McMaster experts comment on anticipated spike in COVID-19 cases and discuss how students can stay safe
Many Canadian COVID-19 experts have recently raised concerns surrounding a potential spike in COVID-19 cases on university campuses.
While case counts have been relatively low for many months, over the last few weeks, the country has already started see an increase in COVID-19 cases. This uptick includes 10 Canadian regions displaying an increase in cases and Hamilton COVID-19 data reporting an increase in test positivity over the last month.
Additionally, two new COVID-19 variants, EG.5 and BA.2.86, have recently emerged and are also suspected to have contributed to the uptick in cases.
Dr. Manali Mukherjee, an affiliate scientist with the research institute at St. Joeseph’s Healthcare Hamilton, assistant professor with the McMaster University Department of Medicine and long-COVID researcher, shared her thoughts on the predicted resurgence.
“COVID has never really left us; it's just the incidence has gone down. With more mingling, more people coming in, we are expecting a spike. We are already hearing a number of cases of friends, family, near and dear ones in community, who are testing positive for COVID. So, it is not a surprise,” she said.
"COVID has never really left us; it's just the incidence has gone down. With more mingling, more people coming in, we are expecting a spike. We are already hearing a number of cases of friends, family, near and dear ones in community, who are testing positive for COVID. So, it is not a surprise."
Dr. Manali Mukherjee, affiliate scientist, St. Joseph's Healthcare Hamilton research institute
Dr. Matthew Miller, director of the Michael G. DeGroote Institute for Infectious Disease Research and Canada Research chair in viral pandemics, explained that the back-to-school season commonly marks a spike in other respiratory pathogens, including influenza.
Miller explained that these pathogens also pose a threat alongside COVID-19 upon our return to campus. Staying up to date with booster vaccines and seasonal flu vaccines will help relieve a burden off our healthcare system.
“If we look back to last year, one of the biggest stresses that our healthcare system faced was the co-circulation of [respiratory syncytial virus] and influenza. What that really stressed was our pediatric hospitals. Obviously, that's very worrisome because we want to make sure those hospitals have lots of capacity to deal with children who are sick for other reasons.” said Miller.
"If we look back to last year, one of the biggest stresses that our healthcare system faced was the co-circulation of [respiratory syncytial virus] and influenza. What that really stressed was our pediatric hospitals. Obviously, that's very worrisome because we want to make sure those hospitals have lots of capacity to deal with children who are sick for other reasons."
Dr. Matthew Miller, Director of the Michael G. DeGroote Institute for Infectious Disease Research
The availability of fall COVID-19 booster vaccines has not been confirmed yet, but Miller said it is likely they will be made available alongside and can be co-administered with seasonal flu vaccines.
Regarding the severity of the spike, both Mukherjee and Miller said that it is hard to predict the magnitude of the case spike.
“I think it's hard to predict the magnitude and overall impact of this spike because there are so many factors that determine those things. What I would say is that maximizing air circulation while indoors can be really helpful for reducing the likelihood of transmission. As the weather stays nice, trying to keep windows open and try to socialize outdoors as much as possible,” he said.
"I think it's hard to predict the magnitude and overall impact of this spike because there are so many factors that determine those things. What I would say is that maximizing air circulation while indoors can be really helpful for reducing the likelihood of transmission. As the weather stays nice, trying to keep windows open and try to socialize outdoors as much as possible."
Dr. Matthew Miller, director, Michael G. DeGroote Institute for Infectious Disease Research
Miller also noted wearing high quality masks in indoor environments can further help prevent the spread of the virus.
Almost three years have passed since the start of the pandemic and this time has allowed the medical community to develop many tools to effectively handle the virus when it resurges, such as new therapeutic modalities.
Mukherjee explained that no matter the severity of the case spike, she is confident in the tools and insight the healthcare community has developed for us to properly handle a virus resurgence.
“We are almost dealing with the aftermath of the pandemic. We have vaccines, we know how to deal with this, we know how to social distance, we know the ifs and buts of what to do. I think we are way better prepared than we were when it first hit us or the rounds that kept on coming after that,” she said.
"We are almost dealing with the aftermath of the pandemic. We have vaccines, we know how to deal with this, we know how to social distance, we know the ifs and buts of what to do. I think we are way better prepared than we were when it first hit us or the rounds that kept on coming after that."
Dr. Manali Mukherjee, affiliate scientist, St. Joseph's Healthcare Hamilton research institute
More information on COVID-19 in Hamilton and prevention is available from the city of Hamilton website.
HARRC executive director discusses new resource for reporting hate crimes, a joint intiative with HCCI
Hate crimes have unfortunately been a longstanding in issue in Hamilton. To offer another form of support for the community the Hamilton Anti-Racism Resource Centre and Hamilton Centre for Civic Inclusion have worked together to develop hate crime reporting tool WeSupportHamilton.
