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Front Cover 1 • 2 3 • 4 5 • 6 7 • 8 9 • 10 Back Cover

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Decembr 1, 2008

It’s All About Me:Upgrading Our Way

To Happiness

Trying to Escape PovertyIn CanadaA look at how single mothers

barely make ends meet

Seeing Red:Canada as Communist


Inside

2 Editor’s Note A word from Type A Editor Daniela Piteo

3 It’s All About Me Upgrading Our Way to Happiness

6 Seeing Red A Vision Of Canada as Communist

7 Trying To Escape Poverty In Canada A look at single mothers

On the Cover

A modern Marx for Canada. Illustration by: Daniela Piteo


Editor’s noteIf the pen is mightier than the

sword, what can be said of the computer? Computers are chang-ing the way we communicate and behave, and not for the better.A new lexicon is being written

for the computer age. LOL, LMAO, TTYL and WTF are apart of our dai-ly correspondence. It as though a generation is trying to convey such a sense of urgency that they no longer have the time to com-plete the keystrokes of each word. MSG used to be something you

requested withheld from your Chinese food, but now it is a mes-sage, something transferred in-stantly and with little effort. It is a thing you send on your phone, in-stead of actually using it to place a phone call. God forbid we speak to one another and attempt to ex-press ourselves with thoughts and feelings glued together by words, entire words consisting of mul-tiple syllables and not empty ac-ronyms.The unbridled possibilities of

technology should welcome a new generation of intellectual heavy weights, but instead we mingle amongst crowds fettered by social impropriety.We are only at ease with our tech-

nological gadgetry. It is the ladies maquillage or the gentleman’s three-piece suit, without our trifles

we feel insecure and naked. It is with ease and confidence that we type out thoughtful e-mails and witty messages but in social set-tings we bumble and stutter our way through a crowd, avoiding eye contact and idle chitchat. The art of conversation is dying.This new Internet lingo is starting

to spew up into our daily vernacu-lar. The atrocity of hearing some-one say “LOL” instead of actually laughing is quite frankly vulgar. Human aptitude in using lan-

guage, according to Rene Des-cartes, separates us from “ma-chines” and “beasts”. The line of separation is becoming blurred as our language is peppered with a series of abbreviations and punc-tuation icons. These new abbreviations allow

us to cross the line of good taste. Reading WTF doesn’t necessarily raise any eyebrows, but the “f” is a word we avoid in print and polite conversation. We can now use the expletive that instructs one to go forth and multiply without trepida-tion.Our poor choices in language

show a general lack of disrespect for the written word and the act of writing itself. The American Army is working on new technology re-ferred to as synthetic telepathy. This technology will grant people

access to e-mail and voicemail via brain waves. We can now forget about speaking or writing, all we have to do is conjure the thought of sending an e-mail and it will be done. The technology is made possible by reading electrical ac-tivity in the brain.Not only are computers slowly

manipulating the way we speak, but given enough time, it will con-trol the way we behave. In the early days of computer use,

we modeled the machine after man. We expected it to think and work the way a human might, but when it began to exceed expec-tation, fear struck. The machine might take over the man. Now, after years of avoiding being bested by a computer, we are molding our-selves into the machine. Instead of taking up arms against the ma-chine, we have decided to join the battle.But not everyone is ready to fight.

I still maintain an arsenal of pen, paper, and the archaic dictionary. Admittedly, these things might of-ten feel neglect, but they have not been forgotten.Some may label me a Luddite,

instead of thinking I am just old-fashioned. While I do not revile technology, I am unwilling to fully embrace it.

-Daniela Piteo


It’s All About...

Upgrading Our Way to HappinessStory and Illustrations By:Daniela Piteo

Take a look around and you will find someone cheating.

We may not all cheat and we are certainly not all adulterers of Biblical proportion, but our level of commitment is decreasing. Educational goals change. Career paths go off course. We buy and sell our homes and trade in our cars. Our infidelities are creep-ing out of the bedroom and it is becoming increasingly difficult to commit within the confines of our daily life.

Relaxed views on adultery are being adopted because individu-

als are becoming increasingly wanton, according to writer and professor David P. Barash. Monog-amy fails and spouses accept it.

“At an evolutionary level, the reality is that monogamy is unnat-ural and a difficult state to main-tain, unless people are strongly committed to it and willing to work hard. I fear that because of society’s high valuation of mo-nogamy, many people find them-selves to be monogamous when in fact they aren’t sufficiently committed to each other to over-come their attraction to someone else,” Dr. Barash said. “I’d empha-size as well, however, that even though monogamy is unnatural and hence difficult, this doesn’t

mean that people aren’t capable of it, just that it isn’t easy.”

