The Telegram DECEMBER EDITIONMonday, December 15, 2014 — Vol. 1, No. 1–MCape Breton University, Sydney, NS

K capertimes.ca f fb.com/cprtimes t @caper_timesCanada’s National Student Newspaper

KAMLOOPS, B.C. (CUP) — A pilot study looking at the current health care accessibility and use by female international students is being conducted on TRU campus. The researchers, senior lecturer Florriann Fehr and co-investigators Kim Munich and Wendy McKenzie are collecting data through interviews with women on their experi-ences with Canada’s health care system.

The interviews are focusing on the “specific cultural and religious influ-ences [that] may influence unaddressed health care needs while attending Cana-dian post-secondary programs,” accord-ing to the description of the study cur-rently being handed out to international student women interested in participating.

“The little information we have has been largely on mental health,” said Alli-son Perry, fourth-year nursing student and assistant researcher in the study.

Perry has always been interested in being culturally competent and cul-turally safe in health practices. This research allows her to pursue both her passions of anthropology and nursing.

According to Fehr, the data is already showing insufficiencies in Canadian health care, particularly maternity care. For exam-ple, international students, specifically women from Saudi Arabia, are having babies in Kamloops, but where these women are

getting post-pregnancy care from is unclear.“There’s this big disconnect. The nurses

are saying ‘we don’t know where they’re going afterward,’ and public health is having issues contacting them, too” Fehr said. “As educators and ethical people, we think ‘well I hope that they’re getting the services they need because they’re here going through TRU.’”

Fehr completed her PhD with a focus on students raising children while they’re in post-secondary programs.

“My whole interest is making sure that this transition, of coming here on campus and having their academic life, is balanced with all the other stuff they need to have done out-side of school. There’s this vulnerable group or unknown group of TRU international students, females in particular,” she said.

The data is already revealing a misun-derstanding on the insurance coverage that international students have, where some women students believe it’s cheaper to travel back to their home countries in order to have basic procedures, according to Fehr.

“They miss all these facts…and we’ve had a couple that have gone home for some-thing as simple as a yeast infection. [Here] it’s an over the counter [medication] or maybe they go through a doctor, but [it’s] not known how simple it is,” Fehr said.

The data has also shown a disconnect between Western uses of certain medications and other cultural beliefs or practices. Accord-ing to Fehr, some Chinese students bring an extra bag of luggage filled with traditional

medicines from home such as teas and herbs.“They don’t have any trust with the West-

ernized system. There is no bridging between the kinds of [medications] we have offered here and their stuff…when they go and see a doctor, they’re worried that they’re going to be given medicine that isn’t safe,” Fehr said. “They have a different way of looking at med-ications and treatments and antibiotics too.”

Other cultural differences found in the data include the concept of 911. In mainland China they have several emergency numbers for specific emergencies, according to Fehr.

“Some have phoned 911 not knowing what to expect on the other side and have panicked,” she said.

Other misconceptions Fehr has noticed through the interviews have been the role a pharmacist plays in prescrip-tions, how breastfeeding clinics work and a struggle adjusting to Canadian food leading to skin and stomach issues.

The group has mostly inter-viewed female students from China and India, but the pilot study is look-ing to expand to all groups on campus.

“It’s very preliminary, just understand-ing the basic expectations and experiences these women have had thus far,” Perry said.

Perry hopes this opens doors for more research.

“At this point we’re just collect-ing data. We need more answers and we definitely need other cultures,” Fehr said.

NEW WESTMINSTER, B.C. (CUP) — The Nov. 24 “Child Poverty Report Card,” conducted annually by children’s advocacy group First Call, has reported that BC’s child poverty rates place fifth in the country.

Despite a promise by the House of Commons in 1989 to end child poverty in Canada by 2000, every province’s child pov-erty numbers in 2012, save for Newfound-land’s, had risen, in some cases substantially.

Citing information recorded in 2012, over 169,000 children were reportedly living in poverty, up from the previous year’s 153,000 count. The numbers indicated are roughly the same as they were in 1994 (170,000), when First Call released their first Child Poverty Report Card, meaning 20 years later one in five children in BC remains living in poverty.

Roughly 50 per cent of single-par-ent families were also living below their respective poverty line. The poverty line adjusts based on the family-type, ranging from one parent with one child (poverty line: $23,755) to two parents with three children (poverty line: $40,723). Statistics Canada found that single-parent-single-child households in poverty lived nearly $10,000 below the poverty line on average.