HARRC supports Hamilton community members who have experienced racism and works to educate community on race-based issues while HCCI works to create an inclusive community through community engagement and workshops.
The WeSupportHamilton website was launched on May 8 and offers community members a platform to report hate crimes and access additional support resources. Some of these resources include legal aid, counselling and health services.
“WeSupportHamilton is a website that is designed to allow individuals in our community to report their experiences in the way that they would like it in the way that they would like. So it allows them to be able to say "how I want to be supported, I want my story to move forward",” said Lyndon George, executive director of HARRC.
WeSupportHamilton is a website that is designed to allow individuals in our community to report their experiences in the way that they would like it in the way that they would like. So it allows them to be able to say "how I want to be supported, I want my story to move forward."
Lyndon George, executive director, Hamilton Anti-Racism Resource Centre
The website's concept was supported by years of research and community-based conversation. Ameil Joseph, an associate professor of social work at McMaster University, and Kojo Damptey, a sessional Instructor at McMaster, were especially important throughout the entire process.
In 2019, Joseph and Damptey supervised Shubham Maini and Nawshaba Ahmed who wrote a report that explored the basis for online hate reporting. From there, with help from the aforementioned McMaster members, George shared that focus groups were utilized to help shape what was important to support the Hamilton community.
“We had some students conduct research focus groups on what the support could potentially look like, what people would like to see come out of that and looking into why this is needed within the community and really pulling in important information,” said Koubra Haggar, programs manager at HCCI.
As WeSupportHamilton is used for reporting hate incidents that people in Hamilton endure, they are planning to try to synthesize the information to serve as data, which could be used to develop educational material to understand better hate crimes that occur in the city.
Haggar also shared that by putting the community of Hamilton at the forefront of this project, they hope that it will allow those who may have distrust in sharing their experiences with police to have another avenue by which they are able to feel that their experience is recognized and respected.
“The majority of people...at least that I've interacted with, don't report incidences of hate to the police at all. . . just not thinking that it's worth it, or not feeling safe doing that or not knowing or thinking that it would be productive in the long term,” said Haggar.
Given that the website was released a few months ago, George explained the main goal now is to share the resource. They hope that the Hamilton community, including McMaster students, will slowly become more aware of the resource so that they can use it if they see fit.
Moving forward, they hope to further expand the scope of the website. George explained that ultimately this is a resource for community by community; the website will always be adjusted to best fit the needs expressed by the community, including students.
“WeSupport can be one of multiple steps. . .a student can take [when] looking for that type of support. We would always be happy to kind of help out when needed and they don't need to feel like their [information] is going to be going anywhere…Just knowing that they do have support in Hamilton, and then we can connect them to resources that are in the community,” said Haggar.
WeSupport can be one of multiple steps. . .a student can take [when] looking for that type of support. We would always be happy to kind of help out when needed and they don't need to feel like their [information] is going to be going anywhere…Just knowing that they do have support in Hamilton, and then we can connect them to resources that are in the community.
Koubra Haggar, programs manager, Hamilton Centre for Civic Inclusion
Haggar and George encouraged McMaster University students to utilize the resource if they find that it can be of help to them.
Overall, both HAARC and HCCI hope this resource empowers members of the Hamilton community to share their experiences and seek the support they need.
What does it mean to love when you feel lost?
By: Aadhila Nadira, Contributor
In Western movies, the story flows perfectly. The cushioned Caucasian teenager realizes he loves his best friend and they come out happily with outrageous shows of acceptance.
For me, there are three key moments that explain my coming out story. A film critic would give me a 1/5 star for allowing the problem to be drawn out for so long.
The first was at age nine, when my parents took me to New York City. Two men had walked by my family. They were almost exactly like my fathers — age, style of clothing and height. Theoretically, they should’ve been insignificant, two in a crowd of so many. The only difference was their hands were linked, bodies huddled together.
What had stood out to me at age nine though was the unmistakable look my parents gave them. The weight of the stare had felt personal — as if I was being scolded.
That was the first time I’d seen people like me.
The second was at age eleven, in a girl's change room. There were thirty girls scattered around the unusually small room with a constant stream of noise — that is until the words “I’m bisexual” echo through the room. It’s the first time I hear of such a thing. It was also the first time my mom heard of it. My mom had fixed me with a look, one I had seen at age nine, and told me to avoid hanging out with her. Her justification was that the girl may “give it” to me if I did.
That was the first time I had hoped it was only my parent who would look at me like that.
