Spotify is Robbing Artists

It's been no secret that for a long time artists have been unfairly compensated for their work by the music industry. As it currently stands, the platforms that uphold the streaming model pay very little, touring can often be a money sink that allows venues and ticket services to hold artists financially hostage, and physical media purchases are far from the dominant form of music consumption that they used to be.

Most of the audience that will spend time listening to an artist will do so through streaming platforms such as Spotify. Despite having potentially hundreds of thousands of consistent listeners, that will very rarely translate to any meaningful financial turnaround.

The Streaming Numbers

FanclubWallet during live show | Natneuroptypes on instagram

“Most of my listening activity comes from Spotify, with sprinkles of a listener base coming from Bandcamp, Apple, Qobuz and a few obscure ones. For example, I get about 60,000 streams per year. This runs me in the low $200s but spikes when I put out a release. Royalty money is then distributed to my producer, and if I have someone co-writing, they get a share that’s agreed on ahead of time. I also play bass and tour with another band, FanClubWallet. For this band, it generates about $750 per month on Spotify for example, sometimes more, sometimes less based off roughly 2.6 million streams per year.”

Drake at the grammys | gq

This comes directly from Nat of the bands Neurotypes and FanClubWallet, a friend of mine who was kind enough to provide insight to me about the financial elements of the music business. From these numbers we can calculate that on average a single stream of a song seems to be about $0.0034 paid towards the artist. In other words, it takes thousands of streams of a song to make even a single dollar. For huge artists like Drake or Taylor Swift this isn’t an issue, they’re already massively successful and are guaranteed to gain hundreds of thousands, if not millions of streams within the first day of a release, on top of repeated listens and replays in the coming months from dedicated fans no matter what. But for smaller, independent and local artists, this is unsustainable.

Touring

When it comes to touring, this can also be a huge loss for smaller artists who aren’t guaranteed to sell thousands of tickets like big stadium acts are. “We have lost money every time we’ve toured except for one summer where we earned $500-$1000 per night. Every other tour has been a loss for sure… We just toured the states as an opener for 2 bigger bands who invited us out… we went about 10K negative before accounting for merch sales.”

Another artist from Ottawa, xCADAVERDOGX, had this to say “It really depends! Some shows I leave with quite a bit; some shows I spend a bit more money on drinks and getting there than I get paid. If I'm ever playing out of town and make less than I expected it sucks“

How To Support Your Artists

So how can we better support these artists? It seems that platforms like Bandcamp, as well as purchasing merchandise, are the best ways to support an artist. 

“The best way to support artists is to buy their music directly from them so places like Bandcamp or buying their merch is great. Bandcamp Friday which happens most months out of the year gives 100% of royalties to artists which is something I like to keep track of” said Nat

One purchase on a platform like Bandcamp can be the equivalent of weeks or even months of streaming for smaller artists. I encourage anyone who is a fan of a smaller artist to perhaps think about supporting them through physical purchases, merchandise or even digital patronage, as it goes a long way toward properly compensating these artists for the incredible amount of hard work and creativity they put into providing you with a good experience. It’s time we stop undervaluing smaller artists and start properly compensating them for everything they provide.

Additional Links

https://neurotypes.bandcamp.com/album/violence-district

https://fanclubwallet.bandcamp.com/album/living-while-dying

Fashion Dies While Profits Rise

Fashion has been a key part of human culture since we first started wearing fur to stay warm. The way we dress says a lot about who we are and where we live. They’re core expressions of our identity. Humans are visual creatures – we like to look good! 

It’s only natural that clothing and accessories have become a core way to show who we are. However, fashion has experienced a massive change in the last decade. It’s become less about self-expression and more about profit. 

Fashion Then vs Now

a Dolly Magazine cover from the 1980s

Let’s look at an example more topical than the cave men I mentioned earlier – the 1980s. When you think of 80s fashion, I bet a clear picture comes to mind: vibrant neon, polyester and massive hairdos are iconic to the decade. 

Now, try to picture the cohesive look of the 2020s... chances are you thought of something more muddled. We have a lot of revivals, like the Y2K (2000s) or 80s fashions returning and the constant wave of new thing-cores (like cottagecore) that keep popping up. But these trends come, and they go, with only some loyal fans left to keep them alive.

Trends move so quickly that what is cool this week will probably be cringe next week. To stay trendy, you basically need a whole new wardrobe every month. 

Why The Change? 

The shift comes down to two things: our buying habits and manufacturing. Not only were people in the 1980s buying clothes with a completely different mindset, the companies making clothing were thinking about and making them differently too! 

The average pre-2000s person bought clothes that were high quality because clothes were an investment. A good jacket or pair of shoes lasted you decades if you took good care of them. That’s why you can still buy vintage clothes now. This meant that people paid close attention to every clothing item they bought. It had to really fit your taste because you were probably going to wear it for years.

Now you’re lucky if a product lasts two years in the 2020s. They’re just not built to last, and we aren’t buying them thinking they will either. Clearly something major has happened between then and now when it comes to how we view clothing. 

A Drop in Quality 

Buying high quality clothing is expensive. Thanks to decades of inflation, without increased wages to match, the average person can’t afford to buy good clothes anymore. This means that clothing manufacturers started to encounter a unique problem: they were competing with their own products. 

If people can’t afford to buy new sweaters and they have perfectly good sweaters at home that they bought from you a few years ago, they’re not going to buy your new range of sweaters. So, your only option is to sell cheaper sweaters. 

Cheaper sweaters mean cheaper materials, and cheaper materials means your sweaters start falling apart after a while. That means more sweater sales! So, make your sweaters worse and basically print free money forever. That’s what manufacturers started doing! 

The result is that we are buying more clothing than ever, 400% more than we did in 2000.  

Competing with Fast Fashion 

A trendy “cottagecore” style dress from Shein

Since online stores opened, our clothing choices broadened beyond high street brands and boutiques. This means the companies that used to provide us with high quality products are no longer competing when it comes to quality – they are competing over quantity. 

Companies like Shein and Zara mass produce low-quality, short-lived clothes that they can sell for literal cents. This makes following fashion trends not only affordable for everyone but also makes higher-quality brands look out of date. It takes months for new clothing styles to be designed, approved and launched. In that time, Shein and Zara could have cycled through several microtrends. 

Fast fashion companies have to steal design ideas from other creators to meet these demands. 

The Overconsumption Problem 

As clothing became cheap and fast to get, our use of them shifted to match. They're expendable and because clothing is tied to our identity, our self-expression ends up expendable too. The monetization of subcultures like goth, punk, cottagecore, etc., alienates them from their original meanings, which are usually anti-capitalist or sustainability movements 

Turning them into trends or “aesthetics” that are bottomless pits to toss your money into does a massive disservice to self-expression and art. This is a consistent theme across all styles of fashion. We’ve also all started to look kind of similar because of algorithms pushing popular content onto everyone’s social media feed. 

An upcycled shirt made WITH other shirts from conscious life and style

Is There an Escape? 

Yes! Avoiding fast fashion is the most obvious way, but this can be difficult because of money and availability. The best alternative with that in mind is buying secondhand clothing (especially vintage!) and/or making your own. Learning how to repair or upcycle your clothes is a great option too. 

Also, avoid trends and instead develop your own style. Finding your unique sense of self will help you appreciate what you buy and own, stopping you from buying new things. Plus, dressing in a way you genuinely love will make you happier! 

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Hannah Staniforth is a second-year Professional Writing student at Algonquin College in Ottawa, Ontario. She combines her previous experiences in Social Sciences with her writing to explore social themes with her readers. Hannah’s recent works emphasize the importance of positive thinking, gentle self-development, and reclaiming your personal time in a demanding world.

Canada’s 2025 Housing Crisis: Not Just a Bubble — A Systemic Problem

See how the housing crisis is getting worse in 2025

Canada's housing market is currently in serious trouble, and the issues go beyond the ups and downs caused by and since the pandemic. What seemed like a temporary increase in housing demand has turned into a long-term shortage of available homes. This has created a big gap in what people can afford and has led to a disconnect between the growing population and the number of new homes being built.

