The benefit offers the equivalent of $500 per week for up to 16 weeks for Canadians who have been directly affected by COVID-19. While the benefit was designed to assist employed and self-employed Canadians, there’s a big problem — it largely leaves students out of the equation. The CERB requires that recipients have an income of at least $5,000 in 2019 or in the 12 months prior to the date of their application and who have stopped working because of COVID-19 or are eligible for Employment Insu

Ever look at Rex, the University of Calgary’s beloved dinosaur mascot and wonder how he’d get it on? Well, I did. I started by Googling “Dinosaur sex” and came across some uh, “artistic” renderings of how dinos might have mated but then, recognizing that U of C is full of dino-mite researchers, I asked an expert. For science of course… Last year, I brought you Rex’s PG rated-origin story. This year, I’m getting to the tricera-top — and bottom — of how he and his fellow dinosaurs came to be. Fr

During her last semester at the University of Calgary, Alexa Forigo started a business. She combined her years of experience working at adult stores with her passion for sex education and launched Sensuale Intimate Wellness with her business partner in early 2019. The ethos of the company, she says, is to provide body-safe sex toys through a gender-neutral website, sourcing products from suppliers who produce ethical products and fully disclose ingredients. “We only carry toys that are 100 per

Fourteen undergraduates helped to solidify the University of Calgary’s place on the world stage at the International Genetically Engineered Machine (iGEM) competition in Boston in early November. The iGEM competition is a worldwide event aimed at undergraduate students, but also includes high school and overgrad teams, giving them the opportunity to apply synthetic biology to real-world problems. The U of C team finished with the best-ever result by a Canadian team — first-runner up. “There’s

The Haskayne School of Business hosted an Evening with a Dragon, featuring Vince Guzzo on Nov. 20. The Gauntlet spoke with Guzzo ahead of his visit to Calgary about politics, entrepreneurship and the Alberta advantage. Probably most well-known for his eccentric personality on CBC’s Dragons’ Den, Guzzo is a central figure in Canada’s business landscape. Known as Mr. Sunshine, he is president and CEO of Guzzo Cinemas, Québec’s largest chain of independent movie theatres. Guzzo turned his cinema c

Questions arose about the University of Calgary’s ability to handle a crisis situation in the wake of a potential gun threat on campus during Clubs Week. The large police presence on campus — coupled with no information provided by U of C’s emergency app — prompted a flurry of tweets by students and staff, indicating their dissatisfaction at the lack of communication. Reports from local news agencies that the school was on ‘lockdown’ did not help the panic and confusion. Bob Maber, Director of

Students for Direct Action and YYC for a Green New Deal have been canvassing the campus community, looking to enlist support for next week’s Global Climate Strike. The groups and their volunteers painted their message on the rock on Thursday to raise awareness for the strike, and are hoping that they’re joined in walking out of classes on Sept. 27. “Global Climate Week started today and we’re hoping to build some momentum for the final day, on the 27th, to do a class walkout,” said computer sc

A Calgary candidate rolled out a veterans policy at the first-ever People’s Party of Canada convention in Gatineau, Quebec in late August. Canadian Airborne veteran and candidate for Calgary Nose Hill Kelly Lorencz announced the policy alongside party leader Maxime Bernier. The policy, entitled “Veterans: Standing behind the men and women who sacrificed for our country” promises to reinstate the fair disability pension as previously provided for by the Pension Act and apply the pension retroac

As gendered language becomes more and more obsolete, there’s one place it’s still very prevalent, and likely against the law — job boards. The industry with a rampant problem of gender discrimination on job boards is the restaurant industry. While gendered words like “waitress” fell out of favour in the common vernacular years ago, they’re still all too common on help-wanted pages. A quick click through the hiring ads on major job search sites highlighted two repeat offenders where gendered lan

For the second time this year, University of Calgary undergraduates have only had one voice representing them at Board of Governors meetings due to an ongoing appeal process disputing the results of the March 7 Students’ Union General Election. Incumbent candidate Frank Finley filed his appeal on March 14, alleging discrepancies in campaign spending and classroom talks on the part of his opponent, Ananya Ayachit. As per policy, the appeal was handed over to a Review Board. However, due to a d

University of Calgary employee Isabelle Couture is leading the charge against single-use plastics in Calgary. She, along with former U of C employee Briana Loughlin, co-founded Plastic-Free YYC, a non-profit devoted to reducing waste in Calgary, especially waste created by single-use plastic items. “We strive to involve all sectors of society, whether it’s Calgarians, businesses, governments — we do truly believe that we all have a role to play in addressing the issue,” said Couture. “In ter

The Academic Turnaround (ATP) program at the University of Calgary will now come at a cost of $500. The program is intended for students whose grade point average is not sufficient to continue in their program and as a result, are facing a Required to Withdraw notice. Students in participating faculties who may be required to withdraw from their programs due to their GPA falling below the threshold currently receive a letter from the dean or designate inviting them to participate in the ATP

Mike Bodnarchuk, chair of the Alberta Ski Jumping and Nordic Combined Association is trying to make the best of a bad situation. As previously reported by the Gauntlet, WinSport decommissioned the city’s iconic ski jumps and evicted Ski Jumping Alberta from their home on the property in late January, capping off a heated battle between the two organizations over funding. It’s an issue that hasn’t received much coverage since the eviction. Bodnarchuk started a petition on Change.org gauging pu

WinSport has made good on their ultimatum to Ski Jumping Canada — either come up with a substantial sum of money to maintain the iconic ski jumps at Canada Olympic Park or see those facilities decommissioned. WinSport asked for $345,000 by the end of October 2018 to cover mounting operational and repair costs, as reported by the Gauntlet. “It’s a complete and utter dead end,” said Mike Bodnarchuk, chair of the Alberta Ski Jumping and Nordic Combined Association, of the talks with WinSport

The future of ski jumping and Nordic combined in Canada has been called into question as the ski jumps at Canada Olympic Park are set to be decommissioned today. WinSport has given Ski Jumping Canada an ultimatum — come up with $345,000 by the end of October, or the jumps will be closed. Mounting operational and repair costs, depleted private funding and WinSport’s inability to assist with financing have created a dire situation. Seemingly accepting the closure, Calgary 2026 bid commission’s d