Born out of tragedy, White Ribbon Campaign seeks transformation

Centennial College staffers Chris Terry (left) and Steve Starr perform at the East York campus’ White Ribbon fundraiser, held on Dec. 3. (Photo by Seljan Gryphon)

As the Montreal Massacre had its second anniversary in 1991, three men in Toronto sat around their kitchen table.

They decided that men must have a role and responsibility in working to end men’s violence against women.

Back when there wasn’t a ribbon for every cause, they came up with the symbol of a white ribbon and the pledge that is still used today by the White Ribbon Campaign. A pledge for men to never commit, condone or remain silent about violence against women.

The men were Ron Sluser, Michael Kaufman and Jack Layton.

Todd Minerson, executive manager of the White Ribbon Campaign, says the initiative has grown enormously since its conception 17 years ago.

“We used to be a one-week-a-year awareness campaign, but we now work 365 days a year on men’s engagement to end violence against women,” he said. “During the year we’re really focused on two of our five priority areas, which are raising awareness on the issue of violence against women and one that’s really important to us – working with young people.”

The traditional campaign focus started on Nov. 25, the United Nations Day for the Eradication of Violence Against Women, and ran until Dec. 6, the anniversary of the Montreal Massacre and the Canadian National Day of Remembrance and Action on Violence Against Women.

Minerson said the biggest contribution the campaign can make for real transformation around this issue is to work on prevention. Areas of focus for the campaign include challenging men and boys on their actions and attitudes about violence against women, education on the consequences of being silent about such violence and the role men can play in the promotion of gender equality.

“Over the course of the year, we’re also focused on the international role that we play,” he said. “We now have activities that take place in 57 different countries around the world, coordinated out of our office in Toronto with a staff of five.”

Minerson believes the campaign to be an amazing Canadian success story. The idea, arising from tragedy, was a real moment in time for Canada to think about these issues, he said. Almost two decades later, the white ribbon is a symbol used around the globe for men who care about the women in their lives, the amount of violence they face, and who are committed to doing something about it.

Even though the Toronto headquarters supports work being done in other countries, it has a very decentralized motto. Organizers believe men and boys working abroad are in a much better position to deal with their country’s specific issues.

“We think the communities around the world really know best the ways to engage boys in their own community,” Minerson said. “They also know best the dynamics of the issues around and certainly they know best the specific cultural issues and the language requirements to do that work effectively.”

Currently the campaign is working on a collaborative project between Canada and Brazil. Other international projects include exploring possibilities in countries such as Sri Lanka and Pakistan. Locally, it runs youth education programs and campaigns centered on mentoring and promoting healthy relationships in the lives of young men. To run these programs, the campaign is always in need of financial help from the public.

“Primarily we rely on donations,” Minerson said. “We do have some funding for specific projects that we run from different levels of government. But for the ongoing support of our work, donations from the public are hugely important to us being able to keep doing this.”

Participation from colleges and universities is one of the major ways the campaign works to spread the word. Campuses organize events during the campaign to raise awareness and funding. Centennial College’s campus in East York was one of many to chip in this year.

Aside from selling white ribbons and putting up posters to do its share, the campus also organized a concert for students and faculty to show off their talent and get involved at the same time.

As stage manager, Steve Starr organized the talent and their sets, as well as stage setup, the equipment, and the general flow of the show. In addition to helping people become familiar with the issues, the concert highlights students’ talents, he said.

“It’s to help raise awareness among students and raise a little bit of money for the cause as well by selling food at the concert,” he said. “This is the third year we’ve done this and we’re going to try to make it a yearly thing even though everyone is really busy this time of year.”

Former Centennial College journalism student Ashkon Hobooti, 22, played an acoustic set at the concert for the second year in a row. Hobooti said it was a very rewarding experience for him to know he contributed to an important cause.

“Things like this deserve not only funding but attention,” he said. “I’m really happy I can do my part to help out.”

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Published Dec.7.2008, in the The Toronto Observer

Obama Kool-Aid not for everybody

With the dust now settling after the American elections, Obamamania has receded somewhat — but, for a while there, the whole world was caught up in it, and East York was no exception. As the Observer reported right after the vote, bar-goers along the Danforth seemed as happy watching election returns on CNN as they ordinarily would be watching the Maple Leafs on TSN.

