READER'S DIGEST - October 01, 2022

a few years, and even bought the
Spanish version from a special book-
store when we were learning different
languages. I carry this little book
everywhere I go—it’s good company.

— SUZANNE DROLET

Growing up, my parents I started reading Reader’s
kept a stack of magazines Digest while in waiting
on the corner of our kitchen rooms and sometimes was
counter and there was always a copy annoyed when I was called in the mid-
or two of Reader’s Digest nestled in dle of a great story. The articles are the
there. I loved all the sections of the perfect length. The puzzles and word
magazine. My favourite departments games keep my brain active, which is
were the true survival stories and the much needed as I’m now in my fifties.
vocabulary challenges. To this day,
the term “musquirt” (the yellow liquid — SHAWN HAMMOND
that shoots out of the container of
mustard should you dare not shake it
first) makes me laugh, and I’ve passed
the term onto my three boys. I now
have my own house with my own
magazines. Some are stacked on the
footrest and others, given the times,
are stored on my iPad. Your magazine
will always be in the pile.

— MICHELLE MacDONALD

Reader’s Digest kicked off my

I was nine years old in 1967, successful career in business.

sitting in the lobby of the At nine years old, I canvassed

hospital while my dad was my neighbourhood selling subscrip-

dying of cancer. I was instantly taken tions. I even had a rubber stamp made

away from my sorrow while I read with my name and address to make

every issue of Reader’s Digest I found things look more professional. Later, I

lying about. With all sincerity, I will be went on to have a career in business

forever grateful for those Reader’s and became a professor at Seneca

Digests, which gave me something else College in the international business

to focus on. — RITA TAYLOR department. — JEFF GAZEN

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reader’s digest

Each night I read to my hus- Reader’s Digest was my
band from Reader’s Digest.
He is now in the late stages father’s birthday gift to me
of Parkinson’s disease and has lost the
ability to read and retain longer pas- each year. We were a middle-
sages. This is a blow for a voracious
reader who could read a few books in class family with a carefully planned
a week. Every night we open the issue
and enjoy shared moments of reading, budget, but we always had room for
reflection and discussion. Sometimes
I’ll read a short “Good News” story. the magazine. When I became a high
Occasionally he requests a longer, real-
life piece. At other times we just read school teacher, I would bring an issue
the jokes. It gives us a calm evening in
these difficult times. — COLLEEN IRELAND to my English literature class and share

stories with the students. Over the

years, I found the students catching on

to the lighter side of life, incorporating

these ideas, thoughts and humour in

their writing. — MALA THAPAR

“The Triumph of Janis Bab- My subscription to Reader’s
Digest began in the 1970s and
son,” published in the June I’ve kept every issue since
then. I even became a scuba diver after
1963 issue of Reader’s Digest, being inspired by articles that grew my
curiosity and love of the ocean.
made a lasting impression on me. It
— CHARLEEN HALL
was about a young girl who had leuke-

mia and wished to donate her eyes to

the Eye Bank of Canada. My driver’s My mother Liza was a Holo-
caust survivor, and English
license reflects my own wish to pledge was her fourth language, after
Romanian, Yiddish and German. She
my eyes to science, as a direct result of lived in a displaced persons camp in
Austria after the Second World War,
Janis’s story. — KATHY STODDART where she often served as an interpreter
between the American soldiers and the
Austrian locals. She and my father came
to Canada in 1948, and I was born in
1952. From a very early age, I remember
seeing copies of Reader’s Digest around
the house, which she read to improve
her English. When I was assigned to do
a project for school, she often helped
me come up with ideas using the

50 november 2022

magazine. My mother is gone, but

Reader’s Digest still arrives in my mail-

box every month, and I think she’d be

happy to know that. — GILDA SPITZ

In the April 1977 issue of
Reader’s Digest, I read the
article, “How Will You Know
Unless I Tell You,” about receiving
kind words from people you wouldn’t
expect and how much it means to the
receiver. I kept and thought about it a
lot. It inspired me to send my favourite
uncle, Orval Wilson, a Father’s Day
card that year, to thank him for all the
things he had done for me over my life.
He died shortly afterwards from brain
cancer, but my aunt said it meant a lot
to him to know how much I loved him.

— ANDREA IRELAND

For my birthday, my father I started reading Reader’s
gifted me a lifetime subscrip- Digest as a teenager, as my
tion to Reader’s Digest. I am mother was a lifetime sub-
now 92 years old and I’ve never missed scriber. Once she finished an issue, I
a delivery, from Montreal to Dartmouth. would devour it. The magazine has
continually educated me, made me
— VIRGINIA CAMERON laugh and had me question things.
There is nothing as satisfying as curling
Reader’s Digest was the first up on a couch or bed with it in hand.
magazine I can remember
coming in the mail. As a — ANDREA FEESE
young girl, I loved reading the quotes,
the jokes and the funny stories. I am so, Tina Turner sums up my
so glad that the magazine gets to cele- thoughts with the title of her
brate 75 years. I hope it’s around for song, “The Best”—that’s pre-
many more so my grandchildren can cisely what Reader’s Digest is.
experience the joy of reading it, too.
— LAURA GENDRON-McDOUGALL
— RUTH BOUDREAU

rd.ca 51

DRAMA IN REAL LIFE

If the hydro workers didn’t
act fast, Sherry Vyverberg

would be carried straight
over Niagara Falls or caught

in the swirling blades of
the powerhouse turbines

BY Janice Tyrwhitt

illustrations by kagan mcleod

reader’s digest
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reader’s digest

