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Need to Know, Need to Go: Plays to see in December

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Peak Web
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Illustration of a blue calendar, with "Need to Know, Need to Go" written on top
Arts & Culture events to catch around the city. Image courtesy of Brianna Quan

By: Petra Chase, Art & Culture Editor

Old Stock: A Refugee Love Story recollects Jewish refugee history in Canada (Tickets $45)
When: December 1–11
Where: SFU Goldcorp Centre for The Arts

This love story follows two Jewish Romanian refugees in Canada in 1908. This music-theatre hybrid performance features an energetic folk soundtrack by Jewish genre-bending songwriter, Ben Caplan. The “humorously dark folktale woven together with a high-energy concert” is part of the programming for Chutzpah, Vancouver’s annual Jewish arts festival. It was developed by SFU Woodward’s Cultural Programs and 2b Theatre. 

In My Day shows the multifaceted history of the AIDS crisis in Vancouver (Tickets from $29)
When: December 2–11
Where: Historic Theatre

Presented by Zee Zee Theatre, a company dedicated to telling the diverse stories and perspectives of people in the LGBT2SI+ community, this “historic theatre” production recounts true stories about individuals impacted by the HIV pandemic in Vancouver. From “extraordinary victories to heartbreaking failures,” In My Day serves as a memorial for those in the community who have been impacted by the pandemic, including the stories of “women, people of colour, Indigenous folks, trans people who use[d] injection drugs, and others, alongside those of cis-gender gay men.” It’s based on a University of Victoria community-based research project conducted in 2017, in which oral accounts were collected from the community to understand this important piece of history.

Szepty/Whispers depicts a neurodivergent person’s mental health journey (Tickets $15 – $25)
When: December 1–4
Where: Pi Theatre

Szepty/Whispers is an important account of a neurodivergent artists’ grapple with mental health and the family’s lack of openness regarding mental health issues, revealing how “culture, migration, and trauma shape generational perspectives of disability.” Using narrative devices, multimedia, and documentary media, this performance also features captions and audio descriptions for those who are deaf or blind. Support a diverse, neurodivergent, disabled, and non-binary creative team in understanding this personal experience. Learn more about their accessibility on their website, including their COVID-19 guidelines.

SFYou: Pourya Sardari

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Peak Web
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PHOTO: Artin Bakhan / Unsplash

By: Clarence Ndabahwerize, Staff Writer

Content warning: mentions of violence against women.

Pourya Sardari is an international student from Mashhad in Iran’s Razavi Khorasan province. Sardari is currently pursuing a Master’s in Biological Sciences and recently made a class presentation about his research on the illegal trade of wildlife in Iran. The Peak sat down with Sardari to talk about his work, as well as the current situation in the country following the death of Mahsa Amini.

“First of all, in Iran we don’t have any solid research to try to pinpoint what are the primary drivers of the illegal trade,” started Sardari. “It’s a complex issue and there are different factors that can motivate the illegal trade. Some would say that it’s poverty, with people using the trade as a source of income,” he added. However, Sardari mentioned that socioeconomic status might not be the driving factor to engage in the trade, highlighting its complexity as a national issue. 

“It’s not one of the priorities for the government to look into this, not just the government but the Department for Environment in Iran.” This body’s main purpose is to protect and safeguard Iran’s environment; from the country’s biodiversity, to its protected areas. Sardari added that existing environmental problems in Iran, such as water shortage and pollution, are perceived as more important than illegal wildlife trade. “They have to invest resources to learn about the trade and learn about this issue before they can take action,” he mentioned. The task though, is monumental.

Sardari stressed that the trade is not a new phenomenon. “We have the physical traditional marketplace, which I would say is historical. People have been trading for thousands of years.” The trade’s proliferation both in Iran and globally has been aided by the rise of digital marketplaces. The boom in global internet use and connectivity has led to its increased popularity, enabling it to grow in the digital sphere.

By Sardari’s account, traditional and geographical factors influence the trade, with falcons being of particular interest to buyers. “In Iran and in the Middle East, falconry is part of the tradition there. So birds of prey are one of the targets of the illegal trade and you would see them more frequently being traded.” Adding on, he highlighted the global popularity of reptiles and amphibians, some of which are endemic to Iran, making them very popular amongst buyers globally. Nonetheless, the continued trade of these animals is unsustainable.

