but got rejection after rejection. “Job after job, the hiring manager or hiring team would take one look at me with my hearing aids and a speech disability and determine before I got through an interview that I could not do the job,” he wrote.
Gaps in employment opportunities continue to emerge for people with disabilities. According to the Government of Canada, people with disabilities face increased employment challenges. The report speci cally highlighted that in the age range of 25 to 64 year olds, a 16% gap of employment existed between the two demographics in a 2022 survey.
To this end, governments on both the provincial and municipal levels have attempted to address issues facing this community. The BC government provides the Work-Able Accessible Employment Program to individuals who recently graduated from post-secondary. This co-op program pays recent graduates with self-identi ed disabilities to work in one of many possible BC Public Service ministries for a term of 24 months.
On a municipal level, the Vancouver Public Library (VPL) also
NEWS
provides career and job programs targeted towards people with disabilities. The Peak spoke to Chelsea Leslie who is currently serving as a senior public library service associate at the VPL’s accessible services department, to learn more about the programs that the VPL o ers.
In general, our department focuses on enhancing the accessibility of the library to people with disabilities.
CHELSEA LESLIE
SENIOR SERVICE ASSOCIATE AT VPL’S ACCESSIBLE SERVICES DEPARTMENT
She said that the VPL’s accessibility department partnered with the Neil Squire Society, a registered charity organization
New immunotherapy treatment provides hope
The approach utilizes a new CAR T-cell therapy
Surgery, chemotherapy, and radiation therapy are often recognized as the three most common forms of cancer treatment. Sometimes, the latter two approaches become no longer e ective when cancers become drug resistant, allowing the cells to further spread. At the University of Calgary, however, promising developments in immunotherapy intervention seek to provide alternative treatment when common therapies are not viable.
Cells continually divide to replenish dying cells, but certain gene mutations can create cancer cells, which divide and spread in an uncontrolled manner. The human body naturally defends itself from cancerous cells, though sometimes they can “hide from the immune system and avoid being destroyed,” according to the Canadian Cancer Society. Immunotherapy seeks to help strengthen the ability to recognize and ght these covert cells, allowing the body to continue using its natural line of defense.
University of Calgary researchers have “discovered a unique target present on a speci c group of solid cancerous tumours. Armed with that information, researchers from the Riddell Centre for Cancer Immunotherapy, a core research centre of the Arnie Charbonneau Cancer Institute, developed a new experimental therapy,” according to a press release. The Peak corresponded with Riddell Centre associate director of business Nubia Zepeda for more information on this novel therapy.
Zepeda explained that the treatment utilizes chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T-cell therapy, which “uses a patient’s own immune cells to ght cancer.” Speci cally, “T cells, a type of immune cell, are collected from the patient and genetically engineered in a laboratory to recognize speci c markers found
on cancer cells,” she noted. “Once these modi ed cells are returned to the patient, they can seek out and destroy cancer cells while sparing most healthy tissue.”
CAR T-cell therapy itself has been in clinical trials since the 1980s, and was rst approved by the US Food and Drug Administration in 2017 to treat acute lymphocytic leukemia, a blood and bone marrow cancer. Zepeda said, “However, its success against solid tumours has been much more limited.” This new therapy seeks to change that. “University of Calgary researchers have developed a novel CAR T-cell therapy called GCAR1, designed to treat alveolar soft part sarcoma, a rare and aggressive cancer with few e ective treatment options,” she explained. Sarcomas are solid tumours, often beginning “as a painless lump” before spreading through the bloodstream.
This targeted approach aims to improve the therapy’s ability to recognize and eliminate cancer cells.
NUBIA ZEPEDA
RIDDELL
CENTRE FOR CANCER IMMUNOTHERAPY
ASSOCIATE DIRECTOR OF BUSINESS
“GCAR1 targets a protein called GPNMB, which is highly expressed on certain cancer cells but has limited expression
headquartered in Burnaby. The company creates programs, technological devices, and nancial solutions to help people with disabilities. The groups work together to provide the society’s Creative Employment Options program to a wider audience, a program built to support “job seekers with disabilities through skills development and job search support” which often includes a “one-on-one” format.
Leslie said that the VPL had run this particular program twice already this year, highlighting the topics “navigating the hidden job market” and “disclosing disability to your potential employer.” She also noted that the library, which runs the registration aspect of the event, planned to host the program with the society once more this year.
Leslie shared the role of the VPL’s accessible services department. “In general, our department focuses on enhancing the accessibility of the library to people with disabilities. We do this by o ering services such as a home delivery service for library patrons who aren’t able to get to the library in person. We also o er accessible formats such as audiobooks for library patrons who have print disabilities,” which are mobility, cognitive, and visual impairments that prevent people from reading print,” according to the Government of Canada.
in healthy tissues,” shared Zepeda. “This targeted approach aims to improve the therapy’s ability to recognize and eliminate cancer cells while reducing damage to normal cells.”
So far, “the research team has treated two patients through single-patient studies,” Zepeda told The Peak. Stéphanie Alain was able to extend her life an additional 18 months through treatment, giving her more time to spend with her family and son. Kent B., also a parent, has had success in treatment, with “the lesions on his lungs [having] decreased by more than half the size,” the university shared.
“While these are early ndings, the results provide hope that GCAR1 could become a promising new treatment option for patients with di cult-to-treat solid tumours that currently have few e ective therapies,” Zepeda added.