The report notes at one point that the average single parent with one child who works full-time year-round at minimum wage still makes roughly $8,000 below their respective poverty line. In addition, while the cost of living in BC continues to increase, income assistance rates have not improved.

Statistics Canada also found that of single parent households, 81 per cent of the country’s single parents were mothers.

Viveca Ellis, who co-created the Single Mothers’ Alliance BC last year, told CBC of her situation as a single par-ent: “It was this complex combination of the extremely high cost of childcare, pre-carious work, our broken welfare system, and this social isolation that can be very dehabilitating (sic) as a single mother.”

Along with the basic needs of food and shelter, children need positive experiences to expand their minds and be encouraged in their creativity. Ellis added that her focus as a single parent went beyond overcom-ing poverty, as she couldn’t afford child-friendly activities outside of her home. “Any kind of fun activity that you know your child needs is out of reach,” said Ellis.

The end of this year’s Child Poverty Report Card lists 19 recommendations, which were written with specific “areas of responsibility” in mind: Federal, Provincial, and local. One of the report’s most heavily suggested solutions, aimed at the Federal Government, is to “increase the combined Canada Child Tax Benefit/National Child Benefit” to $5,600 per child. The combined benefits are meant to aid families through-out the year, with the annual benefit for a first child being $3,485 in 2012—First Call has requested roughly $2,000 more.

Suggestions to remove specific financial barriers, lower various costs, and raise aid benefits for families were also made, in part to help those in poverty, and to also prevent the numbers from being so high in the future.

One in five children in BC living in poverty

ASHLEY WADHWANITHE OMEGA

ANGELA ESPINOZATHE OTHER PRESS

Study looks at international student health care accessability in Canada

FREDERICTON (CUP) — The barriers facing a New Brunswick woman’s right to choose may have been tackled in a historic announcement from the Liberal govern-ment this week, but local officials say the fight for abortion access is far from over.

Last Wednesday, Premier Brian Gallant announced that amendments would be made to regulation 84-20 of the Medical Services Payment. The amendments would elimi-nate the requirement that two physicians certify the procedure is medically required, as well as remove the requirement that the procedure be performed by a specialist.

The amendment, which will be effec-tive as of Jan. 1, 2015, will put reproduc-tive health procedures in the same cat-egory as any insured medical service. The government will also be working with the regional health authorities to increase capacity and improve timeliness of access.

“It’s great that the government has finally started to make some changes, but for us to act as if our fight is over now would be ludicrous,” said Sarah Dominie, chair of the University Women’s Centre, which serves both UNB and STU campuses and provides information to all students on issues such as abortion, sexual health and eating disorders.

Dominie said while it can indeed be considered a victory that abortions will no longer need to be deemed “medically required,” this becomes problematic when you take into account that the province still has not pledged to fund services outside of hospitals, and there are only two hospi-tals in the province that will perform the procedure — in Moncton and in Bathurst.

“It’s one of those things about New Brunswick that just makes you hang your head,” said Dominie.

“We’ve seen an inevitable increase in women travelling to Maine and Que-bec for the procedure, as they can-not rely on their home province to provide basic access to health care.”

Jessi Taylor, spokeswoman for New

Brunswick Reproductive Justice, sees the changes as a first step in fostering improved abortion access for New Brunswick women.

“We’re extremely pleased that these two pieces of legislation were abolished … [but] without that third piece, a lot of the changes that were made don’t have any practical applications, not without some-thing more to supplement,” said Taylor.

“In failing to apply reproductive health best practices by refusing to fund services

outside of hospitals, New Brunswick contin-ues to be in violation of the Canada Health Act … People are sometimes treated in a punitive way when they access abortions in some hos-pitals. There are also confidentiality problems when abortions are provided in a hospital.”

Dominie believes the key going forward lies in “continuing to make our voices heard.”

“The efforts of pro-choice activ-ists in the province over the last several

months — notably the rally at the legisla-ture in April and the nationally-trending hashtag #NBProChoice — seem to be what has really been causing the govern-ment to notice, and bringing awareness to the injustice happening here,” she said.

“New Brunswick is letting its women down. Abortion access is not something the government can keep from us. Can-ada is not a place where the government makes your choices for you, uncomfort-able conservative old men be damned.”

TESS ALLENTHE BRUNSWICKAN

Much work ahead for women’s abortion accessability in New Brunswick

PHOTO: C. CRAIG (CC)

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2 The TelegramMonday, December 15, 2014

The Telegram

HALIFAX (CUP) — Most students work while in school, and it’s not for the job experience. Almost three quarters of students find they can’t otherwise afford the cost, according to a survey by CIBC.

