All posts by Tanya Kirnishni

On-campus voting pilot project brought youth out to vote

Data Assignment_Three_2015
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Students at the start of the fall semester on Carleton University campus. Photo credit: Tanya Kirnishni 2015.

Youth voters came out in droves this federal election, helped in part by an Elections Canada pilot project that offered students the choice to vote on-campus at special stations.

“In four days more than 70,000 students voted across the country. That’s not even counting the folks that came out for the advance voting days or for October 19th,” said Gabrielle Ross-Marquette, the national executive representative for the Canadian Federation of Students (CFS).

In Ottawa, there were five locations offered — two at the University of Ottawa, which is in the Rideau-Vanier municipal ward and three at Carleton University, located in Capital ward. From October 5th to 8th students cast their votes at these special stations.

A map of Ottawa's city wards shows households with primary household maintainer (person who pays rent and utilities) being under the age of 25.
A map of Ottawa’s city wards shows households with primary household maintainer (person who pays rent and utilities) being under the age of 25. Source: National Household Survey 2011 Statistics Canada. Map Credit: Tanya Kirnishni.

According to an analysis of the 2011 National Household Survey, the highest concentration of primary household maintainers (the person responsible for rent and utilities) under the age of 25 years old live in the wards Rideau-Vanier, Somerset, and Capital.

The on-campus voting stations were set up in universities that were both located in wards with the highest resident youth population.
The on-campus voting stations were set up in Ottawa University and Carleton University. Both universities are located in wards with high concentration of household maintainers (person who pays rent and utilities)  under the age of 25. Source: National Household Survey 2011 Statistics Canada. Map Credit: Tanya Kirnishni.

These wards have large student populations, such as the neighbourhood of Sandy Hill, right beside Ottawa University. Although many students might not live on campus, they still spend a large chunk of their time there. Setting up on-campus voting stations helped encourage youth voter turnout.

“They would let students vote for their home riding or the riding in which they resided in right now,” said Ross-Marquette.

A student from Nova Scotia, for example, could show up to Carleton University campus and cast a vote for a candidate in their home riding.

In some cases, being able to choose whether to vote for your home riding or your current riding gave students the power to vote strategically by casting their vote in the riding where they thought it might make the most impact.

CFS did campus outreach to make sure students were aware that they had the option to vote at these special stations. This was how Deanne Pittman, a Master of Journalism student at Carleton University, found out about it.

“There were only a few students in line at the time so I decided that it would be much quicker to vote there than to vote on election day,” said Deanne Pittman.

The on-campus voting stations made the voting process much simpler and more accessible to students. Elections Canada was on hand to answer questions and tell youth exactly what they needed to do to be able to vote.

Student Deanne Pittman spends a lot of time working on campus at Carleton University. Photo Credit: Tanya Kirnishni 2015.
Student Deanne Pittman spends a lot of time working on campus at Carleton University. Photo Credit: Tanya Kirnishni 2015.

“I definitely think it should be expanded to other campuses. Students are very busy and have unpredictable schedules, so in my opinion, there is no downside to offering people more opportunities to vote,” said Pittman.

For Tamar Harris, an undergraduate journalism student at Carleton University, this was her first time voting. She was impressed by how quickly the process went after having read on Twitter about hour-long waits at advance voting stations.

“But I got there, showed them my id, and I was out in literally two minutes,” said Harris. “It might have actually been a deciding factor for some students who were bit more weary of voting and didn’t feel particularly driven to vote when they have to go ten or twenty minutes to a station.”

Youth voters played a key role in this election. Throughout the election CFS worked to arm students with information about issues such as increasing tuition rates and the decline of stable jobs and paid internships so they could be more informed when researching and questioning their riding candidates.



Harris attended a candidate debate held at Carleton University and said she liked the way that Catherine McKenna, the Liberal candidate, spoke to students beforehand about what issues interested them. She said she felt that the Conservatives didn’t do a good job of appealing to younger voters.

“I think it’s important to vote because there is no way that politics doesn’t affect your life, especially as a younger person,” said Harris.

Elections Canada will review the pilot project to see if it can be implemented on a larger scale for future elections.