ILLUSTRATION: JACKIE PENG / THE PEAK
PHOTO: THE NATIONAL INSTITUTES OF HEALTH / WIKIMEDIA COMMONS
LUCAIAH SMITH - MIODOWNIK NEWS WRITER
FIFA showed Vancouver a glimpse of what transit is possible
Temporary changes to accommodate tourist traffic can have real benefits for locals
MAYA BARILLAS MOHAN STAFF WRITER
There is an energy injected into Granville Street lately: coloured smoke bursting through the thick crowd, extended liquor-serving hours, and being able to catch the train home late. Hosting FIFA has brought many changes to Vancouver and some of these should be made permanent, especially with transit. This includes longer service hours and more Mark V trains.
TransLink has been a mode of travel for fans of sports, concerts, and community events. In 2024, they helped transport fans attending Taylor Swift’s concerts. Now, for the World Cup, trains and buses wear festive wraps, and 12,000 more bus service hours have been added. Some SkyTrains run more frequently, and on match days, service will run an extra hour. Signage has cropped up around town, too, including a large mural-sized map at Renfrew Station. What’s new is having longer Millenium line trains that run more often meaning I lose less time waiting on the platform, and share much less elbow room with fellow commuters. TransLink has started putting larger trains running on the Expo line by supplementing its eet with the Mark V, a ve-car train with 25% more capacity than the previous generation, Mark III.
I would be less enthusiastic about keeping the new 11 FIFA Fan Festival routes. These run “every 5 minutes from two hours prior to gate open to two hours following gate close” at the expense of the 145 route between SFU and Production
OPINIONS
The SFSS Health and Dental Plan is too shallow for student needs
Our current coverage is not enough, but student opposition to fee increases threatens what little we have
JONAH LAZAR STAFF
WRITER
The Simon Fraser Student Society’s (SFSS) health and dental plan is as wide as the sea and as deep as a pond. Currently, two plans are available to undergraduate SFU students, an enhanced care plan and a basic care plan for a reduced fee. Each has a short period of time to opt out entirely with proof of alternative coverage. These plans are o$ered by Alumo (previously Studentcare), a student dental and health care provider contracted by the SFSS. While the plan covers a lot, the annual amounts don’t.
The enhanced care plan is the default for undergraduate students. It costs $364 a year and students receive an annual maximum of $750 for mental health services, $400 for physiotherapy, and $700 for dental care. Students also receive coverage for services like osteopathy, naturopathy, and massage therapists, as well as $150 every two years for eyeglasses and up to 80% coverage for prescription drugs. On the surface that seems like decent coverage, however if you are in actual need of these services, you will end up having to pay for them yourself very quickly. Mental health services like therapy cost anywhere from $140–$175 per hour; exhausting your coverage between 4–5 visits. If you need to visit a physiotherapist, which costs about $130 per visit in BC, you’ll be paying out of pocket by your fourth visit. $700 for
Way. Articulated buses (the 60-foot long accordion ones) have been conscripted for the FIFA Fan Express. There seems to have been a mismanagement in priorities somewhere. Train stations with bus connections to SFU get packed with students forced to jam themselves into buses 65% the size of the old ones without an increase in frequency. I wondered why police o!cers could be imported from Delta, Calgary, and Edmonton but extra buses/operators couldn’t have? So yes, the
As Metro Vancouver continues to develop, a need for increased transit frequency and capacity will be impossible to ignore.
displacement is temporary, and yes, demand for the 11 routes seem to be there on game days. Maybe my real issue with the bus re-routing isn’t that I feel like externalities facing students weren’t priced fairly. Out of the $22 million spent on transit,
how much of that was on ornamental soccer balls!?’
As Metro Vancouver continues to develop, a need for increased transit frequency and capacity will be impossible to ignore. The Mark V is the longest train possible due to existing platform lengths, so FIFA’s constant application of a rush-hour schedule could be a valuable alternative. Housing developers are pushing boundaries of what is possible, with Pinnacle’s new plan for Lougheed Town Centre including an 87-storey tower. With mixed use planning including nearly 2,000 strata units among commercial space, tra!c in the area is guaranteed to surge. There just isn’t room for car tra!c at this scale: Lougheed highway is just four lanes. Widening the road isn’t a viable solution, either. As shown in Los Angeles, it creates “induced demand” where tra!c becomes congested again as demand catches up with increased breathing room for drivers.
The FIFA upgrades are a fantastic step in the right direction to increased service. SkyTrains cannot operate 24/7 because there is “no safe way to maintain the 30-year-old transit system if it were to run around the clock on weekends,” according to the ndings in a 2019 report. I don’t think non-stop service is necessary, though, Transit just has to continue their increased bus and train service to keep cars o$ the road.
dental care is OK but it comes with multiple conditions, and you really need to use StudentCare’s dental network to reduce your out of pocket costs. Dental work isn’t cheap, with crowns costing $1,000 or more.
On the surface that seems like decent coverage, however if you are in actual need of these services, you will end up having to pay for them yourself very quickly.
There has reportedly been a signi cant increase in health and dental claims recently; last year, former SFSS president Emmanuel Adegboyega wrote in The Peak that there has been a 35% increase in claims since 2020. Despite this, students have shut down most attempts to increase health fees. From 2010–2023, there were ve health and dental referendum campaigns, all of which failed. In 2025, a successful referendum raised the fees from $267 to $364, winning by just 49 votes. What’s needed is an increase in transparency. How
many students actively use the plan? How many max out the di$erent areas? What changes are students asking for in those surveys each year that Alumo runs? How much would it cost the plan if the caps were doubled?