Most Canadians, young and old, sentimentally sided with Barack Obama from the beginning of the race — the first major U.S. presidential candidate of African-American descent. But he also received phenomenal support all over the world, from so many people he has little in common with… and that itself is worth pondering.

The media regularly demonized Republican John McCain during his campaign while turning Obama into the Second Coming. Partially as a result, never has there been an American president elected whom people know so little about — but have glorified so much. (And this may be the president with the least experience of any.)

Obama did not even finish his first term in the U.S. Senate before deciding he wanted to be president. Who does this guy think he is?

Nevertheless, a quick and unscientific survey around this community reveals that most East Yorkers who support Obama have no idea of what his election platform actually consisted of.

They don’t know that he’s never renounced the principle of pre-emptive war, the basis for George Bush’s attack on Iraq — a country that, we now know, was no imminent threat to America. They don’t know that he has serious reservations about free trade with Canada and other countries — nor that he plans to spend even more money on the U.S. military than McCain would have.

Yes, Obama wants to leave Iraq, but people don’t know that he could actually preside over an expansion of the so-called war on terror; he’s broadly hinted that U.S. forces can go into Pakistan to chase down the Taliban — just like Bush.

They also don’t know that he’s promised to keep fighting Bush’s Afghan war more vigorously, even after Stephen Harper’s announcement that Canadian troops will leave by 2011. And many of Obama’s supporters believe he’ll resolve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, but so far he has shown little desire to change his country’s long-standing and decidedly pro-Israel policy.

In short, Obama’s name has become synonymous with hope and change, even though his approach to international relations may not be so different from McCain’s or Bush’s. Will America really become more peace-loving, as Obama supporters believe, or will it be more of the status quo with a gentler face?

The media and public’s love affair with Obama must end now that he has been elected president. Instead, both inside and outside the United States, journalists should cover his presidency through a critical lens and the public should learn what Obama’s policies actually are — instead of just wearing his T-shirts and shouting, “Yes we can!”

The truth is, only time will tell what kinds of changes Obama will make for his country and this world. For now, it seems that the expectations around his presidency are possibly more than any man could ever achieve.

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Published Nov.21.2008, editorial in the The East Toronto Observer

Energy economy the way forward for NDP leadership hopeful

Pushing for a “new energy economy” will be a top priority if Peter Tabuns becomes the next leader of Ontario’s New Democratic Party.

The MPP for Toronto-Danforth launched his leadership campaign in front of a large crowd of supporters at the Jimmie Simpson Recreation Centre on Queen Street East on Oct. 26.

Tabuns wants to eliminate Ontario’s addiction to imported energy and create new jobs in renewable energy such as wind and solar power.

“Ontario is on a tightrope, strung high above a rust belt future,” he said. “If we want to change that future, we need to change the NDP.”

If Ontarians want a manufacturing future while tackling problems like climate change, he’s the man for the job, he added. As former executive director of Greenpeace Canada, Tabuns says he has the background and the understanding of what it will take to “future-proof the province” against environmental damage and economic uncertainty.

“More than anything, energy will decide whether Ontario rusts or prospers in the decades ahead,” he said.  “We need to change course. Ontario’s dangerous coal habit and dependence on financially ruinous nuclear power must come to an end.”

Tabuns said he plans to use the initiative of a “new energy economy as a central organizing principle” to bring together workers and environmentalists in a common cause.

Cheri DiNovo, MPP for Parkdale-High Park, said Ontario has Dalton McGuinty to thank for the loss of 230,000 manufacturing jobs and rising poverty. She supports Tabuns’ candidacy and said he’s the best man to bring change to the NDP.

“This is a man who was the executive director of Greenpeace,” she said. “I think in moving forward, our party needs to have that green agenda, a really solid economic plan and needs to think positively about the future and Peter is the man.”

Tabuns is running against MPPs Gilles Bisson (Timmons-James Bay), Michael Prue (Beaches-East York) and Andrea Howarth (Hamilton Centre). The leadership convention to replace outgoing leader Howard Hampton takes place in Hamilton on March 6-8.

Photo by Tom Stoukas

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Published Oct. 28, 2008 in The Toronto Observer

Reliance of Food Bank rises with cost of living

Who’s Hungry 2008: Profile of Hunger in the GTA, released by the Daily Bread Food Bank, says the usage of food banks in the Greater Toronto Area has increased by five per cent since last year. This is the eighth consecutive year of increased usage.

