By Tayvie Van Eeuwen
@tayvieeee

Don’t worry, be happy. Read on for local and worldwide good news!

LOCAL

City of coquitlam to have free period products in city parks and recreation facilities

Who doesn’t love Coquitlam, right?

Early November, Coquitlam announced that free menstrual products will soon be offered at five of the city’s parks and recreation centres. The pilot will run until March 2020, in which records of use and a public survey will measure the effectiveness of the program.

The campaign will include free tampon and pad dispensers in both women’s and universal bathrooms at the following locations: Town Centre Park, Mundy Park, City Centre Aquatic Complex, Poirier Sport & Leisure Complex, and Pinetree Community Centre.

As the city explained to DailyHive, the pilot is “intended to reduce barriers to recreation and promote gender equity.”

This comes in response to April’s announcement by the NDP Government of BC that all schools will provide free period products to students, set to begin by the end of this year.

Say hello to finn! Vancouver coastal Health’s latest superbug sniffing dog

Say hello to Finn, the four month old pup who will be part of the C. Difficile Canine Scent Detection Program– aimed at finding life-threatening antibiotic-resistant bacterium.

Up until one year of age, he will train within normal service dog areas. After a year old, Finn will begin to specialize in C. difficile. He and his sister Traveller will eventually be mentored by Angus and Dodger: the two dogs who are “certified and working in hospitals across Canada”, as reported by the VGH and UBC Hospital Foundation.

Since the creation of the program in 2016, Angus and Dodger, along with the canine scent detection team, have helped to seek out C. difficile in hundreds of hospital areas. Their expertise is being shared across Canada, hoping to put a stop to the growing threat of superbugs.

“Through the C. Difficile Canine Detection Program at Vancouver Coastal Health, dogs such as Finn are helping to keep patients and their families safe and healthy,” Health Minister Adrian Dix recounted in a press release.

Now, that’s a good boy!

BC leads the nation in zero-emission car sales

Yay to climate action!

According to a quarterly report from Electric Mobility Canada, BC is leading the zero emissions trend in Canada, with one in every ten new vehicles being electric.

In just over a year, the rate of electric vehicle sales in Canada between July and September increased 25%– showing a large change in Canadian values. This jump can be accounted for by proactive federal incentives, along with an overall increase in climate awareness.

While nationwide electric vehicle sales account for 3.5% of all new cars, BC is at a whooping 10%, beating out the rest of the nation by 6.5%.

BC’s provincial government has made large pledges for climate action. By 2040, they plan to have all new vehicle sales be zero emissions. This will work alongside creating vaster charging networks and increasing provincial incentives and rebates.

As of now, I am very proud of British Columbians. Let’s keep that rate going up!

Worldwide

4-year-old parker curry goes viral, then writes a book

In 2018, Parker Curry went viral for the awestruck photo her looking up at Amy Sherald’s portrait of Michelle Obama, on display at the National Portrait Gallery.

The world fell in love with the sentiment: a young black girl finding inspiration in the icon that is Michelle Obama. In the following months, she took the Internet by storm again, this time posing in a homemade version of Obama’s gown.

Now, as if Curry couldn’t get any better, she and her mother, Jessica Curry, just co-authored Parker Looks Up: An Extraordinary Moment. The children’s book focuses on Parker’s captivation with Obama, and the subsequent impact it had on the world.

“Parker’s every day moment became an extraordinary one, and my sincerest hope is that our book will continue to resonate that moment’s power and promise, its hopes and dreams, its inspiration and indelible impact with Parker, her generation, and generations to follow,” Curry’s mother told Essence.

“After all, with their inner and profound insight and wisdom, our children are truly our future.”

Parker and Jessica are now promoting their book, talking to the media, and going on a book tour. As for how Parker is doing with the fame? She’s a natural!

Parker Looks Up is now on sale online and at bookstores. Find your copy here.

UK LABOUR AD GOES VIRAL FOR CALL-OUT OF XENOPHOBIC POLITICIANS

(Disclaimer: This is not an endorsement of any political party)

Finally, a political ad that has some substance.

This month, the UK Labour Party put out an advertisement that was both shocking and empowering. In the ad, concerned citizens point out governmental issues, only for the politician in question to blame an immigrant named Ali.

The citizens evidently do not take the politicians bullshit and continue to press him, only for him to remark, “My hands are tied.” The advertisement then ends saying, “When politicians resort to blaming immigrants, you know they’ve run out of excuses.”

Mic drop.

While this ad was obviously aimed at the UK’s political landscape, I think we can all agree it applies to other large federal governments.

*Cough* Donald Trump *Cough*

In all seriousness, this campaign did a wonderful job of portraying the racist and xenophobic grounds many politicians act on and just how unproductive they are.

So, thank you to the UK Labour Party for creating a powerful message! Good on you.

Watch the advertisement here.

principal brings in glasses for colourblind student, allowing him to see the rainbow for the first time

This video hit me right in the feels.

On November 21, Ben Jones shared a video on his Twitter of his younger brother, Jonathan Jones, seeing colour for the first time. The now viral tweet read:

My little brother is severely colorblind and so is his principle at school. While they were learning about colorblindness in class, his principle brought in some glasses that let him see color for the first time, and he was very emotional.

In the almost two minute video, the seventh-grader is presented with a pair of colourblind glasses, which immediately give him full range of colour. In between tears, Jones walks around the classroom exploring the periodic table and other vivid displays.

The moment was unexpected for Jones, who was learning about colourblindness with his class at Lakeview High School when Principal, Scott Hanson, let Jones try the special glasses. The class erupted in celebration, evidently excited for Jones’ surprise.

In the video, Hanson can be heard saying “I’m so happy for you! That is so awesome. I told you it’s going to be a little emotional,” while hugging Jones.

In the end, Hanson let Jones take the glasses home for the night– hoping he could experience more with time.

Since the video’s appearance, Jones’ older brother has created a GoFundMe page to raise money for the $350 glasses. However, the internet did some good work, raising over $26,000 to date.

😭😭😭

Mattel creates a new version of uno in braille

Welcome to new and improved UNO!

Mattel has announced a collaboration with the National Federation of the Blind, including the new UNO Braille. The partnership came in an effort to promote inclusivity, with over seven million blind and low-vision folks living in the US alone.

“We are proud to have UNO Braille on-shelves and to be making UNO more accessible and inclusive to even more families,” Ray Adler, global head of games at Mattel, announced.

The deck features braille dots on the top left corner of each card, with braille on the front and back of the packaging, too. In addition, the game includes an extra instruction to call out the card as you play it.

For electronic resources, Mattel has released downloadable instructions in braille readable files, with an option to have Alexa or Google Home read the instructions aloud.

“The fact that a blind person is now able to play a classic game of UNO straight out of the box with both blind and sighted friends or family members is a truly meaningful moment for our community,” explained Mark Riccobono, President of the National Federation of the Blind, in a news release.

Time to have an inclusive game night!