The referendum’s history of failure does not indicate that this system will improve anytime soon, if the SFSS keeps approaching the situation in the same way. Better communication is needed to end this referendum’s losing streak. First o$, SFU’s undergraduate student body in spring 2025 was 24,238 strong, yet the health and dental fee question only had a total 2,345 votes — that’s a 9.7% voter turnout. What’s worse is that the turnout is often far lower; in 2022, only 543 ballots were cast on this matter. Clearly, the SFSS is failing to e$ectively communicate and campaign to the student body. They should start by reaching out to other student unions that have consistently larger election and referendum turnout, like the University of British Columbia Alma Mater Society, to learn how to run campaigns.
If the current plan was strong enough for students to be able to rely on it, then the student body would value it as an essential service. As it stands, however, the insurance plan is not enough for anyone who actually needs it, and a waste of almost $400 for those who don’t. So why do you expect students to vote for a more expensive status quo?
PHOTO: J.J. JANG / THE PEAK
PHOTO VITALY GARIEV / UNSPLASH
POLITICAL CORNER
Prime Minister Mark Carney is a climate coward
His Canada Day message is all about trying to proft
of of oil volatility
CORBETT GILDERSLEVE OPINIONS EDITOR
On Canada Day, Prime Minister Mark Carney released a 17 minute video talking about Canada’s energy future. In it, he discussed how we are in a time of disruption, traditional shipping routes and trade partners have changed, climate change is worsening, and everything is less a$ordable. His solution is to massively expand fossil fuel exports to reduce other countries’ reliance on shipping through the Strait of Hormuz. Additionally, on July 3, Carney and Alberta Premier Daniel Smith announced the route for their oil pipeline agreement. The Peak has already written on how this agreement will set back Canada’s climate goals by 10 years. Now in his Canada Day video he con rms that Canada won’t meet its targets. It is unacceptable that Carney’s solution is to sell out our shared climate in favour of nancial pro t.
One idea we share is that for us to be secure, sustainable, and have a$ordable living costs we need to increase the amount of electricity we produce and what uses it. Carney’s idea is that as the amount of total electricity grows, it becomes cheaper for households. But, in a capitalist economy with private energy providers like ATCO Group in Alberta and Hydro One in Ontario, they still need to be pro table. Prices can’t go too low.
His goal for domestic energy is to expand electricity infrastructure, nuclear, solar, wind, hydro, and gas power. On the surface it sounds nice, but we aren’t exporting green power or products to Europe or Asia, we’re selling oil and gas. Canada is investing in exporting dirty products to other countries to burn while we make money o$ of high oil prices from the US and Israel attacking Iran and closing o$ the Strait of Hormuz. “We don’t control the price of oil,” but we can sure as hell pro t o$ it.
Carney says that “our independence, sustainability, and prosperity will depend crucially on our ability to supply and control our energy” and “when we control our own energy, we control our future.” So, are we going to nationalize these resources like Norway did in 1963, or take over the fossil fuel companies and infrastructure? And, if we do, will history repeat itself with forced resettling of Indigenous Peoples like what Canada and Norway did? Who is this “we” that he talks about? According to a Policy Options 2023 article, “14 prominent shareholders collectively control signi cant portions of Imperial Oil, Cenovus Energy, Canadian Natural Resources, and Suncor. More striking is that over 70% of these major shareholders are foreign entities.” Canada doesn’t actually control its energy.
Just because you have a resource someone wants, doesn’t mean that you have to take it to market, especially when that resource is bad for the environment we all share. It’s much better if it was left in the ground in the rst place, that way there’s no environmental costs to extract, ship, process, ship again, and later burn that fuel.
The world has had multiple oil shocks going back to 1973, however we have good green power alternatives, but Carney barely mentions that. Instead he focuses mostly on how important it is to get Alberta’s oil and gas to BC for exporting to Asia and Europe. The video displays ve fossil fuel projects in BC that range from being planned to operating, four of which are liqui ed natural gas projects. These include the LNG Canada phase 1 and 2, Wood bre LNG, and Cedar LNG.
What I noticed most from this video is the complete lack of green power projects that he said are needed. The University of Alberta mapped renewable energy projects up to 2024 and showed that many provinces were not utilizing their solar power potential. Every area of those provinces could host solar farms that produce at least 1 MW of electricity each. Canada has a lot of space, and with support from First Nations and other local governments across the country, we can meet our needs without needing to further pollute the environment.
Concerning Canada’s climate targets Carney says “we can’t a$ord to restrain the growth of an important part of our energy mix, oil and gas, to meet a short term goal.” What bullshit! Canada meeting its climate targets is not a short-term goal as the climate crisis is not a short-term problem! He talks about how the previous Liberal government’s plan was used by others to pull this country apart. However prime minister Justin Trudeau bought an oil pipeline for Alberta helping the province sell more oil, yet the United Conservative Party of Alberta and separatists still went forward with their division.