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The Scope: Prices, Rents — and the Supply Gap

Homebuilding and the number of available homes is now seen as being much too low for what people need. A recent report from the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC) says that Canada will need between 430,000 and 480,000 new homes each year (both for buying and renting) until 2035 to bring back affordable prices that we had before the recent rise in housing costs.. CityNews Toronto

This means we would need about 4.8 million new homes in the next 10 years to meet expected demands, which is roughly twice the current rate of building homes. constructconnect.com

If things continue as they are (without significant new construction), CMHC’s study predicts that the cost of owning a home could take up as much as 52.7% of the average household income by 2035. This is a big increase from 40.3% in 2019. (CityNews Toronto) That's much higher than what is usually considered affordable for housing.

Rent costs and pressures in the rental market are going up, putting financial strain on renters who often don't have the financial safety net that homeowners do. With fewer new apartments available, many renters are facing difficult decisions: they can choose between paying higher rents, commuting longer distances, or saving less money.

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What’s Fueling the Crisis

A key problem is that the construction of new homes isn't keeping up with the growing population, the number of households being formed, and the need for places to live. CMHC clearly states that the current trend is not enough: if we continue to build around 245,000 new homes each year, the shortage of housing will only get worse. (CityNews Ottawa)

To meet CMHC’s goal of building 430,000–480,000 homes each year, we would need to make some big changes. This includes having more and better-trained construction workers, getting more private investment, speeding up the approval process, and reducing building costs. (CMHC)

One reason for the slowdown in new home construction is the complicated rules and approvals needed to get started. These lengthy processes and high costs make it hard to build new homes, especially in busy city areas where there is a lot of demand. At the same time, many new homes being built are not affordable for middle-income Canadians who are looking for places to live.

The problem is also regional: some provinces and cities face larger supply gaps than others. According to CMHC, provinces such as Ontario and British Columbia — as well as large metropolitan areas — are among the hardest hit. (CityNews Toronto)

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The Human Cost — and Economic Risk

The effects extend beyond just real estate statistics. For many families, the hope of owning a home or finding a stable, affordable rental is becoming harder to achieve. Young families, newcomers, and middle-income Canadians are especially impacted.

Increasing housing costs reduce what people can spend on other essential needs like savings, food, and transportation. This is especially tough for renters, who often have to make hard choices such as sharing an apartment with roommates, traveling far for work, or giving up a stable living situation.

When there aren’t enough homes available, it can hurt the job market and the economy. Workers might struggle to live close to their jobs, leading to longer commutes or making it hard to move for work. This can increase social inequality and create more pressure on services that help people in need.

Without a large increase in the number of homes available, these challenges are expected to get worse in the coming years. It will become even harder for many Canadians to afford a home and owning one may become impossible for a lot of people.

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What’s Being (or Should Be) Done — And Why It May Not Be Enough

There are calls to address the crisis. The 2025 CMHC report itself argues that housing starts must roughly double for Canada to return to reasonable levels of affordability. (CMHC)

To make that happen, we need big changes: increasing the number of workers in construction, getting more private investment, making rules easier to follow and lowering costs for building, and using better building techniques like prefabrication and modular construction. (CityNews Toronto)

Many experts believe that even with current efforts, changes will take time. They warn that without major changes like updating zoning laws, adjusting how land is used, and creating incentives for affordable housing, the problems may continue for years.

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Looking Ahead: What Could Change and What’s Likely to Stay the Same

If Canada significantly increases construction, especially for rental apartments and affordable housing, it could help reduce the challenges faced by renters and people looking to buy homes in the next ten years.

In big cities, where demand for housing is high and rules can be strict, many people, especially those with middle or lower incomes, might still struggle to find affordable homes. If changes to housing policies don’t include new ways of building homes—like creating more apartments, offering different types of homes, and making zoning laws more flexible, the gap between the number of homes available and the number of people who need them may keep getting bigger.

If we don't make important changes, younger people might start to rent for a long time instead of buying homes. Owning a home could become something only wealthier people can do, and this could make the gap between different social classes related to housing even bigger.

Modern-Day Loneliness: How Are We Feeling Lonely Even Though We're Always Connected?

Connected… But Not?

Google Image source

Have you been finding yourself overwhelmed with unanswered texts and ignored voicemails, yet still feeling alone? Well… congratulations, you’re now feeling the social epidemic of digital loneliness.

You can be involved in it all. All of the group chats, snap streaks, and discord servers, but still feel like none of it is any real connection. 2025 is a year where everyone talks, but not everybody connects.

What Is This “Feeling”?

Digital loneliness is how it sounds. It is to feel emotionally isolated, but still being socially active online. To think of it as an analogy, it is like fast food. It fulfilled the momentary feeling of isolation, its fun, quick and in reach, but it isn’t truly fulfilling the actual issue. Some apps begin to be used as a dopamine fix or as a happy distraction, and some are for connection. And while yes, social media does help with social interaction and communication, some feel the isolation of not having an actual social connection. It starts to become confusing when you’re constantly in contact with people, but it leaves you feeling alone.

How Did We Get Here? Why Is Social Media The Default?

Our world data

Our World Data provided an analysis of the rise of social media. We can see that many of the most populated platforms are providing a some sort of “connection”. Something that carries across majority of social platforms, is the constant ability to have a conversation. It also comes with followers and “friends”. But with that comes the dilution and illusion of what friendship is and means.
As much as it may feel like a connection, texting someone all day is not the same as actually knowing each other. Unplugged did an article focusing on why social connection is critical for human, and cannot be replaced. It states that strong social connection has “therapeutic powers”. We as humans connect with vulnerability, tone of voice, eye contact and so much more. But when we’re behind a screen, we are removing so much from a true human connection and basing all off of a profile picture and assumptions. As we see the population of platforms grow, we are seeing a shrink of genuine connection.

What Is Our Reality?

Let’s be honest, when someone randomly comes up to talk to you, there’s probably a few times where you forgot how to speak. And when someone calls instead of texting? Instant panic, immediate anxiety and suspicion for what the call was about. And someone must have died.

Why is that? We have gotten so used to communicating digitally that real life connection has become has some-what lost. There has been a gap wedged between online friends and real-world socializing. Many people have started social-media breaks, and you’ll even find social media influencers posting about it. Why? Because their “followers” have created a par asocial friendship with the creator.

@pretavoyager

But remember, two things can be right at the same time. Everything has its advantages and its disadvantages, negative and positive affects. It's important that we learn how to balance our online presence, and to make it important to be present in our own lives. Social media is amazing with the things it can do, and people it can bring together. But remember, while those profiles are real people, however the curated content thats posted, is not. Someone once said, comparison is the thief of joy, and they are right. Comparing your life to a curated online profile, is not going to make you feel better.

Most Important: You’re Not Alone in Feeling Alone

The best take-away from this blog is: many people feel the same way.

Digital loneliness is a modern day issue, and while the technology may or may not be permanent, the problem doesn’t have to be. Take the days slow, find true and real conversation, make real life experiences and memories. Find people to make you feel heard and understood. Be social, even if you're anxious while doing it. Our world is filled with constant noise, but sometimes your feeling are the loudest. You are seen, and valued beyond a screen. Overtime, your connection to yourself and others will grow. Taking a break doesn’t have to be a bad thing, it is an opportunity to look up and around at the world around you. Your profile is not what or who you are.

Sources

Our World Data

Unplugged

Nayia Thompson is an 18yr aspiring journalist. She is currently getting a diploma in professional writing. She strives to learn and gain an understanding of different parts of the world, and wants to use writing to provide that for others. Nayia writing is fuelled with honesty, truth and vulnerability.

The horrors of bottom trawling

I saw a documentary once about ocean pollution and one thing that stuck with me the most is bottom trawling. I’ve heard about it before the documentary, but I never knew the severity of it. I’ve been itching to spread the horrors caused by bottom trawling ever since. Now, I have the opportunity. I will be telling you about the environmental impact, the destruction caused to our seafloor, the bycatch and the long-term impact.

