Aurafarming the military through popular songs is ironic and wrong
By: Yildiz Subuk, Staff Writer
Macarena by the Spanish band Los del Rio has been an iconic piece of pop culture since its release in 1993. The song has also spawned remixes, the most popular being that by Bayside Boys, but has also inspired slow and reverbed versions. It sparked a global dance phenomenon and is still popular at parties, sports games, and even school events.
Recently, however, military edits with the slow and reverb version have surfaced across the internet. These videos are chilling and completely disconnected from reality. They often feature footage of military technology and vehicles, such as tanks and fighter jets, dropping bombs or attacking the enemy. There are clips of soldiers waving or looking busy with their mission. The way they are framed accentuates the imagined “coolness” of war and military life. It doesn’t feel like watching authentic war footage, but instead seems like a propagandized military photo-op. The way the music is incorporated is disturbing, as the most iconic part of the song (“ayyy macarena”) is juxtaposed with footage of bombs dropping or destruction being perpetrated. A lot of these videos are also about American imperialism in the Middle East, including the Gulf War and the invasion of Iraq.
Co-opting upbeat nostalgia and merging it with footage glamorising the military becomes a vulgar yet horrifying tool aiding in the normalization of war and violence.
Aurafarming the military is the best way to explain it to those chronically online. For those who don’t know, aurafarming is a new meme amongst many TikTok users. It means exaggerating the swagger of someone or something through their poses and actions, and it often features some music in the background. This is what these military edits are doing. But there is also an element of nostalgia for the perceived glories of the past. While these edits exaggerate the aesthetic of war, they don’t show the damage caused. They don’t tackle the nearly half a million reported civilians who were killed in the wars being glorified, or the environmental annihilation in the region caused by the American military. The audience undoubtedly includes young, impressionable men. After analyzing the comments to some of the videos, it is clear many are appreciating the edits, but also the aesthetic of the military. Many comments are patriotic or focused on celebrating American victories. These edits are not just a piece of internet memorabilia, but an inadvertent dog whistle, looking to make easily-influenced social media users more appreciative of the American military — despite all the harm it has caused.
These videos, which are not just co-opting the Macarena, but other songs with up-beat vibes (an example being Cheri Cheri Lady by Modern Talking), are not only disconnected from reality, but feeding into pro-war sentiments. There is nothing admirable about what conflict and imperialism did to the Middle East and beyond. Co-opting upbeat nostalgia and merging it with footage glamorizing the military becomes a vulgar yet horrifying tool aiding in the normalization of war and violence, both in the US and around the world, especially for the younger generation.
Rating MBC food choices based on how likely I am to recite Robert Frost whilst taking a shit after consumption
By: Katie Walkley, Peak Associate
This is my long-awaited and highly requested ranking of the Maggie Benston Centre Food Court choices based on how likely I am to recite Robert Frost whilst taking a shit after consumption (in order from least to most). Yes, you read that right. This list includes constipation, which sometimes requires even more poetry to aid me in mourning the shit that could have been.
Ben Gong’s Tea: An unlikely appearance from Robert
The first experience that lightly grazed my mind was my time after Ben Gong’s Tea. Just before the flush, I had a chance to whisper, “She dared no more than ask him with her eyes / How was it with him for a second trial. / And with his eyes he asked her not to ask. / They had given him back to her, but not to keep.” On this day, I saw the tapioca pearls in two ways. They came back to me after enduring the trials of my stomach. Then, just as soon as they reappeared in my life, I had to say goodbye again.
Noodle Waffles: Bobby Frost is here to help you drop that deuce
While I appreciated Robert Frost’s timeless perspective on what it’s like when your shit looks the same as your food, I did not find his words as powerful as the time they coached me through the constipation experienced at Noodle Waffles.
A seemingly menial choice took hours for me to recover from. My lack of excretion led to a severe emotional depletion. I sat there, repeating like a prayer: “Where your face burns and tickles with cobwebs / broken across it, and one eye is weeping.” I heard others coming in and out of the washroom, but I was stuck there with tears streaming down my face, waiting for my turn to flee this hellscape. However, it wasn’t so bad since I had plenty of time to scroll the reels through my AirPods guiltlessly. The comfort this brought me also made me recite Robert Frost’s even more talented great granddaughter, Addison Rae: “Put your headphones on / guess I gotta accept the pain.”
