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This issue:

(Y Mystery of disappearing sea stars possibly solved

(¥ BC grocery store alcohol sales date announced
(Y FIFA under fire from UEFA

And more!

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Contact: Angela Espinoza, News Editor

Mi news@theotherpress.ca

www.theotherpress.ca

Historian petitions to add women to Canadian currency

» Merna Forster calls on the Bank of Canada to offer equal representation

Angela Espinoza
News Editor

Minews
5 ‘ @theotherpress.ca

I: July 2013, an online petition
started by author and

historian Merna Forster sought
support to add representations

of Canadian women to Canadian :

currency. As of November 2014,
the Change.org petition has

collected over 50,000 signatures. !

“Our banknotes currently
honour four male, white, Prime
Ministers and the Queen
[Elizabeth II],” said Forster. “No
real female historical figures
from Canada appear on the
bills—on the front or the back.”

The petition began in
response to the removal of the
“Famous Five” women’s rights
activists and feminist Thérése
Casgrain from the $50 Canadian
bill, first printed in 2004. The
new polymer $50 bill released
last year replaced the image
of the Famous Five with an
icebreaker ship.

“Did no one responsible for
planning and approving the new
polymers notice that not a single
bill celebrated the contributions
of the female half of our
[Canadian] population...?

“Canada boasts of being a
world leader in the promotion
and protection of women’s rights
and gender equality.

“If we really want to be
a world leader in promoting

 

gender equality, the federal

: government and its various

: agencies and organizations—
: such as the Bank of Canada—
: should act accordingly.”

In a similar situation in

July 2013, the UK fought to keep
: the image of Elizabeth Fry on

: the £5 banknote last year with

: a signature signed by 35,000.

: While Fry’s image, the only

: other notable image of a UK

: woman besides Queen Elizabeth :
: II featured on pound bills, is

: to be replaced with Winston

: Churchill in 2016, the Bank of
: England has agreed to place Jane :
: Austen on the £10 banknotein
: 2017 (replacing Charles Darwin)
: following the petition.

“Who and what is

: celebrated on our banknotes

7 o JHS2912607 eye $ offs

i

: matters, as it reflects what

: we consider important in our

: culture and history and who we

: consider worthy of honouring

: for achievement,’ said Forster.

: “Women are not absent from

: the list of notable worthies in

: Canada, just notably absent or

: under-represented in many of

: the images that surround us and
: which contribute to our view

: of the world and our potential
role in it. Banknotes that belong :
: to all Canadians should depict
: a wider range of Canadians, of
: both genders as well as various

ethnic origins.”
Columbia, Peru, Japan,

: Turkey, Mexico, and South Korea
: were a few countries Forster

: named that carried images of

: culturally iconic women on their

=a: ‘eit o)06O U8

: currencies, and noted Australia
: specifically. “Four out of five
: polymers in Australia celebrate

: side, and a notable Australian

: “Gender equality is

: important and needs to be

: supported. Studies show that a
: root cause of violence against

: women is inequality, a lack of

: respect for women.

“We need to value

: women more, to value their

: achievements in the past and in
: the present. Students can play
: an important role by standing

: up to show they recognize and
: support the amazing women

: in Canadian history, as well

: as women who are working to

: contribute to society today.’

A website

(womenonbanknotes.ca)

: launched by Forster allows

: visitors to add images of

: Canadian women to Canadian

: banknotes, which can then be

: shared around online. Forster

: invites students to try out and

: pass along their suggestions for
: who they feel should grace our
: Currency.

“Tam not lobbying for any

: specific women from Canadian
: history to be featured on

: our bills,” said Forster, “but

: my two books provide many

_ gus2912607

possibilities.”
Forster describes herself

: asan “accidental activist,’ and

: is the executive director of the

: Great Unsolved Mysteries in

: Canadian History Project at the
: University of Victoria. “I am

: . : passionate about developing

: a notable Australian man on one : greater awareness of women
: _ : in Canadian history, and

: woman on the other,’ said Forster. : trying to ensure that our
: amazing Canadian heroines are
: recognized and celebrated,” said

: Forster.

Forster has been researching

: historical Canadian women

: for over a decade, publishing

: her first book, 100 Canadian

: Heroines: Famous and Forgotten
: Faces, in 2004. A second volume
: titled 100 More Canadian

: Heroines was released in 2011.

For more information, go to

: goo.gl/MWiPrQ. You can visit
: Forster’s website at heroines.ca
: to learn more about historical

: and iconic Canadian women.

 

NPA to lift the Vancouver Aquariums breeding ban

» Breeding ban on dolphins and whales was passed in July

Brittney MacDonald
Staff Writer

ancouver Non-Partisan

Association (NPA) park
commissioners John Coupar
and Sarah Kirby-Yung have
stated that they will use the
Vancouver Park Board’s new
NPA majority to make good
on their campaign promise to
lift the breeding ban currently
imposed on the Vancouver
Aquarium.

The breeding ban was
issued following a lengthy
public debate over allowing
the Vancouver Aquarium to

: continue to house cetaceans

: in captivity. Concern for the

: mammals’ welfare was an issue,
: and the worry that a planned

: expansion meant more whales

: and dolphins would be kept in

: captivity. The debate was put to
: rest momentarily in May when
: the Vancouver City Council

: voted in favour of allowing

: the Vancouver Aquarium to

: continue to house whales and

: dolphins captured before 1996

: and those that had been injured :
: and could no longer be released
: into the wild.

The ban was eventually

voted in by Vision Vancouver,
: who previously helmed the

: Park Board prior to November’s
: elections; the ban has been in

: place despite claims made by

: the Vancouver Aquarium that

: it is disruptive to their business
: practices.

Coupar displayed concern

: over the current relationship

: between the Vancouver

: Aquarium and the Park Board

: in an interview with CBC News:
: “We said we would [lift the ban] :
: and that’s our plan, but we're

going to have to think through

: this carefully, especially with
: this new lawsuit that’s there.”

The Vancouver Aquarium

: has spoken out against the Park
: Board’s authority, issuing a

: petition to the Supreme Court
: challenging the Park Board’s

: jurisdiction on matters such as
: breeding.

: Kirby-Yung also told CBC

: that the NPA wishes to keep

: the issue away from community
: referendum, “We were clear

: that as an NPA team that was

: part of our platform and we’re
: committed to that.

“We want to fulfill on the

: voters’ expectations and they

: voted for us on that platform.”
: The Vancouver Aquarium

: at this time issued the Other

: Press a statement, saying “The
: Vancouver Aquarium Marine

: Science Centre has worked

: with the City of Vancouver and
: the Vancouver Park Board for

: over 50 years. The Aquarium

: looks forward to welcoming

: and briefing the City’s newly

: elected representatives on all

: our conservation, research, and
: education efforts as soon as

: their schedule permits.”

No specifics have been

: revealed on how a lift on the

: ban may affect the current

: lawsuit, which was filed in

: August regarding the July ban.

: Amongst other arguments, the
: Vancouver Aquarium has stood
: by that they cannot control if

: whales or dolphins breed on

: their own.