© Greenpeace

First of all, what is bottom trawling? It is a commercial fishing method. This method involves a large, weighted net attached to a boat, which is then dragged along the seafloor to catch certain species. These species are often crab and groundfish. But why is this fishing method so damaging?

This method to catch fish has a negative impact on our environment. When these large, weighted nets are being dragged along our seafloor, it causes harm to reefs and seagrass. Reefs and seagrass are one of the ecosystems that absorb the MOST carbon. These nets not only destroy the benthos, but they also catch unwanted marine life, harming them in the process. “The ocean is the heart of our planet, pumping oxygen, nutrients, water and weather around the globe.” (The Nature Conservancy.) The ocean is important to us, and we are destroying it every day by dragging heavy nets.

Umeed Mistry/Ocean Image Library

Bottom trawling is well known in Asia, in places like China, Vietnam and Indonesia. They target seafloor that is soft, muddy and sandy, but these places are known for having more complex and fragile habitats like corals and seamounts. After the benthos are ripped and destroyed from the floor of our ocean, it can take up to centuries for them to grow back. “Deepwater corals can live for hundreds of years and are slow to recover from any disturbance.” (Ministry for Primary Industries, 2025.) When we think about it, at the end of the day, we do not have centuries to spare and wait for. The consequence of our damaged seafloor is far closer than you think. We are already seeing an impact in our climate, a rise in pollution and extinctions in our marine animals.

Colin Munro/Getty Images

Now, most likely you already knew that bottom trawling has a big impact on our environment and our seafloor, but some are still unaware of the process. One of the popular words you will find when looking up the process is bycatching. Bycatching is one of the most horrific things I have ever seen and heard of. Bycatching is the unintentional capture of marine life. When these large nets are dragging against the seafloor, it is hard to capture just one or two specific species, so, in the process of the dragging, the net fills up with a bunch of different unwanted species. You might be wondering, how is catching unwanted species so horrifying? It’s not necessarily the action but rather the aftermath. These fishes, bycatch, are often crushed, suffocated and/or suffering by the time they make it into the boat. The workers then process to discard these dead and/or dying mammals by throwing them back into the ocean. The four most known species to suffer from bycatch are seabirds, sharks, sea turtles and sting rays.

The damages to our environment, our seafloor and our marine animals have a long-term impact. Bottom trawling can alter chemistry from our seafloor like the depletion and release of carbon, the nutrient cycle and habitual degradation. These alters are long-lasting and take a long time to recover.

In many places in the world like Sweden, Greece, UK, Denmark and Canada, bottom trawling has been banned or in the process of being banned. Many have realized the extreme damages that come with bottom trawling, yet some bottom trawling businesses are still thriving. DanSea is a company that sells trawl gear and equipment making bottom trawling fairly accessible. We need to start holding these companies accountable and stop them from continuing. There are so many active, negative impacts with this fishing method, so why are we still doing it?

The more we spread the truth, the more we will realize and speak out against it. Marine life goes through so much already with pollution, overfishing and climate change. We are only making it worse with our weighted nets. Things need to change, and it starts with one person at a time.

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Allison Thompson is a Professional Writing student at Ottawa’s Algonquin College. She loves films and videos, her favourite being ‘Garden State'.’ By Zach Braff. She loves the morning air and sparkly light catchers. Her biggest muse is her Aussie named Mittens. Allison writes with great humour and kindness, making sure her readers feel safe and included in her work.

No New Colossus

Written By: Matteo Calvano

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In an unwelcome callback to the start of Trump’s current administration, Chekhov’s refugees are back in the spotlight, with America slamming the door on anyone else. In case you forgot (which, following recent news, is understandable), only 7,500 people, a historic low, will be granted refuge this year, with most being White Afrikaners. 

Is there actually a genocide against the Afrikaners? 

It shouldn’t need to be said, but no, there is zero evidence that the South African government is actively genociding or persecuting Afrikaners. There is zero benefit to the oppression of White South Africans, and it actively goes against the state’s principle of racial harmony.

I thought mobs lynch mobs were raiding Afrikaner farms?

That claim has been disproven since 2003. 

Currently, the accepted motive for most farm attacks is theft and robbery done by gangs against unarmed farmers. And while yes, most of the victims of these attacks are Afrikaners, that also fails to account for the fact that Whites own 74% of farms in South Africa. Furthermore, this argument omits the fact that only 7% of farmland is owned by Native Africans. Afrikaners aren’t victims of mass racial targeting; it’s just probability making it seem so. Even then, most murder victims are African.

But what about the land seizures? Aren’t farmers getting their land stolen?

Ignoring the fact that every country, especially the United States, allows land to be seized for public use, that claim vastly simplifies the history of the issue.

Author: DrRandomFactor

As far back as 1913, the White Controlled South African government established anti-Native laws forbidding Africans from buying land from settlers, a whole 35 years before the start of Apartheid. The adage of sale prohibitions, combined with forced migration, led to devastating results. By its peak, the government forced over 70% of the whole country (All of whom were African) to live in only 13% of the land. 

These Bantustans (regions where Native Africans were deported to) were set up as semi-nation-states where the local people ran the area. The problem is that the land was useless; these communities often found themselves forcefully settled in infertile, resourceless rural bushlands. Of course, that didn’t mean the Bantus couldn’t work for white business owners; all they had to do was leave their families on the reserve and become visitors in their homelands. After 78 years of forbidding free trade between races, land was finally able to be sold in 1991. 
Unfortunately, just because the land is available for sale, it doesn’t mean everyone can afford it. Decades of limited access to education, entrepreneurship, and even actual bans on high-skilled labour have resulted in long-lasting wealth disparity to this day.

Recently as of last year with the passing of the Expropriation Act 2024, the reasons for transferring private land into public land broadened for land redistributions. That’s it. Eminente domain, but with outlines to distribute land to the Africans. Furthermore, any land distribution is available only to those whose ancestors were indigenous to the area, granting more Africans access to entrepreneurship.

Then, where did the critiques come from?

Library of Congress

The controversy began when critics pointed out the “nil compensation” guidelines. Effectively, the law permits the government to seize land without compensation following certain conditions. The requirements are that the land is either abandoned or excessively overpriced to be considered, clarifying that any seizure of land used for business or residence requires compensation.

Following His re-election, the intentional misinterpretation of the act has spiked into mainstream with White Supremacists, Elon Musk (A White South African Nepo Baby), and the President himself, pushing the narrative. By May, the first arrival of “refugee seekers” arrived, depositing 53 primarily Dutch South Africans into the nation. To reiterate, the United States has limited the maximum number of refugee seekers to 7,500 and ignores real genocides in real conflicts. 

The American Colossus has turned its back on the tired and poor, as the huddled masses must look for new homes.

A City on Edge: Rising Theft and Domestic Violence Cast Shadow Over Ottawa in 2025

In 2025, Ottawa is facing a serious but confusing situation. Even though some major crimes have slightly decreased, people feel less safe, and many types of offenses are increasing. It's important to understand this complicated situation if you live in or are visiting the capital city.