MONDAY, MAY 30, 1983, Meanwhile, Vyverberg, dressed in a
pink track suit, stepped around a metal
was a holiday in the United States— railing by the powerhouse and crossed
Memorial Day—and 20-year-old Sherry a small patch of grass to an ornamental
Vyverberg of Rochester, New York, barrier with a 60-centimetre-wide con-
decided to spend it at Niagara Falls with crete ledge overlooking the water. Then,
friends. Tall, with blue eyes and long, to get a closer view of the river, she
fair hair, Vyverberg had just finished a walked a few metres along the ledge.
year of community college, the first step
toward a nursing degree. Since she had From her precarious perch, she
to be back in Rochester by 3 p.m. for her looked downriver, where the semicir-
job as a nursing assistant, she left home cular crest of the Horseshoe Falls
early and picked up her boyfriend, Keith spanned the width of the river, from Goat
Gandy, 22, and their friends Greg Grant, Island to the Canadian shore. Dropping
also 22, and Mike Jarocki, 26. close to 60 metres to the furious turbu-
lence below, the enormous waterfall
It was a bright, cool day, and all four roared like muffled thunder as it threw
were in high spirits. After a 90-minute up its perpetual cloud of spray. Vyver-
drive, they crossed the Rainbow Bridge berg knew that the Niagara was one of
and had breakfast at a restaurant on the most spectacular rivers in the world.
the Canadian side of the border. What she did not yet realize was that it
was also one of the most dangerous.
At 8:15 a.m., they drove along the
Niagara Parkway and parked beside Directly below her, six metres down,
the Toronto Power Generating Station, water spilled from the sluiceway of
an abandoned generating plant on the old powerhouse. Vyverberg peered
the west bank of the Niagara River, 580 down at it. Suddenly, she lost her foot-
metres upriver from the falls. Gandy ing and fell from the ledge.
had broken his ankle a week earlier.
Now, with his leg in a knee-high cast, She felt the shock of plunging into
he stood leaning on crutches beside eight-degree-Celsius water and the
the stone powerhouse, talking with the force of the current sucking her deep
other two men. down. Somehow she managed to hold
her breath underwater and, when she
reached the surface, to gasp for air. But
again and again, the churning water
pulled her under.

On the bank near the ledge, Jarocki
had seen Vyverberg lean forward and
then topple headfirst. This isn’t real, he
thought. He cried, “She’s in!” With

54 november 2022

Grant, he scrambled down the bank Toronto Power Generating Station and
and stood on the shoreline watching the falls. Carpenter Joe Camisa, 55,
helplessly. For an instant, Vyverberg’s was at the wheel of their truck, with
head bobbed up, then her feet, then John Marsh and Pete Quinlin in the
she disappeared under the whitewater. cab beside him.
Jarocki thought, There’s nothing we can
do. How can we tell her mother? Ironworkers by trade, Marsh and
Quinlin were old friends and riggers
From the bank, Gandy yelled, “She’s for CNP, where they slung cables around
downstream!” Vyverberg had been heavy machinery that needed to be
caught by the river’s current and lifted and moved. Forty-year-old Quin-
pulled 15 metres offshore. Now she was lin was married, with four children.
roughly 500 metres from the brink of Marsh, 37, was wiry, with sandy red-
the falls. Through she was a keen skier dish hair and a moustache. A bachelor,
and hiker, Vyverberg could scarcely he had always loved sports that tested
swim. Paddling with her hands to his swiftness and skill.
keep afloat, she felt the current tug-
ging at her legs like some powerful THE THREE MEN JUMPED
monster. I’m going to die, she thought. OUT OF THEIR TRUCK AND
I’m going over the falls.
RACED TO THE RIVER.
With Jarocki close behind him, Grant SHERRY VYVERBERG WAS
scaled the cliff and raced along the bank,
stripping to his underwear as he ran. NOWHERE IN SIGHT.
When he drew level with Vyverberg,
she was more than 30 metres out, and As the hydro crew drove past the
much closer to the falls. He clambered Toronto Power Generating Station, they
down to the river and dived in, the cold saw a young man limping toward them,
water gripping his body. Grant was able waving his arm wildly and shouting.
to swim just five metres before being
swamped by torrential rapids. I can’t “There’s a girl in the water!” cried
make it, he thought, and struggled back Gandy. He had abandoned his crutches
to the shore. and hobbled the short distance to the
parkway, hoping to flag down some-
while vyverberg was being swept one who could save Vyverberg.
downstream, three employees of Cana-
dian Niagara Power were driving The three men jumped out and raced
along the parkway to the company’s to the river. Vyverberg was nowhere in
Rankine Generating Station, a working sight. Then, from the asphalt path run-
powerhouse halfway between the old ning along the bank, Marsh spotted

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reader’s digest

her head floating like a beach ball 45 the length of two football fields—
metres from the shore. from the brink of the falls, and time
was running short.
“She’s way out!” he yelled to Quinlin.
“We’re never going to get her out there.” If the current swept her over the weir,
Sick with helplessness, the two men no one could save her. If she drifted
watched as the swift current carried with the flow to the powerhouse, as
Vyverberg away. Marsh thought, I’d Marsh hoped, they might have one
rather jump in than watch her go over brief chance to catch her before she
the falls and spend the rest of my life was carried through the intake gates to
second-guessing myself. the turbines—where she would be cut
to ribbons—or over the sluiceway at
Then he remembered the weir, a the base of the weir and on to the falls.
curved concrete wall running just below
the surface of the river from the Rankine ABOUT 20 METRES OUT,
Generating Station to a point 130 metres MARSH HAD REACHED
offshore. The weir was designed to THE END OF THE ROPE,
divert water away from the falls and into BUT HE STILL COULDN’T
the turbines under the powerhouse.
Vyverberg was now just inshore from REACH HER.
the river end of the underwater wall.
Marsh and Quinlin had so often
Marsh had grown up beside the river. worked side by side that they instantly
“I fish here a lot,” he told Quinlin. “Out acted as a team. Quinlin was tying
where she is, the current is going to the together two pieces of rope snatched
falls. But if I cast out there, nine times from the back of the truck as they ran
out of 10 my line drifts inside the weir, toward a narrow stone-and-concrete
down by our powerhouse. If she doesn’t bridge that spanned the intake stream
go over the wall, she’ll come drifting to the powerhouse. The men scram-
into the powerhouse.” bled over a steel picket fence and ran
along the walkway. “Stay up! We’ll get
Glancing back to the parkway, he saw you!” they called to Vyverberg. She
a police cruiser passing and shouted, couldn’t hear or see them, but she
“There’s a cop. Flag him down!” floated without struggling as the cur-
rent carried her inshore.
Quinlin waved furiously at the offi-
cer and yelled, “Get some help. We’ve Marsh told Quinlin, “I’ll go. You’re a
got a girl in the water!” family man. This is not the place for you.”

