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Canadian universities are reaching out to students to deal with end-of-semester stress.

In a report by the Globe and Mail, Canadian Mental Health Commission chairman David Goldbloom says there's been progress with how schools accommodate the mental health needs of their students.

He adds that the need for students - especially for freshmen - to stay competitive, is pressuring them, when they should be instead coping to university life.

McGill University's health clinic director Robert Franck cites an upsurge in clinic visits in 2012. He says it's the most stressful time of the year as they get 20 emergency drop-in visits daily.

Queen’s University in Kingston, Ontario released a report with over a hundred recommendations to re-examine how they deal with mental health issues. This report was in wake of six student deaths in 2010 and 2011.

The University of Alberta is trailblazing initiatives to de-stigmatize mental health issues, such as a peer-outreach group and free yoga classes.

York University in Toronto organized a two-week mental health campaign by training student leaders to reach out to their peers within their field of expertise.

The University of Alberta’s Dr. Robin Everall  says we need to get mental health issues out of the closet and there’s no way it should be taboo.

STORY WRITTEN BY: SATURN DE LOS ANGELES

Questions have arisen over why shipments of biodiesel tanker cars that took numerous trips between Canada & the U.S. were never unloaded.

According to CBC News, C.N. trains took multiple trips from Sarnia, Ontario to Port Huron, Michegan, claiming to deliver biodiesel between June 15th & 28th, 2010.

Management at C.N. said that it fulfilled its obligation by law & delivered as the customer wanted. Employees, however, remained cautious about their comments with some calling it "a money grab."

Canadian company, Bioversel Trading Inc., arranged the deal. It is currently under investigation for allegedly making false statements to avoid duy charges when they shipped biodiesel to Romania & Italy.

C.N. made $2.5 million as a result of the trips its trains made across the border.

Flickr Photo by: 1$WEAR

Once upon a time, there was a girl that loved Sloan so much, that she named her first and only cat after them (he turned 15 this summer!).

Once upon a time, there was a girl that loved Sloan so much, that every time she got drunk, she would belt out "Deeper Than Beauty" and "Snow Suit Sound". 

Once upon a time, there was a girl that loved Sloan so much, that she broke up with her fiancée when he didn't "get" them. (For reals.)

Once upon a time, Twice Removed, removed this girl from teenage-dom and catapulted her into adulthood. 

So when this girl heard that Sloan would be playing all of Twice Removed at Le National on November 23rd, she got a little excited (the band never played Sault Ste Marie in ‘94, or I so would've been there). She also felt a little old. Like when her parents would go into the city for dinner and a concert: Bob Dylan sings his greatest hits. She wondered what kind of set would it be. Forty minutes then goodbye? Would it be done in chronological order? Would there be epic Patrick Pentland guitar solos or Andrew Scott drum solos to draw the set out? Curious and curiouser this girl headed into Le National and was confronted by a sea of boys in plaid and girls in stripes.

Now this girl has to be honest with you, she hasn't bought a Sloan album since Navy Blues. She grew up, moved on, found something new. More honesty? She kinda felt they were stuck on that Can-Rock Guess Who sound. But she's always loved those early albums. The sludgy pop of Smeared, the soothing harmolodic sounds of Twice Removed, the jangle balladry of One Chord to Another, and the block rocking riffs of Navy Blues. As well, she really valued the way that all members wrote and sang to create a wide variety in songs and sounds. But most of all she appreciated their clever word play, as evidenced in autobiography...

I'm writing "sharp and adult" 
With my finger on the steam 
On the mirror in my bathroom 
While I'm applying shaving cream 
Which would suggest that I'm the foamer 
But how can I be the lather 
And something tells me 
It's the opposite I'd rather

Sloan got on stage, no intro, just ripping right into "Penpals". Comic nerd fun fact: the lyrics to Penpals can be found in Bryan Lee O'Malley's (of Scott Pilgrim fame) first graphic novel, Lost at Sea. Then onto "I Hate My Generation", "People of the Sky", and so on. 