Gail Nyberg, executive director of the Daily Bread Food Bank, says the rising price of gas and food has a lot to do with this increase. She says more and more people in the work force are falling behind on their financial obligations due to being paid salaries that are too low to make a comfortable living, despite making more than minimum wage.

“Salaries are not increasing quickly and the cost of rent and housing in this city and in the GTA is astronomical,” she said. “So those are some of the reasons (food bank usage has increased). (With) gas prices, house prices and food prices, salaries (are) not keeping up”

She said 98 per cent of people who use food banks have a place to live, but after paying for all their expenses, do not have enough money left over to buy food. Most people on welfare make in the neighbourhood of $500 but pay about $400 a month in rent for a room they cannot even cook in, she said.

Although the usage use of food banks has gone up by 90 per cent since 1995, Nyberg says both the New Democratic Party and the Liberal Party have good plans around poverty and could implement helpful changes.

“To tell you the truth, I don’t have a lot of hope for Mr. Harper. Should he become a majority, he could do some damage,” she said. “When Mike Harris and those Conservatives came in, I can tell you they made it worse and we saw our numbers double in 1995.”

Gerard Kennedy, the Liberal candidate for Parkdale-High Park, says people don’t realize that just the increase in gas prices can tip them over the edge financially. He believes the provincial government is very sincere about their strategy to remedy the situation.

Kennedy says it is not only the provincial government that needs to respond to this problem.

“The federal government can have a role and we’re going to make that happen (if elected) through the working income tax credit, the new child benefit and an increase in the Guaranteed Income Supplement for seniors,” he said.

Brian McInnis of the NDP says their target is eliminating poverty in Canada completely by 2025. The NDP plans to cut child poverty in half and reduce overall poverty by 35 per cent in the first five years. They also intend to increase Child Tax Benefit from $3,271 to $5,000.

Nyberg says people do not realize they can make a difference by going out and voting. It makes good sense for everyone to read up on what the parties stand for, no matter how helpless people feel she said.

“They need to read the literature to find out which party would be helpful to the little guy,” she said. “Especially those people with low income…need to get out there and vote.”

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Published Oct. 3, 2008 in The Toronto Observer

Toronto retailer says coffee cup ban ‘unrealistic’

Earlier this month, the City of Toronto discussed a crackdown on coffee cups and take-out food containers. Toronto wants to divert 70 per cent of garbage from landfill by 2010, but many in the food service industry feel that an outright ban on take-out containers and poly-lined cups would have disastrous effects on them.

Tim Horton’s vice-president of senior affairs Nick Javor says expecting their customers to make such a drastic change in their daily routines won’t work.

“A large part of our business is predicated on people using take-out cups. So to have that be banned would be outrageous,” he said.

Javor is frustrated that the poly-lined cups are not acceptable in the blue bins in Toronto, while other municipalities such as Owen Sound and Windsor have recycling and composting programs specifically for those products.

“In Ontario, 50 per cent of the entire cost of recycling…is charged back to the industry and …we pay into this fee…, but our packaging is not recovered in all blue boxes across Ontario,” he said.

Javor says even in municipalities that have recovery programs for such items, the company still has to pay a private hauler to transport the recyclables to the existing facilities to be processed.

He added that his customers who bring their own travel mugs to Tim Horton’s receive a discount of 10 cents for each cup of coffee they purchase.

Stephanie Jones, vice-president of the Canadian Restaurant and Foodservices Association, says that the paper cup ban would drive up the costs for business operators.

“It will not…see us move very much closer to the 70 per cent waste diversion target of the City of Toronto,” she said. “We’re talking about…adding a tax to the City of Toronto consumer.”

Jones says the food-service industry is prepared to work with retailers to improve the recycling of rigid plastic containers, provided the city accepts them in the blue recycling bins.

Heather Marshall, a campaigner for the Toronto Environmental Alliance, says the city has limited power to control packaging waste. She said the city cannot control the design, but it is responsible for the waste.

“Municipalities across Ontario are spending millions of dollars managing waste,” she said. “I’m not too concerned if the industry has to spend a little bit more money to clean up their packaging.”

She said the city has successfully diverted 42 per cent of garbage. In order to reach 70 per cent by 2010, 250,000 tons of garbage must still be removed from the waste stream.

Marshall said reaching the target will definitely take industry support.

Jim Downham, president and CEO of the Packaging Association of Canada, is concerned with food safety and contamination prevention.