Ottawa’s most popular restaurant for African cuisine is on a down-slide

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The lights are off and the doors are locked for the Horn of Africa Restaurant in Ottawa. Photo credit: Tanya Kirnishni

The Horn of Africa sits at the top of the restaurant review site Zomato as Ottawa’s best place for African cuisine. It also has a seat close to the top of another list — restaurants with the most health violations.

The Horn of Africa had 13 food safety violations this year so far.

The small Ethiopian restaurant is located on Rideau Street, only a few storefronts down from the popular Rideau Bakery. As this Friday evening came around, the Horn of Africa stayed dark and silent, its doors shut and the neon ‘open’ sign turned off.

Several unsuccessful attempts were made to get in contact with the owners of the restaurant for comment about its food safety inspections and whether the poor results have any ties to its recent closure.

Only two weeks ago, 19-year-old Jeanvieve Massicotte went to the restaurant with her friend.

“It was not the greatest experience,” said Massicotte. “I found it to be very unkempt, not very welcoming, and kind of dirty.”

A food safety inspector visited the Horn of Africa on November 10th. One of the restaurant’s most recent infractions was for failure to keep things clean and in good maintenance. An infraction like that could mean something as simple as sanitizing kitchen counters and equipment.

The latest food safety inspections by City of Ottawa's Public Health for the Horn of Africa.
The latest food safety inspections by City of Ottawa’s Public Health for the Horn of Africa.

This category of violations is pretty broad, according to Franco Pagani, the acting supervisor for Ottawa’s Public Health Food Safety program.

“We’re talking about general cleanliness and the whole physical location,” said Pagani. “It could be grease under the fryer, it could be dust under the cooler. Is there a hole in the dry wall, is there a loose tile? Is it dirty, in need of painting?”

It’s usually nothing that that can’t be resolved with a little spring cleaning or basic renovations.

The food safety inspection report also stated that the restaurant failed to “maintain carpeting in food service room in clean and sanitary condition”. One of the regulations laid out in Ontario’s Health Protection and Promotion Act requires restaurants to keep floor coverings “tight, smooth and non-absorbent” in order to maintain a clean space.

 The other infraction was for inadequate protection against pests. Failing to meet these standards can leave a pretty negative impression on customers, as it did on Massicotte, who left a review about her disappointing experience.

“When we sat down, I saw something behind my friend’s head move on the wall,” said Massicotte. “I’m not sure whether it was a cockroach but it was definitely some kind of bug.”

Massicotte felt sick after eating at the Horn of Africa and said that she definitely won’t be returning to the restaurant.

Reviews taken from the Google page for the Horn of Africa.
Reviews taken from the Google page for the Horn of Africa.

The Horn of Africa has an unfortunate long history of food safety violations. In 2011, they racked up more than 60 infractions. The latest warnings, about keeping things clean and guarding against pests, are nothing new.

Most of these infractions have been non-critical so far, allowing for the owners to come into compliance with the rules.

“It’s really preventative at this point,” said Pagani. “Make sure you are doing everything in your power not to get an infestation. We want to make sure every food premise has a good integrated pest management program. Some of the things could be as simple as having a screen on the back door.”

As the violations build up these issues are more likely to become critical and a serious threat to public health safety. If there is an imminent health hazard, Public Health Ottawa could take legal action or even close down the restaurant.

“We see ourselves as educators as well as enforcers,” said Pagani. “We’re there to work with them and develop plans.”

Identity fraud in Canada is rising steadily

Data Assignment One_2015
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Created by Tanya Kirnishni in Easel.ly

Personal security is on everyone’s minds these days and rightly so. From the data leaks of Ashley Madison to the loss of personal health information in Alberta, breaches in private information are becoming a serious issue.

Incidents of identity theft across Canada have nearly tripled in the last five years. In turn, identity fraud has grown by 42 per cent between 2010 and 2014, according to data from Statistics Canada.

“There’s no way you can stop identity theft from external sources a hundred percent, but at least you can actually watch for it, and if it happens, with the best of safeguards, then you can put a stop to it right away,” said Norm Archer, professor at McMaster University. “A lot of companies just don’t do that.”

