The NDP decided on May 21 to support the Liberal budget. (Photo by Nick Lachance)

NDP Leader Andrea Horwath has announced her party’s support for the minority Liberal budget.

After nearly one month of questioning and negotiating the budget as proposed May 2, Liberals have made enough commitments for NDP to support the budget. NDP-suggested revisions include increased funding for youth employment programs and a decrease in auto insurance premiums.

Local MPP John Milloy commented on Horwath’s announcement of support.

“We came forward with a budget which I think reflected our values, but more importantly the values of Ontarians,” said Milloy. “I’m pleased that the NDP are supporting it for the same reasons.”

Much opposition to the minority budget is found in the cancellation of gas plants that is expected to cost upwards of $585 million. In hopes of sparking an election, the Tories have offered no support of the Liberal budget, stating that the gas plant expenses are cause enough.

“I’m disappointed that the Conservatives announced that they would not be supporting the budget, and before they even read it, I think,” added Milloy.

“I give credit to the NDP for being so engaged in this,” he said.“The message we’re sending is ‘roll up your sleeves and get to work down there at Queen’s Park.’”

Pixar got their timing perfect again with the upcoming release of the prequel Monster’s University (MU). MU follows characters Mike Wazowski and James P. Sullivan (Sulley) as they experience the turbulent and exciting times of college alongside the original audience of Monster’s Inc. It was comforting to see the characters look the same but extremely interesting to see them in their college glory.

“We had to make them look younger so our art department did a really good job trying to study, you know, how do you make an eyeball look younger” Dan Scanlon, first time director of a Pixar movie, joked.

“Mainly, you know, we started to notice that thinning them up really helped.  We were all a little thinner in college. ”

Since Scanlon joined Pixar in 2001, he has risen quickly from animator to storyboard artist to director. The transition to director versus previous experiences in the Pixar community gave Scanlon the opportunity to fully understand the inner-workings of what makes a Pixar film great.

“… being a director, I got the rare opportunity to see everything.  To see what everyone does. It was, a lot of people I’ve worked with for years and eaten lunch with, but really had no idea what they did and there I’d be in a meeting with them and think, ‘oh wow.  You’re a genius,’” recalled Scanlon.

Though this is Scanlon’s first time as a director with Pixar, producer Kori Rae is a veteran. Rae has been a part of numerous familiar films, acting as an associate producer on the original Monster’s Inc. and The Incredibles.
“What I try to do is, is really to, to learn from all of the different people on every film.  I used a ton of stuff on this film that I had learned on The Incredibles in addition to Monsters Inc.” said Rae on her experiences. “So it’s, it’s just kind of all of that experience just kind of I think rounded me out and gave me a good base to produce this one.”

They were also tasked with the challenge of creating a whole new world for the monsters to explore. For this, they scouted universities to truly capture the sensation of being in college for the first time.

Per Pixar’s standards, Monster’s University will premiere the short film The Blue Umbrella by director Saschka Unseld.

Look for Monster’s University to come into theatres on June 21.

The Great Gatsby tells the story of a group of people disillusioned by a promise of the ‘American Dream’ during the prosperous and flamboyant era of the ‘roaring twenties.’ With Leonardo DiCaprio in the leading role as mysterious millionaire Jay Gatsby, this film provides a false promise of its own to be an exciting reenactment of F. Scott Fitzgerald’s legendary novel. Despite the scandal, romance, mystery and tragedy that this film contains, the true message of this story is mostly lost amidst the fast paced, whizzing 3-D cinematography employed by Baz Luhrmann.

Luhrmann is known for an over the top style of filmmaking with previous works such as Romeo + Juliet and Moulin Rouge! With The Great Gatsby, this flamboyant style reached an all time high that is mostly distracting. Fast paced camera work, computer generated scenery, digitally enhanced painted looking colours and an infusion of contemporary rap/electronic music into a film set in the ’20s collectively provide a surreal and cerebral movie watching experience that ultimately works against Luhrmann’s attempt to tell a story.