Grill Master: So likely to recite that Robert Frost actually rests his spirit here
On the day I ordered from Grill Master, even the phenomenal songstress couldn’t save me. The weather was storming, but the true tempest took its toll in my bowels. My friend was driving me down Gaglardi and I had to force her to pull over. Without an explanation, I ran into the woods. Among the trees, I could smell her cheeto-flavoured vape from afar and thought aloud, “My little horse must think it queer / to stop without a farmhouse near / between the woods and frozen lake / the darkest evening of the year.”
When I got back to the car, I repeated the lines to her because they were so potently accurate. She didn’t like that she was a “little horse” in this scenario, but she agreed with the rest and rerouted her GPS to take me home instead of our original plans to go to Denny’s.
The final boss: Mad Chicken
My final battle took place at Mad Chicken, and to be honest, I can hardly even blame them. After a hard day’s work of wondering about the legitimacy of my degree, I had a ravenous appetite beyond compare.
I ate so fast that “two roads diverged in a wood and I — / I took the one less travelled by, / and that had made all the difference.” A simple shit was not enough to end my pain. It had to come out the other way.
Four book recommendations for Disability Pride Month
By: Phone Min Thant, Arts and Culture Editor
knot body by Eli Tareq El Bechelany-Lynch
knot body is a collection of poems, short stories, and letters that address various themes, along with how people with disabilities are treated unjustly by capitalist and discriminatory systems. For instance, in one of the letters, Bechelany-Lynch scrutinizes the lack of scientific research behind the medical diagnoses of trans people, a form of systemic injustice in itself. Combining deep philosophical reflections and light-hearted quips, knot body asks the readers to join along, in bringing awareness to many social challenges affecting the disabled community, such as ableism and fatphobia, but also in appreciating your own body.
Care Work by Leah Lakshmi Piepzna-Samarasinha
Care Work is a selection of short writings by Leah Lakshmi Piepzna-Samarasinha, a Canadian American disability justice activist and author. As described by Piepzna-Samarasinha, Care Work is a “call to arms,” inspiring readers to educate themselves and take action on the issues surrounding disability justice, such as how to build a resilient community with mutual care. In dealing with such a broad and crucial topic, Piepzna-Samarasinha’s work looks from both the local to the global. The book includes tidbits of their experiences having lived among Toronto’s disabled community as well as awareness towards a world that pays more attention to a fair trade emotional labour economy. There is also a focus on issues of suicidality and intersectional oppression through many conversations with fellow activists. Care Work is a must read for anyone striving to build a better, more inclusive, accessible, and resilient society.
A World Without Martha by Victoria Freeman
Freeman’s work is a raw, painful, and impactful memoir where she recounts the experience of being separated from her sister Martha who was institutionalized before she turned two because she had Down Syndrome. The book dives deep into the effects this separation had on Freeman and her family, but also into how broken government responses to disability are. The book is a challenge against the status quo — the belief that people with disabilities should be shut off from the rest of society. It is also beautiful, showing how strong the ties that exist between siblings are. Coming from someone who is perpetually thinking about government policy processes and who one day aims to change them for the better, this book is a strong recommendation from me. It has exposed me to something that those in policy boardrooms tend never to see: the human suffering caused by misguided policies — in this case, in failing to give proper support to the disabled community.
My Art, My World by Rita Winkler
My Art, My World is a hopeful, comparatively soothing narrative of someone with Down Syndrome enjoying their everyday lives, written and illustrated by an author who is experiencing it. Both the short texts, and the accompanying paintings show how Winkler goes about her life, full of passion and appreciation for finding the brightness and delight in what we would otherwise find mundane: public transportation, visiting a café, dancing, and many more. If you find yourself overwhelmed by too much reading, or if you simply want to take a break from your usual routine and enjoy a slice of happiness from Winkler’s enjoyment of the everyday, this book is for you.
Lana Del Rey’s hologram to headline Fall Kickoff
By: Mason Mattu, Humour Editor
Picture this: Lana Del Rey, singing Chemtrails Over The Country Club, frantically flying over an audience, and waving her arms like a fairy all at the same time. At first, you think, “Goddamn. What an iconic show.” Her body is see-through, radiant, and emits a green light. You knew Lana was ethereal, but didn’t know she was this perfect.