This video’s message was that you have to accept Alberta’s oil and gas dependence under the guise of unity. Sorry, but no we don’t. I grew up in Alberta and even worked in the oil and gas sector for four years. I’ve seen rst hand how dirty and wasteful this industry can be. How about we invest in and develop di$erent green tech that works even better in cold climates? Or more e!cient on-shore and o$-shore wind farms? Or, tidal energy generation, that’s safer for the local habitat, and sell it to all 213 countries that have coast lines? Renewable energy across the world has grown signi cantly recently, potentially accounting for 50% of world energy demand by 2030 according to an International Energy Agency report in 2024. No, this is just Carney being a coward on climate.
What Grinds our Gears
The intersection of Arts and East Campus Road
SASHA RUBICK FACT CHECKER
Imagine, if you will, a perfectly normal intersection at SFU. There are cheerful pedestrians walking to UniverCity, Blusson, or the SFU Exchange. If you want to take the fastest-possible route to UniverCity, you can take one of the crosswalks and then go diagonally for a few meters. That saves you about 15 seconds of the invaluable time you have left on this mortal coil, neat!
Well now, the crosswalks at the intersection of Arts and East Campus Road have been redrawn. But pedestrians will do as pedestrians do, from jumping the turnstiles in NYC to jaywalking in front of the R5 at SFU. The most recent time I crossed the intersection, the sea of jaywalkers was denser than the Great Nile Migration. The pedestrian consensus is in: screw your guardrails and some person’s plants, people are taking the short way.
The problem is when car-centric urban planning doesn’t take pedestrians into account it sometimes leads to dangerous ends with more pedestrian accidents. Of course, in response barriers were installed along with a mocking, god-awful pedestrian-symbol sign over the new crosswalk. The Pythagorean theorem all taught us that it takes longer to cross when there are no diagonals.
A new paint job isn’t going to stop a desire path from forming via natural tra!c. It’s poor design that forces people to choose between convenience and safety, and it’s sad to see at our campus.
ILLUSTRATION : CLIFF EBORA / THE PEAK
PHOTO: SASHA RUBICK / THE PEAK
NEW LAWS ENSHRINE LATEST SEXUAL VIOLENCE PROTECTIONS INTO CRIMINAL CODE
LUCAIAH SMITH-MIODOWNIK · NEWS WRITER
features | 07
Content warning: mentions of sexual violence, femicide, and child sexual abuse.
On June 19, the Department of Justice announced “one of the most consequential updates to Canada’s Criminal Code in generations to better protect victims and survivors.” Bill C-16, also referred to as the Protecting Victims Act, was codified into law and aims to strengthen protections for survivors of sexual and gender-based violence. This comes in addition to bills C-14 (Bail and Sentencing Reform Act) and C-225 (Bailey’s Law), passed on June 15 and 17 respectively. The trio of laws “will help address repeat offending, better protect victims, and put public safety first,” commented Kelowna mayor Tom Dyas in a national press release.
Most notably, Bill C-16 classifies femicide, often understood as “the killings of women or girls because of their sex or gender,” as first-degree murder. Canadian law defines first-degree murder as “planned and deliberate,” and automatically carries a “life sentence with no parole eligibility for 25 years.” Second-degree murder is deemed deliberate, but unplanned, while homicide denotes a killing that was not intentional, though may include negligence or intent to harm. Certain categories of murder, such as those involving kidnapping and hijacking, are automatically deemed first-degree murder.
The Protecting Victims Act defines femicide as murder “against an intimate partner in the context of a pattern of coercive or controlling conduct,” in the context of sexual violence or human trafficking, or “motivated by hate.”
The Canadian Femicide Observatory for Justice and Accountability notes that femicide is most commonly committed by a current or former intimate partner, with the second highest perpetrator being family members.
According to their #CallItFemicide report, 187 women and girls were killed by femicide in Canada in 2024, with 49.5% of the perpetrators being current or former intimate partners, and 28% a family member. Racialized and Indigenous women and girls also face disproportionately higher rates of femicide. Indigenous women are six times more likely to be murdered than any other demographic in Canada. As stated by the Canadian Museum for Human Rights, “These statistics do not give a name or a face to these daughters, granddaughters, sisters, aunts, mothers, grandmothers and friends – human beings – who have experienced this ultimate victimization of ongoing colonialism.”
Bill C-16 expands the definitions of three existing sexual offences pertaining to sexual touching and exploitation “to include inviting, counselling, or inciting the victim to expose their own sexual organs.”
The act also seeks to protect children by reinstating mandatory minimum sentencing for child sexual offenses, among other crimes. At the same time, it creates “a new offence that prohibits threatening to distribute child sexual abuse and exploitation material,” while also expanding the definion of current child luring and sexual offenses, to include extortion via telecommunications for child sexual exploitation.
“This is a major step in prioritizing the rights and safety of Canadian children,” Lianna McDonald, executive director at the Canadian Centre for Child Protection commented in the press release. “The risks of online sexual violence against children continue to rise in frequency and
intensity and we need legislation now more than ever to help protect our most vulnerable population.”
Additional amendments to the criminal code aim to combat the nonconsensual distribution of AI deepfakes by redefining “intimate image.” The definition will now include visual representations “made by electronic or mechanical means, that shows an identifiable person who is depicted as nude, as exposing their sexual organs, or as engaged in explicit sexual activity, if the depiction is likely to be mistaken for a visual recording of that person.”
The Peak corresponded with Kelly Lozinski, co-director of the Rosalind Project, for more information on the effects of the bill.