In a memorable scene from the film, for instance, the film’s narrator and co-star Nick Carraway (Tobey Maguire) attends a bizarre and sloppy party in a New York City apartment. Ultimately this scene is meant to expose the ugliness of excess, but this message becomes distorted by the odd use of contemporary electronic music, slow motion and fast motion camera techniques, and close up shots that are reminiscent of Darren Aronofsky’s Requiem for a Dream (2000). In this scene and countless others the viewer is left baffled and half-baked by Luhrmann’s wacky cinematic choices.

On a positive note, Luhrmann put together an excellent cast whose performance is almost good enough to shadow the constant feeling of disorientatio — almost. Leonardo DiCaprio rarely disappoints and his streak of awesomeness lives on in his depiction of Jay Gatsby. The film also stars Carey Mulligan as Daisy Buchanan, a young, conceited woman who Gatsby persistently lusts after. In addition to being very attractive; she can play a self-absorbed gold digger like none other!

As a fan of the original Great Gatsby story, and a bigger fan of Leonardo DiCaprio, it saddens me to say this film was mostly a let down. Luhrmann’s desire to depict the glitz and glamour of the Jazz Age is appreciated, but the over the top approach he took ultimately got in the way of telling a powerful story of lust, greed, and disappointment. Maybe next time, Old Sport.

About 7,000 students gathered on Ezra Ave. on March 17. (Photo by Shelby Blackley)

A month and half after approximately 7,000 people flooded Ezra Ave. for St. Patrick’s Day, the Waterloo Regional Police Service (WRPS) is sending a strong warning to their board — the event needs to be controlled or disaster may occur.

“One of the reasons we wanted to take this to our police services board was to make them aware,” explained Supt. Pat Dietrich, one of the officers involved with bringing a report on St. Paddy’s day with Supt. Kevin Chalk to the WRPS board on May 1. “When you get thousands in a really small area like that with heavy drinking going on, it’s kind of a recipe for larger problems, if there’s one trigger-type event.”

To the WRPS, the St. Paddy’s day bash, which included a lot of drinking, partying and extremely dense crowds, could have easily turned into a “riot.” According to the report, the event caused over $50,000 worth of damages. Charges of assault, trespassing, mischief, theft and breaking and entering, as well as drinking violations, were laid on March 17. The report also claimed that there was a 25 per cent increase in the number of people on Ezra this year compared to last year. Although the majority of the people on Ezra that day were mainly students from Wilfrid Laurier University and the University of Waterloo, 30 to 40 per cent of attendees, the report added, weren’t from the Waterloo community.

The WRPS, however, still maintain that the event was relatively safe.
“95 per cent of the people in attendance are there to have a good time, they’re not there to cause any problems at all, but the issue is that the event is getting so big,” added Dietrich. “I think overall it was a success. I don’t think we can take away from the fact that considering the amount of people in the area, the event went very well, but I attribute that a little bit to good luck.”

If a situation was to occur — the “spark” as Dietrich called it — then the number of police officers on scene, though many, would have difficulty managing a crowd that big.

“If you have that one spark, the amount of officers … is totally insignificant to manage a crowd that size,” continued Dietrich, noting that the riots in London, Ont. last year is still in the memory of many police services in cities with post-secondary institutions.

While no one was seriously injured, Olaf Heinzel, pubic affairs coordinator for the WRPS, noted that the density on the street would have made it very difficult for emergency services to get to someone who was.

“We don’t want to see any tragedies. We have to look at the reasonable solution to this,” he said. “Where else in the Region would you allow the equivalent to an impromptu street party? It just doesn’t happen in other walks of life.“

No plans or precautionary measures for next year’s St. Paddy’s events have been determined by the WRPS. Dietrich and Heinzel both asserted that students and the universities are going to be involved in that discussion.

“We’re looking to the students for some solutions as well, we don’t want to impact negatively on their desire to get together and have some fun,” said Heinzel.
Adam Lawrence, who was the acting dean of students at Laurier for the past year, noted that the university is discussing with WRPS and the city to come up with ways to keep the event under control.