To curb the trade, Sardari said that understanding its dynamics was key. He noted the need for evidence-based research into the values and motivations driving it. Such an approach, in his opinion, will open the doors for public education and spur behavioural change in communities. “Investing in and educating people so they can enforce legislation may be a good way, but we first need to understand the trade.” 

When asked if regional support for this endeavour could be secured, Sardari cited Iran’s current geopolitical isolation as an obstacle. “Because Iran’s connections with other countries and conservation organizations are really limited, it’d be hard to do some work.” Undeterred, local conservationist groups like the Iranian Cheetah Society fight on. They protect Iran’s environment and wildlife, as well as raise awareness. He mentioned that such groups always need more support for resources and funding for their projects. 

Sardari believes that a vacuum of political will on the subject is due to government priorities rarely being aligned towards conservation. “Governments want to develop. They want to use their resources. It’s always this trade-off, this conflict, between development and sustainability.” 

Safeguarding and protecting the rights of the people is an ongoing  issue for the government of Iran. In the past years, the government has used lethal force on protestors and incarcerated peaceful activists. In September 2022, a young Iranian woman named Mahsa Amini died in a Tehran hospital following her arrest by the nation’s morality police; a unit of Iran’s police whose main objective is to enforce an Islamic dress code, mainly targeting women. Pourya opened a class presentation with a tribute to her. “It didn’t just affect me, it affected the whole Iranian community. It affected the whole world, I’d say.” Since the death of Mahsa Amini in September, there have been ongoing protests in Iran to end the “decades-long authoritarian rule of the country’s top clerics.” 

“When I heard the news, I was devastated, I was sad. I had a mix of emotions. I was angry. She was an innocent young woman who died.” Sardari said that in recent years, the institution has been emboldened in its suppression, with its main targets being Iranian girls and women. According to Iran International, at least 402 protestors have been killed by security forces and 16,813 have been arrested since the protests began back in mid-September. The Volunteer Committee to Follow-Up on the Situation of Detainees has been able to identify at least 1,600 prisoners including “969 ordinary citizens, 393 students, 145 civil activists, 42 journalists, 40 political activists, 38 women’s rights activists and 26 attorneys.” Sardari added, “It’s a violation of human rights.

“I was really surprised and happy to see all the Iranians and non-Iranians that came together in solidarity with what happened to Mahsa,” said Sardari of the worldwide protests that followed her death. “I was really happy to finally see the Iranian community coming together. I was happy to see unity in the community.” 

Sardari mentioned that he himself hasn’t had a face-to-face interaction with the morality police but that his friends have to think about them. “It’s really stressful because I know from many of my friends who are mostly girls and women. They want to go out to have a peaceful evening with their friends, but they have to think about what to wear so that they don’t get arrested by the morality police.” 

When asked about the ideological differences between Iran’s young population and the country’s theocratic leadership, Sardari said, “It’s not a gulf, it’s an ocean [ . . . ] With innovation, technology, the internet, people are more connected and share ideas with each other, so that’s why there’s this gap.” 

Sardari added that the government seems to not want to accept the fact that the young generation is thinking differently and that they want different values in their lives. He concluded by saying that Iran’s young population is more accepting of diversity of thought, opinion, and expression. 

What radical disability justice can teach us about care

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Peak Web
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Two people hugging under blankets
PHOTO: Ron Lach / Pexels

By: C Icart, Staff Writer

The pandemic has been ongoing for over two years, and every possible conversation about masking has been had. All sides have expressed their reasoning, and at this point, with no mandates or requirements to self-isolate — it’s all up to “personal choice.” Now, many of us are choosing ourselves over anything else. Not even our own health, but our own comfort and “right” to go back to “normal.” I’m not looking to scare people with facts about the current, rather bleak, COVID-19 situation. This is much bigger than COVID-19 alone. I’m asking: what if we cared?