The organization works to improve “the health, safety, and wellness of underrepresented women and individuals facing sex and gender-based oppression” by creating health literacy resources, and advocating for policy reform. The project owes its name to the late Rosalind Franklin. Franklin contributed significantly to the discovery of the structure of DNA, though her work was “not fully appreciated during her lifetime” and men “took credit for her discoveries.” The project aims to “liberate women from systemic exclusion and constraints and to empower their mental, physical, reproductive, and community health through self-determination.”
“We cannot confront violence that we refuse to name. Naming these acts is necessary toward recognizing them, condemning them, and preventing them,” Lozinski said. “Bill C-16’s greatest win is its recognition and definition of terms such as, coercion, counselling, and harassment, which disproportionately affect vulnerable populations at the intersection of sex, disability, and age.”
For Lozinski, the new acts “represent meaningful progress; however, these measures are ultimately a delayed response to violence rooted in millennia of social and cultural norms.
“The effectiveness of any law depends not only on its existence, but also on public understanding, cultural attitude, and consistent condemnation,” she added. “The legal salinity within Canada also depends on its medical and emergency infrastructure in order to support victims in accessing justice the law is meant to maintain. Even when aware of their legal rights, women still underreport sexual violence because the social, economic, and personal consequences of reporting often outweigh the perceived likelihood of justice. Moreover, among the few sexual offence convictions, many offenders do not serve their full sentence, undermining public confidence in the legal system’s response to sexual violence.
“Lasting change must begin with society’s living understanding of violence itself. Sexual violence should be regarded with the same unequivocal moral condemnation reserved for other grave crimes, including murder and aggravated assault,” Lozinski noted.
SFU students can access Sexual Violence Support & Prevention
Office, which offers a 24/7 support helpline, virtual and in-person appointments with case managers for accessing support, and resources on supporting survivors.
Bill C-16’s greatest win is its recognition and definition of terms such as femicide, coercion, counselling, and harassment, which disproportionately affect vulnerable populations at the intersection of sex, disability, and age.
People with substance use disorder are #MoreThan statistics
MAYA BARILLAS MOHAN STAFF WRITER
Established by the International Network of People Who Use Drugs, International Drug Users Remembrance Day is held annually on July 21, to “remember the people whose lives were unjustly cut short due to the criminalization and stigmatization of people who use drugs.” The day also re ects on the humanity of people who use substances. In 2021, the network made a Facebook post urging those with loved ones whose lives were harmed by substance use disorder to share a photo tribute. The hashtag is ve years old now, and not many posts remain, but those that do taught me something valuable.
I noticed a theme of an unshakeable “everyday” feeling in each photograph. The pictures capture these loved ones in their most natural state; one line cook looks as though he were photographed in the middle of a sentence, a light smile directed at the person responsible for the image. Comments on his memorial post grieve competitive industries and trades as sites of intense stress, noting that in hospitality or nightlife, there is rampant exposure to substances.
Another entry is a black and white image of a law and international development student who passed away at the age of 24. The photo is bright and smooth, and the yellow text overlay “daughter, friend” is prominent. The overdose crisis impacts not just those with sustance use disorder, but the ones around them too. Victims of this crisis cannot be distilled into numbers; they should be considered as people rst. A
variety of occupations and interests span the infographic to furnish the truth that addiction doesn’t look one way. Even though stigma is disassembling itself through advocacy groups and heightened visibility, it obviously still remains, as evidenced by the recent shut down on drug decriminalization in BC.
This campaign remembers and memorializes people using photos of their lives, directing them away from the narrow view of stereotypes and stigmatization.
closing, and recriminalization will only hurt those struggling even more. These issues are persistent. Arts and photography are useful supplements for activism against these policies because they humanize people. Vulnerable art and writing, such as survivors’ memoirs or newspaper articles serve the dual function of re ection and education. Without giving space to survivors, either of loved ones or of addiction itself, we lose access to an array of perspectives. Art gives proof of experience and detaches all of us from a view that those with substance use disorder are just numbers to be reduced, and their faces and lived experiences to be neglected.
Current drug policies put the emphasis of punishment on people who use substances. Overdose prevention sites are
Art is a path towards healing
The Artistic Accountant uses sacred geometry to care for mental health
MARIE JEN GALILO STAFF WRITER
Content warning: mention of suicide.
Art is more than aesthetics, talent, and skill — it’s a pathway towards peace and healing. The Artistic Accountant directed by Dom Fegan is a short documentary featuring accountant and sacred geometry artist, Bert J. Haché. In 12 minutes, this lm explores how art helps people nd a sense of calm amidst life’s hardships.
Standing outside in the winter cold wearing a brown wool coat, trapper hat, and shades, Haché happily welcomes viewers to the accounting rm he works at. Haché takes viewers on a trip down memory lane to tell the story of how he simultaneously became an accountant and an artist.
Haché’s interest in numbers began when he was about four to ve years old. After working in an income tax rm, he worked his way up to a management position within just six months. For Haché, number manipulation is like a puzzle, and he enjoys the process of solving them. Haché lives with obsessivecompulsive disorder (OCD), which in uences his drive for precision and accuracy, but he views OCD as an “asset” that makes his sacred geometry artwork possible.
The scene transitions from Haché at his accounting desk to him drawing evenly-spaced geometric shapes. According to EBSCO, “Sacred geometry is the study of geometric forms and concepts that hold spiritual and symbolic signi cance across various cultures and historical periods.” The camera pans out to reveal intricate shapes formed by the overlapping boundaries of layered circles. The foundation for Haché’s drawings is the “ ower of life,” which, according to the lm, is “one of the basic shapes of sacred geometry consisting of
equally spaced overlapping circles that represent creation and unity.”