The third was at age thirteen, in science class. My friend told me she’d finally found a boy she liked. But she wouldn’t tell me his name, not until I’d tell her the name of the boy I liked. In a strange moment of bravery, I’d told my friend her name. She pretended as if it was totally normal until she told my classmates. She said it was because “people deserved to know before they like you.”
That was the first time I’d realized that I would always be looked at like that.
Quite honestly, the stare my mom (and classmates) had given me had worked. Back then, I had believed that I was truly a flawed person and that this was all a test. If I could ignore it then I would be loved wholly by those around me. I had fit the rigid mold I told myself I loved.
This need to suppress held me hostage through my teenage years.
I kissed boys I felt indifferent towards and cut out the girl who had kissed me softly. I’d watched her move cities and then schools and thought it was a blessing from God. Once again I had gently applied another bandage on the cracks that had become a gaping hole.
It was a month after my eighteenth birthday when I told my newly made university friends I thought a girl in our cohort was undeniably cute. I’m not entirely sure why I told them, I suspect because at that point they were all pixelated profiles in a group chat. I reasoned that they wouldn’t tell my community about the thoughts I had. What threw me was that they all told me to message her, that I wouldn’t know how it would turn out unless I let myself reach out.
Despite all the comfort, I had been conditioned to think it was all a big test, that if I indulged then I would once again lose the little friends I had. So, with all the shame I held within myself for voicing my true thoughts, I had begun talking to a boy who likely regarded me poorly. I told all my friends back home and in Hamilton, desperate to prove that I was in fact keeping to my mold. I didn't want to break.
It was when my friends began to show subtle waves of support, trying their best to show their love without overwhelming me, that I let myself hope that maybe I could be myself. Until the age of nineteen, I had truly believed the entire world hated people that loved beyond the binary.
The way in which I was raised has, and will always, define a part of me. It’s the way I choose to wield it that defines what I can become. I’m still trying to understand the power of it all, taking it one day at a time. Sometimes not every story starts with understanding identity. Sometimes stories are started by letting yourself truly feel openly.
LABS is working to improve virtual safety measures and support fellow future Black lawyers
C/O The Silhouette Photo Archives
The Law Aspiring Black Students group at McMaster University is creating space for Black and other racialized students to learn about the legal profession, find mentorships and grow their networks. LABS is an McMaster Students Union club and an affiliate of the University of Toronto’s Black Future Lawyers program.
Throughout the 2020-2021 school year, LABS has hosted a range of events and have seen increased interest and enthusiasm within their organization.
The LABS presidential team is composed of three fourth-year justice, politics, philosophy and law students. Brianna Fable-Watson and Elizabeth Oyegunle are the club’s co-presidents and Nicole Anozie is the vice-president.
“[LABS] was intended to be a space where People of Colour, Black-focused but not Black-exclusive, but People of Colour on the spectrum could find a community and establish some kind of space where they could really talk about their experiences, one in which we felt was necessary, especially in the field of law,” said Oyegunle.
“[LABS] was intended to be a space where People of Colour, Black-focused but not Black-exclusive, but People of Colour on the spectrum could find a community and establish some kind of space where they could really talk about their experiences, one in which we felt was necessary, especially in the field of law,” said Oyegunle.
Fable-Watson explained that she and the other presidents are three of five Black students in their majority white class cohort.
“That’s very minute in comparison to the amount of white counterparts that we have in our classes and so we all found each other and realized that we all had the same struggles and issues. It’s this constant feeling of being out of the loop that we wanted to change for incoming Black students and minority students,” Fable-Watson said.
LABS has changed that feeling and has seen increased interest and engagement with their programming throughout the year.
“This is an initiative that people want to be seeing because it's catering to their needs, at least right now,” said Anozie.
This is an initiative that people want to be seeing because it's catering to their needs, at least right now,” said Anozie.
Throughout the year they have seen increased interest and engagement with their programming.
“Not a lot of people knew what LABS was, who we were [last year] and I feel like this year we’re really making our footprints in the McMaster community,” said Fable-Watson.
In November 2020, the club hosted LABS Chat on Zoom to discuss racialized students’ experiences with the pandemic, the ongoing #BlackLivesMatter movement, diversity in the workplace and more.
The event was intended to be a safe space for students to share, to be introduced to the club and for LABS to share plans for the school year. However, in the midst of introductions, multiple participants began saying and typing racial slurs and sexual profanities. One participant changed their Zoom name to Brianna Fable-Watson and used a mirror effect so that there were two screens of her in the call.
The perpetrators of this attack on the event added and re-added each other but the LABS team was ultimately able to remove each of them. In the process, a genuine attendee was accidentally removed and denied access from the event. Another attendee felt too uncomfortable and took a step back, though they did rejoin.