Caring for ourselves and others starts with caring about ourselves and others. The pressure to be self-sufficient tells us we can take care of ourselves alone: that healing and wellness comes from within. Mainstream mental health discourse teaches us all we need is a therapist and a warm bath. These are solutions that are inaccessible for some and simply unhelpful for others. Don’t get me wrong, self-care is incredibly important and counselling has helped so many people. But, the truth is we need each other and should show up for each other. Just because we can, and because people are born deserving of care. Care is not transactional. It’s not about what we get out of it. Some of us need more than we can give, and vice-versa. We need community care.

The pandemic has really put into perspective that health is not individual. Healthcare is communal. A community care model challenges ableist stigmas about being a burden when you ask for help, and rejects the idea that people who need care should deal with it in an individualized way that doesn’t disturb others. Activist Leah Lakshmi Piepzna-Samarasinha asks the following question in their book, Care Work: Dreaming Disability Justice: “How do we create care webs that are fair to all parties involved, without people being afraid to request and receive assistance?”

Unfortunately, many lives are shaped by “failures of care.” Failures of care are when attempts to provide care don’t meet individual needs. In the face of these failures, disabled, queer, trans, racialized, and otherwise marginalized folks have found ways to come together and develop care practices for survival. Exclusion from society-at-large shouldn’t shape someone’s experience of care, or lack thereof. Reimagining community care is about solidarity for everyone. That requires a shift in how we understand the concept of care. 

Community care means giving what you can, when you can. It could look like volunteering with a local organization, or simply being conscious of the needs your friends and acquaintances might have. A community care model encourages people to seek and give support. No one should be afraid to ask for help.  

When faced with the possibility of making a space more accessible, we should take it because we care. When faced with the opportunity to wear a mask or get vaccinated, we should do it because we care. When you can donate to a GoFundMe campaign, make a sick friend a meal, or meaningfully check in with someone who’s been going through a difficult time — you should, because you care. 

Canada has no intention to reduce its carbon emissions

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Peak Web
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industrial plant with smoke
PHOTO: Ella Ivanescu / Unsplash

By: Evan Eschelmuller, SFU Student

Canada has plans to be “net-zero” by 2050, which means cutting greenhouse gas emission rates to as low as possible. Beyond that, the country intends to cut its emissions to roughly half of 2005 levels by 2030. How is this possible given Canada’s proposed increase of domestic oil and gas production and expansion projects? In short — it isn’t possible. Canada is not on pace to reduce its emissions to stated targets. And, even if we were to meet our specific goals, the way countries count emissions is impeding our ability to reduce emissions globally.

Typically, a country’s CO2 emissions are measured based on domestic production. This means that Canada, like other countries, measures its carbon footprint by assessing only CO2 emitted at home. As a result, Canada produces oil and gas for other countries to emit, while claiming we’re reducing emissions. We see this with Canadian oil companies committing to be “net-zero,” while still producing fossil fuels for global consumers.

This system is problematic for a couple of reasons. The currently rising global temperature means we’re in store for a range of increasingly bad climate change related issues in the coming decades, and we know CO2 emissions have a direct impact on climate change. Given our government’s subpar efforts to combat carbon emissions, we won’t be able to keep the global temperature rise below 1.5C compared to pre-industrial levels. There’s also a problem with the incentive structure of “going green:” since oil and gas will be produced on smaller levels in the coming years, corporations are rushing to be one of the last few producers. Because other countries have lower emissions targets, companies will provide them with fossil fuels for as long as possible. 

Allowing fossil fuel producers to misrepresent the full scope of their emissions by excluding global exports incentivises production and expansion projects. This system encourages everyone to continue producing fossil fuels, and even expand their production, as long as their emissions on the production side of things decrease dramatically. When individual oil and gas producers all have this same incentive, the sum total of these emissions will be disastrous for the planet. 

Why are we doing things this way? Surely it’s not lost on policymakers that emissions in one region affect the entire planet’s climate. We may be in this situation in part due to the fossil fuel industry lobbying governments for more friendly policies for themselves. For example, there’s been an increasing number of fossil fuel lobbyists at the annual UN Conference of the Parties (COP) climate conference, with over 600 in attendance this year at COP27. Regardless of the causes, we need to rethink the way we measure emissions globally. The current system doesn’t do enough to disincentivize fossil fuel producers from continuing and expanding production. Instead, corporations should be incentivized to move away from fossil fuels entirely. This could be achieved by phasing out government fossil fuel subsidies and replacing them with renewable energy subsidies.

