0:19 Good afternoon Ryerson. I'm Lauren Davis. 0:23 And I'm Regina Dixon. 0:25 We're your hosts for today's RSJ Radio show. 0:28 It's a crisp cloudy day here in Toronto. It currently is one degrees outside but wait for it, feels like minus five with the windchill. 0:38 Don't you just love our Canadian arctic climate? 0:41 Oh, there's nothing I love more. 0:44 Well, I have great news for all you shopaholics out there, Black Friday is this week. 0:49 Whether you and your wallets are ready for it or not, this Friday is a great opportunity to get a head start on your Christmas shopping. 0:57 Well, I for one will most definitely be running my way through the crowds to get the best deals. 1:03 Down the long halls of Toronto's downtown mall leading to a larger than life Christmas tree are deals, deals and more deals. 1:11 Get out there and get some sweet savings and clothing, shoes, accessories, and maybe a special something or a special someone. 1:20 Today's show will touch on a variety of subjects from a Ryerson domestic national and international angle. 1:28 Top stories include Ryerson all you can eat meal plan, transgender athletes inclusivity and Toronto breaking the record of homicides in a year. 1:37 Toronto Police are now investigating two more cases at St. Michael's College School. The private all boys school has been the center of assault allegations. The case sparking the investigation was an alleged gang sexual assault. Police say six boys were charged with sexual assault of another boy. Authorities say the victim is now recovering after being allegedly sexually assaulted with a broom handle in the locker room. 2:04 Police say one of the new cases involves an alleged assault with a weapon, the other an alleged threat. Today the school announced it is canceling mid year exams as well as extracurricular activities. So far, eight students were expelled and another was suspended in relation to two of the alleged assault cases. 2:23 This past weekend, the 90th person was murdered in Toronto. This surpasses the 1991 record of 89 murders. Juliana Perkins has more on the story. 2:40 Is Toronto's new homicide record a sign that the city is becoming more violent? With 90 murders this year, some Toronto residents are beginning to fear for their safety. But there were two major incidents in which 12 people were murdered. The Danforth shooting and the Younge street van attack. 2018 might just be an anomaly. Anthony Dube, Professor Emeritus of Criminology at the University of Toronto explains. 3:04 I think that what people are thinking about in this is they're thinking about it as if it signals a trend. You know, what we know from Toronto homicide rate over the last 30 years or so is it could be the beginning of an increased homicide rate for Toronto, or it could be just an anomalous thing. 3:27 Believe it or not, the city's homicide rate has gone down since 1991. From 3.9 to 3.3 per 100,000 residents. 90 murders is never good, but as the city grows, we should expect crime rates to do the same says Dube. We sensationalize the record because it's out of the ordinary. 3:44 The analogy that I give us if you take 10 coins and put them in your hand and throw them up in the air, you know, everybody will say well, on average, it's gonna be five heads and five tails. But if I throw them up in the air, and it comes out to be 10 heads and no tails, you know, I look at that and I'd say, well, that's unusual. It doesn't happen very often, but it can happen. Doesn't mean anything, it can just happen by chance and that's what we don't know. 4:13 What was crime seemingly always in the news, Ryerson students like Adjani Tusome to some are beginning to feel disconnected and overwhelmed. 4:20 So overall, the violence like I'm not happy about it. But I'm also kind of detached I feel like when you see it all the time you hear about it all the time, but it doesn't really affect us directly. It doesn't affect you so you don't really process it like someone who's directly affected would. But you still take precautions and you still try and be as safe as you can in the city. 4:40 For RSJ Radio I'm Juliana Perkins. 4:44 A mistrial has been called in the retrial of a New Brunswick command for a second degree murder of his father. The jury was dismissed and the case against Dennis oOand will now be heard by the judge only. The judge said there were quote improprieties in the jury selection process . A St. John police officer conducted improper background checks on possible jurors that disrupted the selection process. There will be a new trial starting on Wednesday without a jury. 5:14 The search for a missing helicopter in the Laurentians resumes today. The helicopter left Rouyn-Noranda, Quebec around 10:30 in the morning on Monday. It was expected to arrive at Mirabelle around one in the afternoon, but never did. Sûreté du Québec Stéphane Tremblay says the pilot was last heard from while flying over the Mont-Laurie area around noon. According to Tremblay, the only man on board was the pilot who had about 100 hours of flying experience. His cell phone was traced to an area near Saint-Adolphe-d'Howard 50 kilometers north of Mirabelle. 5:49 November is transgender Awareness Month at Ryerson. Because of this, Ryerson athletics and recreation recently announced new programs and initiatives to help create a more inclusive athletic environment. Jack Longo reports. 6:05 Ryerson athletics and recreation is moving forward with their Trans Awareness Month initiatives. One of the initiatives is a free gym visit during November for all members of the community regardless of how you identify. Daniel Gomez Ortega was a Ryerson student two years ago, is now a staff member at Ryerson. They're open about their gender identity and believe Robertson's new initiatives are making a difference. 