The David Stott building in Detroit.  Einar Einarsson Kvara /Wikimedia Commons

A Chinese developer plans to invest $3 billion in Nova Scotia, at a time when tenants at one of its commercial projects in Detroit are suing it for neglecting the property.

Businesses operating out of the David Stott building in Detroit are alleging that Chinese developer Dongdu International Group (DDI) has done nothing to fix problems since acquiring the building last September, complaining about lack of heating, inadequate fire suppressant systems, and elevators that have dropped two to three storeys with terrified passengers inside.

“It’s yin and yang from when they first bought the building,” says Ryan Snoek, who brokered the sale on behalf of the building’s former owners. In the beginning, he says, “DDI seemed very open and generous and willing to do things. But since then it’s been nothing but litigations and tenants leaving.”

As Nova Scotia’s business development agencies become more involved with the company, they would be “wise” to take a look at those stories from Detroit, says Lorn Sheehan, associate director at Dalhousie University’s Rowe School of Business. “You shouldn’t just close your eyes and ears to what the company may have done elsewhere,” he says.

In May, Nova Scotia Business Inc and the Greater Halifax Partnership signed deals with DDI, officially called memorandums of understanding, which formalize their working relationships with the company.

“I think that there’s a lot of potential for DDI to play a big role in our economy moving forward,” says Kyle Schmeisser from NSBI.

Rather than taking over crumbling skyscrapers, in Nova Scotia the company is buying huge tracts of wilderness for residential developments aimed at Chinese tourists, including 1200 hectares in St. Mary’s municipality, Guysborough County, as well as the Pacific Building on Halifax’s Barrington Street.

Stephen Dempsey, a local representative for DDI, says the company wants to attract Chinese investors and tourists to Canada’s “other coast”, with eco-friendly residential developments, a technology park, and eventually film production facilities.

See a video about the project on DDI’s website here.

Nova Scotia has been courting Chinese business for the past decade, and the province’s exports to China have increased more than 3.5 times in the past five years, according to an analysis of Industry Canada’s trade data.

DDI’s promise of a tourism boom is extremely appealing for communities like St. Mary’s, which falls within the sixth-most unemployed federal electoral district in Canada, according to an analysis of Statistics Canada data. Michael Mosher, the warden of St. Mary’s, says DDI’s housing developments could “double or triple” the municipality’s tax base, something only heavy industrial development could normally offer. “It’s a win-win for the municipality,” he says, adding the company seems very invested in the community.

St. Mary’s warden Michael Mosher on why they’re “hoping for great things” from DDI

But DDI’s first forays into North America, which began just a year ago, have been less than smooth.

Trouble in Motown

In Detroit, Lynn Kassotis, owner of the Skybar, a swanky lounge on the 33rd floor of the iconic David Stott building, says the problems started in January. That’s when the elevators started falling with her customers inside, something which happened multiple times.

“It was terrible for business,” she said. “I had people walking down 33 flights of stairs, on a busy Saturday night. In high heels. It was a nightmare.”

Kassotis, whose husband Emre Uralli owned the sparsely-occupied skyscraper before selling it to DDI, also alleges that DDI made them remove signs for valet parking and that security guards were “taking photos of our staff and intimidating them.”

Kassotis has sued the company for breach of contract because of alleged maintenance issues. The suit is ongoing, and allegations have not yet been proven.

Another prominent tenant, Detroit Yoga, is also suing DDI. In a post on its website in January, it alleged it was stopping classes because the landlord was “unable or unwilling” to heat the studio. Owner Jason Schramm could not be reached for comment.

DDI’s lawyer, Gregory Elliott, says that both tenants’ claims are false, adding that “it’s a 100 year old building” that had problems long before DDI took over – including when Kassotis’ husband owned it.

DDI has launched counter-claims against both Skybar and Detroit Yoga, suing them for not paying their rent. Kassotis says she’s paying her rent to the court because she doesn’t trust DDI.