Ottawa has a rise of 63% in crimes over the last decade 2015-2025 which is quite alarming and unsettling for the city of Ottawa. Improvements need to come fast in order for Ottawa to be more of a welcoming and inviting city.

https://www.ctvnews.ca/ottawa/article/ottawa-police-reporting-63-per-cent-increase-in-crime-in-last-10-years/

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Driving-Up Concerns in Property Crime

One of the most noticeable changes in crime in Ottawa is the significant rise in property crimes, particularly small thefts. In the Sandy Hill neighborhood, for instance, thefts of items worth less than $5,000 jumped to about 85 incidents for every 1,000 people in the first nine months of 2025—making it the highest rate in the city. This is an increase of nearly 76% since 2018.Capital Current
The annual report from the Ottawa Police Service (OPS) shows that in 2024, there were roughly 50,600 criminal offenses (not including traffic violations)—a 5% increase compared to last year. Ottawa Police+1
What’s really upsetting for residents is the feeling that even when they report crimes, the chances of solving them are getting worse. The rate at which crimes are solved fell to just 26% in 2024.Ottawa Police+1

For many people in Ottawa, the increase in thefts leads to daily worries: leaving a car unlocked feels risky, packages on doorsteps are watched with concern, and shop owners worry about stealing happening again. Although the rise in smaller thefts doesn’t always make the news, it slowly wears down trust in the community

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Domestic & Gender-Based Violence: A Quiet Crisis

While people often worry about property crimes, there is a growing concern in another important area: domestic and intimate partner violence (IPV). Data from OPS indicate that in 2024, there were 6,636 reported cases of IPV, an increase from 6,547 cases in 2023.Capital Current+1
In the first half of 2025, reports of intimate partner violence (IPV) went up by 9% compared to the same time in 2024.Ottawa Police
About 80% of victims are women, and around 29% of the incidents involve people between the ages of 18 and 29.Ottawa Police+1
The OPS has described this situation as an “epidemic,” mentioning that there are usually 18 calls every day about violence between partners. Capital Current
This unnoticed crisis has serious consequences: it not only harms the victims directly, but also impacts their families, neighborhoods, and overall trust in public safety.

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Mixed Signals: Shooting Rates Down, but Homicides & Severity Up

In some ways, the crime situation in Ottawa isn't all bad. The 2024 OPS Annual Report showed that shootings went down by 27%. There were 73 shootings in 2023, but that number dropped to 53 in 2024. CityNews Ottawa+1 Vehicle thefts also dropped in 2024 by about 21 %. Ottawa Police+1
However, the overall "crime severity index" (CSI) for Ottawa went up by 2% to 55 in 2024. This increase was mainly due to more property crimes, while violent crime levels stayed mostly the same. rideau-rockcliffe.ca+1
Homicides? In 2024, there were 21 cases, leading to 26 victims. This is a significant increase compared to past years. Ottawa Police+1
Although some serious types of violence and crime might be decreasing, a rise in thefts, more calls about intimate partner violence (IPV), and a general feeling of chaos are making people feel more uneasy.

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The Feel vs. the Stats: Why Things Feel Worse

It’s interesting to see the difference between what people think and what the data shows. A national report from Statistics Canada found that crime severity in Canada decreased by 4% in 2024. CP24+1
Many people living in Ottawa feel less safe in some neighborhoods. For example, witnessing theft or seeing strange behavior on the street can greatly affect how safe someone feels, even if overall violent crime rates haven't gone up significantly. Experts in sociology suggest that seeing signs of disorder, like drug use, begging, or public drinking, can make people feel more threatened than the actual crime statistics show.

As one academic observed:

“If you go down the street and you see somebody yelling and screaming, and you see people smoking crack, that may not represent any kind of violent crime, but it feels less safe to people.” CityNews Ottawa

So, it's not only about how many crimes happen, but also about how people feel about them and how they group together in certain neighborhoods that is important.

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The Road Ahead

Ottawa is a lively and diverse city, and its crime rates don’t show it is falling apart. However, they do highlight growing challenges. The increase in thefts, rise in violence between partners, pressure on police resources, and the feeling of disorder in some areas indicate that there are bigger issues to tackle.

Residents, community leaders, and decision-makers will need to work together to address these problems. A city's safety is not just about the number of crimes; it's also about how secure people feel in their homes, neighborhoods, and everyday lives.

In 2025, Ottawa needs to pay attention not only to crime statistics but also to the real experiences of its residents. If not, even small increases in crime could lead to bigger problems in the future.

Did the COVID Lockdowns Truly Affect us? It Fixed Problems, but What Did It Cause?

The world as we knew it stopped, it shut down. The phrase “The world won’t stop for you”, stopped being true. This wasn’t just a shut down, this was a time where grief was felt world-wide, and we had to adapt to a whole new way of living. The pandemic brought lockdowns, school closures, and an extreme shift to how we live. While yes, this was needed for public health, it also created many problems that this generation may not have been prepared for. Have you felt a change in your social ability? How you learn, or even the healthcare system? In this post, we will explore the different problems that the lockdowns could have implicated in our generation, and how we it has changed us.

A World-Wide Setback

Across the world, schools shut down. It started off as 2 weeks and it slowly turned into months some turned to a year. According to UNICEF, over 168 million children were out of school for nearly a year. Within 11 countries, students missed about 3 quarters or more of their in-person education between March 2020 and September of 2021. This was needed for health concerns, but what were the other results? Some studies showed that there was a loss of months in reading comprehension and math studies for many students. Also showing that younger students and those for lower-income communities were highly affected, some losing almost 8 months of learning.  

These problems may seem small, but it meant that even as schools opened back up, many people felt that they were already behind in their learning. This not only could’ve affected grades, but the people’s confidence, motivation and mental health.

How Did It Affect Our Growing Minds?

Taking in the learning setbacks and social problems, all of this had an impact on the mental health of children, teenagers and pre-teens. The long-term isolation, the disruption of daily routine and the “unknown” of what the news would say next, led to a rise in anxiety and depression among kids and teens. The World Health Organization put out a study that shows the rates of anxiety and depression increasing by 25% during the 2020 pandemic. This shows how the mental state of children and teens were impacted. There was also a loss of access to help, leaving it to strictly online availability. There was a huge loss in connection, and it left many struggling with their mental state. This caused some people to experience long-term phycological effects even after restrictions where lifted.

 Social Problems

It wasn’t just the classrooms that were empty, but also playgrounds, clubs, parties, sports and all social gatherings. The development of children is partially dependent on social integration, making friends, especially in early ages. A survey showed that 7 in 10 parents felt hat the lockdowns had a negative impact on their kids social development and social abilities. We are social beings by nature, and the simply being alone for long periods of time, especially as a growing child, has shown to cause problems in different social skills. Communication skills, social anxiety, and even learning to regulate our own emotions. Furthermore, s comparison study showed that children in the ages of 1-10 were impacted in their attention spans and even sleeping problems. Many of these problems continued to affect children into the year and 2021.

 Did These New Problems Come with new Solutions?

During these times, it had become a random time of withdrawing kids from the regular schooling and day-to-day life. The upcoming generation faced problems then and continue to face problems now. It has created many changes to our livelihood and to how we look at the world as we grow up. While the world is continuing to recover, there will always be risks, in health and in personal circumstances.

This pause in the world is a remembrance of loss, and a time of grief. But also, a time where we put our faith into humanity, and where many of us came together to try and be safe, not just for each other but for our loved ones, for strangers, and for those who are no longer with us because of COVID. There was a sense that even though we were struggling, we were struggling together.

Spoiler Alert: People who menstruate still need products!

I can’t even count the number of times, with my fingers, that someone has asked me for hygiene products. Which is weird considering the big variety of hygiene products that exist, right? Wrong. It’s sadly very common, many women cannot afford it. The reasons for this are due to the outrageous prices put on them, the lack of availability and the social stigma around periods.

Photo by beth brown

When I walk into stores, my eyes are always browsing the prices. I love Walmart, they have plenty of different things to look at, apples: 3,97$, fresh ground meat: 8,78$, tank tops: 5,00$... sanitary pads: 19,97$. Wide eyes! If we compare these necessity products, sanitary pads are ~11.12% more expensive than other products. In 2000, the average price for sanitary products were ~4-5$, but why has the cost gone so high? Thank you, Inflation! “Recently, 1 in 4 women reported that they are struggling to afford pads and tampons due to inflation in North America.” (CITRON, 2023) Inflation isn’t something that we can fix easily, it requires a lot of work from our government and central bank policies. But why should we pay for something that we never asked for?  Sanitary products should be at a fixed price, not matter the inflation, or even free.