Constable James Caddis of the Niag-
ara Regional Police Service quickly
called his dispatcher and asked for fire
trucks and rescue equipment. But Vyver-
berg was now only 245 metres—roughly

56 november 2022

He pulled off his boots, jacket, sweater arms around her and urged her to stay
and shirt, while Quinlin tied one end calm. Vyverberg was so exhausted that
of the rope to the handrail and the she only managed to gasp, “Thank you,
other in a running bowline looped God,” and to Marsh, “Thank you, too.”
around Marsh’s waist. Wearing only
his jeans, Marsh climbed over the rail On the shore, Vyverberg’s friends—
and dropped three metres to one of the and Marsh’s—were holding their breath.
concrete piers that supported the little They saw Marsh seize Vyverberg and
bridge. He waited a few seconds, then heard him yell, “Keep the rope tight
said, “She’s as close as she’ll ever come.” and haul us in!” By now, Camisa and
Jarocki were on the walkway beside
From the pier, Marsh dived in and Quinlin. Tugging together, the three
swam toward Vyverberg as she drifted men slowly dragged Marsh and Vyver-
toward the weir. About 20 metres out, berg through the water and up against
he’d reached the end of the rope, but a pier below the bridge.
he still couldn’t reach her. Swimming
as hard as he could to stay where he “Hold it!” said Marsh. “Don’t let her
was, he waited until Vyverberg floated slip back in. I’ve got hold of an iron bar
closer, then made a desperate lunge down here. I’ll take the rope off of me
and grabbed her by the hair. Pulling and get it around her.”
her backward toward him, he flung his
After Quinlin pulled Vyverberg
to safety, he dropped the rope back to

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reader’s digest

Marsh, who slipped it over his head and John Marsh wasn’t at the scene for
shoulders and let himself be hauled up. long. He shrugged off his only injuries:
the rope-burn bruises under his arms
vyverberg was in shock after her eight- and around his chest. If Caddis hadn’t
minute ordeal. Her lips were blue, and hailed him, Marsh and his co-workers
her shivering body was numb with would have driven away without reveal-
cold. As Jarocki flung his jacket around ing their names.
her, she began crying uncontrollably.
But she was on her feet and walking AFTER THE RESCUE,
toward the parkway with Constable MARSH TRIED TO SHRUG
Caddis when the emergency vehicles
arrived: the fire-department rescue OFF THE ACCOLADES,
squad, an ambulance and three police WONDERING WHAT ALL
cars. The paramedics wrapped Vyver- THE FUSS WAS ABOUT.
berg in blankets, strapped her to a
stretcher and lifted her into the ambu- With self-effacing good humour,
lance. Jarocki climbed in beside her. Marsh also tried to shrug off the acco-
lades that followed, wondering what
On the way to Greater Niagara Gen- all the fuss was about. Among tributes
eral hospital, Vyverberg was still agi- from Canadian and American politi-
tated. “Who saved me?” she kept ask- cians came a letter from President
ing. “Is anybody else hurt?” If someone Reagan commending him for his her-
has died trying to save me, that’s one oism. Marsh was awarded numerous
thing I can’t live with, she thought. medals and plaques, including the Car-
Repeatedly, Jarocki reassured her that negie Medal and the Royal Canadian
everyone was okay. Humane Association bronze medal.
He was also awarded the Star of Cour-
At the hospital, Vyverberg was age by the Governor General.
treated for shock and hypothermia
and kept for two hours for observation As Constable Caddis said: “Just to
and tests. In spite of her ordeal, her tie that rope around you and jump
temperature and blood pressure were into that river takes a lot of guts. One
within normal limits, and X-rays showed man in a thousand would do what
no fluid in her lungs. John Marsh did.”

She was resting on a cot when Cad- This article first appeared in the July
dis came back to check her progress. 1984 issue of Reader’s Digest.
Vyverberg asked her rescuer’s name.
“John Marsh,” answered the officer.
“And you’ve got a lot to be thankful for,
that John Marsh was there.”

58 november 2022

ALL THAT JAZZ Money to My Ears
What does a musician
use to sign their
cheques? A time
signature.

— GCFL.NET

A Musical Interlude
A sign at a music shop:
“Gone Chopin. Bach in
a minuet.”

— @TALK_TO_THE_HAT

All music is folk music.
I ain’t never heard no
horse sing a song.

— LOUIS ARMSTRONG,

musician

“Your only hope is if they decide to tour.” Which composer likes
tea the most?
Chai-kovsky.