Then, you squint.
Your eyes think something’s playing tricks on them. Did Lana just — did she . . . glitch?
That, indeed, is not Lana Del Rey. It’s her hologram. And guess what, SFU? It’s officially booked for Fall Kickoff.
Lana’s hologram was most recently used during her 2025 European summer stadium tour. To the shock (and pain to the wallets) of many concertgoers, the Video Games singer took multiple vape and costume breaks throughout the show, leading to the hologram singing at least two songs.
“You know what? Lana Del Rey is literally iconic,” the Simon Fraser Student Society (SFSS) wrote in a statement to The Peak. “With tuition hikes on a perpetual conveyor belt and being forced into students like rotten applesauce to a toddler, we thought we’d give something to help the student body cope. We present Lana Del Rey’s hologram to SFU.”
The latest announcement is most certainly an upgrade from last year’s Fall Kickoff performers. The event sold a total of five tickets, four of which were bought by the then vice-president events. Headliners consisted of an AI DJ beatmaker, drag queen Ru Fall, and a distant relative of Shakira’s ex-boyfriend’s dog. The budget for the event was 99% of the SFSS’ yearly revenue.
“Maybe it’s time to get a new treasurer,” commented an SFSS executive at the time. The same executive approved the $1 billion price tag to have Lana’s hologram perform for a chaotic set. “Fiscal responsibility is of the utmost importance.”
Expectations are definitely higher this year, and the SFSS has the unfathomable task of fixing a $200 billion deficit and improving student experience. According to Lana’s management team, the hologram’s set is expected to sing the following songs (the hologram is apparently sentient, so it all depends on what it’s feeling like):
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- “Say Yes to Heaven” (nightcore version)
- A cover of the first half of the second half of the chorus to “Take Me Home, Country Roads”
- One unreleased song selected from Lana’s dead country album, Lasso.
- “National Anthem” (15-minute spoken word version)
- “Text Book” (sans the performative activism, lip-synced for maximum creativity)
- All of Lana’s songs playing at the exact same time through the same speaker (to ensure there’s no whining about the set list)
The hologram’s announced inclusion in the festival has sparked great controversy on r/simonfraser. “This hologram is a disgrace to live music,” commented u/CouchLover. “I hate this!!!!”
OK, buddy. Let’s get one thing straight: Lana isn’t doing anything wrong by sending her hologram out to perform in lieu of herself.
She’s too powerful to be limited by the physical constraints of her body — why the fuck would she perform when she can project a 4K vision onto our emotional psyche? Why would she perform a song for the 50,000th time in front of a bunch of pathetic SFU students? She’s channeling her best energy into a melodramatic beam of light. She’s one with the hologram. She’s a post-human ray of light in a slip dress.
“The hologram allows me to take one, very long perpetual vape break,” said Lana in a telepathic statement to The Peak. “My lungs scream just as loud as my fans. So buzz off, haters. My hologram will see you at Fall Kickoff.”
Tickets are going on sale Friday at 9:00 a.m. on the SFSS Instagram. Hurry to buy them. They’ll sell out faster than you can say “Grandfather please stand on the shoulders of my father while he’s deep-sea fishing.”
SFU artists bend reality in Report on the Thing exhibit
By: Katie Walkley, Peak Associate
From July 3–26, the Audain Gallery is displaying six SFU artists’ works inspired by Clarice Lispector’s short postmodern text, Report on the Thing (1974). Her story questions the way we define categories and split things that are part of a larger whole. To illustrate her point, she discusses how her digital clock divides time, which, in reality, is “immutable.” Her topic of refuting labels is extremely difficult to write about since words themselves are inherently labels. So, through visual art, SFU students Constance Arden, Caroline Chernega, Chelsea MacKay, Carlo Marchet, Taha Saraei, and Kaleb Thiessen have jointly brought to life Lispector’s philosophy to the public at the Report on the Thing exhibition.
In an exhibition that aims to dismantle our ideas of categories, walking through it feels as if you are existing within a grander artistic expression, the viewer themselves inevitably a part of the artwork.
As soon as you enter, you can hear a faint sound from an artist’s short film playing at the back. Its placement makes it so that you cannot figure out the context until you have already seen all of the other artwork. Thus, it becomes a soundtrack that weaves together each piece. The sound itself contains a bell repeating sporadically along with white noise that makes the entire gallery feel a bit unnerving. Something about that discomfort immersed me in the moment to look into the details.