The event continued and according to the executives, they were not going to let the attack affect the rest of the meeting.
“Honestly, I think it added to the chat because it just made it more apparent [that] that's why we need events like this because things like this happen all the time,” said Fable-Watson.
Fable-Watson, whose computer appeared to be hacked, reached out to the Hamilton Police Services about the incident but was only told to have her computer checked out.
“You would hope that something can be done, an investigation can be done, to see who these people are. Even tracing an IP address or something, you have resources at your disposal. It’s a matter of using them,” said Anozie.
“What made it even more concerning and worrisome to me was that it literally could be anybody. It could be somebody that’s in my tutorial or in my lectures and that we'd have no idea,” said Fable-Watson.
The identity of the perpetrators are still unknown as of publication of this article. A lot of students have reached out to share that these hateful ideologies are present at McMaster.
“What made it even more concerning and worrisome to me was that it literally could be anybody. It could be somebody that’s in my tutorial or in my lectures and that we'd have no idea,” said Fable-Watson.
“I was completely distraught cause I was like, if this were to be even more severe or if someone was actually harmed where would I go? Who will actually listen to me because I know that the dean of [students] McMaster would not be listening to me. Who will I be able to actually tell my problems to and would they actually be concerned for me?” said Oyegunle.
The LABS team is focused on moving forward and ensuring that this does not happen to other students. Oyegunle noted how McMaster’s Equity and Inclusion Office has resources but that a lot of students are unaware of them.
“We really want to use our platform now to really allow people to know about and really learn about [these resources],” said Oyegunle.
“We really want to use our platform now to really allow people to know about and really learn about [these resources],” said Oyegunle.
“I feel like now moving forward it’s a matter of assessing and seeing what can we put into place to ensure that security measures are there so that things like this don't happen,” said Anozie.
The team described the attack as a learning opportunity to implement increased measures and to continue to create safe spaces for racialized students to network and build community.
“We are still going to move forward. We're still going to be here and it's not going to stop us. It's not going to deter us from holding future events,” said Anozie.
“We are still going to move forward. We're still going to be here and it's not going to stop us. It's not going to deter us from holding future events,” said Anozie.
“As students of colour, especially Black people and Black women in general, we face so much more hardship and barriers in our lives that something as simple as a zoom infiltration, obviously it’s horrible, but that’s literally not going to stop us. The whole point of LABS is that we’re so focused on success that it doesn’t matter what you do. We’re all here for each other. We’re all united,” said Fable-Watson.
The whole point of LABS is that we’re so focused on success that it doesn’t matter what you do. We’re all here for each other. We’re all united,” said Fable-Watson.
Since then the LABS team has worked with Tolulope Ojo, from inclusion and anti-racism programming in the EIO and Faith Ogunkoya, a student services team lead, to learn more about navigating Zoom safely and to share these resources with other clubs on campus. LABS has successfully implemented these measures in other events, such as a career panel in January 2021.
By: Esther Liu, Contributor
The Silhouette: Could you give an overview of the website clothmasks.ca?
Dr. Catherine Clase: We were very concerned about dialysis patients early in the pandemic and we were concerned about the spread of COVID-19 in the dialysis unit, particularly for patients who have to come in for in-centre hemodialysis. There wasn't enough protective equipment to allow for universal masking at that point back in March so I started reading about cloth masks and their filtration properties.
Then, we recognized quite quickly that there was a lot of evidence about this and that many examples of cloth that we found in [the] literature were actually showing fairly reasonable filtration properties. At the same time, modelling studies that were coming out were showing us that even an imperfect mask was likely to have a big effect on the pandemic. So, a group of us who are epidemiologists who normally write about kidney disease, we got together and wrote a piece around immediate community implementation of masking, recognizing the uncertainty of the evidence.
As we were writing that, the CDC was updating its guidance and then Health Canada, a few days after that. So by the time we advocated for that, the many people working in public health and many epidemiologists around the world had already come to that conclusion. We'd amassed quite a lot of information on the filtration properties of cloth and we thought it was worth publishing that. So, we published that as a review article.
Then, we knew that everybody was trying to make cloth masks or scouring the internet, trying to find the original papers trying to interpret them. We had recognized, by doing that ourselves, how difficult it was. So, we thought that it would be really great to have a plain language version for everybody else, for everybody who doesn't want to read the version that has all the technical details in it. And so, we created the website clothmasks.ca and then some volunteers translated that into other languages for us. We have had 50,000 visitors over the time that [this] has been in place.
Could you also elaborate on your role in the initiative?
My role was really to be sort of a facilitator and team lead because there was a tremendous amount of work always being done by other people . . . we had a team of people taking information out of the primary papers and creating very large tables with all this information. We did it all in duplicate and it was all checked. The people who did that were junior researchers and a PhD student, Edouard Fu. He led the data extraction team, so he did tremendously work on this initiative.