“Students had fun and they felt safe, but [in the] weeks following, a few students came forward about some stolen goods,” said Lawrence. “Their comments about being, like a ‘punch’ or  ‘beer bottle throw’ away from a riot, I don’t know, [but] the police that were out there did an incredible job.”
Discussions will take place within town and gown committees to come up with different approaches to handle future events at such a scale in Waterloo.

“It’s something that we need to look at collectively,” said Dietrich.

The West took the win in the annual CIS East West bowl (Photo by Kate Turner)

LONDON, Ont. — Wilfrid Laurier men’s football players Jeremy Deneau, Michael Massel and Tyrrel Wilson spent a week learning from the best coaches and players through the Canadian Interuniversity Sport (CIS) at the East West Bowl last week. And through various skill-testing events, drills and a final all-star game, the three Laurier fourth-years are excited to bring back what they’ve learned to help their team in the upcoming year.

“I learned a lot from a lot of different coaches and the CFL guys were here so there were a lot of different drills and just a lot of practice,” full back Wilson said following Saturday’s game. “I’m just looking to take it all back to my own team.”

Wilson and fellow offensive linemen Deneau and Massel represented Laurier on the West team at the week-long training combine, an opportunity for CFL scouts to see the upcoming prospects for the following year.

The East team is comprised of the Atlantic conference schools, the Quebec conference schools and Queen’s, Ottawa and Toronto from the Ontario conference. The West team is made up of the Canada West conference and the remaining Ontario teams.

While Saturday’s all-star game ended in a final last-minute field goal that gave the West team their first win in four years, West head coach Stefan Ptaszek stressed that the game is for much more than a win.

“We try to keep the game plan very generic,” said the McMaster head coach and 2012 CIS coach of the year. “It’s not about coaches out-coaching, it’s about letting these guys showcase their talent, so game plan is very basic and we let our players play and they try to put on a show. And I think they did that.”

The five-day camp that the players partake in is the only time they get to spend with their fellow players before Saturday’s all-star game. Ptaszek said that the short amount of time is what makes things interesting for everyone involved.

“That’s the best part of the week,” he said. “Watching coaches from across the country integrate with players from across the country and the sense of team and sense of sacrifice. It all comes together in five short days.”

Wilson, Deneau and Massel all shared the same sentiments about bringing their knowledge back to the Hawks.

“[I want to] just help out the guys on the o-line [and] their techniques,” Deneau said.

“You learn so many things that it’s going to be easy to help them out in different ways.”

“Bringing all of the stuff we learned here back to our team is going to be a big help, and get everyone caught up,” Massel said.

With a young team and a new program under head coach Michael Faulds, the veterans will hope to take their experience and engage their teammates in the new season.

“We just got to go back and tell the guys that we’ve got to work. Every day, every practice,” Wilson said. “We just got to stay together, stick as a team and work hard.”

Issac Dell was drafted to the Hamilton Tiger-Cats (Photo by Kate Turner)

When May 6’s CFL Draft rolled around, Wilfrid Laurier University prospects Isaac Dell and Alex Anthony were in the comfort of their hometowns, surrounded by family and friends.  It had been a long-time coming since Dell and Anthony stepped on the field at TD Waterhouse Stadium in London for the East West Bowl last year, an opportunity for CFL scouts to see the up-and-coming prospects. Since then, phone calls poured in from different teams with questions and potential interest.

But when full back Dell saw his name pop up 37th overall to the Hamilton Tiger-Cats, and receiver Anthony was drafted two picks later to the Saskatchewan Roughriders, it didn’t seem real.

“Honestly, it hasn’t completely sunk in yet,” Anthony said from his home in Victoria, B.C. “It still seems pretty surreal, but I know once I go to Saskatchewan at the end of the month it’ll all feel real and everything’s just exciting right now. I’m just so excited to see what happens.”

“I don’t know at what point it will [set in], probably at training camp,” Dell said from Niagara Falls, Ont. “It is exciting, but hasn’t quite hit home yet.”

In the fifth round of Monday’s draft, Dell was selected first by the Tiger-Cats. 30 seconds after his name was called, the Roughriders selected Waterloo Warrior’s offensive lineman Matt Vonk. Following Vonk, the Roughriders also selected Anthony.