Not only are the prices for sanitary products high, but the availability to the products isn’t the best. When it comes to Canada, we have a wide variety of sanitary pads, but tampons and cups are less available. On top of that, many sanitary products can cause health issues. “Studies have found that menstrual hygiene products like tampons and pads often contain harmful substances, including heavy metals and volatile organic compounds (VOCs), which may pose significant health risks such as cancer and organ damage, yet these products are not subject to rigorous FDA testing for toxic chemicals” (McClure, 2024.)  It’s the fact that, the variety availability is low and the products themselves aren’t the safest, is a bit crazy! We should also keep in mind that many companies that are sanitary product focused are actually owned by men. Women should be able to get sanitary products that they find comfortable and healthy.

INTIMINA

In addition, the social stigma around periods is different depending on where you are and culture. In some places, the concept of a period can be foreign. Most of the time, culture overtakes the concept and turns it into evil. When that happens, it becomes hard to speak up and tell them the truth. This is seen in places that are more male dominated. This makes it really hard on the women because not only do they deal with the periods, but they have to hide them. Hiding your period can cause a lot of mental stress and physical injuries. As they don’t have access to sanitary products, they must “makeshift” a pad or tampon which causes urinal tract infections. It can also cause Anemia and Toxic Shock Syndrome. These women should be able to have someone to lean on during their periods and be safe while doing so. It’s how our bodies work; we cannot change that.

It’s quite scary when you put it in these perspectives because despite menstrual topics being a pretty loud topic on social media, there’s still many flaws in our system. Women should be allowed to afford sanitary products, those products should be safe for our health and we should give it more awareness. Many young girls aren’t given the proper education on how to actually use sanitary products safely and correctly. If we speak up more about it, maybe we could make a change. As Emma Watson once said, “If not me, who? If not now, when?”

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Allison Thompson is a Professional Writing student at Ottawa’s Algonquin College. She loves films and videos, her favourite being ‘Garden State'.’ By Zach Braff. She loves the morning air and sparkly light catchers. Her biggest muse is her Aussie named Mittens. Allison writes with great humour and kindness, making sure her readers feel safe and included in her work.

AI Overlords | How Companies Are Fighting A War On The Working Class

A Background

Mark zuckerberg testifying before us congress | The boston globe

In the early 2010s A.I or more accurately, generative AI based on large language models, was used as a fun gimmicky idea you would see on youtube videos. Stuff like “this is what AI thinks a death grips song sounds like” would be passed between friends in order to laugh at the novelty of a terribly low quality imitation of actual art. But as with all things, the invention of generative AI was viewed as a potential way not just to make money, but to exploit the working class and potentially save billions by generating a product rather than paying someone else to create it.

Companies like Meta (formerly Facebook), Google and Microsoft, amongst others, began swarming in droves to invest in a potential future instrument of class warfare. Mark Zuckerberg and Meta themself invested a reported $14.3 billion into Scale AI, a singular AI research and branding company. That’s a lot of money, and unfortunately when people invest so much into something, they will push it no matter what in order for their investment not to go to waste.

The Grok Problem

So far in the 2020s we've seen countless companies start pushing AI, and implementing needless AI features into their services. Instagram added AI chatbots, so you could talk to a hollow imitation of celebrities when your actual friends have started ignoring you for being an AI enthusiast. X (formerly twitter) added Grok AI to its platform. A generative model made to answer user questions to drastically varying levels of accuracy. Grok itself has gone through many hilariously public shutdowns due to a series of supposedly unintended outcomes.

X Screenshot | The New York post

Because generative AI can’t actually think as marketed, it works by chewing up any information it can and regurgitating it back out. This quirk of large language models led Grok to absorb a variety of statistics, historical data and political theory and congregate it into a sort of self-held philosophy for lack of a better term. When X’s user base began asking political questions, Grok spat out answers that roughly mirrored factual statistical data and real-world political analysis, something Elon Musk's conservative fanbase wasn’t entirely too fond of. Musk soon scrambled to get his employees, the actual brains behind Musk's operations, to alter the intake for the language model, and so a new “non woke” version of Grok was created. The issue with this? The new version began actively speaking Nazi propaganda and praising Hitler, because it was fed on the political ideologies of X users Elon Musk deemed to be aligned with his own politics. Grok was marketed as an assistant that could provide information and was used as a political instrument by its owners, something that tends to be the case for any corporate product.

Replacing Workers

Secret Invasion | marvel studios | disney

The major area where AI has become a threat however, is to workers in creative industries. Various companies have scrambled to use AI to replace graphic designers, writers and in some cases even actors and filmmakers, among other creative professions. Disney owned Marvel Studios used AI to create the horrendous intro to its underwhelming and unsuccessful television series Secret Invasion. While the reception to Secret Invasion wasn’t to be blamed entirely on the use of AI, the reaction to the intro itself was strong, and decidedly negative. Many decried the use of AI to create an intro sequence instead of hiring human artists to craft something. AI wasn’t used for artistic purposes, it was used to steal from other artists' work and generate a sloppy imitation. It was used to avoid paying real workers in order to push a TV show out as a product, rather than art someone wanted to make.

A Human Future

As it stands now, companies continue to use AI to replace workers, which provides an incredible threat to the economy of the working class. When the bubble pops, many will be left without jobs, many already have, having been replaced by technology that was overvalued. As people we need to pushback against companies replacing human workers with AI implementations. Many people have begun boycotting companies that use generative AI, refusing to purchase from businesses that use the technology to create its products or in its marketing. Together we can teach companies that real human beings can never truly be replaced.

Sources

Artificial Intelligence (AI) Companies to Know | Built In

The first big winners in the race to create AI superintelligence: the humans getting multi-million dollar pay packages | Fortune

Elon Musk's AI chatbot Grok praises Hitler, spews antisemitic hate on X

How AI Will Harm Working-Class Families | Institute for Family Studies

Additional Sources

Zuckerberg was in the spotlight, and senators were skeptical - The Boston Globe

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Hayley Knight is an author, content creator, community organizer and professional fighting game player from Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. Hayley is a huge bookworm, music nerd and cinephile, and will gladly chat with anyone for hours about, the history and craftsmanship of their favorite works. They seek to use their writing to inform others and speak on their views of the world. Hayley believes in the power of humanity to fight the injustices of society.

The Adpocalypse: Drowning In Ads!

It’s another beautiful day of scrolling on your phone. You’re watching videos, playing some games, reading your socials and fiddling with your apps, everything is going smoothly! Including the hundreds of ad breaks. Those are the most important thing in your doomscrolling, after all!

You wouldn’t be scrolling without ads. The reason your phone is so addictive is because developers have designed apps to abuse our brain reward system. All those fun sounds, flashing lights, likes, followers and algorithms that show us content perfectly aligned to our interests, are made to hook us in. The more positive feelings we get from our phones, the more we scroll and the more ads we’ll fall for.

Why So Many Ads?

a grammarly advert on youtube

The reason why most free apps will stop you every minute or after a few scrolls so that you can watch a 10 to 30 second ad is because that’s how they make money. Advertisers pay the developers to show you their ad, then advertisers get their money back when you buy their products. This how free apps/services can exist at all.

This free-with-ads style has existed since the internet began and isn’t new. But as prices have gone up, so has the number of ads we need to be shown before app makers make any money. Now add that to the increase of time spent on the internet plus how many apps we’re spread across, and we can see how that equals ad overload.

Too Many Products

Another problem is that the market is flooded with products. What was once a Pepsi vs Coke vs Store Brand Cola competition is now a fight between hundreds of brands selling the same thing. Starting a company has never been easier and we’re not buying local anymore either, we’re buying globally.

With everyone struggling to be “The Brand to Buy That Product From”, the need to advertise as much as possible is real. Otherwise, companies will quickly get buried under the competition. It’s why you’ll keep seeing ads for the same thing over and over. It’s boring, yes, but it’s drilling into your head that if you want a VPN, then you know where to look.

