DOXA – Human spirit on screen

Look for a home? Longing to belong? The South Asian program of films explores the complications of Asian life throughout the world. The DOXA Film Festival has been bringing some of the best documentaries to town for 18 years now, and the 2019 line up is no exception. The films and programs selected for this…

An ever shrinking margin

Brian Lam (Arsenal Pulp), Rolf Maurer (New Star Books) and Allan Cho (Rice Paper magazine) are three of the Lower Mainland’s leading publishers in Asian Canadian, POC and LGBTQ literature and arts. All three have seen the changes in both the market and challenges of previously marginalized artists, and have shared their insight into the…

Towards an inclusive workplace

Sylvia Fuller and Joann MacKinlay tell a sad story. Women and minorities often struggle in Canadian workplaces, sidelined by a lack of support. But there’s hope. Programs like the YWCA’s Pathways to Leadership for Immigrants and Refugee Single Mothers, help disadvantaged groups get the resources they need to succeed. “When you have a workplace that…

How French was introduced into the English Language

An average speaker of English knows around 10,000 French words, even before they have learnt French as a second language. How is it that individuals know so much linguistically from a different language? The English language we know and use today would be extremely different if not for a major event back in 1066. The…

Challenging the rules of code

There’s a problem with computers, say Rachel Pottinger, Sarah Zwiep, and Alexandra Kasper. All of these women, who work in computer science, agree the field lacks diversity. But there’s hope, they say. Programs such as Simon Fraser University’s Girls CanCode and Go Code Girl, as well as initiatives at the University of British Columbia, aim…

A storied history: The Jewish Book Festival reaches out

The Jewish Community Centre of Greater Vancouver highlights the importance of reading and understanding history, as well as the power of storytelling in their 34th annual Jewish Book Festival. The festival is held from Feb. 9–14 and comprised of events such as author talks, book launches, and youth outreach, isn’t shy of tackling difficult ideas,…

PuSh festival – Thoughts on the cards

Selina Thompson’s exhibit, entitled Race Cards, will be an interactive and thought-provoking journey considering race, self-image and the way societies look at others and their ideals. The Roundhouse Community Arts & Recreation Centre’s PuSh festival will display the exhibit from Jan. 23 to Feb. 2. Thompson intends to inspire, provoke and question with Race Cards.…

Nú to the new year

Hello! Nú! Weyt-kp! Xaayda! As stated by Marianne Ignace, soon British Columbians will only be able to say one of these greetings and be understood. The other words are from Squamish, Secwepemc (Shuswap), and Haida languages, which are named as endangered in the UNESCO 2019 Year of Indigenous Languages observance. Here in BC, Ignace is…

Looking back… …Going forward

Another year has come and gone, and, as we always do, The Source Newspaper reached out to the myriad individuals living, visiting and working in Metro Vancouver to learn about their plans, ambitions, hopes and dreams. Throughout the year, we told the stories of environmentalists, designers, artists, storytellers and others, all with diverse backgrounds, experiences…

Newcomers to B.C.: towards a better integration

The Affiliation of Multicultural Societies and Service Agencies (AMSSA) has released an immigration strategy plan outlining a series of recommendations for the provincial, in contrast to the federal, government. With immigration policy largely falling under federal jurisdiction by default, the recommendations are directed at the provincial government with the hopes of leading to a more…

The other side of war

There are many images of women associated with the world wars: women knitting and sewing during the “Great War,” factory worker “Rosie the Riveter” in the early 1940s. Yet these images are of predominantly white women. Minority women, especially Chinese-Canadian and Aboriginal women, were also present throughout these cataclysmic world events, say Amy Shaw and…

Doctors take an eastern medical approach for eye diseases, eye strain

Two Lower Mainland eye doctors who have backgrounds in Chinese medicine say they are concerned with the increase in eye strain conditions and diseases they have seen in their patients due to excessive use of screens. Cheryl Wang has been practising 16 years in acupuncture, and six years in micro-acupuncture. Micro-acupuncture is a relatively new…

Writers Fest Finding home

  Vancouver’s yearly Writers Festival is known for its display of promising young talent who can transport their readers to far off places. Some places can be paradise, others… a war-torn country forcing its children to flee. Among those searching for a better life were Abu Bakr al Rabeeah and Javier Zamora. A co-author of…