Opinion pitches July 2018

July Pitches for Opinion Pals 

July 05, 2018

Welcome to July Pitches!

Heyo, everyone! It's July! Hope you all had a fantastic Canada Day and are having amazing summers! We're having our next general volunteer meeting on July 9 at 3pm, so come on down to pick up pitches, eat pizza, and have a good time!

If you wanna pick up pitches or pitch me something, message me or let me know at [email protected]. If you pick up a pitch, please have it into me by Sunday at 5pm!I'm also taking suggestions for workshop ideas, so shoot me some ideas about presentations and workshops you'd like to see in the upcoming year!

New gay-straight alliance law takes effect: Not all schools appear to comply

Bill 24, a provincial law that ensures the privacy of students who join GSAs (among other provisions), passed on June 30 in the legislature. Some schools in Edmonton are continuing to follow policies that don't comply with the new law. Some schools in Alberta had previously filed an injunction attempting to block Bill 24, citing that it violates religious freedoms.

What should these schools do, and why? Read up more on the changes

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 Mexico election: historic landslide victory for leftist Amlo 

An electorate disillusioned with corruption and poverty elected Andrés Manuel López Obrador as the President of Mexico. Some of his promises include rooting out corruption, solving the war on drugs through less militarized means, and advocating for people of all social classes.

Does this bode well for Mexcio? Should we in the international community be excited, or wary of his success? Read more on the story

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Plants in Tory Atrium taken away due to mouse problems

Our news pals

about this just recently. As a Tory Atrium fiend, I'm very upset they're gone. You could write an obituary about the plants, a goodbye letter that talks about all the good times you and the Tory plants had. Or if you hated the plants, feel free to write about how glad you are that they're gone...

 Vancouver restaurant manager fired for refusing service to customer wearing ‘MAGA’ hat:  

. Do you think the manager did the right thing, or did they deserve to be fired? Is there a time and a place to stand your ground? There are lots of ways to tackle this. If you take this pitch, please employ some nuance in your analysis.

 U of T approves policy that could place students with mental health issues on leave 

The U of T is getting

for this decision by the Ontario Human Rights Commission and the various U of T students' unions. Administration at the U of T says that the leave of absence would not be punitive and would only be applied in rare cases. What do you think about this policy?