There’s Even More Ads Than You Think

Pop-up, side bar or scroll past ads are everywhere. They’re the most noticeable type of ad because they’re shoved in our faces and are clearly adverts. Some are even kind enough to come with skip buttons! But there’s just as many sneaky ones too.

Charlie damelio with dunkin donuts product placement on tiktok

Sneaky ads have a name. They’re called an “undisclosed advertisement”. These are ads that don’t make it clear they’re ads. They come in a few forms. The oldest is “product placement”, which is where an influencer or a celebrity will have a branded item in their hand or the background. They won’t say its an ad, but they’re being paid to show you that they have or are enjoying the item.

Another type is the “fake review”. Ever seen a TikToker/Instagramer suddenly pause to gush about how great this thing they’re using is for an awkward 30 seconds or more? Sometimes it’s the whole video. They’ll probably tell you to click a link in the description or their bio to get it too.

Why Ads Are Sneaky

The reason these are popular tactics is because they sell you a product without you realising. It’s well-known that ads are annoying, but if we pretend it’s not an ad, then you might be more open to buying. Especially if it’s from someone you really like or trust. It’s plain and simple manipulation, and it works.

We have these hidden ads all over YouTube, Instagram and TikTok. These apps/sites follow the free-with-ads style and so do their users. Creators want to get paid for making content and their host companies only pay so much. Brand deals pay a lot more.

There’s nothing wrong with a brand deal. Creators deserve to get paid. However, things get muddy when sponsorships aren’t made clear. Not disclosing your ad is illegal, but due to thousands of ads going up daily, it’s impossible to regulate. Users are left to fend for themselves.

What Can We Do?

Not much, really. I mean aside from using an Ad Blocker or avoiding social media, our only other option is to buy smarter. Avoid getting unnecessary things, don’t trust overly positive reviews and don’t fall for aspirational content. Reporting undisclosed ads can create class action lawsuits too. Make ads cost more to be shown than they make, and hopefully we’ll see less of them.

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Hannah Staniforth is a second-year Professional Writing student at Algonquin College in Ottawa, Ontario. She combines her previous experiences in Social Sciences with her writing to explore social themes with her readers. Hannah’s recent works emphasize the importance of positive thinking, gentle self-development, and reclaiming your personal time in a demanding world.

The Effects of The Opiate Crisis Within Canada and The United States

While walking around, there are definitely a few problems that you’ll come upon. However, one that is constantly noticeable, is the constant rise in nation-wide drug crises. While yes, it’s always been around, there are certain things that led to populations across Canada and the United-States being continuously affected by opiate addiction.

Where to begin?  The year to landmark the crisis was the beginning of the 80’s. Starting with the rise in prescription usage of opiates. The on-going conversation is about how the FDA and Pharma companies contributed to the opioid crisis. According to Canada.ca, the opioids sold to hospitals has increased by over 300%. Leading to over 20 million dispensed prescriptions within pharmacies.  Reminder, these statistics are only within Canada. Many say that pharmacies began to prescribe opiates for individuals experiencing pain, mainly wanting to target the on-going problem of untreated pain.

However, The American Medical Association says otherwise. They wrote an article in 2020 focused on the drug crisis along with how the FDA and Pharma contributed. Essentially stating that for decades, drug companies have deceptively pushed the usage of opiated that were often known to have addicting states and were not safe or effective. This contribution to increase in prescriptions, led to the wide-spread issue of opiate addiction. Not only within the states, but into Canada as-well. According to NCDAS, there is a 1.9% increase in drug usage each year. Americans aged 12 and older, an estimated 47.7 million were using. This was taken in 2023. According to Canada.ca, approximately 1.1 Canadians over the age of 15 are reported to have been harmed or affected by personal drug use.

I feel that’s its extremely important to emphasise that these statistics have been done years ago and have only grown since. These are also over certain ages, such as 15 & 12. Some may think it’s not around, but drug use in children is a real issue. Stemming from the wide-spread drug crises.

This does not only affect the individuals who come in contact with drugs, but it has a long-time effect on their loved ones and families. Learn Genetics Utah did a study based on the risk of a person’s risk on drug addiction based off genes. They concluded that genetics account for in-between 40-60% of their risk to addiction. Genes play a huge role. Not only that, but the housing situations and financial situation that these issues can lead to. Drug addiction can overtake your entire life, even if you didn’t want it to. It will take your money, your families and friends. Coming from someone who’s been around it, having drug addiction used around you as a child, has a huge effect as to how you develop; how you form relationships, and how you were cared for. It is an unsafe environment that has evolved due to the overgrown crisis of drugs in our neighbourhoods.

If you or someone you know is struggling with addiction, there is help.

Mental Health and Addictions Phone Line Canada:

1-833-553-6983

Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administrations USA:

800-662-HELP (4357

Culture War and Transphobic Legislation In Canada

Culture War

Parliment hill during ottawa pride | Hayley Knight

A vocally transphobic movement has taken over as the predominant voices of culture war the last decade. In bad faith, podcasters and influencers have used transphobic rhetoric as a platform to build a brand. Pushing “anti-woke” and transphobic narratives in order to create a divide in a society and an “us vs them” mentality which in turn attracts people to their audience. 

They create a false narrative of an enemy, and tell you that it will hurt you if you don’t do anything about it, and in turn people keep coming back to them for information. How sincere these people are in their motivations is only known to them, but creating an enemy out of nothing is a known political tactic that unfortunately holds a lot of power. 

When people like JK Rowling, who have garnered massive followings attempt to direct their audience at a group, people who are loyal to those influential people sway politically, and vice versa. People who already agree with those views will in turn cause that person's audience to grow. Culture-war echoes its namesake, it is indeed warfare, and in a war the only true winners are the ones selling the weapons. People like Trump aren’t in politics to achieve anything politically, they are in this to gain power.

Canadian transphobic risk assessment map | Celeste trianon

Transphobic legislation isn’t simply an issue limited to the United States. In 2024, Alberta Canada passed Bill 26, which aims to ban sexual reassignment surgery and heavily restrict access to hormone replacement therapy for transgender individuals. The bill marks a horrifying step back for trans healthcare in Canada, and is representative of a growing disdain for trans people from the Canadian government. While Alberta is, yes, one province, it is not the only move being made by provincial and federal governments in Canada to create anti-queer legislation. 

Celeste Trianon, Canadian trans activist, maintains a map tracking states of potential risk for different provinces. More and more, Canadian conservative representatives are adopting anti-trans views as a platform. Pierre Polievre stated that trans women have “no place in women's sports,” and has heavily pushed for single sex spaces which will force separation and segregation for all trans individuals, both transmasculine and transfeminine, as well as alienating and erasing non-binary individuals completely from the equation.

It’s All of Us

Walmartcanada.ca

Transphobic rhetoric and legislation do not just affect queer people though. Cisgendered heterosexual men and women also see the negative repercussions of transphobia with women and members of racial minorities being disproportionately affected. When you forcibly categorize genders into rigid definitions and small qualitative boxes, and then claim that anything that deviates from those narrow classifications is in need of destruction, you make way for harm to reach the people who don’t fit your qualifications despite not existing within the group you are referring to. Fascist ideals that claim men and women need to fit their perfect “beautiful” idea of what it means to be a man or woman serve to isolate and harm even cis people who deviate from that attractive archetype. When you claim women can only be the white, blonde, thin barbie with 0 body hair, that leaves very little room for women who are overweight, or have brown hair, or forgot to shave their legs. 

Dani Davis is a cisgender woman accused of being trans and subsequently fired from her job at Walmart because she is a 6'4 woman, a height deemed “irregular” for cis women.

“Transphobia and misogyny have always been two sides of the same coin. I notice it’s a cis man that’s going into the bathroom and you that’s getting punished for it. I’m so sorry. This has always been about punishing women, cis and trans, for not fitting standards of femininity they want to enforce,” wrote a supporter of Dani’s.

ottawa capital hill during pride | Hayley Knight

What We Can Do

It's not hopeless though. Every day more and more people take up the fight against transphobia, and you can too. Look up bills in your area, district, province that may harm trans people. Write to your representatives encouraging them to push against harmful legislation. Get in touch with your local queer communities, gather trans allys, attend protests, create art in support of trans people, spread trans focused works or works by trans authors and artists, lift up the voices of your trans friends. Take action to support trans people and make them visible. Let people know that trans people are humans and are here to stay.