We then return to Haché’s o ce, where he shares the heartbreaking story of losing his brother and the grief that followed. The subsequent scene in which he stands against a wall enwrapped in the projected images of his artwork visually depicts how his art is a safe space for his mind, sheltering him from life’s hardships. Haché then fades away, but his art remains, as if he became one with his drawings. Sacred geometry requires precision, and precision requires focus. When Haché draws, his focus becomes an anchor that grounds him in the present.
Only by learning to embrace our di erences, which we often perceive as flaws, can we truly live in the present.
Haché reminds us that perfection is an unattainable standard, and only by learning to embrace our di erences, which we often perceive as aws, can we truly live in the present. Near the lm’s end, Haché stands in a projected ower of life, showing how the process of creating art is like a blooming ower that stretches its petals outwards to unite us all — the artist, the art, the natural world, and the viewer.
This makes me re ect on the verbs we use for photography, especially “captured,” or “taken.” For many, these candid images are the lone mementos of entire lives cut short. A photo takes a moment and saves it — but we also tend to describe someone’s life as taken by a particular drug. I think the word is used to change the longevity of a single instance. It seems to me that this campaign, even though it has aged half a decade, remembers and memorialize people using photos of their lives, directing them away from the narrow view of stereotypes and stigmatization. Such media campaigns are valuable because they show us how awareness and care are ongoing resources, and also build coalitions between those with substance use disorder and allies — I think similar campaigns de-stigmatizing substance use are long overdue, and we de nitely need more of them.
I believe that every past experience you had changes you in some way, no matter how small that change may be, and this lm was no di erent. This documentary was my door into the world of sacred geometry. As a perfectionist, it was comforting to hear Haché — who’s a perfectionist himself — say that we must learn to accept our imperfections in order to fully experience the limited time we were given to live out on this Earth, because life itself is imperfect, but still meaningful. I recommend this lm to anyone who’s looking for a short yet meaningful watch, and to those who are looking to understand the connection between art, grief, and health through mundane lived experiences.
The Artistic Accountant is available to be streamed free of charge on CBC Gem.
PHOTO: PHARMACY IMAGES / UNSPLASH
ARTS & CULTURE
Restoring, not changemaking: highlights from Indigenous Changemakers
Speakers discuss empowerment, storytelling, and climate responsibility
JONAH LAZAR STAFF WRITER
Indigenous Changemakers was a Zoom webinar hosted by the West Vancouver Memorial Library on July 8. This event brought into dialogue three notable Indigenous community members in the arts industry. One was Rebecca Baker-Grenier of the Kwakiuł Dzawada̱ʼenuxw, and Sḵwxwú7mesh nations, a fashion designer featured in New York Fashion Week and Vogue. Also taking part in this conversation was Julian Brave NoiseCat, a champion Powwow dancer, author, and the rst ever Academy Award-nominated Indigenous lmmaker from Turtle Island (North America). Rounding out the cast of this talk was Janna Wale, a Gitxsan and Cree-Métis climate change activist working with the Paci c Institute for Climate Solutions, along with Kayla Lar-Son, who is a Métis UBC librarian, and the webinar moderator.
The webinar began with Chief Dr. Janice George, a hereditary Sḵwxwú7mesh Chief, who welcomed us to the webinar, and brie y introduced the speakers. After a round of introductions, the speakers pondered: “What is an Indigenous changemaker?” Baker-Grenier responded by saying that going into anything with the idea of being a changemaker in the industry is an impure approach, and that her purpose is one of responsibility in strengthening and revitalizing her culture. This was echoed by Wale, who views changemaking as honouring the responsibilities to her ancestors and the land. NoiseCat said Indigenous people have been so underrepresented in recent times in comparison to their vibrant cultural fabric of precolonialism, remarking, “So much of what I see in all sorts of di erent Indigenous artists, activists, and storytellers is not changemaking, but restoration.”
These speakers continued on to discuss how storytelling is a vital aspect of their respective disciplines, discussing how NoiseCat views himself as a restorer of oral and narrative traditions of his people. Wale has used storytelling as a
foundational tool to communicate the e ects of climate change on a more personal level, rather than relying on data and statistics, which can create accessibility challenges for some people. As an example, she told us everyone in her
Whether it’s someone receiving an award, presenting their work on the international stage, or graduating high school, every step in our journey is remarkable.
REBECCA BAKER - GRENIER
FASHION DESIGNER
Soundtracks can completely shape the experience of playing a video game. Whether that be an intense, drum-heavy score during a ght, or a melancholic piano ballad during a character’s death, music is one of the key things that a ects our moods and emotions. It allows the player to immerse themselves in these fantastical worlds. This playlist consists of three songs, each varying in genres, that capture the essence of their respective games.
community has stories about the impacts of climate change, a ecting their ability to interact with the land and conduct their cultural practices. “That is where I see the most change happening, when people use stories to illustrate how we’re all experiencing this larger thing,” she concluded.