“Something about that discomfort immersed me in the moment.”
On the way to the source of the strange noises, the oil painting Wet Life by Caroline Chernega pulled me in with an exciting composition that had me turning my head in every angle. The artist’s inspiration came from collaging photos chosen randomly to blend our inner and outer worlds. She conveys her message through brushstrokes that are so expressive that the underpainting shines through. This in itself flattens time so the viewer can see every stage of the painting all at once.
After looking at Chernega’s distortion of time, I went on to the sculptural piece OOO by Chelsea Mackay, which blurs the lines between the living and the object. The chair, covered by a skin-like latex membrane, is attached to a mirror so that as you walk around it, your perception places it in front of different backgrounds. Since the chair is no longer useful to sit on, is it still a chair? I do have to admit that sometimes these metaphysical questions can feel too speculative for me. However, this gallery did a great job of turning the hyper philosophical into something real, tangible, and visible.
Finally, once I went around the wall, I discovered the source of the ambient noise. The two-minute video, I have been waiting for hours, by Constance Arden compiles static shots of her neighbourhood, Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside. Some zoom in the objects, while others pan out, so that you cannot tell what they are. One shot begins far away from a sign so that you cannot read it. Then, it enlarges to be legible for just a moment before zooming in even closer so that it becomes indecipherable again. This shot made me think of how the most obvious meanings can only be understood from specific perspectives. We tend to look at things from one point of view, but this clip along with the entire gallery makes you realize how much can be revealed if you examine the mundane as if you’ve never seen it before.
If you want to enter a world that gives you the same feeling as those rare reality-bending midnight conversations with your friends, the Report on the Thing exhibition is the place to be. There are many more splendid pieces that I didn’t write about, so do yourself a favour and go check the exhibition out before it ends.
How prepared is SFU for the “Big One?”
By: Corbett Gildersleve, News Writer
The “Big One,” an earthquake “as powerful as magnitude 9.0” on the Richter scale, has been predicted to occur on the Pacific Coast and impact Metro Vancouver in the next 50–100 years. The Peak looked into what this means for SFU’s Burnaby, Surrey, and Vancouver campuses.
Due to plate tectonics, an earthquake this big would come from the Cascadia Subduction Zone, a 1,000 km “megathrust” fault that runs from northern Vancouver Island to Cape Mendocino, California. According to the Pacific Northwest Seismic Network, this fault is where the Pacific’s Juan de Fuca plate slides under the North American plate. Friction builds up between the plates, eventually shifting, causing an earthquake. The Network says “the last known megathrust earthquake in the northwest was in January 1700, just over 300 years ago. Geological evidence indicates that such great earthquakes have occurred at least seven times in the last 3,500 years, a return interval of 400–600 years.” With the last one being 325 years ago, it’s just a matter of time before it hits.
A Vancouver city council report on November 12 modelled a 7.2 magnitude earthquake in the Georgia Strait, the body of water that separates Vancouver Island from the mainland. They estimated this “earthquake could result in nearly 6,100 heavily damaged buildings, leading to over 1,350 severe injuries and fatalities, the disruption and displacement of over one-third of residents and workers for more than three months, and over $17 billion in direct financial losses.”
The Peak spoke with Alisa Zukanovic, director of business continuity and emergency management for Campus Public Safety, to ask how prepared SFU is for the Big One.
“The [Burnaby] campus has one primary access route, which could be affected during a major earthquake. Some buildings are older, but seismic upgrades are currently underway to improve safety.” — Alisa Zukanovic, former director of business continuity and emergency management, SFU risk and emergency planning
With the three main campuses built at different times and located throughout Metro Vancouver, impacts vary. Located downtown at Harbour Centre near the Georgia Strait, the Vancouver campus “faces an elevated tsunami risk,” said Zukanovic. She added, “While Vancouver Island offers some shielding, there is still potential for significant impact from a large tsunami. The region, with a high concentration of infrastructure and population in low-lying areas near the ocean, could experience considerable effects from such an event.”
Zukanovic wasn’t as concerned about SFU’s Surrey campus, which was built in 2002. She said this campus is “not at risk for tsunamis,” adding that the buildings incorporated “modern safety features that contribute to overall resilience in emergencies.”