Archer is an expert in identity theft and fraud in the digital age. He said that the biggest issue to date is that people still have not learned the importance of protecting and encrypting their data.

“The sophistication is increasing almost daily and not enough people pay attention to it,” said Archer.

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The most common form of fraud is called “existing account fraud”, according to Archer. This is what happens when somebody steals your credit card information and goes on a shopping spree.

“We knew that if identity theft became a serious situation then people would not be able to use the internet for commerce. And in fact, that is a deterrent to a lot of people,” said Archer. “They simply do not want to buy anything over the internet because they’ve heard stories about people who lose their identities.”

Such was the case with Larisa Romanovsky, a local Ottawa woman who had her visa information stolen despite taking all the usual precautions.

“I saw my statement online and found some suspicious transactions that I didn’t make,” said Romanovsky. “Someone was trying to buy something online using my card. I have never made online transactions.”

She immediately called her visa service with the bank of CIBC and they transferred her to the fraud department.

“They right away opened a case and started an investigation. They asked me what the last transaction that I made was. All the ones after it were fraud,” said Romanovsky.

She never did find out how the breach occurred but fortunately her problems were easily resolved. After a couple weeks of investigation the bank reversed the payments and issued her a new visa.

Archer said that the worst cases he has heard of people took out entire mortgages using stolen information.

“When you put your trust in these organizations, you assume that they know what they’re doing and that they will keep your data safe,” said Archer. “Unfortunately, too often, that turns out to be a not accurate supposition of what’s happening.”

According to Archer, about half of identity theft is by internal sources.

He said that companies should take steps to vet their employees and raise awareness among their employees about simple measure such as regularly changing their passwords and locking their computers.

He pointed to the hospital database system in Ontario as a good example of information security. When a nurse or a physician accesses a patient’s account, the information is logged into the database.

“When there are these big scandals, like Rob Ford when he was in the hospital, there were a number of people accessing his account and the hospital knew immediately who they were because they kept track of that,” said Archer.

The resulting class action lawsuits that often result in breaches of personal data can cost organizations millions of dollars. These problems could be minimized if companies took better care of their data, said Archer.

“It’s quite flabbergasting to find out that these things continue to happen even after all the lessons that we’ve been taught over the years,” said Archer.

 

Aiming for energy efficiency in British Columbia’s homes

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Energy Efficient Home in British Columbia. Credit: Clean Technica - Jake Richardson
Energy efficient home in British Columbia. Credit: Clean Technica – Jake Richardson

Through trial and error, British Columbia is slowly filling the gaps in financial assistance for homeowners seeking to make their homes more energy efficient.

Back in November 2014, a pilot project was launched in the city of Colwood and the district of Okanagan-Similkameen. The idea was to allow people to apply for home renovation loans and then pay them off gradually on their utility bills.

According to an Access to Information request, there were plans to expand the project to Vancouver Island in January 2014, but it never made it off the ground. Between BC Hydro and Fortis BC, the two main utility companies in British Columbia, there was a consensus that the project was not worth the effort.

“There was very, very small participation — the cost of setting it up and marketing it ­— well it was just a very expensive program,” said Carol Suhan, manager of the Power Sense services for Fortis BC Inc.

The program was shut down when the lack of interest could no longer justify the funding for it. In all of Colwood only two loans were given out. In Okanagan they gave out six.

“We’ve seen examples in other jurisdictions where it’s worked out, such as in the United States, and that’s where the idea came from,” said Les MacLaren, assistant deputy minister of the electricity and alternative energy division for the government of British Columbia.

He explained that part of the problem was that in British Columbia energy costs are very low.

“Most folks who make retro-fit improvements to their homes, from the demographic research, tend to be middle aged and in the middle to upper level of income,” explained Suhan.

She also said that most of the people who choose to do retro-fitting for their homes do not need the project’s financial help. The terms of the loans had an interest rate of 4 to 4.5 per cent over 5 to 10 years.

“For those folks it just wasn’t an attractive rate,” said Suhan.