It’s not unusual for a company to face lawsuits. But in this case it raises questions about the company as a landlord, particularly because the complaints aren’t isolated.

Another David Stott tenant who wishes to remain anonymous says he broke his lease in the spring because multiple maintenance issues were impacting his business.

While he admits the building already had problems before DDI came on, “as tenants we were led to believe that these were all things DDI was going to be fixing and changing. But since they’ve taken over not a single thing ever changed.  I’d even argue it got worse.”

Ken Creighton, DDI’s Detroit representative, declined to comment on individual cases and says the elevator has now been fixed.

WHAT DOES THIS MEAN FOR NOVA SCOTIA?

Regardless of what the company has done before, says Lorn Sheehan from Dalhousie University, the province’s business organizations have no choice but to engage with the company, because “they’re already here”, and could have huge benefits for Nova Scotia. But, he says, it’s still important to examine the company’s track record.

Paul Kent, president and CEO of the Greater Halifax Partnership, says he was not aware of the lawsuits against DDI in Detroit. But he pointed out that “what they’re doing in the United States is profoundly different” from their projects in Nova Scotia. In Detroit, “they’re taking depressed real estate that has been in hardship for a long time and refurbishing it, and that may well lead to some disagreements with players in the buildings,” he says.

Kyle Schmeisser from NSBI would not comment on legal issues, but says the organization is not making any financial commitments to DDI, and is “working with the company to see if it’s a good fit for the province.”

Kent says he expects cultural and business differences may cause bumps in the road, so they’re taking time to develop their relationship. “Because it has to be a trust-based relationship. If there’s a breach of trust, well, business doesn’t likely go forward. But so far, so good.”

Four-year-old Key’vontay Simon reaches for the newspaper from his car seat – he recognizes his grandmother’s photo on the front page.

Pictured beside her is a man being escorted by police.

“Police are taking him away,” he says. “Did he do something bad?”

The man is Demarqus Shane Beals, who was charged late last week with the second degree murder of Keya Simon – the mother Key’vontay barely knows.

She took the newspaper away from him before he could ask the follow up question.

“I don’t want to break that little boy’s heart” said Torina Simon, Keya’s mother, who took custody of her grandson when he was nine-months old after Keya was killed in 2011.

But Keya’s case isn’t unusual.

According to data from Statistics Canada for the past 10 years, two out of every three homicides in Halifax Regional Municipality (HRP) result in charges — of those charged, only half result in a guilty conviction.

Gang and gun violence harder to solve

“We knew right from the beginning that there were a number of people who could have provided information,” HRP’s Supt. Jim Perrin told reporters following the charges last week. There were at least 30 people at the party the night Simon was stabbed, according to news reports, and police still couldn’t get people to talk.

“That’s 60 [eyes],” said Torina. “What? Was everybody blind?”

On that January night, a fight broke out in the apartment when several uninvited people showed up.

It spilled into the hallway, and Keya was stabbed.

When police arrived, she was in the front foyer of the building with one stab wound to the chest. Numerous people were still around, but were “mostly uncooperative.”

Simon’s sister, Tiesha Allison, who threw the party, was also stabbed, but survived.

Halifax Regional Police media Cst. Pierre Bourdages said a major problem police encounter when trying to solve homicides is unhelpful witnesses.

“We have individuals that have information or that know exactly who’s responsible, who will not provide information to police,” he said.

There’s very little incentive for witnesses to come forward – especially when it could put them in danger, said Christopher Murphy, a sociology professor at the University of King’s College.

“In Halifax, everybody knows everybody … they know who’s who and what’s what,” he said. “There’s nowhere to hide, there’s nowhere to run in this city.”

A 2012 report by Statistics Canada found a homicide was nearly 50 per cent less likely to be solved if it involved a gang, drugs or firearms.

Canadian cities with more gang activity, the report found, have higher rates of unsolved homicides.