“You cannot say that everybody who brings their coffee cup into the coffee shop is going to have a clean and hygienic coffee cup. So who’s going to take that liability on?” he said. “I’ll tell you who’s going to get blamed – the people that make the coffee.”

Downham is also frustrated that the city won’t consider alternative solutions.

“Typically in places like Europe or Japan…they burn the waste, recover the energy and… reheat homes from it.”

The city’s bylaw to ban, tax or put a deposit on the paper cups will go before the Licensing and Standards Committee sometime in November. The public will have the opportunity to respond to the recommendation, verbally or in writing at the committee meeting.

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Published Oct. 4, 2008 in The Toronto Observer

Grocer still going the extra mile

How did people ever get their grocery shopping done years ago, when there weren’t two cars crowding every driveway – ready to take shoppers to market?

The IGA supermarket on Pape Avenue in East York still practises a long-lost tradition. This particular IGA has never even had a parking lot … but it makes up for it with a longstanding delivery service.

Store manager Tony Pavlou says he currently has three drivers, who deliver groceries to about 600 shoppers every week, for the price of $4.75 per delivery.

It still costs the store almost $40,000 each year.

“It’s costly but… it pays off because we get customers. We’re a busy store, so they come and shop here.”

And Pavlou says the amount of money it costs the store to do home deliveries is comparable to the amount of taxes and maintenance fees that other stores have to pay for their parking lots.

“We see this as a service to the customer; and also, the other big stores that have parking lots, they have to pay taxes and maintenance on their parking lots. It costs them probably $60-80,000 for those.”

John Psiharin, who has availed himself of Pape IGA’s delivery service for the last four years, thinks that it’s cheaper than having to pay for a taxi from the supermarket to his home.

“I would still shop here if they didn’t deliver,” he says. “The people are nice and I like the barbecue chicken.”

From an environmental perspective, the store promotes less pollution by encouraging all of those shoppers to leave their cars at home.

Michael Eddenden, 53, has been shopping at the IGA for about 10 years. He also believes that the fact people aren’t doing a lot of driving to the store to pick up their groceries, in turn, does the environment a favour.

“If they’re coming here to shop instead of driving across town, then the environment definitely directly benefits from that,” he said.

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Published Sep. 9, 2008, in The Toronto Observer

New blue bins get mixed reviews

Toronto’s new recycling bins have received mixed reviews from users since hitting the streets. While some seem to be happy with the new larger bins, others say the size of the containers make it more difficult for them to be moved around, or easily stored.

Robert Orpin, Director of Collection Operations for the city of Toronto, is a strong believer that the new system is both easier to use and more economical for the city.

“These bins allow us to dump them into the truck without anyone having to get out of the truck,” he said. “This way, there are less injuries, less energy wasted and it’s much more productive for the city.”

On the other hand, Scarborough Resident Michael Povolo, 20, feels that the bins are too large, inconvenient to store, and difficult to maneuver.

“They don’t really fit on the sidewalk and my driveway is too narrow to store [it],” he said. “And if I do store it there, I can’t drive out of my driveway later.”

Orpin says the bins may be new to Toronto, but have been used in many U.S. and European cities for years.

“With the introduction of these bins to the city, we’re hoping to add other recyclable items to the system, which is why we decided to go with this bin system,” said Orpin.

Residents do have a size option for the bins they receive, but if they fail to fill out a request, they automatically receive the largest size bins.

Povolo believes that the new bins will actually cost the city more rather than save money since someone will have to sort out the different types or recyclables thrown into one large bin.

“You’re throwing different materials into the same bin, so unless waste management separates the materials later, I don’t know how they can reuse what I throw in,” he said.

But there are other residents who are pleased with the size of the new bins.

North York resident Jason Pouliot, 21, believes that the bins make recycling easier because he will no longer need to separate the materials and can fit much more recyclables in the new bin.

“They aren’t that big so as long as you don’t put too much stuff in them, it works out fine,” he said. “I can see why the city decided to put the new bins into service, to make recycling easier on their part I think. It does seem like a bit of a waste of money, though.”

Orpin believes that although some residents may have problems with the size or the look of the new bins, for the majority of people, they should work out fine. He also thinks that the new bins a much better way to keep the city looking clean and livable.

“We realize that for the vast majority of people, they will work. You’ll see a lot less litter which will make the city look much cleaner,” said Orpin.