With interest rates dropping, most people turned to their banks for better interest loans. Utility companies still needed to provide an incentive for them to seek out retrofitting.

“Fortis BC Power Sense has been very progressive in letting people know what options they have,” said Jim Damberger, owner of the company Canadian Aerothermal.

To encourage energy efficiency in British Columbia households, BC Hydro and Fortis BC have been promoting the Home Energy Rebate Offer program.

“People have electric heating in their homes which is a very expensive type of heating,” said Damberger.

He said that in rural areas of British Columbia most old houses didn’t have other options. With new available technologies, people need to be made aware of the benefits in retrofitting their homes.

Damberger’s company installs aero-thermal heating to heat and cool a home with heat pumps. As one of the contractors involved with the pilot project he says that retro-fitting homes to be more energy efficient is a long-term investment.

“Aero-thermal heating would generally cut 60 to 70 per cent of the cost to heat a home,” said Damberger.

The pilot project was a learning experience for those involved. There are now more options for homeowners in British Columbia, both for lower and middle income ranges.

The Energy Conservation Assistance Program, also known as ECAP, has been around for 7 years. Up until 2014 the elegibility for ECAP had been very strict but utility companies advocated the Ministry of Energy and Mines to have the eligibility definitions expanded. They now include aboriginals and people receiving social assistance.

“I’m sure there are still many households that would have financial difficulty to retro-fit their homes, but that number has diminished significantly,” said Suhan.

 

 

Documents from ATIP Request Page 1, Page 2, Page 3

What is the information?

This is background information about the On-Bill Financing pilot program that was cancelled for January 2014.

From which department and level of government did you obtain these pages?

This is from the provincial government of British Columbia for the Ministry of Energy and Mines. 

Why was this information helpful?

There was a briefing note provided to the Minister Bill Bennett which clearly outlined the issues with the project and the suggestions for how to move forward with its shutdown.

Formal Requests:

Federal Level

Provincial Level

Municipal Level

 

Informal Requests

25 years after Gorbachev, Russia may be backsliding

Assignment 2, Whatever-happened-to?, Whatever-Happened-To? Assignment
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Maria Viaznikova is an ocean away from the country of her birth but she can still recall sitting in her family’s kitchen and listening to her father’s stories about how difficult life was under communism.

“My father was very involved politically and he used to argue with my mother, who was a member of the communist party. She always told us, ‘No words beyond these doors’,” said Viaznikova.

Viaznikova’s grandfather had been a political prisoner and her mother worried about anyone overhearing criticism of the party.

“She was really afraid for us — this was our childhood.”

In the 1980s, change came to the Soviet Union under Mikhail Gorbachev, who was later on elected as president in 1990. With his policies of “perestroika” and “glasnost” Gorbachev brought more openness and democratization to the country, as well as more open communication with the West.

Viaznikova said that the biggest changes came in the freedom to discuss things and to see how the other side lived.

“The first foreign TV shows appeared in Russia and new music groups — suddenly so many interesting people that weren’t just singing about the USSR. You could also hear foreign radio stations much more easily because before the signal would be blocked.”

Despite the changes, Viaznikova and her family chose to emigrate after she took a trip abroad and saw what life was like outside the Soviet Union. They came to Canada in 1998.

“We moved not because life was difficult but because we saw an opportunity, not only for us but for our daughter.”

Although Gorbachev is well remembered in the world he is remembered more for the Berlin Wall than for “perestroika”. He even received a Nobel Peace Prize in 1990 for his work in forging international trust. The changes he made for Russia however didn’t seem to leave a very lasting legacy.

“I think there is a regression from the democratization of the 90s,” said Joan DeBardeleben, political science professor at Carleton University.

Viaznikova talked with her uncle who still lives in Russia and said that he described the situation in Russia as “Stalinism-like”.

“People are going to prison who took part in demonstrations and fought with police,” She said, referring to recent demonstrations against the conflict in Ukraine.

There has also been a clamp down in the Russian media, which today is all state owned.

“The media was relatively free in the 90s. And although it isn’t as bad as communist times, there has been an increase in the level of control,” said DeBardeleben. “It’s about setting boundaries that the state doesn’t want exceeded.”