Sources and Links Used

What to know about claim FBI plans to categorize trans people as 'Nihilistic Violent Extremists' | Snopes.com

Seven theses about the so-called culture war(s) (or some fragmentary notes on ‘cancel culture’)

Public outrage, anti-trans legislation instils fear in trans community - Humber Polytechnic

Poilievre against transgender women in female bathrooms, changing rooms, sports

Canada’s newest Walmart Supercentre opens in Edmonton

A cis employee was harrassed by a customer who thought she was trans. Walmart fired her. - LGBTQ Nation

Are We Dropping Our Literacy?

Does one look at a social media comment section have you wondering if we’re becoming illiterate? You’re not alone. In a world full of fake news, rage bait, and endless adverts, it’s easy to feel like you’re the only one thinking. But the truth is, it’s not that bad. Yet.

Before we get into that, let’s talk about what “literacy” actually means.

Literacy?

Image by tiday on pIXABAY

When we think “literacy”, we think reading and writing. It does mean that, but being workably literate includes having number and critical thinking skills too. That’s because people need all these basic skills to live well. Without them, they will struggle with important life things like managing money, making decisions and getting jobs.

There are different levels of literacy too. It’s not just literate or illiterate. Literacy has 5 levels, with 1 being lowest and 5 the highest. At level 1, a person can read basic sentences, add and subtract small numbers and follow simple directions. Level 3 is enough literacy to pass high school. At level 3, a person can read and understand normal books, solve number problems and find useful answers in textbooks. Level 3 is considered workably literate.

Currently only 37% of Canadians are at level 3 and 14% are at level 4 or 5. That means 49% are not fully literate. Oof.

Why Are Canadian’s Illiterate?

Well, we aren’t. We’re actually above the global average in all the types of literacy we just discussed. Low literacy is just a global problem and one that isn’t getting better. Literacy rates are either dropping or staying the same, which feels odd in a time of “information overload”.

Shouldn’t we be improving? It’s never been easier to learn. We’re reading and writing all day, every day. Well, that might be the problem. Having so much access is kind of bad for us. Let’s explore why.

Culprit 1: Technology

Spell-checker is world changing invention. We all used to own fat dictionaries so we could check our spelling. Now most websites give us a wiggly red line. One click and it’s fixed! Our phones don’t even tell us we got it wrong, autocorrect just changes it for us. This a great time saver, but it robs us of the chance to learn. Taking the time to correct ourselves makes us less likely to make the same mistake again.

AI creates a whole new problem. With spell-checkers, we still had to write something ourselves. Now we can send a little prompt to ChatGPT and it’ll plan or write an essay for us. Some sites even have sparkly buttons that will “enhance” your writing with AI instantly, but it doesn’t teach us how to do what the AI did. It just makes us dependent.

Culprit 2: Fast Facts

Reading books isn’t popular. In 2023, 51% of American adults hadn’t read a whole book for a year. Instead, information has moved to faster, easier to digest forms. TV shows, short-form content and video documentaries have replaced books. Why spend hours reading when you can watch 30-minute video instead? Why read a recipe when you can watch a TikTok tutorial? It’s more efficient.

This is hard to compete with. However, visual teaching doesn’t improve or maintain our literacy skills. It’s a way around the problem. We end up relying on information being told to us. It’s why workplaces favour using information videos instead of training manuals.

Culprit 3: Know It All

Calling back to information overload, let’s not overlook how much information we have access to. Thousands of videos, blogs, articles and posts go up every day. Just like this one! All of them are saying something, and many are contradictory. How do we know which ones are true? We don’t have time to fact-check everything!

This makes us passive learners. We take things in without thinking about it. This lowers our ability to think critically and can fill our brain with things we don’t need. Over time, this results in a loss of in ability thinking for ourselves.

Are We Doomed?

No, but as you can see, literacy is weakened by convenience. If we rely on easier options for information, we aren’t using our literacy skills. Not using them means we are losing them. However, keeping our skills is a choice. We don’t have to lose them. Instead, we can take control and promote literacy for ourselves and for others.

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Hannah Staniforth is a second-year Professional Writing student at Algonquin College in Ottawa, Ontario. She combines her previous experiences in Social Sciences with her writing to explore social themes with her readers. Hannah’s recent works emphasize the importance of positive thinking, gentle self-development, and reclaiming your personal time in a demanding world.

Canada's Job Crisis and Where It Will Lead

Canada is  viewed as a place full of opportunities, known for a good quality of life, a strong economy, and a friendly culture. However, many young Canadians, new immigrants, and  seasoned workers are finding it increasingly difficult to secure stable jobs. We are dealing with a quiet job crisis — one that doesn’t always show up in the national unemployment numbers but is strongly felt by jobseekers.

Temporary Foreign Workers and Regular Canadians

Let’s start with a number: Temporary Foreign Workers (TFWs) make up about 1% of Canada’s workforce.

https://www.canada.ca/en/employment-social-development/news/2025/10/the-government-of-canada-highlights-reduced-usage-of-temporary-foreign-worker-program-and-increased-penalties.html#:~:text=There's%20a%20stringent%20process%20in,temporary%20foreign%20workers%20are%20protected.

At first glance, that doesn’t seem like much. But the impact of TFWs isn’t just about how many there are — it’s about where they work and what jobs they take.

TFWs come to Canada to work in agriculture, food processing, hospitality, and service jobs  — areas that used to offer steady income for students, and entry-level and part-time workers. Now, those job opportunities are disappearing. Employers prefer hiring TFWs because they are tied to their jobs through work visas, making them unlikely to leave, join unions, or ask for higher pay.

This creates a troubling trend: Canadian students and entry-level workers are being pushed out of jobs that once helped them gain experience and pay their bills. What used to be a summer job for a college student is now a full-time position for someone brought in from overseas. The situation is even worse when employers choose to hire TFWs when there are qualified Canadians available — and this still happens, even though there are government rules against it .

High school and college students usually take part-time or seasonal jobs in these areas to earn money and gain work experience. However, these jobs are becoming harder to find. More employers are hiring TFWs who are ready to work full-time for lower pay. Additionally, many older workers who were laid off  are competing for these jobs too.

Automation and It’s Negatives

Automation, like self-checkout machines and app-based ordering, has also cut down on entry-level positions. As a result, students are ending up without jobs, stuck in low-paying roles, or doing unpaid internships. These don’t provide enough money  or  experience to help them move into long-term careers.

 Automation is heavily affecting Canada’s job market by taking over entry-level jobs that high school and college students, depend on for experience and income. Jobs in retail, food service, manufacturing, and administrative support are being replaced by technologies like self-checkout machines, and AI software.

This leads to fewer jobs and more competition for the remaining positions. Therefore, young people are facing higher unemployment rates and struggling to find good jobs, leading to increased income inequality. Without measures to help workers learn new skills, protect their jobs, and create opportunities, automation will leave many people, especially the youth, without chances to succeed

What The Government Can Do

The Canadian government can improve the job situation by making changes in education, employment rights, improving immigration, and investing in the economy. One important step is to offer more vocational training, apprenticeships, and short courses to help people gain the skills needed in employment. Especially in important fields like healthcare, trades, and technology. Professionals who have been trained abroad should have faster and fairer processes to get their qualifications recognized in Canada, along with programs that help them adjust to local standards.

It's important to make work accessible by investing in affordable housing, childcare, and public transportation so that more people can join the workforce . To address youth unemployment, Canada should create more paid internships, cooperative education programs, and entrepreneurship opportunities, while making sure education aligns with job market demands.