“Some people may have mobility issues with them, but they had the same issues with the blue and grey bins they have with these. We put wheels on these to make it easier for them.”

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Published Apr. 23, 2008 in The Toronto Observer

Meals on wheels looking for help

Since 1973, Meals on Wheels has been providing seniors in East York with meals and support but the organization has hit a roadblock. There are not enough volunteers.

Hasina Quader is the executive director of the program and has been working for Meals on Wheels since 1989. She hopes that more people will come forward to keep the valuable community service running.

“We used to have about 90 volunteers and about 70 active volunteers,” she says. “We need 60 to 65 volunteers a week to deliver meals six days of the week. Right now we have only 41 volunteers. So we have to keep asking the same people to volunteer more days.”

Quader believes that as well as providing seniors in the community with meals and companionship, the service also plays a role in keeping an eye on clients with health problems. In some cases the volunteer is the only person the client has any contact with for the whole day.

“When a volunteer goes to the home, if there’s no answer, they will let the office know and go on their regular route, she said. “On the way back, they will go and check on the same client again. If something is wrong, if the client appears sick or not quite themselves, we notify the family and take them to the hospital.”

Ian Forbes, 72, and his wife Pat have been volunteering for Meals on Wheels for the past 14 years. Forbes said that the program plays a role in bringing the community together as well as giving retired people something to do. He plans to volunteer as long as his health allows him to do so.

“People say that they haven’t got time to do it because volunteering takes too long, but it only takes a couple of hours a week. It’s not a lifetime commitment,” he says. “It doesn’t prevent people from going on vacation or doing other things.”

Quader says that one of the reasons it is difficult getting volunteers to sign up is because most people believe they need to have a car or a driver’s license to qualify as a volunteer.

“We pay out volunteers for their mileage, but there’s a misconception that you have to have a car and drive to volunteer here, but for a route, we need two people,” she says. “One person is the driver and the other person, the helper, takes the meals in to the clients.”

Patricia Jondreau, 81, has been a client of Meals on Wheels since 2001. She said she is very pleased with the quality of service as well as the different varieties of food, including specially prepared meals to suit the requirements of her diabetic diet.

“I look forward to the people coming every day even if it is for that two minutes of conversation. I enjoy their company, she says. “I wouldn’t be able to live here if I didn’t have them coming with my meals. I’d have to be in a nursing home.”

Jondreau says she recently became aware of the lack of volunteers in the program and hopes that more people will find out about the service and help out with this “worthy cause.”

“Believe me the ones that came with our meals through all that snow this winter, they’re heroes and every morning, they were here on time,” she said. “They really deserve medals, every one of them.”

Office co-ordinator Patricia Gough packs the meals that are ready to be delivered. The meals include a soup to start, a main course with a type of meat, mix of vegetables, potato and a bun, with a dessert to finish it off. (Photo by Seljan Gryphon)

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Published Mar. 28, 2008 in The East Toronto Observer

Bemma gets the full Monty

Adam Bemma, a journalism student at Centennial College's East York campus, has won the Ontario Association of Broadcasters' first Micheal Monty Award - for a combination of academic achievement, broadcast experience and community service. The award was presented on March 3. (Photo by Seljan Gryphon)

For most college students, the classroom is a place to gain practical knowledge to apply when entering the workforce. But for Adam Bemma, a third-year journalism student at Centennial College’s East York campus, the learning doesn’t stop there. By combining his studies with community activism, Bemma is blazing his own trail – and has just won an award for it.

“All in all, this young man has managed to successfully balance scholarship, citizenship and the practice of broadcast journalism in a way that reflects nobly both on himself and on our profession,” said Steve Cogan, one of Bemma’s teachers, in a letter of nomination for the Ontario Association of Broadcasters’ new Michael Monty Award.

And on March 3, Bemma became the first-ever recipient of the award, being recognized for outstanding academic achievement, along with involvement in broadcasting and extra-curricular activities.

“I think it’s quite the honour to be named the first recipient of the Michael Monty award. I thought it was a great opportunity to be nominated in the first place and to win is an added bonus,” Bemma said. “It just shows that a student at Centennial is just as good as a student at Ryerson or a student at Humber or any other journalism schools in Ontario, so I hope that this motivates other students at Centennial.”

The award is named after the late Michael Monty, an educator, broadcaster and Seneca College professor who challenged his students to get involved outside their studies and contribute to public service journalism. It was presented to Bemma at OAB Career Day 2008, where industry leaders came together to teach students how to get a foothold in the profession.

