news

 

 

 

World’s tallest tower
belongs to Canada

CN Tower finally open to the public

Aaron Guillen
Staff Reporter

The CN Tower, the world’s
tallest tower and free-standing
structure, has been officially
opened to the public, following a
three-year construction process.
This groundbreaking success
stands at 1,815.4 feet high, and
came with a price tag of $63
million.

The new tower is just the
beginning of the MetroCentre,

a massive office and
entertainment undertaking that
Toronto officials say will turn
the city into a bustling hub.
Those who visit the tower can
take in the breathtaking 360
degree view.

Only a couple years
ago, many high-rises began
popping up all around Toronto.
Although this building boom
brought about the beginnings
of a downtown skyline, it also
brought problems. Issues with
broadcasting arose as the signals
that were being sent out from

transmitting towers would
bounce off of the buildings. The
only solution was taller towers,
ensuring that everyone could
receive quality television and
radio broadcasts.

By 1972, Canadian National
(CN), a railway company, began
coming up with a way to solve
the communication problem.
Their eventual solution, the
CN Tower, would be built on
Railway Lands, a large railway
switching yard that had been
rendered useless.

Over the last three years,
engineers brought the blueprint
of the CN Tower to life, through
multiple and elaborate tests,
including the assessment
of the surrounding soil and
earth to ensure such a massive
structure could be supported. As
construction neared completion,
the helicopter “Olga” gained
popularity as many flocked to
watch the vehicle transport the
46-piece antenna from bottom
to top. Olga’s efficiency cut the
construction time by almost five
months.

Some question if the tower
will hold up for a lifetime or
more. Interestingly enough, Ned
Baldwin, one of the architects
who worked on the project,
argues that that there is one
situation that might bring it
down sooner than later.

“If you x-ray the anchorages
and found corrosion, and you
couldn’t engineer a solution,
you'd have to take it down.
Without it, the tower would be
thrown into tension under high
winds and would fall down,”
Baldwin told the Toronto Star.

However, thanks to the
expertise of the professional
engineers of today, it’s
guaranteed that the anchors
will steadily keep the structure
upright for at least 300 years.

Complete with 147 floors,
including a restaurant and three
observation points—the Space
Deck, the Indoor Observation
Level, and the Outdoor
Observation Terrace—the CN
Tower is a must-see attraction
for Toronto tourists. It will be
admired for decades to come.

 

Image via Wikimedia

Death penalty abolished nationwide

House of Commons free votes 131-124, approves controversial Bill C-84

Mercedes Deutscher
News Editor

A controversial and
historical bill has been passed
by the House of Commons on
July 14 ina free vote, with 131
members of Parliament voting
in favour of abolishing the
death penalty in Canada—
narrowly passing the bill
against 124 votes in opposition.

Both Liberal and
Conservative MPs were quite
divided by the issue, as 37
Liberal MPs voted to keep the
penalty and 16 Conservatives
voted to abolish it. The NDP
voted in solidarity, opposing
the continuation of capital
punishment. All three of
the party leaders voted
to abolish the penalty.

There have been attempts
to abolish the death penalty
from as early as 1914. In the
1950S, a movement began to
abolish capital punishment
for youth offenders.

The last time the House of
Commons attempted to abolish
the death penalty was in 1966;
however, the bill was defeated.
As a compromise, all death
sentences were converted to
non-capital punishments for

five years, a step which would
be temporarily renewed for
another five years in 1972.
“Those who vote against
the bill cannot escape their

personal share of responsibility
for the hangings that will

take place if the bill is
defeated,” argued Prime
Minister Pierre Trudeau in a

 

speech within the House of

Commons, according to CBC.
“Well, I'm pleased, but it’s

not something to celebrate

Illustration by Ed Appleby

because there’s a lot to be
done in preventing crime,”
said cabinet member, Warren
Allmand, to CBC after the
vote had taken place. “The
principal goal is to prevent
and reduce crime and that’s
still got to be done.”

However, the passing of
the bill will not spell the end
of controversies surrounding
the death penalty in Canada, as
Conservative MP John Reynolds
explained: “It wasn’t a free vote!
You've got cabinet ministers...
they're bound by cabinet rule
to vote with the government ...
When it’s that close, and when
you're looking at less than 50
per cent of the members of the
House of Commons... [and]
pass a law that 80 per cent of
the people are against, I think
you're asking for trouble.”

In place of capital
punishment, adults who are
convicted of first-degree murder
will face a maximum sentence
of a lifetime in prison with no
possibility of parole for 25 years.

The last Canadians to have
been executed were Ronald
Turpin and Arthur Lucas. They
were hanged on December u,
1962, having been sentenced to
death for killing police officers.