Alex Anthony was drafted to the Saskatchewan Roughriders  (Photo by Nick Lachance)

“I think it’s going to be pretty cool because Hamilton is in such a transition,” Dell said. “It’s going to be a familiar area but a new experience at the same time. And next year when the stadium’s done, hopefully I’m still on the team and it’s going to be a new program, brand new head coach, and I’m really excited to be part of that transition.”

Laurier head coach Michael Faulds also expressed his congratulations for his veteran players.

“First off, I’m definitely happy for both of them,” he said. “I know they’ve worked extremely hard over their four-year career at Laurier and all of the hard extra sessions in the weight room and spring training and all of that has definitely paid off.”

Faulds said he texted both Anthony and Dell the morning of the draft wishing them luck and kept track of where his players ended up.

“I know they were glued to their TV screens anxiously waiting for their names to be called,” he laughed.

According to Anthony, each player signs a contract to be eligible to participate at the camp, at which time one of three things can happen.

“You can make the final roster at the end of training camp and they honour that contract, or they can ask you to stay on the practice roster, so you practice everyday with the team but you don’t play,” Anthony explained.

“Or they can release you and send you back for your fifth year of university and own your rights so you come back the following year.”

Both Dell and Anthony said they are unsure of what they will do if they are released, but are keeping an open mind to returning to Laurier if the situation calls for it.

“It’s a tough question to answer, because it depends on so many variables,” Dell said. “I think having that fifth year of eligibility and the fact that I still have to finish up a few classes, I think I’d be pretty likely to come back. That being said, you can kind of finish school whenever, you can’t necessarily play football for too long.

“I think I’d be more likely to come back, but it’s not a definite yes.”

“It’d be nice to come back and use my last year of eligibility, so I kind of just have to see what happens with training camp. The goal right now is to make that final 43-man roster at the end of camp,” Anthony echoed.

As for Faulds, he said he’d welcome both veterans back with open arms.

“As a coach, you wish the best that they get drafted and do really well, but selfishly you want them back,” he said.

“Not only what they do on the field, but they’re natural leaders. Especially since my transition in January, they’ve made my job a lot easier with how respectful they are and they listen to everything I say, they’ve led their younger teammates.

“Two very positive guys, and if they don’t quite make the cut, we’ll definitely be happy to have them back.”

(Graphic by Lena Yang)

All bets are off on a Waterloo casino as its city councillors have collectively decided there shouldn’t be one in the city.
The city has overwhelmingly expressed its disinterest in the idea of bringing a casino to the community through both public feedback and a vote passed unanimously last week by city councillors.

“As far as our council is concerned it won’t be in Waterloo,” explained ward three councillor, Angela Vieth. “Clearly the citizens of Waterloo don’t want it here. It’s not appropriate for this town; we have way more potential than becoming a casino town.”

The city received 1,117 responses from the public on the question of bringing a casino to the city, of which 920 voted against the casino, 41 were neutral and 138 were in favour.
Councillor Scott Witmer, for ward one, explained that the city councillors decided to consult with the public on the casino issue for two main reasons: “The sheer scope of the issue, and two, it was not something we had ever heard from the public on. I think it was important for council to get a sense of where the community was at on the idea of having a casino in the city of Waterloo.”

Among the reasons against bringing a casino to the community, the potential for harmful social ills, such as gambling and addiction, were the most popular.
Of the city councillors who spoke to The Cord, most believed that a casino would simply not offer sustainable economic development to the city of Waterloo.

“The question is where do you want people to spend their money?” questioned councillor Jeff Henry for ward six.

“Do you want them to spend their money in the casino where most of that money leaves our community, back to the OLG, or in local businesses and entertainment, in arts and culture in our Uptown, our downtown and in our neighborhoods?”

Sebastian Clarke, a third-year political science student at Wilfrid Laurier University, believed that the city councillors made a wise decision voting against the idea of a casino in Waterloo. “Having a casino, I think, would take away from Waterloo’s sense of being family-oriented. It also opens the door for increased careless spending by students. Students already spend a crazy amount on alcohol and related activities,” said Clarke.