Viaznikova expressed concern about the direction that Russia is heading in, not only with restrictions on freedom of expression but also with militarization.

“Putin is arming the country. I was in Russia during May two years ago and they were having the military parade. There were all new tanks, weapons and he was showing this with pride.”

Gorbachev’s policies introduced new ideas which created instability and eventually led to the unintentional collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991. Charles Sharpe, history professor at McGill University, suggested that the amount of state control and militarization today might be Putin’s way of keeping the country stable.

“Russia’s claim to being a great power isn’t from their economy, it’s from military power. If they want to remain that way and exert influence they have to show that off,” said Sharpe.

He also says that the changes in Russia could be due to a division in Russian culture between slavophiles and westernphiles.

“Westernphiles want to take things from the West to make the Russian empire better while slavophiles believe that Russian culture is distinct and has to find its own way,” said Sharpe. “That’s the big difference between Gorbachev and Putin.”

“Russian people are always looking for a Tsar in the end, it’s from our history. Tsar has to be strong, and Putin is strong,” said Viaznikova.

 

Documentation:

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Nobel Peace Prize 1990

Indigo cutting losses by cutting back on books

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This logo is one of the most recognized among Canadian bookstores. Chapters used to be its own bookstore chain until it was subsumed by Indigo Books and Music.

Everyone’s favourite bookstore is leaving the books behind and focusing on what really makes money — electronics, toys and scented candles.

In their latest quarterly report, Indigo Books and Music saw their revenue grow by 5.4 per cent from the same period last year. Although Indigo is still losing money, they are doing so at a slower rate than before. This is a result of some changes in merchandise strategy.

It’s out with the old and in with the new as print books are cast aside for digital text. Indigo has reduced their inventory by $6.9 million since last year, most of that coming from cutting back on the books they keep in stock.

To get rid off all the old merchandise sitting in their warehouses Indigo held a number of discount and clearance sales. Although sales increased, Indigo didn’t end up making much of a profit because the sales were at reduced prices.

davidgray“Indigo is really feeling the pinch, having to compete with companies like Amazon — they pushed out all the smaller bookstores and one might say that now they are getting their just desserts,” said David Gray, economics professor at the University of Ottawa.

To keep up with the technological age, Indigo is diversifying their portfolio as part of their transformation agenda. In their last annual report they laid out a strategy for dealing with a rapidly changing market.

In the report Indigo stated, “The company’s priorities remain focused on advancing the core retail business through adapting its physical stores, improving productivity, driving employee engagement, and expanding the company’s online and digital presence.”

One example of how Indigo has embraced digital media is with last year’s rollout of Indigotech shops, which sell things like tablets and e-readers.

This foray into the digital world doesn’t just mean a stronger focus on e-books. Indigo is looking to become more versatile in terms of online accessibility. In the last quarter they have seen a significant jump in online sales, as compared to in-store purchases.

“The share of all retail done online in Canada is only ten per cent but it is growing,” said Gray.

Bit by bit, Indigo is slowly chipping away at their debt and in the last quarter their net loss decreased by 15.19 per cent.

 

In a public statement released November 2014, Indigo attributed their increase in revenue to better sales in their lifestyle, paper, toys and electronics sections. They have worked to expand these sections to come in line with their company’s image as a gift-giving shopper’s destination.

“This has been achieved through a reduction in the floor space allotted to books, given the erosion of physical book sales,” stated Indigo in their last annual report.

In 2014, Indigo also launched several American Girl specialty boutiques to compliment the children’s sections of select superstores.

“They really need to make it fun for people to go in and browse,” said Gray. “They make it fun for the kids so they’ll pressure the parents.”

Indigo is casting positive predictions on the future of their company, even despite their uphill struggle with debt.

In their public statement, Indigo CEO Heather Reisman stated, “These results demonstrate that our customers are responding to the investments we have made to transform Indigo.”

If Indigo keeps doing what they’re doing they might just weather out the storm that has shaken up book retail. What comes out on the other side though might bear little resemblance to the bookstores that we grew up with.

 

Photos taken by Tanya Kirnishni.