6:26 I think the amazing thing about the athletics department for the Ryerson committee in general is that it's hopefully going to push different units to think critically about things that they can do to make their spaces more accessible. 6:36 Gomez Ortega says these initiatives can help combat an aggressive sports and fitness environment. 6:42 Athletic facilities has to have a history of being of not being so open and where a lot of people from different communities experience a lot of violence. So the fact that they're directly addressing these issues by doing training and just really keeping your ears open for different ways to improve it does make a big difference. 7:00 Andrew Pettit is the manager of Ryerson Athletics and Recreation. Pettit wants everyone to benefit from these initiatives. 7:06 But more than anything, the way you feel when you're part of a community, how your body feels, when you move, that's me want everybody to be able to enjoy to experience to benefit from and so we have to get into these spaces. 7:18 Pettit says Ryerson is looking for more inclusive initiatives in the future. These include all gender washrooms, and change rooms in the gym. For RSJ Radio. I'm Jack Longo. 7:27 And one more thing, today is actually a day to honor and mourn people who have been victimized because of transphobia. 7:35 The Parkland students who created an international movement against gun violence have been awarded the International Children's Peace Prize. The students survived a deadly shooting at their school in February. They created the organization March for Our Lives to campaign against gun violence. Archbishop Desmond Tutu presented the award in Cape Town South Africa calling the students true changemakers. 7:59 The Ryerson School of performance is having its opening night tonight for their new showcase Ryerson Dances. The showcases produced by Ryerson Professor Vicky St. Denis and will run until Saturday. Reporter Taline Loschiavo spoke with the producer and got an idea of what the showcase is all about. 8:17 Ryerson Dances will be kicking off his first show of the year tonight. The production is a showcase of four unique works by professional choreographers. Second, third and fourth year dance students will be performing in the show. Dancing to live music along with voice and video projections. Vicki Saint Denis, the producer of the show is proud of the hard worker students have invested in their performances. 8:40 I love watching the process. So I'm in and out of rehearsals a lot sort of watching things unfold. And I love seeing the dancers, you know, the excitement that they have and that vibrancy that they have as we get close to performance and kind of that electricity. I love being surprised by the students. I teach them all. So I know them all very very well. But suddenly when I see them in someone else's work after they've been through a process and and worked on things that maybe they haven't been developing in other areas of the program. It's always really exciting for me to see that 9:14 Max Wheatley, a third year dance student is part of the show. He describes it as invigorating and as excited for opening night. 9:21 I'm in Peter Chin's piece and that's been a great process for me, completely new. Very exciting and I'm very excited to showcase the work and I know everyone else's too. 9:32 The show opens tonight and runs until Saturday. Tickets can be bought online. For RSJ Radio, I'm Taline Loschiavo. 9:39 Today is a good day because Mickey Mouse is in Toronto. The cartoon icon is here to celebrate his 90th birthday with us. Mickey is probably the most well known and loved Disney character. Would you so Lauren, do you like Mickey Mouse? 9:53 Oh, absolutely. I love Mickey Mouse. I grew up going to Disney World and Disneyland and Mr. Mickey Mouse played a huge part in my childhood. 10:02 Well, you can spot Mickey at Yonge and Dundas, the Village Harbourfront and the Distillery today, 10:10 Christmas is just around the corner. Which means it's time to cuddle up to your favorite holiday movies and binge drink hot chocolate. Netflix has released a couple new Christmas films, but my personal favorites are still the classics. The two new Netflix original films are the Holiday Calendar and the Princess Switch starring Vanessa Hudgens. 10:29 But if you're like us and would rather stick to the classics Four Christmases, a Holiday Engagement, Love Actually and the Holiday are still there for you to binge watch. 10:41 The Scotiabank giller prize is the country's biggest Book Award and it's given annually to a novel or work of short fiction published in English. And for this year's winner, the night may have seemed like a chase of deja vu. This is the author second time winning the coveted award. Reporter Evan Cherubini was at the ceremony and he spoke to the writer of Washington Black. 11:05 And the 2018 Scotiabank giller prize goes to Esi Edugyan. 11:15 That was the scene last night at the 2018 Scotiabank Giller Prize ceremony. Victoria based author Esi Edugyan won the award for her novel Washington black. This is Edugyan's second time receiving the country's most lucrative Book Award having won in 2011. The prize is worth $100,000, but for her the money isn't as important as recognition from our peers 11:39 It raises the profile of a book enormously and worldwide actually. I mean, it's it's huge that way, but I also feel like for my peers to have selected my book, you know, out of 100 odd books like that's extremely meaningful to me and it's a huge honor. 