How are you finding running the initiative?
It's challenging, though we're very fortunate because McMaster recognized very early in the pandemic that there was a problem with PPE. Here in the city, here in Canada and around the world, McMaster engineering very creatively decided to use internal investments to create this new Center of Excellence in Protective Equipment Materials . . . Now, I find myself part of something so much bigger. My part is the epidemiology and my piece around cloth masks and around trying to advocate for better cloth masks to be designed. The engineers have really engaged with us. One of the engineering graduate students, Scott Laengert, he has changed his PhD to work in this area. Charles de Lannoy, his supervisor is very actively engaged [in] cloth masks. Other than that, there are many other engineers that are also working on other aspects of PPE. All the knowledge and expertise, it's all going to help build a critical mass, which is going to make PPE at every level better.
Speaking more about interdisciplinary approach, you earlier talked about how it's difficult for you to go about this since your focus is primarily on kidneys. Could you elaborate a little bit more on that?
My background is in clinical research and my clinical area is usually kidney disease. Within kidney disease, we have expertise in a whole variety of different research methods and ways of looking at things — one of the areas of expertise that I've used over the years is the expertise that allows us to summarize things in informal ways. So really, it's that part of my background that I'm drawing on.
My motivation comes from wanting to protect people with chronic diseases and the whole society more generally. Every day, I interact with my patients who are living with chronic diseases who, if they were to get COVID-19, would likely be severely affected and would likely be in the group that experiences higher mortality. On the one hand, I have these tools that come from my experience as a systematic reviewer and then on the other hand I have this motivation that tells me what to do. So, I find that, though this is challenging and it's a really new area for me, I feel really well supported by the engineers who are my new colleagues. I feel that interdisciplinary teamwork is always important and especially important in the pandemic.
What future steps are you envisioning for the initiative?
At the moment, our goal is a better cloth mask. One of the recent changes in Health Canada was to suggest that we should use this substance, polypropylene. So we wrote an article about that in the conversation about what spunbond reusable industry-grade polypropylene is.
What we're really hoping in the very long term, perhaps not for this pandemic but eventually, is that we can move away from materials such as polypropylene which is plastic – not very biodegradable – to materials that are truly sustainable. If I had a dream, that would be my doing: eventually, these pandemic community masks that we wear will be made from something that's sustainably sourced and is compostable so [disposal] doesn't have a huge environmental impact.
If I was going to dream even bigger, I would say: "What if we could have this personal protective equipment in hospitals that meet those same criteria? What if we could have reusable masks that go to the sterilizing department, get washed, get autoclaved, we can wear them again, and they are as good as the masks we're wearing now?" That is a very long way away from where we are now, perhaps an impossible dream, but if we're thinking really big, then that would be my goal.
Any additional comments?
I just want to really give a big shout out to my colleagues at the Center of Excellence in Protective Equipment and Materials. Before I met them, at the beginning of the pandemic, they realized that there was a problem [with] personal protective equipment: that we didn't have enough. We had no Canadian manufacturer, we had no Canadian testing, we had no ability to ramp up our internal supply. And, as you know, borders were closing and planes were getting stopped, and you remember how difficult that was. My colleagues in engineering recognized that and they stepped up and they started doing things . . . Altruistically, that thinking of "I'm going to stop doing what I normally do and I'm going to do that" and so many of them choosing that – that to me was really extraordinary. The way that they have worked as an interdisciplinary team, including those of us from medicine and epidemiology, that too has been an amazing experience. I really just want to recognize all those people who had that idea and then made it happen.
The one last thing that I want to say is that I think we all feel like there is no light on the horizon, that things may not be [getting] better. I think what we all have to do is just keep doing the things that we've been doing, keep reinforcing the importance of doing the simple things that we've been doing to protect ourselves and protect others for the last few months. Head into the darkest months of this winter with patience and strength and hope for the future. I think things will get better, but we have to get through the next few months first.
Greater safety precautions needed amongst student housing
CW: This article refers to instances of physical and sexual violence.
On Oct. 1, a 34-year-old identified as Michael Gallo was stabbed in the backyard of his home near Main Street West and Haddon Ave. South.
On Oct. 1, a 34-year-old identified as Michael Gallo was stabbed in the backyard of his home near Main Street West and Haddon Ave. South.
Gallo was found with stab wounds and taken to the hospital where he died of his injuries.
Kelly Botelho reported for CHCH that neighbours said Gallo had come out of the house that day, hugging his abdomen and asking for help.
Due to its close proximity to McMaster University, the Westdale area is a popular area for student housing.