A radical shift away from fossil fuels will be necessary if we want a livable planet. This will be difficult, especially for countries whose economies rely on fossil fuels. That being said, it’s hard to see what other options we have. Anything other than a radical shift towards renewable energy, and global downscaling of oil and gas, will leave our planet in an unrecognizable state. The fossil fuel industry’s lobbying power needs to be addressed. Canada also needs to take responsibility for the emissions we produce, whether they’re emitted at home or abroad. Failure to do so will leave future generations paying heavy costs so current generations can continue living comfortably. None of the options here are easy, but the current path we are on is not sustainable — the sooner we admit this, the better. 

Provincial funding for clean technology development at SFU

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Peak Web
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This is a photo of the academic quadrangle at the SFU Burnaby campus. In front of the building is students sitting on the green grass.
PHOTO: Allyson Klassen / The Peak

By: Pranjali J Mann, News Writer

SFU’s 4D LABS and Big Data Hub are set to receive a research investment of $2.6 million. The investment will provide new equipment and facility upgrades to support research in “clean technologies late-stage testing.” This comes from the Government of Canada’s agency, PacifiCan, situated in BC to improve innovation and growth in the province’s economy. 

Under the Regional Innovation Ecosystem program, the funding prioritizes “innovation and inclusive growth.” This means the project will provide specific support to “hiring and training of under-represented groups, including Indigenous peoples, women, and youth.” The announcement ceremony saw in attendance minister of international development, Harjit Sajjan, and member of parliament and parliamentary secretary minister of finance, Terry Beech.  

As outlined in the SFU News, a sum of $600,000 will go towards core facility building, increasing the “capacity of the university’s Supercomputer Cedar, including 12 high-performance computers for its computing lab.” Cedar is one of Canada’s largest advanced research infrastructure for data-intensive research and data mining. 

This investment will work to enable more employment and help “small and medium sized BC businesses increase productivity and remain competitive.” Sajjan said, “Universities, like Simon Fraser University, are often the birthplace of ideas, such as innovations that leverage the power of clean technology. The government’s support for the Centre for Environmental and Food Analysis will support the local clean technology ecosystem and help municipalities and Indigenous communities adopt green technologies.” 

Beech, an SFU alumni, also appreciated this announcement and noted its long-term positive community impacts. He stated, “Supporting environmentally friendly initiatives will build our economy while creating high-skilled, well paying jobs. The government is committed to making Canada a world leader in sustainable innovation, science, and technology.” 

The 4D LABS will use the investment to establish the Centre for Environmental and Food Analysis. In combined efforts between local municipalities and Indigenous communities, the Centre for Environmental and Food Analysis will work in commercialization and utilization of clean and green technologies. The idea is to innovate technologies provincially, with the possibility of expanding into global markets. 

SFU’s vice-president, research and international, Dugan O’Neil welcomed the investment. “The new Centre for Environmental and Food Analysis will train researchers with valuable skills for the agritech, clean tech, and clean resources sectors, while expansion of our big data capacities will serve the growing Canadian research community.” 

Structural issues causing moral distress for women in the health care industry

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Peak Web
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This is a photo of a woman working in a health care room. The woman appears to be doing a surgical procedure based on her clothes, but no patient is shown in the photo.
PHOTO: Artur Tumasjan / Unsplash

By: Pranjali J Mann, News Writer

A recent study conducted by SFU health sciences assistant professor, Julia Smith, found women in health care experienced increased moral distress during the pandemic. 

During COVID-19, staffing shortages and a lack of access to necessary equipment — like personal protective equipment (PPE) kits and masks — was found to increase moral distress in 2020 and 2021. The study also indicated that “at home, women experienced moral constraints related to inability to support children’s education and well-being.” 

Moral distress, a central theme of the research, pointed to a situation “when you know the ethically correct action to take, but you are constrained from taking it.” According to the study, women in the healthcare industry were constrained in their ability to provide quality care to COVID-19 patients due to existing flaws in the health care system like worker shortage and “increasing privatization and marketization of health care.” These factors left them feeling distressed with the inability to cope with crises.  