— @SHARMUSIC_

SUSAN CAMILLERI KONAR Bedding Tribute thinking they can just I went to a karaoke bar
My friends and I are in waltz into my room last night that didn’t
a band called Duvet. when I’m clearly listen- play any ’70s music. At
We’re a cover band. ing to music in 4/4. first I was afraid, oh I
was petrified.
— REDDIT.COM — @MUSICNOTES
— STEWART FRANCIS,
A gentleman is someone Rodent Record
who knows how to play All classical music comedian
the banjo and doesn’t. sounds like the score to
a mouse traversing a Send us your original
— MARK TWAIN, writer variety of terrain. jokes! You could earn $50
and be featured in the
On a Different Beat — CHELSEA PERETTI, magazine. See page 7 or
I’m so sick of people rd.ca/joke for details.
comedian

rd.ca 59

HEALTH

BKUZLZL

New studies show that even moderate drinking
is a health hazard. Here’s a frank look at the
gruesome toll alcohol takes on the body.

BY Brad Badelt

illustration by sébastien thibault

60 november 2022

reader’s digest

reader’s digest

The risks of “The health halo around moderate (WINE STAINS) ISTOCK.COM/LILIGRAPHIE
heavy drinking drinking has definitely slipped off,” says
Tim Naimi, director of the Canadian
have been widely understood for Institute for Substance Use Research.
decades. But modest alcohol con- For starters, Naimi points out, alcohol
sumption—a glass of wine or beer a is a known carcinogen. There is strong
day, or a shot of liquor—has long been evidence that drinking booze—even
thought of as harmless. Or in the case just a drink a day—increases the risk
of red wine, even beneficial. Red wine of a variety of cancers, including in the
has been cited as a potential health liver, breast, mouth, throat and colon.
booster because of an ingredient Recent studies have found other nega-
called resveratrol, which is thought to tive health impacts, as well.
have powerful antioxidant and anti-
inflammatory properties that can help So how does alcohol harm the body?
protect against cancer, arthritis and The effects are grim. Here’s exactly
other diseases. But growing evidence what happens when you drink.
suggests that having a drink a day
might not be so benign after all. IT DISRUPTS YOUR
DIGESTIVE SYSTEM
A 2018 study published in the medi-
cal journal The Lancet looked at drink- As you tip back your glass, sending the
ing patterns and health in millions of alcohol down your throat, the first
people—including men and women— place it goes is to your gut. Once it
from 195 countries. The researchers reaches your digestive system, alcohol
reported that having a drink a day can begins seeping through your stomach
be modestly beneficial for preventing and intestinal wall lining and into your
heart attacks, but that was outweighed bloodstream. How quickly that hap-
by heightened risks of stroke, aortic pens partly depends on how much
aneurysm and heart failure. Overall, the food is in your belly. It can take up to
study found that health risks rose with 90 minutes for a drink to get fully into
the amount of alcohol consumed. Peo- your blood if you’ve just eaten a big
ple who had one alcoholic drink a day meal, which slows alcohol from reach-
had a higher risk of developing one of ing the intestines, where most absorp-
23 alcohol-related health problems tion occurs. But on an empty stomach,
than non-drinkers. With two drinks a a shot of booze can pass into your
day, the risk rose by seven per cent. blood in less than 30 minutes.
“The safest level of drinking is none,”
the study’s authors concluded. When alcohol reaches your stomach,
it triggers the release of digestive
enzymes. The enzymes that break down
alcohol tend to be highly acidic—almost

62 november 2022

as much as battery acid. Like salt water the one drink you have today is red
on a ship’s hull, these enzymes—along wine, the polyphenols it contains can
with alcohol itself—can gradually wear help maintain a healthy gut—but you
away your stomach lining and make can get the same amount from a cup of
it inflamed and painful (a condition black tea or a handful of blueberries.
known as gastritis) and cause acid
reflux. Over months and years, this can Long-term alcohol consumption—
lead to ulcers—blister-like sores that even just a moderate amount—also
can be excruciating—in your stomach heightens the risk of cancer. Twenty
and intestinal lining. These effects, per cent of new colon-cancer cases in
however, tend to be associated with Canada have been linked with alcohol
more excessive consumption, typically consumption, based on 2020 data.
defined as more than eight drinks a Acetaldehyde—a by-product created
week for a woman and 15 for a man. when alcohol is metabolized—can
damage colon cells’ DNA and allow a
THE ENZYMES cancerous growth to take hold. The
BREAKING DOWN result can be gruesome, if not fatal:
ALCOHOL WEAR AWAY bloody stools, severe constipation and,
AND INFLAME YOUR in many cases, invasive surgery to
STOMACH LINING. remove a portion of the colon.

For the drink-a-day person, a more IT WRECKS THE LIVER
likely risk is disruption to the gut’s
biome. Your stomach contains a com- The liver is a football-sized treatment
plex community of microscopic organ- plant for blood. It breaks down and
isms—billions of them—that break filters out harmful substances
down the food and drinks you consume, and  makes proteins, enzymes and
providing the nutrients and calories hormones the body uses to ward off
your body needs. The acidic response infections. It also converts vitamins,
triggered by alcohol can cause an imbal- nutrients and medicines into sub-
ance: too much of some bugs and not stances our bodies need.
enough of others. Studies have shown
that this can eventually lead to difficulty When it comes to booze, the liver
absorbing nutrients, a weakened processes and removes over 90 per
immune system and even depression. If cent of the alcohol we consume. It
does this using specific enzymes that
convert alcohol into acetate—essen-
tially vinegar—which is non-toxic. The
rest exits the body directly via urine,
sweat and breathing. Typically, the
liver can process about one drink per