Bemma has brought two student service initiatives to Centennial’s Carlaw Avenue campus: STAND (Students Taking Action Now: Darfur) and JHR (Journalists for Human Rights). Both are inter-school organizations that raise awareness about human rights abuses around the world. He has also done volunteer work with PEN Canada, an organization that protects the freedom of expression of writers at home and abroad.

His work with STAND has taken him to Ottawa on several occasions to meet and discuss the humanitarian disaster in Darfur with policy makers on Parliament Hill – which he says has given him skills to deal with sometimes-elusive politicians.

“Hundreds of thousands of people have been killed, millions have been displaced in Darfur,” Bemma said, referring to the war-ravaged region of Sudan, in Africa. “We’re just trying to educate students across Canada about what’s happening so they can pressure their parliamentarians or their senators to get involved and take action and try to end what’s happening over there.”

Centennial College teaches broadcast news as part of its journalism program, and for the last two years, Bemma has applied the theory with practice at CIUT-FM, the University of Toronto’s radio station – where he’s worked as a reporter and producer.

“He’s very enthusiastic and has a very refreshing eye for stories. I don’t see that often,” said David Peterson, the station’s news director. “A lot of students come to work here and their skills are strong but what Adam brought to the table from the very beginning was very different.”

Bemma said he thinks that students need to be involved as much as possible in all aspects of journalism in order to succeed these days.

“The way journalism is now, you have to have experience in online, broadcast, print…. You have to know it all if you want to get hired. You’re not going to look appealing to any media organization if you don’t know what you’re doing.”

As for his future?

“I was thinking that after winning this award, the next could possibly be the Michener, then maybe the Pulitzer Prize,” he joked.

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Published Mar. 19, 2008, in The Toronto Observer

Prevention a sterile concept for health workers

Toronto hospitals use thousands of instruments for various procedures every day. Most patients assume the instruments meet sterilizations standards.

Statistics Canada says that precautionary procedures minimize the risk of transmitting infectious diseases through blood transfusions.

Joanne Matthews is administrative director for surgical services at Women’s College Health Sciences Centre. She confirms that in 2003, Sunnybrook and Women’s College Health Sciences Centre exposed 861 men to infections, including HIV and Hepatitis B and C. The infections occurred during prostate biopsies done with equipment that had not been properly sterilized.

“Sterilizing wasn’t the issue on that one,” she said. “One piece of equipment had not been cleaned properly. It was a pretty complex thing. It had channels that needed to be taken apart and cleaned, but no one realized that.”

Matthews believes that both Sunnybrook and Women’s College Health Sciences Centre have very strong infection prevention controls.

“When there’s new equipment coming in, it has to be signed off and they read the cleaning instructions from the company,” she said.

According to Matthews, hospitals also have procedures to track down patients they believe may have been exposed to certain infections.

“We do record sterilization loads, so we can track what patients become infected if the instrument has been used on them,” she said.

Since the 2003 scare at Sunnybrook and Women’s College, the Ministry of Health has launched a province-wide audit of infection-control procedures. But Eileen Devilla, associate medical officer of health for the Region of Peel, says there are ways for patients to protect themselves from certain infections even before setting foot in the hospitals.

“If there’s a vaccine available for a certain type of infection like Hepatitis B, one of the best things to do to protect yourself is to get immunized,” she said. “It’s safe and effective for health-care providers and the general public.”

Devilla says she takes sterilization of hospital instruments very seriously. When high-risk procedures are about to take place, she says patients should be tested for possible infections.

“When it comes to hospital prevention of infection, they have infection prevention and control teams. There are a lot of things that hospitals do to prevent infections,” Devilla said.

Devilla also said when it comes to proper sterilization practices, one of the most important things is to have qualified and dedicated staff specifically hired to engage in those activities.

“Human resources and proper policies and procedures are a must. What those would be, would depend on what clinical are that would be,” she said.

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Published Mar. 29, 2008, in The Toronto Observer

Hundreds killed in Chad in fierce gunfights

The rebels said government troops started the fighting. (photo courtesy of bbc.co.uk)

Hundreds of civilians died in gunfights in recent days between rebels and government forces in Chad, local Red Cross officials said Tuesday.

The officials, who were driving around the central African country’s capital N’Djamena looking for casualties, told the Associated Press they did not have an exact number of deaths.