On Monday night, Kitchener joined Waterloo in its decision to end the discussion with the OLG regarding the idea of a casino in Kitchener.

The Kitchener city council also sided with the majority of the public consultation respondents, voting unanimously against the idea. Over 2,000 citizens in Kitchener responded to the public survey, with 75 per cent opposing the idea of a casino.

Cambridge has also rejected a casino, with Woolwich the only municipality voting affirmatively.

“When I think of Waterloo I think of other things driving growth and innovation, like the universities, like our tech sector, like our small business community,” said Witmer. “We’ve got a thriving arts and culture community as well. I think there are a lot of other really great things happening in our community that are doing a great job in providing entertainment, innovation and jobs. I don’t feel that the community saw the casino as something that was going to enhance some of the really good things we’ve got going on here.”

Tikka plays defence for the Golden Hawks (Photo by Heather Davidson).

Every athlete dreams of one day being able to represent their country. And for Wilfrid Laurier Golden Hawks women’s soccer defenceman Kelsey Tikka, that dream is finally coming true.

“I think it’s amazing,” said Tikka. “The goal of every athlete is to represent their country and for me to finally be able to do that is an amazing opportunity.”  Tikka was selected as one of 20 female student athletes across the nation to represent Canada in the 2013 Summer Universiade in Kazan, Russia from July 5-17. The Summer Universiade is the Olympics for university students and sees countries from around the world compete in a multitude of sports and events.

Along with being the only Laurier student selected, Tikka was also the only player from the Ontario University Athletics (OUA) West division chosen.

“It’s definitely an honour and now not only am I representing Laurier, I’m also representing the OUA West so it’s nice to have that,” she said. “I’m hoping it will help to boost my confidence for the next season as well.”

Tikka has been the top player for the Golden Hawks this year, as she was named a Canadian Interuniversity Sport (CIS) All-Canadian for the second consecutive year, and was a central part of the Laurier defence as they went on to win the OUA West division allowing just 11 goals in 16 games. Tikka also recorded her first-career goal with the Hawks this season against the Windsor Lancers on Oct. 14.In the semifinal of the OUA, Tikka held the Queen’s Gaels scoreless to go into penalty kicks, where Laurier won to advance to the OUA final and qualify for the CIS national championship.
She was then awarded the 2013 President’s Award at WLU for being the top female athlete.

“I’m hoping my previous accomplishments have prepared me pretty well for this tournament,” Tikka said. “But it’s also a different atmosphere when you play internationally for the first time so it’s all up to me to prepare further before I go.”

Tikka is the second Golden Hawk to compete in the tournament for women’s soccer. Former teammate Alyssa Lagonia competed in 2011 in Shenzhen, China, where Canada placed fifth.
“As soon as [Alyssa] found out she contacted me to let me know what to expect, what the competition was like, how to get adjusted to the lifestyle over there,” she said. “She told me to just train as if I was here, it’s just soccer and I should just have fun with it because that’s what it’s all about.”

Despite a strong fifth-place finish in 2011, Tikka has higher expectations for Canada for this year’s Universiade.

“Each year, Canada keeps getting better and better in the tournament. So I’m assuming this year we’re going to build on top of that,” she said. “Hopefully we’ll have a good tournament and a good showing so we may even be able to place this year.”

Tikka said she is looking forward to the challenges the Universiade will bring.
“It’s going to be a fun and new experience for me, so I’m excited to play some higher level soccer and see what the competitions like out there,” she said.

But competing at the Universiade is just the beginning of what she’s looking forward to in her career.

“I’m looking to follow in the footsteps of my teammates and how they played professional women’s soccer over in Europe. That’s definitely a goal of mine and I’m sure this will give me an insight for what that will be like once I go play.”

Canada is placed within the Group B pool for the preliminary round along with Mexico, Ireland and reigning champions China as they kick off the tournament on July 5. fin

Whether it’s between the two biggest enforcers in the league or two determined and motivated youngsters that want to prove themselves to the team, a good fight is what makes the hockey culture go round.But there are times when a good fight turns wrong and an innocent game becomes the poster child for whether or not someone’s health is worth the trauma a body goes through.