Difficulty in maintaining life long relationships is extending beyond our married life and en-tering into our social and profes-sional lives. The fantasy of one spouse, one home, and a life long career, for many individuals of the generation X and Y, has become a myth as we buy, sell, and trade.

According to Marriage and Family Therapist, Marilyn Bar-nicke Belleghem, many people treat their homes and jobs as they do their spouses, with indiffer-ence. At the first sign of a strug-gle they abandon their situations for something easier or better.


According to AIG Credit Policy Manager Stepha-nie Hein, in a buyers’ market, people are willing to buy homes as a way to build equity so in the future they can buy the home they want.

“In the last 50 years, homeownership has become more accessible to Canadians with the introduc-tion of mortgage insurance,” Hein said. “Mortgage insurance allows Canadians to purchase homes with less than a 20% down payment, even as little as five percent.”

In some cases ownership preceded feasibility, driving some Canadians to own prematurely.

A shift in homeownership has emerged from couples to single women between 25-35 years old. According to Hein, there are more women in the workforce with good paying jobs and co-ownership isn’t necessary.

“The average marrying age is on the rise,” Hein said. Couples are no longer buying together, ac-cording to Hein, but merging their assets.

As with the merging of assets, according to Hein, there is also the division that contributes to a turn-over in the housing market, as the divorce rates re-main high. When a couple divorce, a single income may not be sufficient in maintaining a mortgage.

While mortgage insurance, independence, and the postponement of matrimony and divorce attri-

bute to buying and selling our homes, sometimes it is as simple as a shift in geography.

People seldom hold down the same job for 50 years. When your job moves, often, you must move too.

Work and education, like our homes and sexual partners, no longer come with binding contracts.

“Generation X and Y saw their parents work for 20-30 years and get laid off with nothing,” employ-ment counselor Cecile Peterkin said. This made an impression on a generation, where longevity is replaced with interim opportunity.

According to Peterkin, remaining with the same employer for a long time is frowned upon in the professional world.

“Between five to eight years is a long time [to stay with one company],” Peterkin said. “It doesn’t show growth.”

“Changing jobs keeps people on their toes and on top of changes in the industry.”

Sheridan College’s Career Centre counselor Neil Baldwin suggests that we are a society suffering from what he calls upgraditis, or simply the need to constantly upgrade. With shifts in the working world now permeating into academic life, we are seeing a

http://www.royallepage.ca/


generation of students attempting several degrees or diplomas until they find their niche.

“I think it is more than [the current generation suffering from upgraditis] although, it is most evi-dent in the adolescents and young adults of today,” Baldwin said.

According to Baldwin, less time than required is spent researching career options. He sees many stu-dents choosing academic routes that don’t correlate to their interests and abilities.

“You don’t know if you will enjoy something until you do it,” Baldwin said. People that worked for 20-30 years at the same job, according to Baldwin, were happy with what they had. But now, in a less stable economic world, employees jump from opportunity to opportunity as a sort of safety net. Loyalty to an employer has been replaced with competitive urges and selfishness.

“I’m sure [upgraditis] is a combination of many factors, like the need for immediate gratification as well as the focus on the self which had its genesis with the baby boomers,” Baldwin said.

Baldwin dismisses the notion that recent genera-tions lack integrity. “Integrity means adherence

to moral and ethical principles. It’s just that values have changed and so other generations see X and Y as not adhering to their moral and ethical prin-ciples,” said Baldwin.

The identity view of integrity, largely associated with noted British philosopher Bernard Williams, sets out to define integrity in relation to commit-ments that have a profound impact. When we aban-don these commitments we lose our individual character and lessen our hold on what gives life its identity.

According to Williams, “[identity conferring com-mitments] are the conditions of my existence, in the sense that unless I am propelled forward by the [in-clination] of desire, project and interest, it is unclear why I should go on at all.”

As we evolve it becomes harder to maintain com-mitments that held value in generations past.

Baldwin explains that not all evolution is for the better. How we treat one another and the planet, ac-cording to Baldwin, shows the ugly side of evolution.

“We evolve for better or for worse,” Baldwin said. “Our values have changed.”


Seeing Red: A Vision of A Communist Canada

Story and Photos By:Daniela Piteo

“People before profits,” read the pin on Miguel Figueroa’s lapel. Those

three simple words are the tenets of the Communist Party of Canada.

