@ www.theotherpress.ca

 

Anti-Enbridge outrage

Protest group rallies outside of energy conference

By Dylan Hackett, News Editor

(: Wednesday, May 30, a small
group of protesters stood
outside of the Canadian Oil and
Gas Export Summit at the Four
Seasons Hotel to rally against the
proposed Enbridge pipeline and
other industrial projects in proposal

a couple of grassroots groups were
also outside the Four Seasons Hotel
informing fellow protesters of their
own group’s agenda—including
a band of residents from Christy
Clark’s riding of Vancouver-Point
Grey.

Representing Voters Taking
Action on Climate Change, Kevin

“The Canadian Pacific Railway were also featured at the export summit,
proposing rail transport as an alternative to the often-derided pipelines,
a concession not favoured by all of those protesting.”

for British Columbia. Among the
crowd were small families, curious
onlookers, many young people, and
the Vancouver Police Department.

“This issue isn’t just about the
pipeline, it’s about what is on the
other end of the pipeline,” spoke
Harjap Grewal of the Council of
Canadians. “We’re not opposing
Enbridge just because of the impact
it will have on the coast and in the
rivers and streams. We’re actually
in solidarity with the people in Fort
Chipewyan, the people in Northern
Alberta.”

While many at the rally were
there on their own political accord,

Washbrook told The Other Press
that “We’ve raised all this money
for these ads through bake sales
and through dance parties. The
point is to show its not big shadowy
organizations, it’s people on the
ground who care about this stuff.”

A few protesters also wielded
pots and pans, symbolic of the
Quebec-inspired casserole protests
taking place later in the day.

“T think generally, being in
the streets and having protests is
a really great way of getting the
message out,” claimed Grewal. “I
think people are going to need to
push the envelope and push the

Mee K aA Pelee

& Gisela G6mez (viggie)

boundaries of protest to actually
really challenge the different levels
of government and industry and
create uncertainty for them. We
want to create uncertainty for the
economics of these projects. We,

as disobeying people will be that
uncertainty.”

Attendees of the summit itself,
which featured prominent oil and
gas industry executives, seemed to
ignore the protest. The Canadian
Pacific Railway were also featured
at the export summit, proposing

 

 

rail transport as an alternative

to the often-derided pipelines, a
concession not favoured by all of
those protesting.

“People have to ask themselves,
if they cancel the pipeline and
decide to ship tar sands crude by
rail to the same port, would they be
okay with that?” proposed Grewal.
“IT would say ‘no,’ because I don’t
like the tar sands. I think the tar
sands are a horribly destructive
project.”

Douglas College students participate in Essential Skills
education pilot project

By Naomi Ambrose, Contributor

ver 100 Douglas College
(_) sien participated in a

nationwide pilot project
that could help college students
to increase their Essential Skills
levels—skills valuable to many
careers that Douglas trains students
in.

These essential skills, according
to HRSDC (Human Resources
and Skills Development Canada),
are nine essential skills that are
necessary for work, life, and
learning. They include document
use, reading text, numeracy,
writing, computer use, working
with others, oral communication,
thinking skills, and continuous
learning. These essential skills are
measured on a five-point scale in
which Level 3 is the recommended
minimum level needed to meet
the challenges of today’s world—
challenges that many college
students may have difficulty
overcoming.

Research from T. Scott
Murray, the senior Advisor,
Human Resources in Science and
Technology at Statistics Canada

reveals that between 15-32 per cent
of students admitted to Canadian
Colleges have Essential Skills at
Level 1 and 2. Students at these
levels do not have the foundational
skills necessary to learn new skills
and adapt to situations. This puts
them at a significant disadvantage
for learning at the college level.
They are more likely to have

At Douglas College, the
Training Group spearheaded the
Douglas College leg of the project.
“The Training Group at Douglas
College has extensive experience
in Essential Skills training and
has been involved in numerous
Essential Skills projects so when
the opportunity arose to participate
in this project, we were happy to

“,,.essential skills are measured on a five-point scale in which Level 3
is the recommended minimum level needed to meet the challenges
of today’s world—challenges that many college students may have

difficulty overcoming.”

challenges when it comes to
meeting deadlines and completing
assignments successfully.

Since many of these students
were more likely to encounter these
challenges, the ACCC (Association
for Canadian Community Colleges),
funded by HRSDC, embarked on
a project entitled “Developing a
National Framework for Essential
Skills: Seeking Harmony While
Respecting Diversity.” The program
is conducted with participation
from eight colleges across Canada,
with Douglas College as the lead
institution.

do so,” said Cat Adler, the Skills
Coach from the Training Group and
student recruiter for the project.
Adler further stated that “we
focused on students studying
in Health Sciences and Business
since these are the areas with
high employability rates.” These
students participated in weekly
study sessions from February to
April whereby they received free
tutoring on study skills techniques.
They also got a chance to win Tim
Horton gift cards, tuition, and
iPads. To qualify for the study
sessions, students had to score a

level 2 in Document Use.

To assess the students’ level,
Adler stated that “the TOWES
(Test of Workplace Essential Skills)
or the CLE (Canadian Literacy
Evaluation) methods were used.
These assessments focused on
reading text, document use, and
numeracy.”

When asked about the
improvement in the students’ scores
from the post assessment test, Adler
replied “So far, out of 21 students
that scored a Level 2 in Document
use, 17 had gone up to Level 3. Out
of six students that scored a Level
2 in Reading Text, all six had gone
up to Level 3 and out of seven
students that scored a level 2 in
numeracy, all seven had gone up
to Level 3, while two students that
had been at Level 3 dropped to
Level 2.”

Adler further stated that “Our
primary goal is to show that with a
relatively short term intervention,
we can help students to be more
successful at school (which should
later on translate to increased
success at work), by increasing their
Essential Skills Level from a Level 2
to a Level 3.”