The researchers mapped out four forms of participant challenges “related to moral events which were categorized as constraints, conflicts, dilemmas, or uncertainties.” The study data was gathered through individual and focus group interviews among 88 health care providers in British Columbia. The research was published last month in Nursing Ethics. 

The study implements framework analysis methodology. This qualitative research method is used in public and health policy research where research findings from interviews are categorized into a “corresponding participant and theme.” Through the interviews, Smith and the research associates found that women health care providers feel “double distress.” This dilemma comes from the many responsibilities women in health care face — they often also provide care for their families at home, in addition to the their care-oriented professions. 

To find out more about this research, The Peak interviewed Smith. She underlined the importance of studying the case of women health care workers in the pandemic. 

Smith said, “We focused on women because the majority of healthcare workers identify as women and also we recognize that women in Canada tend to do more unpaid care work.” Women healthcare workers simultaneously provided a workforce and cared for families, thus doing “two to three times more unpaid care work than men.”  

She also identified a lack of research in this field — understanding moral distress, constraints, and unpaid labour provided by women health care providers. Unpaid labor includes “work required to maintain the household — from chores such as grocery shopping, cooking and cleaning, to taking care of the children, sick, and elderly within the family.” This kind of work is usually not compensated by wages and often expected to be performed by women. 

She illustrated the participants felt moral distress because they were required to work overtime in COVID-19 related shortages. This resulted in less family time for child care, mental burnout, and physical exhaustion. “It’s the multiple burdens that have this dramatic effect,” said Smith. 

According to SFU News, “supervisors or managers were too distanced from the realities of care work” and were not flexible for working conditions as childcare closures occurred at the height of the pandemic. Uncertainty was also key during this time as correct ways to care for the patients was unclear. 

Smith called for systemic changes to increase investment in health care as a whole, along with other industries like childcare. She suggested some individual coping strategies as well. She said, “Not all the healthcare workers we spoke to had access to counselling, had the resources to pay for counselling, for example. So I think what we need to see in terms of broader changes would be policies to ensure adequate staffing including increased pay raises, better conditions of work in order to attract people to these sectors.” 

To learn more about Smith’s study, visit the Nursing Ethics journal.

Our current pandemic response doesn’t add up

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Features
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Man in a blue shirt and wearing a blue mask in an airplane

By Hana Hoffman, SFU Student

Do the new COVID-19 measures make sense?

There are many different sources that provide the country with information on COVID-19. In some cases, announcements about COVID-19 from different officials and politicians contradict each other. Theresa Tam, Chief Public Health Officer, is talking about bivalent vaccines and staying up to date with booster shots. Meanwhile, the government dropped COVID-19 border requirements for anyone entering Canada. On one end, the message is to stay vigilant. On the other hand, it appears Canada is dropping their guard against COVID-19. How is the population supposed to stay informed when the government and public health officials are taking two very different approaches?

On September 26, the Government of Canada announced they would drop multiple COVID-19 measures related to the border, masks, and vaccines on October 1st. However, hospitalizations this year are largely higher than 2020 or 2021. New variants that are better at evading immunity make us question the abandoned precautions. Canada is in a new phase of the ongoing pandemic, but many have asked why we are lifting restrictions on social media in light of the evolving situation. Twitter’s “#BringBackMasks” hashtag speaks on why mask-wearing and booster shots are still necessary for personal and public safety, especially as we shift into the flu season.

Health Officer Dr. Bonnie Henry and Health Minister Adrian Dix discussed their strategy to keep COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations as low as possible through the flu season. But isn’t this contradictory? They’re saying they need to prepare for a rise in cases while not providing preventative principles to do so. If they had determined it was safe to stop COVID-19 precautions, why should there be concern for the rising cases? This summer already saw BC’s emergency rooms struggle with staff shortages and closures.  This is causing confusion.

It was recently reported that Dr. Henry knowingly downplayed the threat of COVID-19 transmission in schools. So how are we supposed to trust the current guidelines are in the best interest of our health?

Since the pandemic began, the Government of Canada has gone from requiring proof of a negative COVID-19 test and a two-week quarantine to requiring travellers to use the ArriveCan app prior to entry. This app was originally used to compile data from travellers entering Canada, to verify their vaccination status.

