On January 23, SFU announced plans to close their Vancity Office of Community Engagement (VOCE), and Surrey’s Office of Community Engagement. The university cited budget challenges as the reason. Both programs served to connect SFU with broader communities. VOCE “has supported creative engagement, knowledge democracy, and access to arts and culture.” The office hosted events in the Downtown Eastside, establishing connections to the arts and culture scene. Since its inception in 2010, VOCE has established over 20 community partners and held over 100 discussions each year. The office also collaborated with SFU’s School for the Contemporary Arts (SCA) to host…
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In a meeting last July, former CEO and chief librarian of the Vancouver Public Library Christina de Castell prohibited the library’s staff from wearing watermelon pins representing solidarity with Palestine. The decision came after the VPL received a number of…
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Owning a home is a dream for many in today’s society. Yet, have we ever paused to consider when the pursuit of home ownership becomes less about affording a house and more about owning land? Who benefits from that, and…
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Passion was palpable among the artists present at the Vancouver Firecracker Department launch on Saturday, September 28. Initially a podcast created by award-winning actor Naomi Snieckus, the Firecracker Department grew into an international community of women and gender-non-conforming people “empowering…
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On July 18, the BC government launched a website to “better protect renters from being evicted in bad faith.” When evicting a tenant for landlord use, landlords are now required to use the website to document information, such as who…
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SFU’s recent ongoing layoffs have impacted “nearly 100 employees, including instructors, administrative support staff, and custodial workers across all three campuses,” according to the Simon Fraser Student Society (SFSS). Following the layoffs, the Woodward’s Cultural Programs were cut after 15…
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Content warning: mentions of death and overdose, colonialism, and intergenerational trauma. The BC government received approval to recriminalize illicit substance use in public spaces, one and a half years into a decriminalization pilot. Advocates from the Harm Reduction Nurses Association…
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The StoryGraph is a free book cataloguing app that caters to every book-lover’s needs. If you’re new to using book apps to track your reading habits, this is a user-friendly space to start. True to its name, the StoryGraph creates…
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Content warning: mentions of substance-use and related deaths. In January of this year, Health Canada announced an exemption to the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act. The Controlled Drugs and Substances Act aims to address the ongoing epidemic of toxic drug…
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On September 27, BC provincial health officer, Dr. Bonnie Henry, and health minister, Adrian Dix, announced mandatory masking would be re-established in healthcare environments as COVID-19 cases are rising at a rapid rate. Starting October 3, masks became mandatory once…
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