A New York Sun report says Chad’s government told the French military it was fighting rebels using “air power” outside of N’Djamena, the capital, according to a French military spokesman, Cmdr. Christophe Prazuck.

Corpses of more than 10 military and civilian victims were sprawled across Rue Mobutu, a main thoroughfare.

The International Committee of the Red Cross said, more than 1,000 people were wounded in the fighting so far. Soldiers barred the two bridges across the Chari River that divides N’Djamena from neighboring Cameroon yesterday afternoon, in order to block the escape path for hundreds of civilians, and possibly rebels.

Scattered gunfire was heard in the capital on Tuesday but the rebels appeared to be holding back around the edge of the city, French military spokesperson Capt. Christophe Prazuck said.

“There has been sporadic shooting, but no combat,” Prazuck said.

Mahamat Nouri, the chief rebel leader said there have been attacks from French Mirage jets. However, former colonial power France said they had not yet begun to attack but threatened to enter the fight to support the government.

French President Nicholas Sarkozy warned rebels in Chad that France was prepared to “do its duty” and launch a military operation if fighting continued in the capital where they already have 1,400 troops based.

“If France must do its duty, it will do so,” Sarkozy said. “Let no one doubt it.”

French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner has also said he hopes French forces in the city would not have to intervene.

Rebels have been battling government troops in and near N’Djamenafor the last three days.

Past French intervention in this oil-rich country helped stave off a major rebel attack  on President Idriss Deby, accused by the insurgents of corruption and embezzling millions in oil revenue.

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Published Feb. 27, 2008 on JO219.com

Having a cat may lower risk of heart attack

Cats may offer more than just companionship. (photo courtesy of dogflu.ca)

Though cats are not known as man’s best friend, their health benefits are undeniable says a new report.

A recent U.S. study suggests having a cat in your home could lower your risk of having a heart attack by almost a third.

The new finding says the stress relief pets provide to their human companions is heart-healthy.

Researchers analyzed information on 4,435 Americans, aged 30 to 75, who took part in the U.S. government’s second National Health and Nutrition Examination Study, that ran from 1976 to 1980.

Nearly half of the participants back then owned a cat or had owned a cat in the past while the rest never had. Researchers then tracked the rates and causes of death in the entire group, including heart and stroke.

The cat owners had a 30 per cent reduction in heart attack risk than the other members of the group, who did not own cats, said the lead author of the study, Dr. Adnan Qureshi of the Minnesota Stroke Institute.

The participants who had never owned a cat were up to 40% more likely to have a heart attack.

“They (cats) are so calm when you look at them. They manifest the kind of quality that makes us calm,” said Lianne Duggan, of Quebec’s Douglas Institute.

Qureshi stressed dog lovers should not feel left out. Dogs would probably bring people the same kind of benefit, he said, but the numbers of dog owners in the study wasn’t big enough to count statistically.

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Published Feb. 27, 2008, on JO219.com

Jazzing up the Danforth for Valentine’s Day fans

Candice Lewis, an employee at It’s My Party on Danforth Avenue, demonstrates that sometimes you have to kiss a few frogs - amid the store’s Valentine’s wares. (Photo by Seljan Gryphon)

Rising star Andrew Craig headlines Valentine’s Day observances in and around East York, with a Feb. 14 concert at the Danforth Music Hall called “Celebrate Love.”

Craig, a musician, producer and broadcaster, is putting jazz artist Molly Johnson atop a bill of well and lesser-known performers for an evening of music celebrating the most powerful emotion.

Craig, who came up with the idea, implemented it for the first time in 2004 in Toronto’s Isabel Bader Theatre.

“I wanted to see if people had an appetite for this, so I booked a bunch of singers, the theatre and the string. We must have turned away 150 people that night,” he said. “People loved the idea and the show.”

Craig is the musical director and the pianist of the show, and will also be performing a few songs himself.

Meanwhile, bars and restaurants along Danforth Avenue and in the rest of the East York area are also preparing themselves for a big night this coming Thursday.

Flower shops are stocking up on goodies and getting ready for what can be one of the biggest days of the year for them.

“It’s mostly me that buy flowers for their spouses,” said Donna Williams of Peter Paul’s Flowers on the Danforth, “but offices, banks and different companies order standing arrangements too.”