rd.ca 63

reader’s digest

hour. More than this and your liver is functions, such as producing proteins
likely unable to keep up. The excess and nutrients. A U.K. study found that
alcohol will then accumulate in your a drink-a-day habit poses an even
blood and you’ll begin feeling, well, higher risk to one’s liver than occasional
drunk (intoxication is usually mea- binge drinking (consuming five or more
sured by blood-alcohol content). Inter- drinks in one event).
estingly, women typically have less
dehydrogenase—a liver enzyme that IT WEAKENS THE HEART
breaks down alcohol—than men. So a
woman’s body, by virtue of genetics, When alcohol reaches the blood-
will break down alcohol more slowly stream, blood vessels relax and dilate.
than that of a man. This, in turn, lowers blood pressure,
causing the heart to beat faster in order
A STUDY FOUND THAT to maintain enough blood flow to
ONE DAILY DRINK other organs. You might suddenly feel
POSES MORE RISK warmer, and your cheeks might flush
THAN OCCASIONAL as blood rushes into the capillaries in
BINGE DRINKING. your skin. But what about the longer-
term effects of drinking on the heart?
Over the longer term, excessive
drinking can cause a host of liver ail- Let’s start with what’s known for
ments, including a buildup of gelati- certain: heavy drinking is harmful to
nous fatty deposits, reddish swelling of our cardiovascular system. Consuming
the tissue and a breakdown of func- more than 15 drinks a week for men, or
tional cells. Eventually, hard scar tissue eight for women, can lead to high blood
permanently replaces healthy tissue—a pressure, an irregular heartbeat and
condition known as cirrhosis—which heart failure or stroke. The toxicity of
can lead to liver failure and cancer. alcohol can also, over time, weaken the
muscles of the heart, leading to a con-
Moderate drinking poses a much dition known as cardiomyopathy, in
lower risk to your liver but can still have which the organ stretches and droops—
potential impacts. Simply put, every picture a partly deflated balloon—and
time you consume alcohol, you are struggles to pump blood. This can
making your liver work, which can eventually lead to heart failure.
eventually take its toll. It can also inhibit
the liver from performing its other vital The effects of moderate drinking are
where things get murkier. For many
years, researchers linked moderate
drinking with better heart health. One
example of this is known as the
“French Paradox.” Since the 1980s,

64 november 2022

low rates of heart disease have been shown in some studies to live longer if
observed in French people, despite a they have an occasional drink. A possi-
typical diet that includes many rich, ble reason for this is that alcohol con-
fatty foods. The phenomenon was ini- sumption can increase the level of high-
tially explained by consumption of red density lipoproteins, often referred to
wine in France—particularly an ingre- as “good cholesterol,” which may pro-
dient called resveratrol, which is found tect against heart disease. Still, organi-
in grapes and, as noted earlier, is zations like the World Cancer Research
thought to be a powerful antioxidant. Fund strongly caution against the idea
that a drink a day can be good for the
YOU’D NEED TO DRINK heart. The risks, their research shows,
40 LITRES OF WINE outweigh the benefits.
A DAY TO SEE ANY
BENEFITS FROM IT SHRINKS THE BRAIN
ANTIOXIDANTS.
For most moderate drinkers, the per-
The amount of resveratrol in wine, ceived effect of alcohol on the brain is
however, is relatively small—likely not positive: they feel happier, less stressed,
enough to make a difference. Studies on more social. There’s a reason for that:
animals suggest that as much as 500 brain-scan images have shown that
milligrams of resveratrol might be alcohol triggers the release of endor-
needed to provide any measurable phins—“feel good” hormones—in our
health benefits. To get that amount, brain. These same endorphins are
you’d need to drink a whopping 40 litres released when having sex or eating
of wine daily. Instead, most researchers chocolate; they help reduce anxiety and
now believe that the low rates of heart make us feel, well, better.
disease in France—and among wine
drinkers in general—are due to other But that euphoric feeling is only part
lifestyle factors, such as greater physical of the story. Alcohol has another effect
activity or higher socioeconomic status, on your brain: it slows it down. This is
and not a love of vin. why alcohol is considered a depres-
sant. It interferes with the brain’s mil-
There are certain groups of people lions of communications pathways,
who seem to benefit from moderate known as neurons, and bogs down or
drinking—those recovering from a misdirects signals. Think of your fron-
heart attack, for example, have been tal lobe as a switchboard operator sud-
denly struggling to keep up. With too
many drinks, it leads to the slurred
speech, stumbling and clumsiness that
drunk people display.

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reader’s digest

Over time, heavy drinking can cause in the bloodstream, those cells are
permanent damage to brain cells and slower to mobilize—like an army of
the neural pathways that connect inebriated, bumbling soldiers. The
them. The result is poor concentration, result is a weaker immune response
judgment, mood and memory. It can and greater susceptibility to inflamma-
eventually lead to stroke and dementia tion and infections.
(a 2018 study found that heavy drink-
ing roughly tripled the risk of demen- DRINKING AFFECTS
tia). The effect that even a cocktail or YOUR CONCENTRATION,
two a day can have might surprise you. JUDGMENT, MOOD AND
A recent study showed that modest MEMORY, AND LEADS
amounts of alcohol can, over time,
reduce brain volume: simply put, TO DEMENTIA.
drinking can shrink your brain.
Another way that alcohol affects
A study published earlier this year our immune system is through our
in the journal Nature compared the gut. As we’ve learned, alcohol disrupts
reduction of brain volume caused by the complex community of micro-
drinking to early aging in terms of organisms in the stomach known as
cognitive decline. The study, which was the microbiome. Those bugs are criti-
based on participants’ drinking habits cal to our immune functions. For
over the previous year, found that the example, your gastrointestinal tract
reduction in brain volume was roughly produces epithelial cells, which are
proportional to the amount of alcohol sometimes referred to as our body’s
regularly consumed. For example, peo- “safety shields.” These cells cover our
ple aged 50 who drank a pint of beer a skin and the lining of our throat, intes-
day had brains that appeared two years tines, blood vessels and all of our
older than those who abstained. organs. They’re our first line of defence
against viruses and bacteria. But alco-
IT PARALYZES THE hol can damage production of these
IMMUNE SYSTEM important cells and leave us more sus-
ceptible to getting sick. For example,
Our immune system is made up of people who abuse alcohol are 10 times
white blood cells, antibodies, the lym- more likely to develop pneumonia,
phatic system, the spleen, thymus and according to the U.S. Centers for Dis-
bone marrow—all of which can be dis- ease Control and Prevention.
rupted by alcohol. Normally our white
blood cells move quickly to the site of
an infection or injury to fight off
viruses and bacteria. But with alcohol