For years there have been circles of debates on whether or not fighting should be abolished from the NHL. Lately, the debate has hit minor hockey with body checking.   But this doesn’t centralize around whether or not fighting should be permitted in a sport. It focuses on personal responsibility, especially when it comes to health and well-being.

Recently, the tragic death of NHL enforcer Derek Boogaard has come back to the surface. In 2011, Boogaard died of an accidental drug overdose from a prescription given to him to help his brain trauma — Stage II Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy (CTE), a neurological condition from repeated brain injuries — caused from too many fights and concussions throughout his six-year tenure as a player.

Boogaard’s family announced over the weekend that they are filing a lawsuit against the NHL for wrongful death of their beloved family member. They are allegedly saying that Boogaard’s death could have been prevented if there was more care to his state of health and more prevention from the trauma he received. Fair case. I can only fathom how losing a family member to his occupation can feel. But is the NHL really to blame for his initial state?

Boogaard only scored three goals throughout his entire six-year career. He fought 66 times in the major league, and there is no way of statistically analyzing how much he fought in the minors. His job was to fight. His job was to enforce. His job was to be the big man he was and to use this to his team’s advantage.  While there is more to hockey than just fighting, Boogaard’s primary job was to smash his opponent’s head as much as his counterpart’s occupation was to do the same.

It was a matter of doing his job well and doing it so that he stayed in the NHL. For that, Boogaard’s death is his responsibility and can’t be pinned on anyone else. So while the wrongful death from his family perspective is justifiable in the sense that his drug addiction should have been mended, the NHL is not to blame for how he got there.

Boogaard’s job was to fight and he inflicted the same brain damage that he suffered on others. He used his ability to fight and his ability to enforce as his method of getting to the NHL in the first place. The liability of his efforts is why he ended up where he was — with a brain condition that needed mending by medication. Instead of blaming the NHL, which deals with countless enforcers coming and going with injuries and trauma, Boogaard’s family may want to look at the doctors that dealt with his case. Why were they not responsive to Boogaard relapsing? That may have been a catalyst to his death, but the wrongful death does not come from the lack of care that the NHL has for their players.

Similarly, you see players suffer from CTE in all of the major leagues, especially the NFL. The league holds no liability if the players are hurt, but they suffer from the same condition for doing their job. By doing their jobs, they are susceptible to injury. If they do their job well, they are even more susceptible. The National Post wrote a commentary on Boogaard’s case. They closed by saying, “Boogaard lived by the hockey fight, and probably died from it. The ultimate responsibility for his tragic death rests with him.”

It’s a tough line to cross, especially in the NHL, on whether fighting is the instigator of injuries and deaths. Concussions are more prominent, medical staff work overtime during games and people witness humans putting their lives on the line for entertainment and a contract. But it comes down to the player, and what they’re doing. If they’re doing it, they must be responsible for what happens.

In K-W, opposition to the casino outweighs the support, but there are concerns as to whether public opinion is being accurately heard.
A mere 2,326 in Kitchener responded to online polls on the subject.  Moreover, those who did respond did not reflect the larger Kitchener population.  Based on volunteered opinions, Woolwich,

Kitchener, and Waterloo are 70 per cent opposed to a casino.  But the real issues are whether that number is accurate and if it matters.  Woolwich approved plans for a casino even with the 70 per cent opposition.  To combat the danger of misrepresentation, more people need to care and pollsters need to ask the right questions to the right people.  The municipalities have a responsibility to serve the public opinion and thus need to accurately gauge public opinion in the first place.

The Waterloo Region is known for its arts, culture, sense of community, and its focus on technology and manufacturing.  Casinos can be economically beneficial, but are not the economic saviour they are advertised to be.  Nor does K-W need a saviour.

A casino reflects a lack of innovation, creativity and belief in the city or town it inhabits.  Continuing to focus on what makes K-W unique and prosperous is a far safer bet than approving plans for a casino, especially if it contradicts public opinion.
—The Cord Editorial Board