For the Burnaby campus, Zukanovic’s main concern was that “the campus has one primary access route, which could be affected during a major earthquake. Some buildings are older, but seismic upgrades are currently underway to improve safety.” According to the SFU campus construction tracker, the Lorne Davies Centre renovation includes seismic upgrades. SFU told The Peak that the Shrum Science building is being considered for an upcoming renovation.
SFU also said upgrades and renovations have occurred to the academic quadrangle, Shrum chemistry building, education building, Strand hall, and the applied sciences building since 2017. In the event of hazardous spills and gas leaks, SFU stated that it “maintains a comprehensive hazardous materials emergency response plan, which outlines clear procedures for managing chemical spills, gas leaks, and related emergencies across all campuses.” SFU also said that “guidance on earthquake safety in labs is provided through lab safety training.”
In the event of a major earthquake such as the Big One, SFU has instituted multiple procedures. Risk & emergency planning hold a ShakeOut drill each October, and in the first week of May, they test SFU’s alert system during Emergency Preparedness Week. During an emergency, SFU uses its Safe app and alerts to give real-time updates. For evacuation paths, Zukanovic said that SFU has “designated evacuation routes, including an egress walking path for emergency responders and an alternate route off Burnaby Mountain.” SFU also has assembly areas, such as the soccer fields and parking lots, for people to gather. The university recommends creating a grab-and-go kit with essential items like water, medications, and documents and a personal emergency plan with their family. Zukanovic also noted, “SFU collaborates with the City of Burnaby’s Emergency Social Services to provide additional support when necessary, including the potential to establish a reception center or group lodging if required.”
Our devices aren’t ruining education, but they’re not helping either
By: Kiana Montakhab, SFU Student
Next time you’re in class, take a moment to look around you. Is anyone actually paying attention? Or are we all half-engaged, aimlessly clicking through tabs on our laptops and scrolling through our phones? Is the poor professor up there lecturing to a sea of blank stares, faces dimly lit by the glow of screens? It makes you wonder — are we truly present or just occupying space?
To some, these behaviours may look like a lack of discipline. But to me, they reflect a deeper reality — students are adapting to a world where traditional learning structures are changing, consequently altering how students engage with learning. In this context, it’s necessary to wonder if traditional higher education keeps up with the pace of technological and cultural change, or is it being left behind? Understanding these changes and how they impact students is essential if we want education to remain effective.
Uncertainties around our education trickle down to everyday choices students make in the classroom, such as how we use technology. Is the use of personal electronic devices in classrooms a gateway to deeper engagement or a constant source of distraction? There’s no one-size-fits-all answer. Media multitasking, the act of switching between multiple forms of media simultaneously, has been shown to negatively impact comprehension, memory retention, and overall academic performance. Additionally, devices don’t just hijack your focus — they manage to distract everyone around you, too. But that distraction isn’t happening in a vacuum — it often stems from classrooms that feel stale and disengaging. Research shows that students with a high propensity for boredom are significantly more likely to media-multitask when faced with tedious tasks. Therefore, it’s not always about tuning out. For many students, these habits are a way of coping (and fighting for their life to stay alert during yet another two hours of bullet points, beige walls, and zero eye contact).
Students are adapting to a world where traditional learning structures no longer align with how they engage with learning.
All in all, tech use isn’t inherently evil. In fact, when used mindfully and in support of learning, devices can enhance engagement and offer essential tools for students. According to one study, roughly two-thirds of students rely on laptops and cell phones to study, communicate, and feel more in control, particularly noting that technology helped 35% reduce stress and 47% communicate better with instructors. For many students, assistive technology is necessary — tools such as screen readers, text-to-speech apps, and captioning — can significantly increase the inclusion and accessibility of students with disabilities in higher education. One thing is clear enough: technology is deeply embedded in how we learn, research, and engage with the world.
Yet, some instructors have responded with outright bans in the classroom. Others have adopted a no-tech policy allowing limited exceptions, such as accommodations for students with disabilities. While I understand that many professors are exhausted by the constant battle for attention in classrooms, this doesn’t take into consideration how difficult accommodations are to acquire in a timely manner. Professors should be able to trust that each student knows how to be responsible for their learning.