Andrew Mrozowski, a fourth-year political science student and Managing Editor of the Silhouette, lives one street down from Haddon Avenue on Dalewood Avenue and has been in his student house since September.
Mrozowski recalls that when news broke about the stabbing that night, both him and his housemates were afraid. Not until the next morning after driving past Gallo’s house did he process the severity of the incident.
“Just because we live near Mac doesn't mean that we still should not take the precautions to be safe,” Mrozowski said. He was reminded that although Westdale is heavily populated by students of McMaster, it is still a neighbourhood like any other.
“Just because we live near Mac doesn't mean that we still should not take the precautions to be safe,” Mrozowski said.
In recent years, there have been several incidents within the student neighbourhoods around McMaster. In August and September 2018, there was a series of break-ins and attempted break-ins that targeted women. A 32-year-old man, Daniel Severin, was charged in February 2019 in connection with six incidents in Westdale during that time period.
Severin was charged with numerous crimes, including sexual assault, four counts of voyeurism, and six counts of criminal harassment. Severin was caught and charged five months after the first attack.
There were other incidents as well. A fight in September 2019 left two men with non-life-threatening stab wounds in the area of Whitney Avenue and Emerson Street. A couple was attacked on Bowman Street in October 2019, where a 19-year-old man had non-life-threatening stab wounds and a 19-year-old woman was sprayed with an unknown aerosol. It is unclear whether anyone was charged in connection to these incidents.
In thinking about why Westdale might lack safety measures, Mrozowski suggested that the lack of media coverage over student incidents may be a contributing factor.
In addition, to make Westdale a safer area for students, Mrozowski suggested that the university and the McMaster Students Union should be more involved. He would like to see students have authority other than the police to turn to for concerns within student housing.
“I hope [after hearing what happened] McMaster students really stop and consider, are they being safe . . . [I hope that] this horrible incident brings the community together to take further precautions to make sure it doesn't happen to anybody else in anybody else's family,” Mrozowski added.
"[I hope that] this horrible incident brings the community together to take further precautions to make sure it doesn't happen to anybody else in anybody else's family,” Mrozowski added.
Other students have also voiced concerns over the lack of police response to issues of violence in and around McMaster. A group of McMaster students and supporters called De Caire Off Campus continue to advocate for the removal of Head of Security Services Glenn De Caire and the removal of all special constables.
The group has cited failures of special constables to adequately respond to mental health crises and sexual violence.
In an update from the Hamilton Police Services, a man who was in the immediate area has now been deemed a suspect. The man was nearly hit by a vehicle while crossing the same intersection that night around five minutes before police were called to Gallo’s home.
The man is described as slender, about 5’9” and wearing a grey sweater with black sleeves along with a blue surgical mask.
Police are asking that people who were in the area at the time and saw the suspect to contact them. They are also asking homeowners in the Westdale area to check cameras and surveillance footage.
Anyone with information is also asked to call police at 905-546-3874 or Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-8477.
cw: misogyny
By Roba Dekamo, Contributor
Most people experience some level of privilege based on a combination of characteristics society considers integral to who you are. Some factors that influence privilege include your race, socio-economic status, sexual orientation, gender identity. Based on these characteristics, your life will be harder or easier, and unfortunately you don’t get a say in the matter. Many folks are able to live easier lives due to privilege. For example, white folks are less likely to be pulled over while driving and men are less likely to be targets of sexual violence. However, one privilege I never considered, likely because doing so would contradict its very nature, is the ability to forget.
A friend of mine invited me to take part in McMaster University’s Mens’ Walk in Solidarity with the the National Day of Remembrance and Action on Violence Against Women. As we made our way through campus, we stopped at four memorial sites: the Student Memorial Garden, Nina de Villiers Rose Garden, the Montreal Massacre Commemorative Stone and the Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women Memorial. During one stop, a group member reminded us of how frequently we may pass by these sites, often daily, without giving them much thought. He defined this as “the privilege to forget”.
This isn’t to say men are dismissive of acts of gender-based violence and their impacts, but to say that, as cisgender straight men, many of us don’t have to carry the weight of our very safety being threatened on the basis of gender. Therefore, we can either consciously or unconsciously ignore the realities that women and non-binary folks face on a daily basis in terms of their physical security.
My daily decisions aren’t impacted by the threat of violence because I am a man. I don’t consider how late I can stay on campus if I am not walking home with friends. I don’t prioritize being aware of my environment or worry about who I’m surrounded by when I am out dancing. The women in my life can’t say the same.