The show was in chronological order and there was very little patter in between. Just lots of "Thank you!" and "Thanks for sticking with us all these years." This was their final show after doing 42 across the continent and it showed; they seemed a little tired and ready for it all to be over. This girl was surprised by how little they had changed. Chris Murphy had the same hair style; Jay Ferguson, the same jaunty cap, Patrick the same stoic pose, though somehow Andrew Scott seemed dreamier. 

The song that laid a whammy on your girl, was when Patrick sang "Loosens". Never a stand-out track before, it carried a weight and poignancy that your girl failed to notice the billion times she listened to it before. Another thing that surprised was that usually when she went to shows and knew all the words to songs, she'd mouth them but never sing. At this show, your girl sang her heart out and didn't care who heard her off key warbles at all (and since were being totally honest, I also sang along to the guitar parts, played air drums and air guitar too). 

After "Loosens", Chris charmingly pointed out that they were at the halfway point in the album, and that it was time to turn the tape over to side two. Then it was onto "Worried Now", "Shame Shame"... When it came time to play "Deeper Than Beauty", most of the band left the stage to Chris on guitar and Andrew on drums. It was an interesting break because one thing your girl noticed was that the majority of songs were played with a heavier guitar and a louder sound than usual (which I totally loved!!!).

Let see, other cool things that occurred at the show? The extended jam on "Before I Do", the constant switching of players: Andrew out from behind the drums on guitar and singing, "People of the Sky" with Chris on drums. Jay and Chris shared bass duties. Saw a dad grooving along with his 14 year old son next to him and he wasn't the only one. At the front of the stage was a father with his three kids, two boys, one girl, all between the ages of 9-13. Then Patrick whipped out the acoustic guitar to sing "I Can Feel It", he encouraged a sing-along and it was over. Chris announced, "We'll be back, talk amongst yourselves, remember University?" and this girl was ecstatic that there was to be more. 

They came back and started with "Everything You've Done Wrong", then into "Who Taught You to Live Like That?", "Keep on Thinkin'", "Unkind", "Beverly Terrace", "Shadow of Love", "She's Slowing Down Again", "Something's Wrong"," Traces", "Never Hear the End of It", "Fading into Obscurity", "Witches Wand", a super-fast version of "Good in Everyone", "The Other Man", "Take Good Care of the Poor Boy", and ended the show with a mega-rousing rendition of "Money City Maniacs". 

You could tell the band was more interested in playing the second half of the set. Patrick rocked the expletive out, Chris's onstage antics came to the forefront (rad drumstick spins!), Jay was so solid, and we got a bunch more songs sung by Andrew, yum. 

Andrew started a steady beat to begin the encore, which filled out to a furious icky thump, while the rest of the band played "Losing California". Then it was Jay's sweetly symphonic voice on "The Lines You Amend" and finally, the coup de gras, "Underwhelmed". I'm sure it's been said before, to the point that it's cliché, but this girl was completely Overwhelmed (I was so happy I pogo'd all over the place) and the night couldn't have ended on a better note. (Actually it did. I made a new friend, we went and talked to Chris and Jay, and Chris explained that one of the lines in Underwhelmed was, "She rolled her R's, her beautiful Arse." I never knew...)

It was an evening of surprise, revelation, affirmation, and excitement from a band I had written off almost 12 years ago. I was wrong. Sloan. Blew. Me. Away. They're 20 years into it with no signs of slowing down and I'm having a lot of fun catching up.

The lawyer for a Dubai-born man says his life is in danger if he is deported to his parents’ native country of Pakistan.

According to CBC News, 24-year-old Sami Sheikh was 12 when he first came to Montreal.

His parents’ refugee application was denied in 2009 for not mentioning that they lived in Dubai for 20 years before coming to Canada. Sheik and his sisters were given a stay in Canada.

His father claimed that his past involvement with the Pakistan People’s Party put them in danger of their political opponents.

According to the lawyer, their political opponents have killed Sheikh’s grandfather, uncle, and cousin.

Sheikh says Montreal is all he knows, but Canadian immigration officials have denied his application to remain in Canada.

Sheikh’s older sister is married to a Canadian and has permanent residency status.

His younger sister lives with her older sister in Brampton, Ontario.