Therefore, we also have a role to play in shaping our own learning. Education is expanding our knowledge as human beings — a pursuit that deserves respect and mindfulness. That might mean being more intentional with how we use our devices, challenging ourselves to stay present, or communicating openly about what works and what doesn’t. Technology isn’t going anywhere — and neither is education. The real challenge lies in making the two work together, with effort by both students and institutions.
SFU needs to improve their accommodations system
By: Noeka Nimmervoll, Staff Writer
Between Burnaby Mountain’s poor transportation and the daily Stairmaster challenge, it’s no wonder the majority of students, staff, and alums think the needs of people with disabilities aren’t met at SFU. This includes those with invisible disabilities, which are any chronic ailments not visible to the naked eye, which limit or otherwise impair someone’s physical or cognitive daily function. There is a considerably wide range of conditions that fall under this umbrella term, such as mental health conditions (depression), and physical conditions (chronic pain and digestive disorders). The current support system for students with invisible disabilities reflects a deeper truth: SFU’s current approach to accessibility is performative, placing emotional and physical burdens on disabled students instead of building truly inclusive systems.
A reality for individuals living with invisible disabilities is the constant self-advocacy they must perform. At SFU, all students with an ongoing disability must register through the Centre for Accessible Learning (CAL). For this process, you must adhere to many procedures and deadlines to request accommodations. CAL explicitly outlines the many responsibilities of disabled students, while including a disclaimer that the requested accommodations might not be granted. This sends a clear message: support is conditional. How inviting. This means if you have a disability, you have to continuously advocate for yourself to get your needs met.
It is incredibly challenging to reach out to a faceless department to ask for support for an invisible disability. The skill of self-advocacy requires confidence, clarity, and self-compassion, all of which are radical virtues within systems that treat accessibility like an inconvenience. How I see it, many more students are struggling than the university knows because of this emotionally exhausting barrier that CAL sets up.
The skill of self-advocacy requires confidence, clarity, and self-compassion, which are all radical virtues within systems that treat accessibility like an inconvenience.
Students are all aware of how, when school gets going, it just keeps going. Accommodations in the middle of the semester are challenging to acquire. Even if you are registered with CAL, there are situations where you’re required to obtain a doctor’s note to get your accommodations — this is both expensive and time-consuming. Wait times are a considerable challenge for seeing a doctor in BC, and it can be challenging or even impossible to get the medical attention you require in a timely fashion. It doesn’t make sense to require a doctor’s note when registration with CAL already means that a doctor has informed the university of your condition.
As for students not registered with CAL, well, they simply don’t get access to their resources or accommodations. For those students, falling ill (again) or experiencing a flare-up, will not only lead to personal pain but to missing lectures and deadlines. In those cases, they’re required to reach out to multiple instructors as soon as possible, to share — often deeply personal and intrusive — information about their lives. Even with documentation, the responses vary from professor to professor, with the possibility they may not understand or empathize with students’ unique situations. This inconsistent and unpredictable treatment is not just frustrating — it’s unfair.
SFU should make lecture recordings mandatory for full access to course material on days when it is difficult or impossible for students to get to school. Easily allowing extra time to be allotted on exams via student request with no questions asked may provide a necessary sense of ease and safety for those who require more time. Moreover, providing on-deck support to students filling out required CAL documents online, and providing accessible therapy to individuals who are struggling with invisible disabilities are some additional ways to foster a sense of communal support — without overrelying on students’ advocacy of self.
While CAL has many resources, its programs at large miss the point: The rigidity of SFU’s policies in assignments, tests, and lectures is inherently ableist. SFU’s systems are built in a way that leaves many students behind. Not because of their lack of integrity or dedication, but because of the compounding issues that disadvantage them, making SFU an institution that centers able bodies. SFU’s inflexibility reinforces inequality — it’s not just a flaw; it’s a failure of inclusivity. To move towards accessibility, SFU must reform its ideology not just to accommodate people living with disabilities, but to include them from the start!
SFYou: Punk rocker in local politics Sean Orr
By: Yildiz Subuk, Staff Writer
Sean Orr recently completed his bachelor of arts in geography and political science at SFU. After beginning his studies at UBC and dropping out, Orr pursued writing for local publication Scout Magazine. Orr — who is also a vocalist in Vancouver-based punk rock group, NEEDS — has been involved in politics since a young age. Until recently, he worked as a dishwasher at Published on Main, until he put in his two weeks as he found a new job — city councillor of Vancouver.
