news // 4

Quebec seniors home fire reportedly
caused by cigarette

» Eight confirmed dead in tragedy; still many more missing

 
       
  

_ Patrick Vailancourt
a *. News Editor

=| Minews
5 i @theotherpress.ca

Tes in a small Quebec

town has raised questions
throughout the country about
the safety of facilities which
house the more vulnerable
populations in Canadian
society, particularly the elderly
and disabled.

A fire at an elderly care
home in L Isle Verte, Quebec
has devastated the small
community as emergency
officials have confirmed eight
fatalities, with about 24 other
people who remain missing at
press time and are feared dead.

The fire began in the early
morning hours on January 23 at

the Résidence du Havre nursing :
: billowing out of the man’s

: room and was forced to escape
: the building. Firefighters were
? unable to gain access to all of

home. The facility included
52 units of independent and
semi-shared living quarters.

: Fire crews responding to

: the incident were hampered

: immediately by extremely cold

: weather that rendered much of
: their equipment useless. Fire

: hoses were being exposed to

: temperatures as low as -35C and
: the initial blasts of water onto

: the building created ice walls

: that further complicated rescue
: efforts.

While investigators have

: not determined with certainty

: the cause of the fire, sources

: suggest that the fire was caused
: by a cigarette.

Bruno Belanger, an

: overnight staffer at the facility,

: told QMI Agency that he

: believes a male resident began

: smoking in his unit after he had
: been refused permission to go

: outside shortly before the fire

: started. When the alarm went

off, Belanger noticed smoke

: the rooms for evacuation due to
: the intensity of the blaze. The

: vast majority of those dead or

: missing are those who needed

: wheelchairs or walkers.

The tragedy has sparked

: debate about the use of

: sprinklers in elderly care

: homes. Résidence du Havre did
: have a sprinkler system in the

: newer wings of the facility, but
: none in the original portion of
: the building. Many in Quebec

: and across the country are now
: calling on all governments to

: review their building guidelines
: and ensure sprinkler systems

: are made mandatory.

Building codes vary from

: province to province, and in
: some cases, from city to city.
: The federal government also has :
: anational building code, but is
: never regulated or enforced.

The tragedy has gained

: national and international

: attention. Queen Elizabeth II

: was made aware of the tragedy
: and issued a statement of

: condolence.

“Prince Philip and I were

: saddened to learn of the serious :
: fire at the seniors’ residence in
: LIsle-Verte, Quebec yesterday,”
: read the statement from :
: Buckingham Palace. “The Duke :
: of Edinburgh and I send our :
: sympathy to the families of

: those who have died and our
: thoughts and prayers to all :
: those who have been injured in :
: this terrible event.” :

Quebec Premier Pauline

: Marois had cancelled the

: remainder of a trade mission

: to Davos, Switzerland upon

: hearing of the fire, and Prime
: Minister Stephen Harper, who
: was in the Middle East last

: week, issued a statement from

Amman, Jordan expressing his

: sadness at the incident.

“On behalf of the entire

: country, I offer my sincere

: condolences to the family and
: friends of those who passed

: away following the fire at a

: seniors’ residence in eastern

theotherpress.ca

The vast
majority of dead
and missing

are those

who needed
wheelchairs or
walkers to move
around.

: Quebec,” Harper said. “My

: thoughts and prayers are

: also with those who remain

: unaccounted for, and all those
: who have been injured.”

Rescue efforts are ongoing,

: but crews have been forced

: to abandon plans to conduct

: round-the-clock operations

: due to weather and manpower.
: Extreme weather continues to

: complicate efforts to find those
: who remain missing.

 

Federal government hopes to double
international students

Jane Lytvynenko,
CUP Ottawa Bureau Chief

( ranadian university

classrooms could have

in the next eight years. On
January 15, the Conservatives
announced a strategy to double
the amount of researchers

and students coming from
abroad. The program centres
around §$5-million per year in
funding primarily going toward
branding and marketing. The
funding was approved as a part
of the Economic Action Plan
last year.

Minister of International
Trade Ed Fast announced the
program at Ryerson University.
Fast said ina press release that
in addition to the marketing
money, “the strategy will
provide $13-million over two
years to the Globalink program
of Mitacs, a national not-for-
profit organization that fosters
innovation through research
and training programs.’ The
initiative will focus on six key
regions: Brazil, China, India,
Mexico, North Africa, and the

: Middle East and Vietnam.
: While critics say an increase :
: in international students is a :
: positive overall goal, they add
: there needs to be more details
twice the international students : on the program. Alex Usher,
: president of Higher Education
: Strategy Associates, says the

: newly announced strategy

: needs to be better thought out
: to be successful.

“There are lots of reasons

: why you might want to increase
: the number of international

: students but let’s be explicit

: about what they are and work

: backwards from there,” says

: Usher, adding there is no

: clear purpose for doubling

: international students.

Usher says the document

: presented by Fast should

: not be called a strategy. He

: wondered whether provinces
: and educational institutions
: were consulted when putting
: together the plan.

“The only goal I can see is

: double the number of incoming
: students,” he says. “I don’t know
: why that number was picked

: and if you don’t know why the

: number was picked you'll havea :
: student body.” He added that
: universities will need additional :
: funds to provide adequate

: programming for the new

: students, something that’s

: not currently outlined in the
: strategy.

hard time justifying it.”
Dan Harris, the NDP post-

: secondary education critic,
: said the idea of doubling
: international students in
: Canada is not a bad one.

“They [international

: students] make an important
: part of the student body in

: Canada and help provide

: resources to universities

: through tuition fees,” said

: Harris.

He added the government

: needs to ensure the resources

: and support are there for the

: new international students,

: many of whom face a culture

: shock when coming to Canada.
: Gary Slater, associate vice-

: president international at the

: University of Ottawa, says new
: students often have a language
: barrier and have to deal with

: different methods of teaching
: from what they’re used to.

Harris echoed Slater’s

? concern with resources for

: international students, saying,
: “We have to make sure they
succeed and we have no

problems arise from a larger

Slater said that because

: education is a provincial matter, :
: the federal government can

: only hope the numbers double
: as projected. The rest of the

: work falls on the provinces,

: some of which have a hard

: time recruiting international

: students.

“We have to recognize that

: a national policy like that will
: be differently seen in the French :
: and the English world,” said :
: Slater, pointing out that Quebec :
: has a harder time recruiting :
: international students. “It’s

: much easier to recruit students
: that want to study in English

: than in French. We have to

: work hard if we want to keep

: a linguistic balance in the
country.’

Slater said while Canada

: hasa great post-secondary

: education system, it has to
: compete with the USA. That’s

where the $5-million yearly

: initiative for advertising comes
: in.

“The number one thing the

: federal government can do is
: give Canada a good reputation
: outside the country,” said Slater.

“It’s a marketing issue to a large

> extent.”

According to Harris,

: Canada also needs to ensure

: there is an easy way to

: immigrate for international

: students who decide to stay.

: “We should be putting a focus
: on making sure there is a path
: to immigration and family

reunification,” he says.
Whether the students
stay or go back, Slater said

: anyone studying in Canada is

: an asset for the country. Those

: moving back often forge strong
: links with the institution they

: studied in, while students who
: immigrate contribute to the

: economy.

“They bring a lot not only

: to university but to society,” said
> Slater.