In Halifax, the average clearance rate for the past 10 years, is 66 per cent – making it one of the lowest in Canada.

Of the 18 listed deaths on Nova Scotia Reward for Unsolved Crimes program, 11 were caused by a shooting.

Police will not say whether the program, which pays out $150,000 for information leading to an arrest, helped bring new information about Keya’s death to light.

“I can’t let that bother me because I have a four-year-old to look after,” said Torina. “I have to keep going, everyday just looking after him.”

Charge vs. conviction

“Charging someone is only half the game,” says retired detective turned private investigator, Tom Martin. “Nothing matters until it hits the courtroom.”

In Nova Scotia, on average, about half of homicide charges end in a guilty conviction, according to the past 10 years of Statistics Canada data.

The rest of the cases are usually put on hold, thrown out or referred to alternative sentencing, such as restorative justice programs. The data, however, doesn’t distinguish between a dropped case and a suspect who was given an alternative sentence.

“That’s a horrible percentage,” said Martin, who has been an outspoken critic of Halifax’s growing number of cold cases. “That’s not good enough, especially when it comes to murder.”

In 2012/2013, for instance, of the 11 homicide cases to hit the courts in Nova Scotia, six ended in a guilty verdict. Five were either paused, withdrawn or had alternative charges. No charges were outright acquitted.

Nova Scotia’s average, however, was only slightly higher than the Canadian average of guilty convictions.

Martin admits a perfect conviction rate isn’t possible, but he thinks departments should strive for “no less” than a 75 to 80 per cent conviction rate.

“The courts will not accept and will not put up with anything less than a professional, complete investigation,” he said.

A case will be thrown out if there isn’t enough evidence, he said, and to avoid that, more money and resources are needed, .

“That’s where it takes extra man power, that’s where it takes extra dedication, that’s where it takes extra commitment by management,” he said. “I think that’s what we’re missing here.”

While charges were recently laid in Keya’s case, it still needs to work its way through the courts – a process Torina says she will be part of.

“I just want to ask him why,” she said.

Halifax’s growing underbelly

Despite Halifax’s reputation as a pleasant seaside city, all freshly caught lobster and Maritime hospitality, its friendly facade masks a growing darkness underneath.

In 2011, the city’s homicide rate hit an all-time high, putting Halifax in second place that year for highest in Canada.

While the homicide rate has decreased since then, the number of attempted murders hit an all-time high in 2013.

A recently released report, called the 2014 HRM Roundtable Review, found that the “guns, shooting and drug culture” in the city has worsened since the last review in 2008.

But this isn’t news to local police officials; according to police board minutes, discussions about the increase in gun crime started in 2009.

The majority of the guns, the minutes note, were coming from break-ins.

Police have started several initiatives to curb the city’s gun problem since 2009 – including exchange programs and community outreach. In 2012/2013, an integrated “guns and gangs unit” was created within the Criminal Investigations Unit, according to HRP’s approved operating budget.

But, when the issue was raised this past May, however, just before the release of the roundtable findings, the discussion at the police board had changed.

Chief Jean-Michel Blais said it is “important to look at the trends with respect to homicides in HRM.”

He said, out of the six homicides in HRM, two involved were related to drugs, two were due to domestic violence, one involved alcohol and the other involved an elderly person with dementia.

But, according to the recent review, “the war has not yet been won” – a view many Halifax families waiting for answers, like the Simon’s, would probably agree with.

A mouse or two never used to bother her, but within a few months she was overrun by them, they took over her walls and set up a colony in her kitchen turning her oven into a lavatory rendering it unusable.

When she moved closer to Halifax’s North End Claire Zimmerman thought she was done with the shady student living conditions of the South End– entering into her last year of school she headed for the greener pastures of a charming apartment in a historic home. Like many students she found herself in an unwinnable battle with a wealthy landlord to provide decent living conditions.