Orr won in a 2025 byelection that saw a 40% turnout increase from 2017. So, how did he manage to enter city hall while amassing a dedicated following? He wasn’t just fighting for the people; he was part of the people. Orr’s campaign focused on housing rights and fighting the political establishment — mayor Ken Sim’s ABC party for favouring the elites in Vancouver, building expensive homes many can’t afford to live in, and sending the police department to dismantle unhoused encampments.
Orr sat down with The Peak for an interview, discussing what shaped him, his roots in punk rock, and his education at SFU. The interview has been edited for concision and clarity.
Tell us about your education at SFU and other institutes. What was the most helpful learning experience you had? Is there anything SFU should focus on to better prepare students interested in making a change?
“The best part about SFU was the breadth of learning I got — a good general background that covered a lot of the gaps I missed earlier. I’d already taken school, going to UBC in the ‘90s before dropping out. I was already writing, so I was already well-informed. But I think SFU does a good job rounding things up.”
“I took Geoff Mann’s course on the geography of capitalism. That was an incredible course. He’s a great teacher, writes for the London Review of Books. He really got me interested in doing everything I can to tackle capitalism or find problems and inefficiencies within [capitalist structures]. Building on [that, there] was a course called Geography of Racial Capitalism, [taught by] Sharon Luk — that was one of the most challenging courses I’ve ever taken, as I had to rethink everything I know about how race and capitalism go together. Another great course was on the Canadian Charter — really practical. It seems dry on the surface, but it’s a course that everybody should take, because I think we get confused [with what’s applicable] in the United States and what’s actually applicable here.”
How would you differentiate communism from democratic socialism?
“I don’t think seizing the means of production is inherently something we could do, especially at a city level. Democratic socialism pervades a lot of what we take for granted; libraries, public health, public housing, socialized medicine, even sewers, or having a fire department — it’s everywhere. It’s a social safety net. A lot of people, if they understood the benefits of socialism, they would [realize] they actually are socialists too.”
“There’s a lot of things that we can do immediately that will benefit everyone’s lives, it’s just about redistributing wealth. We’ve got a system that rewards people hoarding vast amounts of wealth — amounts that we have never seen on this planet before. In my mind, every billionaire is a policy failure. It [boils down] to taxing the rich properly; we have all the resources we need, we just need to redistribute properly. [Democratic socialism] is a little more practical and easier to do.”
“In my mind, every billionaire is a policy failure.”
How has the punk scene influenced your career in politics?
“There’s a saying, right-wing governments make great punk bands. I don’t think it’s confined to punk. There’s a punk ethos that doesn’t necessarily have to be about punk music. I see the punk ethos in hip hop, visual art, in writing, and in all different aspects.”
“I don’t think a lot of adults have a good release for the stresses of this world. Punk is a really good outlet for that and it’s always been a good organizing tool to fight back against [oppressive] forces.”
Do you think there’s actually a stigma around social housing and social programs here in Vancouver, or do you think that municipalities don’t want to build them?
“When this current Council paused supportive housing, I think there were a lot of misconceptions around what that was. Supportive housing could mean seniors housing. It could mean housing for single women or for 2SLGBTQIA+ people. But there’s been a misconception to tie all social housing to [drug use] — and we need [sites like] those everywhere across the city — but, to use that to paint all social housing with the same brush is unfortunate and I do think there is a bit of that that goes on.”
“The by-election shows that people do want social housing and we want people to have those options. We want people off the streets. We have almost 4,000 homeless people — that doesn’t even include people that are precariously housed, who could be homeless within the next paycheck. So, people understand the value of social housing — we had it before.”
“We had a federal government that used to build tons of housing. Unfortunately, through neoliberalism, that has been downloaded off into provincial governments and then into municipal governments — we’re playing catch-up since. It was Paul Martin’s famous austerity budget in 1996. In 1993, we started deinstitutionalizing places like Riverview [a mental health facility in Coquitlam which closed later in 2012]. There was no model that allowed for community care. It was also the year that a lot of the drugs became poisoned. We had a chance to introduce progressive property taxes across the province, which would have paid for a lot of this. We didn’t do that. It was the height of neoliberalism — which has led to us playing catch up 20 to 30 years later.”