Those three simple words have also made the Communist Party of Canada

wildly unprofitable.

The Communist Party of Canada [CPC] faces a multitude of challenges,

money being a largely onerous problem.

The government of Canada allots each political party $1.75 per vote

based on the last election. That doesn’t add up to much funding for the

CPC, especially considering in the last election, their best in years, the

party garnered 3639 votes across the country.

With only an approximate $6368 for their campaign trail, getting the Com-

munist message out from beyond the walls of their Danforth Ave. office is

difficult.

“The small parties, we just don’t have the resources,” Figueroa said.

“We’re here, the rumours of our death are highly exaggerated.”

The CPC relies almost entirely from the support of its members since so

little of their funds are accrued from the government.

“The current system is flawed,” Ontario Communist Party leader Elizabeth

Rowley said. “With such limited funding reaching the smaller parties, it

makes it tough [for the CPC] to get our message out.”

According to Rowley, there are many flaws in the Canadian system of gov-

ernment, Capitalism amongst the largest.

Continued on page 10

http://www.communist-party.ca/


Trying to Escape Poverty in CanadaStory and photos by:Daniela Piteo

“Dear Sir/Madam,” the letter began. “You were over-paid for the Ontario Child Care Supplement for the 2008 benefit year. Your current balance is $35.83. Please send a cheque or money order for this amount payable to the Minister of Finance-Child Care Supplement.”

I clutched the letter in my hand, staring at the bold font. It was as though the minister was yelling at me, “You owe me, the Minister of Finance, money.” You had better pay-up.

Clearly, this letter had been issued in error. Since my reported annual income did not exceed $12,000, I found it highly suspect that I had received more than I was enti-tled. I quickly called Revenue Canada to right this wrong.

“Ms. Piteo, our records indicate that you were over-paid $35.83,” Revenue Canada representative Jane* said. “Since you made less than $5000 dollars in taxable income, you are not entitled to the Ontario Child Care Supplement.”

An amalgamation of confusion and rage resulted in a wave of tears burning down my cheeks. It wasn’t logic that caused this outburst of emotion, but angst. I was already thousands of dollars in debt; another $35 wasn’t going to break the bank.

A plethora of questions bombarded me, but one reso-nated: As a single mother and full-time student, was I des-tined to live out the remainder of my life as a low-income woman?

Clutching that letter in my hand, I thought I had the answer. A low-income, single mother in her thirties would always be poor and the Canadian government didn’t care.

According to Jane at Revenue Canada, the Ontario Child Care Supplement For Working Families is reserved for the employed, which I was not. As a full-time student my income was generated from child support paid by my estranged spouse, the Child Care Tax Benefit, and the Ontario Child Benefit. Combined they equaled less than a grand monthly.

In other words, unless a Canadian citizen had a gross income that can be taxed, the government won’t issue any additional assistance. The supplement for working families helps relieve the burden of daycare expenses.

http://www.fin.gov.on.ca/english/

http://www.cra-arc.gc.ca/menu-eng.html


The Government of Canada no longer issues this supplement, whether a family works or not.

“If a person is poor, it is because they choose to be poor,” said MPP as-sistant Jennifer Turner. “The Conser-vative government has many wonder-ful programs that assist low-income families.”

One such wonderful program, the Benefits Finder, was particularly per-plexing. According to Turner, pro-grams like the Benefits Finder match low-income individuals to govern-ment resources.

I filled out the online Benefits Finder application form. I anticipated over-whelming results considering my situ-ation. Null. My application yielded a resounding “null.” The Benefits Finder found nothing for me. It failed surmise that a recently separated woman with no income and custody issues might be an attractive candidate for Legal Aid. Nor did the Benefits Finder sug-gest that a full-time student should apply for OSAP.

“In addition to the government initiatives, there are bursaries specific to single mothers and tax credits for after school activities for children,” Turner said.

The Financial Aid office in universi-ties and college can match students to grants and bursaries to which they are qualified to apply.

Competition for grants and bur-saries can be fierce. “I always tell students it’s better to apply than not, your odds increase when you apply,” said Sheridan College Awards Office advisor, Robin Obuhowich.

At Sheridan College, for example, the Wilfred Hooton Bursary received 98 applications last year and four were awarded. The Walt Disney Bur-sary received 39 applications and eight were awarded.

The Ontario Student Assistance Program [OSAP] is an option for low-income women wishing to return to school. While the loan is active, it

remains interest free. This is an attrac-tive feature that has helped thousands of students finance their post-second-ary education.