Additionally, investing in green and digital industries will help create jobs that are relevant for the future and support a move towards a sustainable economy. Gathering data about the job market will help governments, schools, and workers plan to avoid mismatches between taught skills and job requirements. Changes to Employment Insurance and job services can help people transition to new jobs and get retrained more quickly. Finally, promoting job growth in various regions through remote work options and targeted immigration can help meet labor needs across the country. Together, these strategies will help build a job market in Canada that is more inclusive, flexible, and strong for everyone.

Conclusion

As a young person starting my career, I think Canada really needs to address the job crisis. It's getting tougher for students and recent graduates like me to find good jobs that pay well and help us build our futures. While hiring Temporary Foreign Workers and using technology have their benefits, we need to make sure there are enough opportunities for Canadian youth and new immigrants who are trying to make their way. The government should act now to invest in education, job training, and fair hiring practices. If we don’t make these changes, too many of us risk being left behind in a country that is supposed to offer opportunities but is becoming a place where those opportunities feel out of reach.

TikTok: Bought, Banned, ‘Saved,’ then Sold

Written By Matteo Calvano

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Following years of uncertainty and a temporary ban in America earlier this year, TikTok is (partially) moving West following a trade deal brokered between investors and lawmakers, branching from China, the United States, the UAE, and Israel for a total sum of “$ 14 billion USD.” Although promoted as a win for the West, several groups argue that our information has only been sold from one spy network to another.

Originally released as Musical.ly in August 2014 by Shanghai developers Alex Zhu and Luyu Yang, the app was created for the simple goal of making lip-syncing videos of popular music. In under three years, Musical.ly Inc. would report over 200 million active users and open a new office in Santa Monica, California. Seeing this rapid growth, ByteDance, a leading Beijing developer, purchased Musical.ly for just under a billion dollars. Less than a year later, Musical.ly merged with ByteDance’s own social media service, Douyin, officially launching internationally as TikTok in September 2017

By January of the following year, TikTok had exploded in popularity, reaching over 2 billion users globally, with the United States hosting over 130 million alone; however, this popularity wasn’t gained without detractors. Following the passing of the despotic “National Intelligence Law of the People's Republic of China” in mid-2017, the law requires companies to share personal customer data with government bodies for national security. Critics of TikTok pointed to the authoritarian rule of the PRC, highlighting the question of whether foreign users’ data was also readily available.

By December of 2019, ByteDance’s theorized security risk resulted in the United States Army and Air Force banning any use of TikTok on government devices, highlighting the possibility of sensitive information leaking to the PRC. Unfortunately for the growing site bans launched by lone agencies escalated into 2020, with India, Pakistan, and the United States beginning to draft national bans. While some countries banned the site for similarly authoritarian reasons, the Republic of India pointed to growing clashes on the Chinese-Indian border, along with pre-existing security concerns, as reasons to block the site. By the year’s end, TikTok was banned from ever accessing over 1.6 billion people, and just barely managed to stay available in the US after filing a lawsuit against the Trump Administration.

With the conclusion of the 2020 election, TikTok needed new leadership, temporarily promoting a former Disney executive CEO before settling on the current lead, Shou Zi Chew. Inheriting the large task of fighting politicians who had already made up their minds, Chew faced additional controversies with TikTok caught breaking Google’s data collection policy, data leaks, and tracking foreign journalists.

Although receiving a reprieve by the Biden Administration, by December of 2022, President Biden signed the “No TikTok on Government Devices Act,” and less than a month later, Missouri Senator Josh Hawley began the push for a nationwide ban. Quickly, lawmakers sprang into action, drafting legislation forbidding personal data from being sold to foreign companies and authorizing direct government supervision over tech companies. Chew was once again brought to the US House of Representatives for testimony.

Although starting on a good footing, the US only managed to stumble its way through. During his testimony, Chew, a Singaporean, was questioned on his national identity. This spectacle culminated in the infamous clip where Senator Tom Cotton effectively accuses Chew of secretly being Chinese. Following several months of testimony, and Chew being accused of perjury, neither side budged.

On October 7th, Hamas, a Palestinian militant terror group, as well as other small groups, launched a military incursion in the Gaza Strip and into Israel’s Southern District. Following the attacks, the killing of civilians, and the kidnapping of hundreds, the Israeli government, led by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, launched a military invasion and bombing campaign in Gaza. Although praised by mainstream media sources and politicians, the public didn’t buy it.

Public outcry against Israel broke into the mainstream, as independent groups used social media to call out war crimes committed by the Israeli Defence Forces. Israeli lobby groups and the politicians they pay, launched a new effort to censor anti-Israel groups. TikTok would be banned if it didn’t comply. Although signed into law, the Biden Administration handed the responsibility of enforcement to the reelected Trump Administration.

Facing bans, tariffs, and even a temporary ban at the start of the year, members of TikTok, PRC, the Trump Admin, and several tech companies have entered the negotiation room to discuss the site’s fate.

Author Bio

Gavin O’Neil is a Professional Writing Student at Algonquin College wanting to become a Sports Writer. He loves country and rock music. Spends his off time watching sports, playing video games, or listening to music. Loves to cook and enjoys time with his family and friends. Gavin also writes on topics that he is passionate about and will want to even make a difference in his writing.

Sorry, we’re under construction

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4 reasons why we should give construction designated time slots.

In Ottawa, there’s one thing you can rely on, construction. With the constant road closures, detours and potholes, 15-minute car rides turn into 30 minutes. While I sit in traffic, I always think to myself, what would the road conditions look like if we gave construction work a certain time to do their work without disturbing regular road flow? After some thinking, I’ve come up with four reasons as to why construction work should be given designated time slots during the year.

One—Less traffic = Smoother circulation.

There always seems to be traffic around construction zones. The roads in construction zones are always either blocked off completely, narrowed down and detoured. Currently, construction workers work parallel to regular business hours, meaning they are always on the roads during rush hour. Already, we have regular rush hour traffic, but on top of that we also have the lane reductions on the highways and the blocked streets in the city. This just multiplies the intensity of traffic. My partner once told me that his usual 45-minute commute to work took him an hour and a half, one morning. If only they could wait till after rush hour to start blocking off roads that maybe we would be late to work so often?

Two—Quicker project completion timelines.

I wonder if the pressure of a shorter completion timeline could help fasten the building process. I’m not talking about shorter as in, short to the point that it will give plenty of room for errors and bad construction, but a shorter timeline to the point that workers are keeping roads blocked off longer than necessary. I have noticed many times in Ottawa, roads that are blocked off with no construction work happening at all. If we were to put a little more rush on timelines, we would be able to have less labour cost and more open roads.

Three—Coordination.

One thing about Ottawa’s construction is if you stumble across a construction zone, you will stumble across another zone less than a block away. It’s as if every corner in the city has some sort of construction going on. There should be a time and place for construction. If we schedule, let’s say, construction on the highway. If we focused solely on completing the highway construction all at once, then we could finish faster. And while it’s in construction, all the city streets are free from any obstruction, leaving a good road flow and happier commuters.

Four—Quality life improvements for city residence.

Construction comes with all sorts of loud obnoxious sounds whether we like it or not. For residence nearby, hearing construction noise all year round is not unusual. Not only do they deal with the sound, but also the debris! This can affect your sleep and normal routine. If construction had its own time slots throughout the year, residence would be able to adjust their lives around the work being done. But at the moment, construction is unpredictable, one day you could be living quietly and the next day there’s sudden construction right outside your window.

It’s a lot easier said than done. Fixing a time slot for construction work takes time, money and effort. While understanding that this is part of growth within a city, it is still causing us frustrations. With these four reasons, maybe we can give ourselves some peace of mind and give construction the time when the time is given. Not every single day.

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Author Bio

Allison Thompson is a Professional Writing student at Ottawa’s Algonquin College. She loves films and videos, her favourite being ‘Garden State'.’ By Zach Braff. She loves the morning air and sparkly light catchers. Her biggest muse is her Aussie named Mittens. Allison writes with great humour and kindness, making sure her readers feel safe and included in her work.

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