Every spring thousands of students leave behind on-campus dorms in search of rental homes for the next year, no longer protected by the social contract and reputation of their post-secondary schools and now finding themselves dealing with a growing number of profit hungry landlords that know every loophole in a broken system. The landlords know the students lack the time, know-how and resources to stand up for themselves and have the advantage of a highly competitive rental market.

Claire’s living conditions didn’t improve when one day she came home from class at King’s College to find bedbugs in her furniture. Like with the mice, she says the landlord put the blame of her. Claire and her boyfriend were made responsible for replacing their possessions that were destroyed by the infestations.

Health and Wellness Nova Scotia provides resources for bedbug infested residents, but they do not track the infestations because the bugs a seen as pests and do not spread disease.

Linda Passerini, a senior health consultant with Health and Wellness Nova Scotia says her office receives a number of calls about bedbugs, but there’s little she can do other than to refer them to the resources.

She says houses with clutter and less than frequent cleaning practices increase the chances of bedbugs and that can be more common with student living situations.

Meanwhile the landlord blamed Claire’s cat for the mice and bedbugs told her to get rid of it for a few weeks while she poisoned the mice. When Claire declined, she was eventually asked to leave the lease, prematurely ending her tenancy. By that point she was relieved to be free of the pests and moved on with her life.

By the end of her tenancy, Claire had to deal with a number of issues including leaks, mice, bedbugs, broken appliances, lack of heating and decaying walls.

She thought of seeking recourse through the Nova Scotia Tenancy Board, but figured it was an unwinnable battle, as her landlord is a high-powered Halifax lawyer and Claire thought she wouldn’t stand a chance. Out of fear she did not want to name the landlord or the exact location of the home.

“I feel it’s a very Halifax thing, we (tenants) see it as our fault and because we’re students we feel powerless,” Claire says.

She’s not alone, in researching this story dozens of students shared horrific tales of their battle landlords over erroneous illegal fees, infestations, broken promises and substandard living conditions and a system that is failing those it seeks to protect.

Another student, Rowenna Gerlach entering her fourth year at Dal had a similar story.

Last year she and a group of friends rented an apartment on Barrington Street in a small complex. It is a historic property, but the warmth of the charm didn’t last when temperatures fell last winter. Because heating costs were included in the rent, they did not have control over the thermostat. despite endless pleas with the landlord, the group of girls were forced to wear jackets indoors in order to be comfortable in the apartment. The landlord continued to control the heat and as a result it was between 16 and 19 degrees celsius most the winter.

When a parent of one of the tenants got involved on her daughter’s behalf, she was subjected to an endless game of phone and email tag and nothing was ever done about the problem.

One night Rowenna was awoken by chunks of falling plaster from the ceiling covering a number of her possessions in the white chalky substance, once again replacement costs and blame was placed on her.

Rowenna and her roommates, like Claire considered taking the matter to the tenancy board, but lacked the time and know-how to do so.

Rowenna says she paid a deposit to the landlord in cash and the money is yet to be returned to her. She was not aware that according to the law a landlord can only demand a deposit if it is placed in a joint account with the tenant.

With vacancy rates across the province, city and the South End rising annually, landlords may be feeling the heat. The vacancy rate for three or more bedroom units in the South End has more than doubled since 2010 according CMHC statistics–students commonly live in such units

“I felt ignored and misled,” she adds “I feel because we were young they took advantage of us.”

When she moved out, once again she scrambled to find a new place. When she hastily signed for a room in the notorious Fenwick Towers, only to show up on move in day with the apartment still inhabited by the previous tenants.

“We had to wait six hours in the parking lot with all of our things as they moved the people out,” she says.

The lease dictates that the flat would be “Professionally cleaned” before move in, but that promise was never kept.

Although students may feel overwhelmed and helpless there are some resources to help them.

Dal offers free legal aid services to students and a number of online resources.