66 november 2022

Most research linking immune by the negative effects. Alcohol reduces
response with alcohol has focused on blood flow, slows the central nervous
excessive drinking. The effects of mod- system and takes away libido—all of
erate consumption are less clear. Nev- which are detrimental to sexual perfor-
ertheless, at the onset of the Covid-19 mance and can cause erectile problems
pandemic, the U.S. surgeon general and difficulties reaching an orgasm.
warned at-risk adults to stop drinking
altogether. Soon after, the Word Health Over the longer term, excessive
Organization recommended cutting alcohol consumption can wreak havoc
back on drinking, explaining that the on sexual health. For men, booze can
diseases and mental health disorders reduce the body’s production of an
caused by alcohol make a person more enzyme called NAD+, which is a
vulnerable to Covid-19. building block for testosterone, an
important sex-drive hormone. Most
IT LEAVES YOU IMPOTENT alcoholic drinks also contain a chem-
ical called phytoestrogen, which might
Shakespeare once wrote that alcohol increase the level of the female sex
“provokes the desire but takes away the hormone estrogen in heavy drinkers.
performance.” Modern science backs For men, higher estrogen means lower
the Bard up. Booze might seem like an sex drive and performance, as well as
aphrodisiac, but it can actually have the a reduced sperm count. Alcohol can
opposite effect on your body—espe- have detrimental effects on women’s
cially if you drink too much. sexual health, too, limiting fertility and
reducing overall desire for sex. A study
It’s been shown that a bit of alcohol of 133 women published last year
can lower inhibition, raise confidence found that moderate drinkers were 44
and increase arousal—for both per cent less likely than non-drinkers
men and women. But beyond a drink to get pregnant.
or two, those benefits are outweighed

By Reputation

I’ve never been cool, and I don’t care.

CELINE DION

First we only want to be seen, but once we’re seen that’s not enough anymore.
After that, we want to be remembered.

EMILY ST. JOHN, FROM STATION ELEVEN

I wouldn’t bother to describe me. I’m Eartha Kitt.

EARTHA KITT

rd.ca 67

reader’s digest

AS KIDS SEE IT

“Just when I’m ready to commit to a favourite colour, this happens.”

During a chat with my Nana! You’re building tooth fairy can escape ROSE ANNE PREVEC
grandson, he was your house to retire.” this inflation.
explaining what he He meant our cottage.
would do for us in our — @SARABELLAB123
retirement home, like — JANINE COOK,
dropping off groceries. While driving home
“Who’s putting us in a Hamilton, Ont. from town with her
retirement home?” I mother, my grand-
asked, as this wasn’t My daughter lost a daughter called out, “I
our plan. He said matter- tooth today and asked have to pee.” Her mother
of-factly, “You are, if the tooth fairy was replied that they were
going to bring her five only five minutes from
dollars. Not even the

68 november 2022

home and she’d have to My four-year-old is livid because she thought
hold it. My grand- we were travelling by fairy, not ferry.
daughter said with frus-
tration, “I can’t hold it. — DAISY HAGGARD, actor
Both my hands are full.”
I’m lying on my bed and said, “I’ve never
— LARKE NEWELL, my four-year-old starts smelled your house
gently combing my hair. before. Smells normal.”
Duncan, B.C. My eight-year-old
comes in the room and — @NOTMYTHIRDRODEO
My husband explained asks me why the four-
to my three-year-old son year-old has scissors in My five-year-old won an
that they would need to my hair. It turns out she argument with me by
stop playing so he could was “combing” my hair saying, “I’m just going
get ready for a meeting with scissors because to agree with myself.”
with his boss. My son she couldn’t find
asked him what a boss a comb. — @KEVINTHEDAD
was, and my husband
explained that a boss is — BEE QUAMMIE, writer My six-year-old: Can I
someone who gives eat a cookie?
him work and tells him My five-year-old said Me: Finish your dinner
what to do. My son’s she was bullied at first.
response: “Mommy?” camp. It turns out she My six-year-old: My
kept asking if it was stomach is full except
— LISA GERLA, snack time and they for a circle-shaped
kept telling her no. space.
St. Albert, Alta.
— @LIZERREAL — @CHHAPINESS
I picked up my sons from
school and stopped to You know it’s going to “The bed is never as
get gas, so I invited them be a long drive when cozy at night as it is in
to hop out of the car and the kids are already ask- the morning”—my five-
learn how to do it. After- ing “Are we there yet?” year-old spouting the
wards my 11-year-old while they’re putting ultimate wisdom.
son said, “Thanks for the their shoes on to leave.
life lesson, but I’ll never — @MOMSENSE_ENSUES
drive a gas car.” My — @DADDINGAROUND
13-year-old son said, Send us your original
“This is like the time One of the neighbour- jokes! You could earn $50
you showed us how a hood kids just leaned in and be featured in the
pay phone works.” through our door and magazine. See page 7 or
rd.ca/joke for details.
— @ALANADIMARIO