Now, they have dropped all restrictions to allow people to cross the border without the ArriveCan health declaration, proof of vaccination, random testing, and quarantine or isolation. In addition, health checks and masks are no longer mandatory on trains, flights, and cruises. In March 2020, the idea of isolation to help slow down the spread of the virus and make COVID-19 tracing much easier was introduced to the public — we now know isolation and mass testing are proven strategies to reduce transmission.

Throughout the past year, the Omicron variant dominated the majority of infections. As COVID-19 mutated, vaccines became less effective against this new variant. Measures like reinstating the requirement for negative PCR results for travellers, as well as almost doubling on-arrival testing were taken. This constant back and forth, switching from semi-lockdowns to calms, has caused those affected the most by the pandemic to lose trust in the public health officers and compromised the ability for the general population to stay informed.

The House of Commons health committee is preparing for a possible mutant that could dodge all current vaccines. Transmission and infection is one of the dangers of a constantly mutating virus, as current COVID-19 vaccines do not grant sterilizing immunity, therefore we can still transmit and be infected with COVID-19.

The consequences don’t end at a COVID-19 infection. Those who didn’t present any symptoms while infected might still develop long COVID — which causes long-term symptoms experienced weeks or even months after first getting sick. This causes a different set of issues than the flu-like symptoms of COVID-19. Long COVID can affect the organs and the immune system long-term. It is capable of affecting people of all ages, regardless of previous health and vaccination status. CTV News interviewed Adriana Patino, someone who has suffered from lung damage, heart damage, and fatigue after her infection. Even as a former 37-year-old competitive swimmer with a healthy lifestyle, she still needs treatments and therapy.

Canada’s public health services state there is no cure for long COVID at the moment, and Statistics Canada has counted almost one and a half million adults in Canada experiencing this. Plus, it is predicted that out of everyone who has gotten the virus, between 10–20%  of them are prone to acquire long-term conditions, according to the World Health Organization.

Whether or not Canadians are aware of how likely it is to suffer from long COVID, the government should consider informing them — and easing restrictions would do the opposite of trying to prevent it.

Why did the government suddenly drop all of these precautions and make it seem like we are now safe from the virus? Especially when at the same time, other health officials are warning us about possible new waves and variants. How do they expect the population to listen to their advice and recommendations? This causes continuing confusion and mixed feelings for the public. Many are tired of having to follow restrictions after being in this situation for almost three years, and it doesn’t help if the government isn’t clear or transparent about the pandemic. Canada needs to prioritize a strategy that includes clear communication, information to the public, and measures to truly protect the public.

Dear SFU: Please make safety a priority this winter season

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Peak Web
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snow covered sidewalk at SFU Burnaby
PHOTO: Kriti Monga / The Peak

By: Olivia Visser, Opinions Editor

While our campus boasts beautiful mountain views and great sunset-watching spots, it stands no chance against the snowstorms we see every couple of years in BC. Winter can be incredibly dangerous in this province, no matter where you are. Few people want to, or even can, commute up a mountain in a blizzard. Many students without commuter horror stories can remember an accident or near-miss on Burnaby Mountain during the winter months. SFU needs to keep safety a priority for students this upcoming season. 

Burnaby Mountain has an elevation of 370 metres. That might not sound very high compared to other mountains, but it’s enough to significantly lower the average temperature. This means Burnaby Mountain sees more snow than the surrounding areas, and the snow sticks around for longer periods. 

For commuters, heavy snow brings forth a multitude of challenges. Traveling by foot takes longer, and poses safety hazards. Many disabled people simply can’t safely navigate the ice and snow due to blocked ramps, entryways, and ice-covered sidewalks. Buses also face delays, and even suspend their service for safety concerns. This affected students most recently in 2020 and 2021, when commuters were stuck on the mountain with no way home after classes were cancelled too late. That same morning, SFU insisted “operations and classes are proceeding as normal.” It seems to be a yearly occurrence, as the university consistently fails to prepare for the weather and prioritize student safety. These situations can force people to walk their way down the mountain, unless you’re as lucky as I was in 2020 to find a ride with a friend. I remember watching him push a smaller car out of its snow-covered parking spot, with a line of vehicles behind waiting for their chance. It took us over three hours to get home, after a two hour commute to class.