Fiona Traynor is a community legal worker at Dal’s legal aid services, she says the office gets a constant flow tenant-landlord disputes and requests for help navigating through the ever-changing laws. 

She says a growing problem is the number of landlords trying to collect various types of deposits and fees illegally.

She also says they can help with damage caused by bedbugs and mice if a landlord isn’t doing their part.

She urges student tenants to keep a paper trail, take pictures of damages and most importantly to read the act and the lease before making their decision.

For the most part it’s a losing battle as many students don’t do their homework before moving in and are overwhelmed as problems arise. As a result she says it’s mostly a reactive approach by students who come to the office after a problem has existed for a while.

She thinks something as minor as an inspection done with the landlord before moving in can be vital in proving negligence down the road.

“Read the act and ask a lot of questions before moving in.”

Another option is for students to get tenant’s insurance, but it isn’t easy.

Keith an insurance broker, who did not want to be identified says that a growing number of landlords are requesting that tenants have policies.

He recommends it for two reasons: to protect the tenants’ belongings and legal protection against liability.

He says students could be more likely to face liability claims. For instance a student learning to cook or operate an appliance for the first time could cause a fire or significant damages to property and insurance covers that.

He says it’s not as simple as it seems, many insurance companies will not ensure students because oftentimes there are three or more unrelated people living together in the same dwelling. He says alternative providers and custom policies might be the only options and they can be very costly as typical student dwellings are graded as a higher risks than simple family homes.

Last year rent went up 1.4 per-cent in the South End, according to Guillaume Neault, a  CMHC analyst, students of Halifax have a few things working against them.

He says the location of the schools happens to overlap competitive rental areas, rent rates are already high and are rising each year.

He says the age of the buildings can also lead to premium rates as a number of students live in historic properties.

According to  his research 33 per-cent of South End dwellers spend 30 per-cent or more of their income on rent.
Note: Attempts were made to speak with the various landlords, but none have responded.

The number of Canadians infected by bacteria spreading within hospital walls is increasing, according to the Public Health Agency of Canada. Healthcare related infections are now the fourth leading cause of death in Canada with thousands of victims every year and it costs millions of dollars.

When you go to the hospital, it is to be cured. However, for 220,000 Canadians every year, it is not what happens. Staying at the hospital will get them sicker than ever.

These unlucky patients contract diseases triggered by bacteria multiplying inside medical institutions, also called nosocomial infections. On an annual basis, between 8,000 and 12,000 patients do not survive the infection.

“If you get a nosocomial infection, for sure, you need more treatments, more interventions,” explains Joanne Langley, professor of epidemiology at Dalhousie Medical School. “Each added illness increases the chances of things going wrong.”

On average, a patient having complications because of healthcare related infections stays 2.5 times longer in the hospital, a situation that costs more than $100 million per year for the healthcare system.

Numbers going up

“The natural tendency for these rates is to trend up incredibly,” says Virginia Roth, co-chair of the Canadian Hospital Epidemiology Committee.

For example, the number of infections caused by Clostridium difficile was up by 6% in 2012, compared to six years earlier, according to the most up-to-date data from the Public Health Agency. In 2007, this bacterium, which spreads through contaminated feces in hospitals, killed 30 people. In 2012, the number went up to 49.

Medical authorities are also monitoring the Staphylococcus aureus, a bacterium transmitted by skin-to-skin contact, mostly between healthcare workers and patients. “In 2012, there were 7,000 cases. That’s a lot of Canadians that are affected by this,” says Langley. The infection rate increased by more than 1,000% since 1995. More people are getting sick because of it, but more patients are also carrying it without having any symptoms.

While some of the infections are well known, others also emerge. It’s the case for VRE, acronym for Vancomycin-resistant Enterococci. This infectious microorganism lives in the human intestine. In 1999, only 10 cases where noticed. Since then, it is spreading exponentially. In 2012, 482 patients were affected by it and the Public Health Agency indicates that the data understates the gravity of the situation.