rd.ca 69

HEART

My grandparents
had a distinctive way
of communicating

BY Erin Pepler

Don and
Mimi Gillies

70 november 2022

reader’s digest

COURTESY OF ERIN PEPLER FOR AS FAR BACK as I can remember, were reunited, plucking their favourite
my grandparents could converse by box of cereal off the shelf.
whistling. That wasn’t, of course, their
only mode of communication—there Now I adore my own husband and
were words spoken aloud, letters, songs, I’d love for us to have a sound, but I
gestures, meaningful looks and, pre- cannot whistle. I’ve tried and failed
sumably, arguments out of my earshot. enough times to know that it’s just not
But it’s the whistles, typically used to going to happen. So we’ll need to find
signal to each other from someplace a different way of making noise. I’m
just out of sight, that stood out. Some- not sure when such things become
times sharp, other times like a bird’s requisite, but I’d like to be ready.
song or a lyrical instrument, their whis-
tling was impossible to ignore. DID YOU KNOW THAT
YOU CAN MAKE A
A United Church minister and a kin-
dergarten teacher, my grandparents— RUSH OF AIR SOUND
Don and Mimi Gillies—were married LOVING, ANNOYED
in their hometown of Hamilton, raised
their four kids in Toronto and eventu- AND URGENT?
ally retired to Muskoka. They were
together for more than 60 years, until Occasionally we test things out. I’ll
their deaths, just 18 months apart, in jokingly caw-caw! at him from another
2018 and 2020. No one other than room, our two kids falling over with
them seems to know how or when the laughter at the ridiculousness of my
whistling began, just that it persisted chosen sound. It works, but it’s far too
until the end. embarrassing to stick. If my husband
ever role-played a crow sound in pub-
My grandparents whistled to one lic, I’d pretend not to know him, which
another in grocery stores, at the mall defeats the purpose. No, it has to be
and at the doctor’s office, in parking something quick, distinct, effective and
garages, outdoors and at home. A quick at least somewhat charming—and it
phoooweet from one and the other shouldn’t summon a murder of birds.
would appear, summoned by love,
loyalty and habit. DID YOU KNOW THAT you can make a
rush of air sound alternately loving,
One of them might be in the cereal annoyed and urgent with a simple
aisle and notice that the other was change of volume and pitch? My
gone, distracted by a box of cookies grandparents did, and they used it to
(Mimi) or a conversation with an
acquaintance (Papa Donnie). The whis-
tle would be employed, and soon they

rd.ca 71

reader’s digest

communicate in a crystal-clear lan- maybe it will be a tiny pitch pipe, if
guage that was entirely their own. No that’s not cheating. I haven’t landed on
one else in the family whistled to them— my answer, but with every elderly cou-
it was their thing. ple I see in the grocery store, I am more
and more sure that it’s out there.
Every couple has a kind of short-
hand, of course, including my husband Looking at my husband, I wonder
and me. Communicating through if our sound will emerge at a certain
coded looks and phrases allows us to age—in our 50s or 60s, perhaps—or
navigate difficult topics with kids after a marriage milestone. Happy sil-
underfoot. And we can always tell ver anniversary! Here are some flowers
when the other person is annoyed: and a card and, also, you have a special
endearments are dispensed with in sound effect now. Enjoy!
favour of first names. But none of
these methods work unless we’re in I may not know the secret to a 60-year
the same room. We have no whistle. The marriage, and I definitely can’t whistle,
search continues. but I like to think our time will come.
Years from now, I’ll lose track of my
Except maybe it’s not a search after husband in some big-box store on a
all. It seems to me that the things that Sunday afternoon and I’ll call out to
stick in life usually come about organ- him in a new way, my grey hair gleam-
ically. The sound likely won’t emerge ing under the fluorescent lights. He’ll
from careful conversation or planning; hear me and wander toward the pot-
it will just happen. It will work once, so ted plants, arriving just in time to insist
then it will be used again and again that we don’t need any more foliage
until it becomes our thing. It may be a in the house. I’ll buy a fern anyway,
whistle or a word or a series of staccato because he’ll be wrong, but we will have
handclaps—how many ways can you a sound! Finally! This vision is all I’ve
make a random noise in public with- ever wanted, and even in the abstract,
out looking like an absolute fool? Or I’m filled with love.

Maximum Conviction

Never bend your head. Always hold it high.
Look the world straight in the eye.

HELEN KELLER

You wouldn’t worry so much about what others think
if you realized how seldom they do.

ELEANOR ROOSEVELT

72 november 2022

LAUGHTER Grammar Lesson
How do you console an
the Best Medicine English teacher? There,
they’re, their.
Condiment Conundrum Wrong Number
My wife asked me to I don’t recall how to — @THEPUNNYWORLD
put ketchup on the write 1, 1000, 51, 6 and
shopping list. Now I 500 as Roman numer- When it comes to
can’t read anything. als. IM LIVID. brunch, I’m a persona
non frittata.
— @IGREENGOD — @RAWBEANCOAL
— @RN_MURSE
Why did the cupcake Electric eels imply the
lady get kicked off her existence of acoustic Cats have the right idea:
hockey team? She kept eels. wake up and scream
icing the puck. your little face off until
— @SONICTYRANT the world gives you
— REDDIT.COM what you need.
Chemistry Reject
Smart Stacks I asked my wife if she’d — @BOOKISHSEAWITCH
Waffles are just pan- get “nitrogen” or “diox-
cakes that studied ide” tattooed on her. Send us your original
architecture in college. She said NO2 both. jokes! You could earn $50
and be featured in the
— @THEREALPHALGUY — REDDIT.COM magazine. See page 7 or
rd.ca/joke for details.

EMILY COOPER THE BEST JOKE I EVER TOLD

By Tin Lorica

I don’t know why people are so worked up about
cancel culture. Nothing beats the sheer relief of
cancelling appointments and social engagements.