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Published Feb. 8, 2008, in The East Toronto Observer

New study links breast size to Type 2 diabetes

Researchers suggest young women with larger breasts may be at a higher risk of developing diabetes. (photo courtesy of CTV.ca)

Young women with larger breasts may have a significantly higher risk of developing diabetes in adulthood, suggests a Canadian study.

The study published in the Jan. 29 issue of the Canadian Medical Association Journal, found the larger a woman’s bra cup size is at age 20, the greater her risk of developing Type 2 diabetes later in life.

Researchers from the University of Toronto and Harvard Medical School, who analyzed data from more than 92,000 American nurses, found the risk of developing Type 2 diabetes over a 10 year study period was two times higher for a B cup, four times higher for a C cup and five times higher for a D cup or more than it is for women with the smallest cup size.

Increased risk was constant among the women studied regardless of their weight or waist size.

The study also says that women with the largest cup sizes develop diabetes on average about two years earlier, at age 44,than those with the smallest cup size, at 46 years.

“The scientific community has long cited the role of obesity as an established risk factor for Type 2 diabetes,” study lead Dr. Joel Ray of Toronto’s St. Michael’s Hospital, told CBC News. “While an elevated body mass index (BMI) and the distribution of fat around the abdomen are strongly linked to the onset of Type 2 diabetes, little is known about the impact of breast fat.”

About 60% of breast tissue is fatty tissue. However, research confirms that cup size is not directly connected to BMI.

Even though there’s currently no biological explanation for the possible link between breast size and risk of contracting diabetes, it is possible the fat tissue in the breasts might be affecting a woman’s metabolism, according to Dr. Alexander Sorisky.

The professor of medicine at the University of Ottawa and director of the chronic disease program at the Ottawa Health Research Institute said this could influence insulin resistance and make the woman more prone to diabetes.

But experts still call this finding extremely preliminary.

“No one should be looking at breast size and worrying about diabetes,” said Dr. Sorisky.

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Published Jan. 30, 2008, on JO219.com

Heart and Stroke Foundation revises criteria for Health Check Logo

The Heart and Stroke Foundation is tightening its criteria for foods that pass the Health Check Logo test. (photo courtesy of putporkonyourfork.com)

The Heart and Stroke Foundation is revising its criteria for the Health Check Logo after coming under fire for putting it on foods high in fat, sugar and sodium.

Dr. Yoni Freedhoff , the medical director of the Bariatric Medical Institute, has accused the program of putting its seal of approval on products that contain unhealthy ingredients and use cartoon characters to attract children.

Manufacturers of foods pay a fee to the foundation to have their products evaluated by dietitians. According to the Health Check website, the program is “like shopping with the Heart and Stroke Foundation dietitians.”

In an article published in the Canadian Medical Association Journal last week, Freedhoff suggested it especially doesn’t make sense to give the Health Check Logo to foods that are high in sugar, like cookies and muffins, or that contain red meat or refined flours.

He said the logo is meant to steer people towards healthy choices.

“But unfortunately, because of the criteria involved in what those choices are, it may in fact serve to do the opposite and steer people towards choices that evidence-based medicine would tell us in fact are not healthy choices,” he told the Canadian Press from Ottawa.

Dr. Freedhoff is concerned about sugar and sodium levels in some of the approved products.

“Heart and Stroke thinks cookies are grains,” he said. “In what alternative universe would cookies qualify as a grain choice?”

The Health Check Program recently revised its criteria to take last year’s new Canada’s Food Guide into account.

Currently, more than 1,500 products in Canada have the seal of approval, including products by major manufacturers such as Maple Leaf, as well as the restaurant chains Boston Pizza and Swiss Chalet.

The revisions are associated with the fat, trans fat, sugar, sodium and fibre criteria.

Terry Dean, director of the Health Check Program, says that most Canadians are consuming 3,000 to 3,500 mg of sodium a day. The recommended intake is 2,300 mg a day, an amount the foundation would like to see reduced to 1,500 mg a day by 2020.

According to Dean, there were about 100 products that were impacted by the review.

“And what we’ve been told is that each of the companies is going to work very hard to try and reformulate,” Dean told the Canadian Press in an interview last Thursday. “But if they’re not able to meet those new levels then we’ll ask them to leave the program.”

The Heart and Stroke Foundation website states that companies have until Dec. 28, 2009 to make changes to their products. All new products entering the program must meet the new criteria.

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Published Jan. 23, 2008, on JO219.com