11:55 Television personality Rick Mercer hosted the ceremony at the Ritz Carlton Hotel in Toronto. Nearly 500 members of the publishing world attended. Ben McNally, owner of Ben McNally books in Toronto was at the ceremony. He says he's looking forward to the Giller effect, a phenomenon in which sales are the winning novel increased by at least 500%. 12:18 I will sell a shitload of copies of this book. No matter who the winner is like people people wait until the winners announced and then they decide that's the one they're going to read. 12:27 The award winning novel was one of over 400 books submitted this year. Ryerson professor and author Kamal Al Solaylee was the chair of the selection jury. He had the daunting task of reading all the submitted novels. For RSJ Radio. I'm Evan Cherubini. 12:44 A shooting at a Chicago hospital took the lives of three people. The shooter was seen arguing with a doctor he was in a relationship with. He then shot her and turned the gun on others. A pharmacist and a police officer were also killed. The gunman also died, but it's still unclear if he was killed by police or took his own life. 13:05 Another shooting also in a hospital closer to home. A federal inmate was arrested after shooting in Kingston General Hospital. The inmate got control of a gun belonging to a correctional officer and fired two rounds. A patient at the hospital was shot in the foot suffering serious injuries. The police have not identified the inmate or why he was taken to the hospital. 13:29 For students living on residence at Ryerson, there's no such thing as home cooking. In fact, students don't even have a choice on whether to purchase a meal plan. As Mark McKelvie found out meal plans have become even more pricey this year. 13:49 Ryerson's upgraded Pittman cafeteria opened up this past September with a new look. The cafeteria is now all you can eat, but after three months of operation, some students are still unhappy with their options. 14:01 I think it's a good idea, but in practice I don't think it works very well. There's not as many options as there was before or at least so I'm told. 14:12 Natalie Doherty is a first year student who eats at the cafeteria every day. She says the food options aren't as varied as she would like. 14:19 For the past two weeks I've been having rice and beans for all of my meals. So it's going great. 14:26 The new Pittman cafeteria is part of Ryerson Eats plan. They say they want to reinvent themselves as a quote, more self sufficient entity. This means that they're also replacing on campus Tim Horton kiosks. An official statement released by Ryerson Eats says its goal is to offer more quote, locally sourced wholesome meal options. But along with the new meals comes new rules. All food purchased from the Pitman cafeteria must be eaten inside the cafeteria itself. Reblanche Bertram is also a Pitman Hall resident. She has no choice but to get the seven day meal plan which costs $22 per day, 15:00 I'm not a person that eats like a lot for every meal, so $22 a day for food is way too much. I would probably pay like $10 a day for groceries. 15:11 She's also vegetarian and her meal options are sparse. Most days she can expect only tofu and quinoa as her options. 15:18 Definitely have like a section for vegetarians or people who have dietary restrictions because it's not great. 15:24 Ryerson eats says they're committed to working with residents members to address their dietary needs. For RSJ Radio. I'm Mark McKelvie. 15:32 In case you haven't heard Canada Post is on strike. Again. This holiday season letters to Santa Claus have to be delivered by December 10. But what if the strike continues until then? The Canadian union of postal workers is demanding improvements to job security and end to forced overtime and better health safety and measures. 15:54 Canada Post society has made a number of offers that include increased wages and better job security. According to spokesman John Hamilton, Canada Post continues to operate through the rotating strikes and will continue to process Santa's letters. More than 11,700 homes were destroyed in the California campfires this year. The buyers blaze torched an area the size of Chicago and left nearly 1000 people unaccounted for. There are now at least 76 dead from the campfires. 16:27 Visitor to Los Angeles will find themselves unable to enjoy the city's popular beaches and hikes but the rest of the city remains accessible. On Saturday, air quality and city's closest to the fires such as Sacramento, and Chico was the worst in the entire world. It has since improved, but the current air quality is still at dangerous levels. According to a recent survey by Statistics Canada, the number of Canadian smokers aged 25 and up hit 16% of the population in 2017. This is up from 13% two years earlier. Health Canada is looking for outside experts to review its tobacco control strategy. A federal program that after years of helping to drive down smoking rates appears to have halted. A spokesperson for Health Canada says the government of Canada is committed to evaluating programs to ensure that they are delivering value to Canadians. From Mickey Mouse's birthday to the Chicago hospital tragedy, today's show was an informative emotional roller coaster. 17:34 We would just like to say thank you to all the hard working reporters that put these stories together. 17:39 Make sure to tune into our next show a week from today for your next news update. Oh and by the way, Merry early Christmas to y'all out there. 17:48 And for all the Grinches listening may the spirit of the holidays lift you out of your funk. 17:53 I'm Regina Dixon. 17:54 And I'm Lauren Davis. Thanks for tuning into RSJ Radio. Stay warm today Ryerson.