Multi-resistant bacteria

“Normally, we would treat VRE with vancomycin,” explains Langley. “But the bacterium acquired the ability to destroy this antibiotic. So that makes it a very difficult infection to treat now.”

Staphylococcus aureus also became a multi-resistant bacterium that complicates the work of doctors and threatens the life of patients. Moreover, it is a difficult microorganism to get rid off. It can survive on the floors for several days and even several months on fabrics.

For C. difficile, the situation is different: the microorganism is naturally resistant. When a patient is given antibiotics, the non-resistant bacteria present in his gut die, but not C. difficile. The bacterium then starts to multiply in dangerous proportions while producing toxins. It is also a very difficult bacterium to remove. C. difficile creates spores able to survive up to 5 months on surfaces such as tables or medical equipment.

What are the causes?

For the Canadian Union of Public Employees, it is very clear: there is not enough money attributed to the healthcare system. According to their reports, hospital beds were cut by 36% between 1998 and 2002. The data from the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) shows that there are now less than 3 beds per 1,000 citizens in the country. Canada is at the end of the organization list, just before China.

The Union claims that the bed cuts increased the hospitals occupancy over 90%, creating a favourable context for outbreaks. The Public Health Agency of Canada states itself that overcrowding is a risk factor for VRE.

Another cause: healthcare workers do not wash their hands enough. “Typically, hands hygiene rates, not only in Canada but globally are significantly low,” says Suzanne Rhodenizer Rose, President-Elect for Infection Prevention and Control Canada (IPAC). We verified the hand washing rates for Capital Health Hospital, in Halifax. The latest data available on the hospital’s website showed that hospital workers wash their hands just half of the time before a contact with a patient, even if it is one of the best ways to prevent infectious diseases to spread.

However, for Joanne Langley, washing your hands seems simple, but not in a context of financial constraints for provinces and, therefore, hospitals. “If the staff is more rushed or stressed, they tend to not fully comply with all the infection control measures, just because they are doing so much work and they are so busy. So with less staff, budget pressures can harm the ability to control infections for sure.”

The Canadian Union of Public Employees also claims that the budget cuts reduced the amount of money spent to clean hospitals, leading to a multiplication of dangerous bacteria inside the facilities.

A fight already lost?

According to the World Health Organization, it is possible to reduce the number of healthcare associated infections by half. However, for Dr. Roth, the reality is less optimistic: “We can’t control what’s outside our hospital walls. In other parts of the world, we see emergence of newly resistant organisms. They travel. We will see them at one point. So I am not sure we can be successful.”

One thing is certain though, “we should be more judicious in our use of antibiotics overall,” says Joanne Langley. “Overuse of antibiotics leads to resistance in bacteria and fewer solutions to treat them.”

With antibiotics used on humans, but also extensively on crops and cattle, the experts want to establish an antimicrobial stewardship in the years to come. “It is a high priority,” says Suzanne Rhodenizer Rose, from IPAC. Without it, the most common bacteria could become almost impossible to stop and the number of nosocomial infection victims could go up, without any existing treatment to save them.

Energy drink company Red Bull hires five more lobbyists to defend its interests in Ottawa, while student organizations and city officials call for ban of the beverage in bars.

After publicity stunts featuring athletes skydiving from space, motorcycling on mountains and swimming with jellyfish, Red Bull tries out a new high stakes challenge: lobbying on Parliament Hill.

The energy drink giant just hired five more lobbyists in Ottawa, according to information obtained through the Office of the Commissioner of Lobbying of Canada. The consultants all registered between May and August 2014 and list Red Bull Canada Ltd. as one of their main accounts.

Their goal? Meet representatives of Health Canada and the House of Commons as soon as possible to “ensure that energy drinks transition from the natural health products regulations to the foods regulations.”

One consultant also wants to talk about “labeling requirement and additives levels.”