While walking through campus with my mom, she helped me realize how easily I am able to forget. We crossed paths with a few friends and when one of them, a female engineering student, stated her program, she was met with all the affection I had come to expect from my mom but with one additional praise I didn’t anticipate: she called her brave. She cited the events of Dec. 6, 1989, the École Polytechnique massacre, where a man killed 14 women in a horrible act of misogyny because he said they were “feminists” for being in engineering. My mom reassured this young woman that her decision was hers to make, and that by defying gender norms she had been brave and made at least one mom proud. I’m sure her own mother was also very proud but unfortunately we are still waiting on a quote from her.
My mom found my friend brave for pursuing her passion, for choosing a field of study dominated by men and for doing what she wanted regardless of the standards. Brave for doing what men consider normal. This was another reminder of my privilege to be able to dismiss the concerns that women often have to take into account when making decisions. Will I feel safe and comfortable in this space? Welcomed or alienated? Is the discomfort worth pursuing something I want? I never had to face these questions when weighing my options in high school.
I remember a time in my first year when five women I was friends with mentioned that they always felt better when I joined them on late night escapades to find a kegger or backyard party. I was taken aback by the statement, not just because I’m built like a determined toothpick but because I never considered my physical safety to be in jeopardy by simply being out at night. To be fair, this anecdote isn’t as much about forgetting as it is about learning, but even beyond this experience years ago, these thoughts don’t occupy mind nearly as much as I’d argue they should.
I learned a lot from those friends and they helped me realize a few things: my understanding of the world was very limited and I had a lot to learn, but also we as a society need to share more. Sharing the burden of repairing broken systems and perceptions, but also sharing our experiences to help inform and educate each other about things some individuals may never experience themselves.
Violence against women and gender-nonconforming people exists 365 days of the year, at a rate drastically higher than men experience. This allows a lot of male identifying folks the luxury of tuning out the subject for 364 of those days, and acknowledging its significance as it arises, be it a news article, story from a friend or national observance.
Year round, men need to ask more often, listen more intently and genuinely care for what women and non-binary folks have to say about these issues. We can use each others’ experiences to learn a lot about the things we can never experience ourselves and hopefully this can help change the ways we think and act for the better.
Students entering university are faced with many new things: new classes, new friends and sometimes even new living arrangements. But students living in on-campus residences should not have to worry about their safety.
To help students transition into living away from home, and to enforce the rules of residence life, McMaster University community advisors live with first-year students in their residences. Their purpose is to “develop and maintain an environment that is conducive to learning and personal growth.”
To be a CA, one must fulfill many qualifications including maintaining a minimum sessional average of 6.0, being a full-time McMaster University student, demonstrating responsibility and leadership abilities and have a working knowledge or building community within students.
But for all the listed requirements, CAs are not required to complete any sort of police background check, including a very important vulnerable sector check.
VS checks are a collection of offence information that is restricted to applicants seeking employment or volunteering in a position of authority or trust over vulnerable persons in Canada. They can be obtained easily from the police service in your residing jurisdiction.
The lack of VS checks for CAs is problematic for many reasons. For one, many incoming students are under 18-years-old. In these cases, it is evident that these students are considered vulnerable persons and subsequently require additional protection from those in positions of authority and trust like CAs.
But even for incoming students who are legally adults, their role as a first-year student inherently places them in a lower position of power relative to their CAs. This power dynamic can be harmful if the CAs have a history of offensive behaviour.
CAs have a lot of influence over the first-year students under their supervision. CAs are oftentimes students’ first interaction with upper-year students and are meant to be the go-to person for questions about campus and residence life. To not conduct a proper background check on them is negligent of the university in ensuring that students are protected.
The lack of VS checks is not an exclusive issue of CAs. In addition to CAs, residence-affiliated positions such as the residence orientation representative are not required to complete VS checks.
In fact, part-time managers, the board of directors and other McMaster Students Union positions do not require the completion of a VS check.
Considering that almost all of these roles involve interaction with and power over a vulnerable population of students, it makes no sense why these roles do not require VS checks. If anything, the lack of VS checks puts students in avoidable danger.
In addition to VS checks, McMaster University should do a more thorough job of ensuring that individuals hired for their positions are positive reflections of the university. This includes ensuring that these individuals have not been reported to university administration or asked to withdraw from their positions previously.
The lack of sufficient and necessary screening of individuals in positions of power within the university is alarming. For McMaster University to truly commit to ensuring student safety, they must create better hiring policies that begin with implementation of VS checks.
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Canada is currently plagued by an opioid crisis. Opioids such as fentanyl are drugs that are commonly used to relieve pain. These drugs, however, can be extremely addictive and their misuse has led to thousands of overdoses and deaths.
In 2017, 88 Hamilton residents died from opioid overdoses. So far into this year, Hamilton Paramedic Services has already responded to 161 incidents of suspected opioid overdoses. In comparison to other cities within the province, Hamilton has the highest opioid-related death rate.