Wale’s re ection reminds me of the many e orts by Indigenous artists across Turtle Island to shed light on the climate crisis and its impacts — from the grassroots e orts of photographers and storytellers from the Nunatsiavut Nation documenting the everyday impacts of climate change on their community, to arts exhibitions that display the changes in lives of Indigenous communities living near the Paci c Ocean. Indigenous musicians have also led the way in e orts towards language and cultural revitalization.
A thoughtful concluding remark that stuck with me after the webinar came from Baker-Grenier; “No matter what it is they’re doing, to see all Indigenous people succeed and push through is remarkable because of what we carry. Whether it’s someone receiving an award, presenting their work on the international stage, or graduating high school, every step in our journey is remarkable.”
Monday Music
Video game soundtracks that capture the soul of a game
NEJDANA HOUSHYAR PEAK ASSOCIATE
“Promise (Reprise)” by Akira Yamaoka
This bleak, melancholic, and mysterious track highlights the best part of Silent Hill 2: its atmosphere. As a psychological horror game, Silent Hill 2 aims to scare and penetrate the player’s mind, while the song “Promise (Reprise)” creates a su ocating feeling with each strike of the piano. As the main instrument, the piano drives the score’s emotional core, and establishes the game’s themes of melancholy, grief, and trauma. Alongside it, an obscure and haunting buzz haunts over the track — reminiscent of white noise — that elicits unease in the player and listener. When paired with the creatures, the abandoned buildings, and the grey, misty world of Silent Hill 2, “Promise (Reprise)” serves as an eerie reminder that the player is never safe.
“I Really Want to Stay at Your House” by Rosa Walton/Hallie Coggins
A track that feels transported from the future, “I Really Want to Stay at Your House,” elevates the dystopian universe of Cyberpunk 2077.
Lyrics like, “But now you’re gone and leaving nothing but a sign / Another evening, I’ll be sitting reading in-between your lines / Because I miss you all the time,” showcase heartbreak and emotional desertion. The use of synths serves as the primary focus for the song. The instrumental synth not only masks the depressing lyrics but also sets a futuristic tone, and the vocal synth works excellently in the song to subtly represent the game’s usage of human augmentation with cyberware. Listening to this song while driving around the colourful yet chaotic world of Cyberpunk 2077 de nitely immerses the player there.
“Simple And Clean” by Hikaru Utada
This song is a burst of energy with its unique electronic production, most notably using sparkle e ects in the chorus drops, while upbeat drums and guitar create a dancepop sound. The synth, sparkle e ects, and echoing vocals give it an ethereal essence, and collectively produce a feeling of nostalgia. Throughout the fantastical setting of Kingdom Hearts, the player travels through di erent Disney worlds, defeating bosses, solving puzzles, and upgrading weapons. “Simple and Clean” has then become the uno cial theme song of the franchise. Through the song’s intimate lyrics contrasting with its electronic sound, it captures the game’s fantasy-based, coming-of-age plotline, blended with a magical, multiverse journey.
PHOTOS COURTESY OF #REBECCA.BAKER.G / INSTAGRAM, EMILY KASSIE (JULIAN BRAVE NOISECAT) AND JANNA WALE
PHOTO FIDAN MAMMADLI / PEXELS
Peak Speaks: How does SFU wake
up?
You should be slaying, not snoring
Question: What is the best way to get out of bed in the morning?
Reese, political science major: I get my roommate to pour eye drops below my eyes at such an angle that, when I rise from my slumber, the solution drips into my mouth. The taste will immediately prompt me to rinse my mouth out, thus preventing me from falling back to sleep. It preps me for the taste of tears that I experience throughout the day. If I do choose to go back to sleep, I’ve told my roommate to put hot sauce up my nose. Hence why I always get up on that first “alarm.”
Joanne, math major: Honestly? I don’t even need to wake-up at this point in my degree. When I try to close my eyes, all I can see are two di erent numbers on di erent sides of an equation sign. My body tells me there’s no solution to be found in sleeping. Oh well.
Fabuleesha, SIAT student: I’ve trained my brain to immediately react to the sound of dishes clanking in the kitchen. Unlike me, my roommates actually make home-cooked meals for breakfast (and they don’t consume day-old burger patties like yours truly). I’m also a sleep walker, so I’ll sometimes throw all the pans out in the garbage in the middle of the night. So much for that plan.
Dylan, history student: Expired gravy before bed. That’ll upset anybody’s stomach enough to get up. Good luck staying sleepy after those aches.
Sukhie, Beedie student: I set my alarm to the part of the blockbuster film Titanic where the band continues to play while the boat sinks. It tenses me right up, so I wake up faster!
Mason Mattu Humour Editor
OPINIONS
ChAoS
Is bReAkFasT reAlLy tHe mosT imPorTanT meAl of tHe daY?
As SfU’s inDepenDenT sTudenT newSpaper, The PeAk is comMitTed to higHligHtinG tHe conCerNs of oUr local comMunity. This weEk, oUr teAm decided to setTle a decades-lonG rivalRy betWeEn Bob anD FranK, tWo BurNaby localS witH very sTronG opiniOnS on a perTinenT heAlTh-related topic. BotH of tHem busSed dowN to oUr offices at tHe SfU BurNaby camPus to StANd faceto-face. It was oUr hope tHat tHe tWo woUlD walK awaY witH a renewed senSe of wHat disagReEmenT meAnS — anD wHy it can acTuAlLy be heAlThy.