The five new consultants have listed national lobbying firms Global Public Affairs and Prospectus Associates in their profiles. Prospectus Associates confirmed Red Bull is a client since 2011. Global Public Affairs did not respond to our calls.

In total, six part-time consultants and one in-house lobbyist are now speaking to government entities on behalf of Red Bull Canada Ltd. According to our analysis, it is more than the number of federal lobbyists hired by Coca-Cola Refreshments Canada, Molson Canada and Nestle Waters Canada. No other energy drink company has registered lobbyists in Ottawa.

Lobbying is a legal and regulated activity in Canada, where companies can hire as many consultants as they wish to defend their interests in meetings with government officials and elected members. They typically discuss new laws, federal grants and government contracts.

Old tactics and new surveillance

To fully understand this new move, one has to look at the federal legislations in the works, explains Dan Shaw, of the Rowe School of Business at Dalhousie University.

“They are spending more in lobbying because they are perceiving some kind of threat in their environment,” says Shaw. “It could be a regulatory threat or the impact of public bashing. It could also be an opportunity to go to the offense.”

This move comes nearly two years after Health Canada announced it was going to stop considering energy drinks as a “natural health product” but rather as “food”. A change that also comes with new limitations: from now on, energy drinks cannot contain more than 180 mg of caffeine, about the same as a regular cup of coffee. Caps are also imposed on the amount of vitamins, minerals and amino acids per can.

Energy drink companies are also under more government scrutiny. Until 2017, energy drink companies have only temporary authorization to sell their beverages, during which they’ll be required to report annual data on sales, consumption and incidents.

A Growing Market Share

The new consultants are likely to cross paths with Jim Goetz, the president of the Canadian Beverage Association, which counts energy drink companies Red Bull and RockStaramong its 60 members.

In a letter addressed to the Toronto Board of Health, Goetz warned city councillors that banning energy drinks from bars could cost the city jobs and money.

“This possible ban,” Goetz writes “could impact companies who not only have their head office in the City of Toronto, but also hold events that attract tourists and investments, and also employ thousands of people in the GTA.”

He adds “energy drinks sales is a growing market in Canada because it is new”, but couldn’t provide numbers at the time of our interview. According to Red Bull’s official website, in 2012, more than 5 billion cans of Red Bull where drank worldwide.

Opposition across Canada  

At the same time Red Bull is boosting its lobbying campaign, groups against the sale of energy drinks are gaining traction.   In Toronto, city councillors will soon vote to possibly change the Municipal Alcohol Policy and ban energy drinks from all bars. In a report presented July 30^th, 2014 staff writes: “When consuming energy drinks mixed with alcohol, persons may have a false sense of alertness as the drowsiness and symptoms of alcohol intoxication may be masked by the caffeine. As a result, there is a risk they may over-consume alcohol and injure themselves or others.”      

“It is simple: if you mix alcohol and energy drinks, you are more likely to commit sexual assault, or be sexually assaulted, you are more likely to injure yourself or somebody else, you are more likely to end up in hospital,” says Jonathan Williams, the executive director of Student NS.

In a study published last winter, Student NS looked at the way students mix energy drinks with alcohol on campus, as well as the economics of energy drinks in bars. “We have heard different things,” explains Williams. “We heard it was a major money maker and we heard it wasn’t a significant product in the bar, it depended on the campus. We have made our recommendations. Right now the ball is in the court of student unions, they have to decide if they will sell them or not.”

We are sitting at the Grad Bar, in the Dalhousie University campus, a few days before the official start of the semester and the infamous Frosh Week. “I think the evidence is there and that is an issue that is not going to go away,” says Williams. “I think red bull is hiring more lobbyists because they see this is a fight that won’t go away.”

A few meters from our table, the small Red Bull fridge is happily humming on the bar counter, awaiting the next customer. One more reminder that this fight, like he says, will not go away.

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