“OSAP is fine, as long as you don’t have any other financial obligations and you land a high paying job out of school,” said Sarah Philbrick, a former student and single mother.

Philbrick was forced to suspend her education at Niagara College when she discovered she was expecting a child. According to Philbrick, with rent, tuition, and the cost of raising a child, her studies were no longer a high priority.

Philbrick doesn’t foresee returning to school in the near future. “I am al-ready trying to pay back a loan for my first two years of college,” Philbrick said.

“ With three kids under three years old, rent, car payments, gas, and food, I wouldn’t dream of going back to school and increasing my OSAP loan,” said Philbrick. “That would be crazy.”

Kingston, Ont. resident and single mother of three, Lisa Troughton can concur that OSAP has its shortcom-ings.

Troughton, like Philbrick, had to put her studies on hold with the birth of her first child. With her diploma still in progress and carrying $14,000 of OSAP debt, raising three children has left her with no expendable income.

Troughton currently lives in govern-ment-subsidized housing and partici-pates in the Ontario Works, or social assistance program, for a single adult with two children.

“I’ve been trying so long to get off [the social assistance program]. It feels like I get penalized and set backwards for any improvements that I make.” Troughton said. “[Ontario Works deducts] the income that I’ve already received in the following month.”

For Troughton, Ontario Works awards its recipients by giving them a

It failed surmise that a recently separated woman with no income and custody issues might be an at-tractive candidate for Legal Aid.


handout instead of a hand-up.

“Not only does Ontario Works take additional assistance away, but my rent increases [with every dollar I make],” said Troughton.

“[Ontario Works] recently stopped deducting the Child Tax Benefit however, they have decreased the basic personal amount. They also are not going to be giving out the winter clothing and back to school allowance for children after this year because of the [recently imple-mented] Ontario Child Benefit from the government. “ Troughton said. “They give with one hand and take away with the other.”

Statistic Canada reported that in 2005 there were 241, 415 low-in-come single mothers, and according to Jennifer Turner and like-minded Conservative Party members, they all chose poverty.

As fact, I know that at least three of the 241, 415 low-income single mothers did not chose poverty. Lisa Troughton did not choose poverty. Sarah Philbrick did not choose pov-erty. And I did not choose poverty.

It may be easier for the govern-ment to place the blame of poverty on individuals instead of suggesting they have neither the resources nor the inclination to end poverty.

But for Lisa Troughton the solution might be simple. “I think the only way to get out of low-income status is to land a high paying job with benefits or to marry rich.”

*Service representatives at Revenue Canada are not required to submit their surname.


Continued from paged 6

“I think Marx is laughing from beyond the grave,” Rowley said. “Or at least rolling in it.” “The recent collapse of the American market proves that the capitalist model doesn’t work, and Canadian eco-nomic forecast doesn’t look much better.” Rowley said.Marx believed that after every form of government failed, the people would evolve into a natural com-munist state. While Rowley isn’t predicting that for the future, she believes a second wave of socialism will strike again as the lower and middle classes feel the burn of a dying capitalist economy.“[We need to] curb corporate power, protect jobs, living standards, social programs, and labour and democratic rights,” Rowley said. It is also time, ac-cording to Rowley, to scrap NAFTA and raise the minimum wage.The burden of shedding communisms’ grim out-look is also challenging for the CPC. “Communism doesn’t [promote] poverty,” Rowley said. When the

USSR collapsed at the end of the Cold War, it was evident that the system of government lauded by Marx, Engels and Lenin was not impervious to dire criticism. With many Russians left cold and hungry when the Iron Curtain fell and some walking away millionaires, it was clear that the communist model needed redirection in order to succeed.“No one wants their work devalued,” Rowley said. Eliminating staggering wage disparities, according to Rowley, and implementing a system of meritoc-racy would have to be considered for communism to experience a rebirth.“The most important item on the CPC agenda is get-ting Harper out of parliament,” Rowley said. Hard working lower-to-middle-class Canadians deserve more than the Conservative Government is willing to offer, according to Rowley. The CPC platform states that their prime concern “is to see PM Stephen Harper get the boot for his record as ‘a right-wing, pro-war, and pro U.S. government’ leader.”A point, in light of the recent parliamentary dissolu-tion, that is hard to argue.

Photos By: Daniela Piteo

Left: CPC leader Miguel Figueroa stands outside their Danforth Ave. headquarters


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