While there is no publicly available data on the demographics of opioid use in Hamilton, in general, young adults aged 18 to 25 are the most vulnerable to opioid misuse. As the rate of opioid misuse increases annually, it is imperative that students are aware of the availability of naloxone.
Naloxone is a fast-acting drug that temporarily reverses the effects of opioid overdoses until medical emergency services can arrive. As of March 2019, Public Health and the Naloxone Expansion Sites in Hamilton have distributed 2496 doses of naloxone, with 285 people reported as being revived by the drug.
McMaster University’s student-led Emergency First Response Team and McMaster University security officers carry and are trained to use naloxone nasal kits in case of emergency situations. While Mac’s security officers only recently began to carry the kits, EFRT responders have been carrying them since August 2017.
Fortunately, EFRT has not had to use any of their kits since they began carrying them. While this may imply that opioid-related overdoses have not occurred on campus, this does not guarantee that students are not at risk at opioid misuse.
As EFRT responders and McMaster security cannot always be available to respond to students’ needs off-campus, students should be more aware of their ability to carry and be trained to use naloxone kits.
While the Student Wellness Centre does not carry the free naloxone kit, the McMaster University Centre Pharmasave located within the McMaster University Student Centre does, in addition to the Shoppers Drug Mart pharmacies located near campus. To obtain a kit, all students must do is show their Ontario health card.
The fact that this life-saving drug is so readily available to students on and near campus is amazing. It is disappointing then that the university hasn’t done a sufficient job in advertising this information to students.
Students should be given naloxone kits and mandatory opioid information and response training at the beginning of the academic term. At the very least, this information can be distributed during Welcome Week along with other orientation events.
The opioid crisis is one that affects us all, especially here in Hamilton. McMaster University should help fight this crisis by ensuring that their students are equipped with the knowledge to recognize an opioid overdose and have the necessary tools to help reverse them.
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By: Elliot Fung
In January 2019, McMaster Security Services announced an update to their mobile safety app, allowing students to receive safety alert notifications and information about campus safety resources.
The app, which was developed in partnership with both McMaster and the McMaster Students Union, provides a centralised location for contact information for a multitude of emergency and non-emergency safety services.
In 2013, McMaster Security Services released an application that included the capacity to easily contact emergency services, the MSU Emergency First Response Team and request the MSU Student Walk Home Attendant Team.
In addition, users could access transit information, the university’s emergency protocols and live alerts.
The 2019 update includes many of the previous features and adds new ones.
However, the new app has omitted information about EFRT and transit.
Among the app’s new noteworthy features includes a “Friend Walk” option that allows students to watch their friends as they travel home.
Friend Walk allows a user to send their real-time location to a friend. The user picks a friend to send their location to via SMS or email and then initiates a walk and chooses a destination.
If the user is under duress, they have to option to notify their friend and start an emergency call. If either the user or the friend disconnects from the walk, an option to contact emergency services will appear on the screen.
According to a McMaster Daily News article about the app update, “Friend Walk” serves to enhance the on-campus SWHAT service, which provides students with the ability to walk to a destination with the company of two attendants.
Another notable feature of the app is a crime map.
The map displays the location and dates of recent crimes in Hamilton and the area surrounding McMaster.
Crimes displayed include categories like auto-theft, car burglary and residential burglary.
The app also features a section about student support services, where users can access information about various student supports on-campus including the McMaster Equity and Inclusion Office, sexual violence support, and McMaster Wellness Centre.
Users can also email facility services to report an issue.
However, according to the “On-Campus Infrastructure Policy Paper” passed by the MSU Student Representative Assembly in Nov. 2018, the process of submitting a work order for a repair of infrastructure is still meticulous and unavailable to off-campus students.
The safety app is an improvement to the outdated safety app that was implemented in 2013.
The McMaster Security Services website characterizes the app as a ‘must have’ that contains valuable features and information.
However, it appears the app may not do a great deal to improve students’ experiences.
During the 2017-2018 academic year, the MSU proposed a variety of suggestions for increasing student safety on and off campus and improving the university’s response via the university’s sexual violence prevention and response policy.
As it stands, the university has yet to implement these recommendations and make improvements to these resources.
Among the recommendations relating to infrastructure in the policy paper were increasing the number of red assistance phones and improving lighting on campus and in the surrounding housing areas.
The newly updated safety app does not ensure these larger recommendations are implemented, only consolidating information that is already available online.
In addition, while students can use the app to access information about sexual violence support at McMaster, they also cannot do much beyond that to improve their experience and safety.
More information about the safety app can be found at https://security.mcmaster.ca/crime_prevention_safetyapp.html.
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