PETRA CHASE • FEATURES EDITOR
Bob, local tinfoil hat manufacturer: Every day, millions of Canadians participate in a cult-like ritual that has been orchestrated by Big Jam, Big Toast, and Big Dairy. They eat in the morning. Why mornings? Mind control. They want to erase our dreams with their demonic egg yolk. Why on God’s fat earth would you support this, you corporate shill?
Fibermaxxed Frank (and the Microbes): The real cult is thinking jam, toast, and dairy are breakfast foods. If your frst meal doesn’t at least include chia seeds soaked in matcha or a lentil-yogurt smoothie, what are you even doing?? As a fbermaxxer for four years now (#fbermaxxed4Lyfe), I’ve become one with my gut microbiome’s hive mind, and we can teach you The Way. Follow our TikTok for incantation recipes we’ve whispered to optimize your poop schedule.
Bob: Don’t talk to me about my poop, you walking billboard for death. It’s just as liquid as any healthy person’s. Let me debunk some of the lies you just told. Chia seeds are patented by some Big Seed company. They put spyware in that shit. One sniff of that and the CIA will be on your trail for years. Your sweet, innocent, lentils? Heh. They’re packed with thousands of microplastics that Sandra Bullock and her Hollywood crew want us to ingest — so they look better than us. I’ve gone 30 years without breakfast and I mog Sandra Bullock 24 hours a day. All I’m asking is for you to go hungry for a few hours before lunch. Is that too much to ask?
Fibermaxxed Frank: I’m constantly in direct contact with my gutbrain axis. Right now the microbes are saying, “Your liquid poops are a sign your microbes resent you for feeding them anything but a fbrous, mucilaginous goop to start their day . . . just so you can look like Sandra Bullock.” The highly cultured gut microbiome exists on an elevated plane of existence beyond our understanding, where churning your leftovers into solid, compact [insert your favourite poophemism] helps them tap into the all-knowing consciousness. They’re like trillions of little WALL-Es pressing your trash into little cubes of treasure. They’d certainly be the frst to know if there was some widespread Hollywood conspiracy occurring at the digestive level.
Bob: I’m looking at your pathetic face right now. Your jawline looks like the space aliens from planet Pluto took a landing right on it (this happened to my aunt as well, I would get you the name of her plastic surgeon if I liked your pathetic gastrointestinal system). Wait . . . your shits are compact? Only a military diet could do that . . . you . . . mole —
ILLUSTRATION: ANGELINA TRAN / THE PEAK
At tHis poInT in time, Bob sLapPed FiberMaxXed FranK witH a lininG of tinFoIl in his palM. FranK pRoceEded to poUr oAtS alL over Bob’s heAd, pRomPtinG Bob to sCreAm in agony on tHe floOr. Our teAm separated tHe tWo for a periOd of time before bRinGinG tHem bacK to tHe non-meAl sPecific tabLe. AlL pRopS were taken awaY. Our facT-cHecKer alSo confirMed tHat FranK has never worKed for tHe military or tHe goverNmenT in any capacity.
Bob: Since we’ve determined that you’re most likely a government spy, I’ve got a real big question for you buddy. They call breakfast the most important meal of the day — but I don’t remember dragging myself over to the polling booth to vote for that. Unless . . . no. I am sure that I didn’t vote for that. Who gives you the right to push that onto me? Huh?
Fibermaxxed Frank: Well, I’ve got a question for you, buddy. Breakfast literally means the meal to break your fast, and you actually haven’t been skipping breakfast all along — you’ve just been having it late and calling it lunch (which is a made up concept anyway — there is only breakfast, second breakfast, and third breakfast, and breakfast eve — the night before breakfast). I don’t know what you’re eating, but if you’re not fbermaxxing, you’re going to get left behind. And I don’t mean that in a metaphorical sense. I mean that when the aliens who’ve been communing with my microbial culture come to save them from the impending apocalypse, they will see how good of a host I’ve been to them, and take me along. You, and your ridiculous tinfoil hat, will succumb.
Bob: You believe in aliens, too? Are we more alike than I think . . . ? Or perhaps . . .
Bob toOk a bRiEf paUse to gatHer his tHoUgHtS. He tHen pRoceEded to punCh FranK in tHe nose witH anotHer piEce of tinFoIl. He tHen ran oUt of tHe roOm, acCusinG FranK of not onLy worKinG for tHe CIa, but for tHe aliEnS of Pluto. We were unabLe to derive furTher reAson for tHis acCusatiOn.
Have a conTroverSiAl opiniOn? ReAdy to leArN tHe power of diAloguE to resolVe oUr difFerenCes? EmaIl us! opiniOnSinChaOsTotalLyworKs@peAkiE.net.
MASON MATTU • HUMOUR EDITOR
1. Back up squad 6. Holiest city in Islam
Owen Wilson quote
“____ _ left after the light” 15. Like someone who can take it or leave it 16. “Come again?” 17. “I’m on _ ____” (Lonely Island song) 18. Target of Gargamel 19. Bottled Smirno lemonade
20. “I’m telling the truth” 21. Alien actor Yaphet 22. Word before 25-across 23. Drink size and pop star 25. Netherlands’ administrative capital
27. Letters that follow a company’s name
30. “Book ‘em, _____” (Hawaii Five-O line)
32. Yellow vehicle 35. Lost to memory
37. Burn soother
39. Stand by Me actor Wheaton
40. French and Belgian river
41. “Can I get a latte, but with tea?”
44. Female lion ending 45. Goa is a state in this country