Other students have posted in SFU-related social media groups about their injuries. One person said they “wiped out twice” on campus and their friend sprained their ankle. Some commenters suggested filing a report to facilities services, while others said they allegedly got an insufficient response, or no response, from the university when they tried. 

These types of winter complications are a big part of what led to the Burnaby Mountain gondola project. Hopefully the gondola will increase accessibility and reduce some of the risks associated with winter travel. However, the project was proposed as one of TransLink’s “Transport 2050: 10 Year Priorities” plan, meaning we still have years of waiting before we can use the gondola. In the meantime, there are steps the university can take to protect students’ safety.

On November 8, SFU made a Facebook post about safe walking in snowy conditions. They said to “keep your arms and hands free and steady,” and “take small steps,” among other instructions. This advice certainly helps, especially for those commuting from even worse weather conditions. However, if walkspaces aren’t safe enough on campus — shouldn’t the school be closed until they are? 

I know it was just a pre-emptive post intended to help us, but the university still needs to prioritize student safety in their decision-making heading into December. It takes a lot of work to keep the entire campus cleared and salted during heavy snow, which is why classes should be cancelled or moved online when safe conditions can’t be maintained. While this is technically already the school’s policy, it hasn’t been followed effectively in the past. Let’s stop repeating the same mistakes. Please, SFU: I want to be inside for the next Snowmageddon — not braving the storm.

SFU Archives curates beer archives

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Peak Web
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This is a photo of part of the SFU beer archives collection. Various beer memorabilia and artifacts are shown.
PHOTO: Pranjali J Mann / The Peak

By: Pranjali J Mann, News Writer

SFU Archives and Record Management is beginning a beer collection to trace the history of breweries in the province. The collections will include records of various local breweries and their documentation, breweriana, and advertising material.

The information and archives include over 160 years of brewing history in BC. As stated by What’s Brewing, SFU will be creating this collection alongside its existing rich collections of “women’s history, social activism, social justice, and politics.” SFU Archives is looking to acquire some “external materials and records from the public,” as well. 

To learn more about the collection, The Peak interviewed Melanie Hardbattle, SFU Archives’ acquisitions and outreach activist. Hardbattle noted community engagement for brewing history led her to this idea of creating a beer archive at SFU. 

Pointing to the shifts in brewing industry over the years, she said, “There’s been a lot of ebbs and flows over the years so we wanted to capture them. We noticed that nobody else, no other institutions, were acquiring material to document this, so we thought it was a good niche for us to get into.” Their collection comes from individual donors and organizations around BC.

The collection has been an ongoing effort which comes in time of the four decade anniversary of the first prominent brewery on mainland BC — Horseshoe Bay Brewing, which opened in 1982. 

As SFU News outlines, we are in the “golden age” of brewing in the province with many options for the consumers. In the 1900s, the brewing industry was monopolized in the hands of the “Big 3:” Molson, Labatt, and Carling-O’Keefe. In 1982, John Mitchell and Frank Appleton opened the microbrewery in Horseshoe Bay, which led to 220 breweries in BC. Microbreweries manufacture limited-production special beers. 

In reference to some beer labels from Whistler Brewery, Hardbattle mentioned, “Back in 1989, that’s one of the earliest craft breweries. It’s still going, but it’s changed ownership.” Hardbattle visited the brewery earlier this year. Appreciating its architecture in the manufacturing unit, she noted it was first equipped with German technology. SFU Archives managed to secure some initial hand-drawn marketing materials, logos, first opening invitations, and construction photos from Whistler Brewery.  

Hardbattle described packaging from “the first case of Granville Island Light that was produced. Everybody that was working on it, signed their names and dated it. So it’s a really cool piece of history.” 

Hardbattle collaborated with Campaign for Real Ale Society of British Columbia (CAMRA) in Victoria. One of the central collections of CAMRA is Greg Evans, a BC beer historian. Some of Evans’ collections will now be available at SFU. Older central craft brewery collections from Michael James Jackson, Charles Finkel, Ed McNally, among others are also in the current archives. 

CAMRA was also home to related publications such as What’s Brewing, which are now part of SFU’s collection. What’s Brewing was one of the first newsletters for craft breweries, and served as a foundation for the SFU collection. There is also a simultaneous effort to digitize these records for research purposes. Currently, the SFU Archives team is working to make the collection available for student research projects and viewings.