Riley Matson drives 20 minutes each way to attend school at Univer-sity of Fraser Valley in Abbotsford, Brit-ish Columbia. She lives with her parents to save on expenses, and works three to four days a week at a naturopath office.

Matson said her courses demand a heavy workload and balancing classes with employment can be challenging at times. “I need to work to live,” she said, echoing many other students in the same position.

In the end, post-secondary educa-tion pays off; Statistics Canada has found graduates are more likely to find jobs and make more money. According to StatsCan, half of undergraduate students take on loans to pay for school, graduating with an average debt load of $26,000. The aver-age undergraduate tuition comes to almost $6,000 a year, according to StatCan.

On average, students work 17 hours per week, said a recent report on non-first year undergraduates found by the Canadian University Survey Consortium. It found one third of upper year undergrads are looking for work and can’t find it. Almost half of stu-dents with jobs say it negatively affects their schoolwork. The more hours they work, said the report, the worse their grades become.

Michaela Sam, a student at the Univer-sity of King’s College, has seen the effects of this across the country, through her work

as chairperson of the Nova Scotia branch of the Canadian Federation of Students.

“I know students across the board that have at least two, if not three jobs, that work

full-time hours, try to keep up with their stud-ies, that aren’t able to,” said Sam. “That’s hugely problematic because it means our stu-dents aren’t able to focus on their education.”

The CFS advocates for lower tuition, more repayable loans and increased pub-lic funding, among other solutions.

Matson is taking a general arts degree, but her work for a naturopathic doctor has encouraged her to switch to sciences to eventually become a doctor. Matson wants to attend Simon Fraser University because

she said it is has more science courses.However, the tuition at SFU is higher.

The school is a two-hour train ride from her home in Walnut Grove, so she would have to move out. Her family saved using a registered education savings plan,

but Matson said she will need a student loan in two years, sooner if she moves.

Her parents, said Matson, “really push me for more higher education.” She works a min-imum of 20 hours a week during the semester and bumps that to full time during the break. More scholarships or bursaries would help, said Matson, but for now, she takes a reduced course load and studies in the evenings.

Most students must work to support themselves during tertiary education: surveyRACHEL WARDLABOUR BUREAU CHIEF, CUP

PHOTO: SUBSTEVEO (CC)

HALIFAX (CUP) — On Friday in the students at the University of King’s College put their pens to paper as part of a letter-writing campaign to save the jobs of three sessional professors. King’s Student Union (KSU) President Michaela Sam said students approached the union after hearing three contract professors would not be hired again.

The Watch spoke with King’s Vice-President Kim Kierans. She said the rumours are false. At the faculty meeting Tuesday, certain faculty members said things like, “the sessionals are going to have to go,” said Kierans. “Now, again, that has been taken (incorrectly) to mean that they are going.”

The KSU started the campaign after hearing from students that Jan-nette Vusich, Sarah Clift and Laura Penny were potentially going to lose their jobs.

“The letter writing is a call to the uni-versity’s administration to value the stu-dent voice,” said Sam. “Students have come together to say these three profes-sors, who are very loved at this insti-tution, are a part of what they value.”

The university has come up with two reports on how to improve the college’s finances. Kierans said King’s is forecast-ing a cash shortfall between $1.1 million and $1.5 million in the next fiscal year. The school started this year with a $1.1-million deficit, which has since been reduced by selling a house owned by the school. All departments have also had across the board cuts. Further ways to reduce the deficit have been proposed in a recent task force study.

Vusich, Clift and Penny’s names were mentioned by the KSU because “they are the only three sessionals for the combined honours programs. They’re the easiest to identify,” Kierans said.

Kierans said there is “no basis in evidence” to suggest they will be

cut. “In the end, it’s the board who decides. Nobody has received notice.”

She has encouraged stu-dents and alumni to continue send-ing letters about the school’s finances.

“I’m basically just angry,” said King’s student Zoe Brimacombe. She said King’s has many other options besides cutting these positions. “They’ve not even consid-ered taking more out of the endowment.”

Rach Klein was more vocal, saying, “I really want to love it here, but the ongoing

inability of the board [of governors] to have the students’ best interest at heart is making this impossible. This has been an ongoing battle — getting the student voice heard — and is now being culminated by the letting go of our most beloved and talented staff.”

The KSU is still accepting let-ters to send directly to President George Cooper, including from alumni.

Layoff rumour sparks campaign at U. King’s CollegeELIZABETH WHITTEN THE WATCH (CUP)