The startled polar bear charged out of the lake, water streaming off its back, on the outskirts of Churchill, Man., chased by a helicopter. Nisar Hussain was waiting for this precise moment, ready with his camera. CLICK! But the elation was ephemeral as the realization struck — the beast was headed straight toward him at full gallop, less than 20...

It was a divorce that first brought Anita Vandenbeld to Ottawa and a serious illness that would bring her back to stay. The Ottawa MP has served Ottawa West-Nepean for over seven years. She was first elected in 2015 in an election that swept her Liberal party from irrelevancy to a majority government. The victory took Vandenbeld from a life...

Pre-service firefighter students are back fundraising for the college's Food Cupboard serving the Woodroffe, Pembroke and Perth campuses. The three-day Boot Drive ends on Dec. 9. Students have been fundraising on their lunch breaks. Cheryl E. Hardwick, a full-time instructor in the police and public safety institute, said the Boot Drive started in 2018, two years before COVID-19 was first...

Upon entering a home just minutes away from Algonquin College, I follow a staircase down into a dim basement, where a single strand of lights strung between ceiling beams is the primary source of light. More clothes are hanging on racks than I have ever seen in one room. Lucas Brassard is in the middle working on his next design...

The squeak of a fresh pair of sneakers on the court, the swoosh of a perfectly shot basketball hitting nothing but the mesh, and the referee's whistle signaling the tip-off of a new game. For 24-year-old Jennica Klassen, these noises are like a beautifully strummed guitar fret to a musician or a masterfully plated dish for a chef. While she...

An unassuming strip mall at the corner of Baseline and Greenbank is where you’ll find The Neighbourhood Pub. Flanked by a shawarma eatery and a beauty salon, the pub is as humble as its location. In an era of trendy restaurants that like to dress up like they’re a dive bar, the Neighbourhood pub is no pretender. What you see...

Growing up, I was often told to enjoy my youthful body because one day, I would wake up and it won’t be there anymore. That day for me came in the summer of 2021. I woke up in terrible pain from an inflamed vein after a previous day of hiking for six hours. Like any 21-year-old in shock, I called...

When Vikta "the voice" Paulo is on the microphone, he is fully in his element. His booming voice energizes the crowd, no matter the size, as it travels around the Algonquin College Athletics and Recreation Centre gym, and he always does it with his trademark smile. Paulo, 37, was raised in Ottawa after his family fled from the Ugandan civil...

On a fall morning public commute to the college, people squeeze in, filling up the bus. In a sway-like motion, passengers move simultaneously as the bus driver steps on the gas pedal and makes a turn. A mix of fragrances rises in the recycled air: perfumes, breaths of coffee, cigarettes, and the odd hint of body odour. To dissipate their...

It was my first time in this particular office, and I was more impressed by the view of the mountains out the windows than the Zoom screen with the Hollywood Squares of my classmates' faces floating on the wall. Compared to everything else in the room, those mountains looked real. They were not real. Everything I was seeing was being...