Food for Thought: Hallacas tell a story of Venezuela

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Peak Web
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Hallacas wrapped in banana leaves and strings on a plate.

By: Michelle Young, Editor-in-Chief

Christmas smells like banana leaves. That’s because it’s a key ingredient in my family’s holiday meals, frequently consisting of pan de jamón, panettone, and hallacas. Every hallaca is different depending on the family who makes it. They primarily consist of some form of protein (mine are made of chicken, beef, and pork) stuffed into harina pan and wrapped into banana leaves. 

The guiso (filling) can vary depending on the spices used and whether you add olives, peppers, capers, or raisins. There are many ways to mix and match, and it is hardly a uniform recipe. While the origins of the name are unclear, some speculate it comes “from the union of the words ‘allá’ and ‘acá,’ which means ‘here’ and ‘there.’” Others say it came from the “Guarani language, stemming from the verb ‘ayua’ or ‘ayuar,’ meaning ‘to mix or blend.’” It’s also been reported that hallaca “means ‘package’ in the Indigenous Tupi-Guarani languages.” While it remains debated, each theory successfully captures a core aspect of the hallaca. 

There are a few different ideas around how hallacas came to be, but the most common I’ve heard is that those enslaved by the Spanish took food leftovers to create the unique mixture of hallacas. Conversely, today hallacas would be very difficult to find in Venezuela due to food shortages. It is hard to create even basic meals. The amount of ingredients — typically over 20 — required to make the guiso make it a luxury to enjoy an hallaca for Christmas. Even as a kid, I remember my mom going to a variety of different stores to collect the ingredients: hopping between T&T, Superstore, and Fruiticana. When my grandmother came to Canada to visit in 2019, she cried after seeing grocery stores stocked with food. She hadn’t had hallacas in many years. 

Of course, with my grandmother visiting, my mom and aunt set out to make hallacas with her. My grandmother sat at the kitchen table, meticulously cleaning the banana leaves, as my mom worked on the guiso. Typically, making hallacas requires all your aunts and uncles due to its long and strenuous process — in my experience, it takes around two days to make them, but this can also depend on how you prepare them and how many people you have in your family. You start by hand washing the banana leaves, trimming them, letting them dry, creating the guiso and letting it cook for a number of hours, slice a trillion vegetables, prepare the masa, put it all together, and neatly tie it up like a little present. 

Tying the hallacas themselves is a skill in itself — getting the tie pattern correctly and making sure it’s not too loose or too tight is an artform. This is so important, it birthed the phrase, “una hallaca mal amarrada” (a poorly-tied hallaca) to mean something that looks ugly or out-of-place. 

My grandmother watched carefully to see how the family recipe was recreated. When I came home that evening, I found my mom and grandmother fuming over the hallacas. My mom had a giant pot of guiso ready, and my grandmother had been demanding she pick out the olives one-by-one to slice them, as she hadn’t done so before putting them in the pot. As difficult as hallacas are, each family has details that make the recipe their own. 

Once they’re ready, you can freeze them for the rest of December and take them out to boil when you want to eat one. There’s nothing like a hot steaming hallaca plopped onto your plate during the holidays. You untie the strings, unwrap the banana leaves, and you will find a plump masa with all the spices, veggies, and meat you could imagine. 

Hallacas use “elements from the three major groups that were brought together as a result of Spanish colonization and the slave trade.” This included corn flour from the Americas, “a baroque stew which includes olives, capers, almonds and raisins from Spain, and plantain leaves” that came from Europeans who had previously colonized Africa. 

Hallacas, like many Venezuelans, have migrated to neighbouring countries, the US, and Canada. They serve as a cultural connection, and making hallacas is a cultural experience in itself. Now found in the homes of Venezuelan diaspora, the iconic food reflects the diversity of Venezuelans and their history showcases the changing nature of the Venezuelan economy and identity. 

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Simon Fraser University’s independent student newspaper since 1965.

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© The Peak Publications Society

Simon Fraser University’s independent student newspaper since 1965.

For advertising inquiries: [email protected]
For promotional inquiries: [email protected]

© The Peak Publications Society