What are your plans for the future? Would you consider running for mayor?
“I don’t think it’d ever be off the table, but for 2026, I want to get a grasp of what the city Council is. It’s a lot of information. There’s [more than] 9,000 people working for the City of Vancouver, there are a lot of different departments, some that I haven’t even met with. So, I would like to get a real grasp of what I can do as a city councillor. Focus on 2026 in terms of flipping and having a progressive Council.”
“Being mayor is [important], and what we saw with Zohran Mamdani in New York’s [mayoral primary race] was awesome. People want that for Vancouver and I’m humbled by the fact that they think that I could be that. I just have so much to learn. Zohran was in politics for a while before he ran for mayor too. So, I just want to make sure that if I ever decide that, it’s at the right time.”
Senate Spotlight: New intellectual property policy and 2025–30 academic plan drafts
By: Corbett Gildersleve, News Writer
On July 7, the SFU Senate reviewed new drafts of the intellectual property (IP) policy and the 2025–30 academic plan. They also discussed new definitions for full-time and part-time students and a bachelor of science in economics program. The Peak attended the open meeting for more information.
The Senate discussed a new draft version of the IP policy based on feedback received last March. This new policy focuses on the commercialization of IP through invention and software. The previous draft policy also concerned educational materials, which will now be part of another policy, based on community feedback. Senators raised concerns about student IP ownership, overly broad language for “non-commercial use,” and how the policy would impact class projects that involve external companies. Their next steps are consulting with the Teaching Support Staff Union and presenting it to the Board of Governors in September for approval.
SFU associate vice president Peter Hall presented the draft 2025–30 academic plan. This was the third draft of the plan, updated on May 15. Some goals of the plan include opening the SFU School of Medicine and graduating the first class by 2030, supporting “interdisciplinary research clusters and cross-centre collaborations,” and expanding “program pathways and outreach activities that support Indigenous student recruitment, community building, and success.”
Hall stated that “changes in the immigration policy environment and changes in the provinces’ financial situation in the last months of 2024, really forced us to [ . . . ] think through what we can do in the next five years.”
Senators raised a number of concerns while reviewing the plan. Senator Alexandra Lysova spoke for faculty members who had submitted feedback about language in the plan, stating that “there isn’t much focus on academic freedom, in terms of academic excellence in research and teaching as [explicit] terms.” She raised concerns about “administrative overreach in the teaching and research, particularly related to mandates for Indigenization and decolonization.” According to Lysova, at issue were words like “safe spaces” as they weren’t defined, and “honouring Indigenous Ways of Knowing. She believed words like “questioning, challenging, revisiting” should be used instead of “honouring” in the academic plan. She ended by asking if he had seen their feedback, to which Hall replied that he had.
“Changes in the immigration policy environment and changes in the provinces’ financial situation in the last months of 2024 really forced us to [ . . . ] think through what we can do in the next five years.” — Peter Hall, associate vice president, SFU
Senator Colin Percival said that SFU’s commitment to preventing all forms of discrimination was failing, as he believes Indigenous-focused financial aid and the hiring of Black scholars and Canada Research Chairs with lived experience were discriminatory acts. He claimed that Indigenous-only programs and admission on the basis of Indigeneity, as well as a higher grade cutoff for admission to male-majority programs, were also discriminatory.
This was later countered by Senator Suzanna Crage, who said “programs and policies that are meant to address groups that have historical disadvantages are not discriminations,” later echoed by Hall. Diversity, equity, and inclusion policies both combat historical disadvantages rooted in racism, sexism, and other types of systemic oppression, while also benefiting “people from all walks of life — including white people.”
The Senate also approved a new program for a bachelor of science in economics. According to the proposal, this program “integrates foundational grounding in mathematics, computer programming, quantitative modelling, and data analysis with a thorough grounding in economics.” This program is suited for economics students who want to pursue work in data science.
Lastly, the Senate approved officially defining the credit limits for full and part-time students. In the past, SFU’s policy did not define this. According to the briefing note, having a formal definition helps students obtain funding through the Canadian Student Financial Assistance Program and report to Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC).
The new definition classifies a part-time student as a person taking eight credits or less, and a full-time student taking nine credits or more. Additionally, it declares any student who is taking a Co-op and/or registered with the Center for Accessible Learning with a reduced course load as a full-time student.