Tin Lorica is a Vancouver comedian and writer. See them
on the second season of CBC Gem’s The New Wave of
Standup. Check out more of their work at tinlorica.com.

rd.ca 73

LIFE LESSON

Dishing Dirt

Not all gossip WHEN I WAS in elementary school, the nuns told
is bad. Here’s us, “If you don’t have anything nice to say, don’t
how to quash say anything.”

the mean- Alice Roosevelt Longworth, President Theodore
spirited kind. Roosevelt’s daughter and a famous gossip, took
the opposite view. She kept a pillow on her sofa,
BY Katherine Ashenburg needlepointed with her still-popular motto, “If
you can’t say something good about someone, sit
illustration by paige stampatori right here by me.”

People who study gossip define it as any talk
about people who are not present. It can be posi-
tive, neutral or negative, but it’s the mean-spirited
variety—Alice Longworth’s favourite—that has
traditionally inspired disapproval. For many of us,
hearing and telling scandalous stories counts as a
guilty pleasure.

74 november 2022

reader’s digest





reader’s digest

And yet, gossip is by no means a bring us together, tightening social
black-and-white affair. We have a nat- bonds. The trick is learning the differ-
ural need for human connection, and ence between the benign and the bad.
gossip feeds that, for good and ill.
Much depends on the motivation of Some Gossip Is Good
the gossiper: are they aiming to warn
people about a bad actor, or are they Despite its bad name, the past few
enjoying the malicious pleasure of decades have seen an appreciation of
spreading a harmful story? It comes gossip. Psychologists, sociologists and
down to curbing the mean variety experts in organizational behaviour
while benefiting from the useful. write that even snarkier gossip can be
a powerful aid in bonding and social
Why We Gossip education. Criticizing those who have
transgressed social norms, for example,
The reasons why people indulge in encourages good conduct and serves
gossip or shun it are as individual as as a deterrent to bad behaviour.
they are. In 20 years of friendship, I have
never heard Lyndsay Green, a Victoria, Scholars also hypothesize that the
B.C. sociologist and author, dish the dirt informational value of gossip was
about anyone. When I asked her why important for our ancestors: those who
she never gossips, she traced her knew what was going on in the next
behaviour back to her school days— cave were likelier to survive than more
and her own sense of security. isolated individuals. While it’s not a
life-and-death matter today, gossip’s
“People telling hurtful secrets seem informational function remains useful.
vulnerable,” she says. “They use gossip Your colleagues’ speculation about the
like a chip in gambling: ‘I’m going to company’s change in leadership can
throw this in, and I hope you will like keep employees in the loop. The same
me more.’” It’s a tactic that might work goes for potential developments in
to gain connection in the short-term, your community or neighbourhood.
Green surmises, but even as a kid, she
doubted that it built true friendship. Studies have also shown that gossip
can alleviate loneliness, serve as a
Still, it’s a tempting habit—and many safety valve for frustration and stimu-
people can attest that there’s something late the part of our brains that helps us
undeniably seductive about being the deal with complicated relationships.
bearer of scandalous news. For better It even calms down our bodies when
or worse, a feeling of superiority can it’s used to help others, says Matthew
accompany having a juicy—and exclu- Feinberg, a professor of organizational
sive—piece of news to share. Dishing behaviour at the University of Toron-
the dirt can feel fun, and it can also to’s Rotman School of Management. In

76 november 2022

one study, his subjects observed people Break the Habit
cheating at a game. When they simply
watched, their heart rates sped up, Delicious as it can be to share gossip,
indicating their desire to tell the other the malicious kind can—and often
players about the rule-breaking. When should—leave a bad taste in your
they were able to warn others, their mouth. Pay attention to your conver-
heart rates returned to normal. sation. How much of it is sneering or
embroidering a discreditable story to
Motive Matters make it even more shameful? Are you
knowingly passing on information that
Is your objective to be empathetic, is incomplete or incorrect?
compassionate or appreciative? Or is
it something intended to wound or, as Schmidt asks her clients, “Who do
Green recognized, to increase your sta- you want to be in the world?” If she
tus? John Fraser, a journalist and author, notices a client disparaging others,
relishes and values gossip. Fraser’s gos- she’ll hold a mirror up to the behaviour
siping ticks some familiar boxes: he uses and say, “This is the language you’re
it to bond with people, to inform, to using. Does that align with the person
humiliate those he thinks deserve scorn of integrity you say you want to be?”
and to celebrate “the human circus.”
Also, try to analyze yourself as a lis-
“Only in rare circumstances do I tener. When people regularly come to
believe in secrets,” he says. He likes you with sniping gossip and you allow
“sharing stuff,” which includes others’ it, you’re creating a culture that feeds on
secrets, as well as his own. While Lisa meanness. You may simply say that you
Schmidt, a Montreal life coach and don’t want to engage in that kind of talk.
consultant, believes secrets should be But even a more subtle response works.
respected, she agrees with Fraser on I had a friend who, whenever I bad-
a key point: “Informational gossip mouthed someone, reminded me what
greases the skids of the world.” was good about that person or about
the difficulties in their life. Without ever
If permission is given, sharing sen- commenting directly, she taught me
sitive information may provide an that my gossiping was not going to be
opportunity for compassion. Say you reciprocated. So I stopped.
learn that two friends are divorcing.
Passing on the information may spare Schmidt acknowledges that we
them the emotional exhaustion of tell- won’t always get it right. But if we keep
ing everyone themselves. The listener pulling ourselves back to the person
may also respond by reaching out in we want to be, it will get easier to chat
kindness to one or both members of about people in ways that are still fun,
the couple to assure them of support. but never cruel.

rd.ca 77

HUMOUR

CLCOAWR N IN JULY 2012, I had just finished pad-
dling the Yukon River with my partner,
Our all-night road trip with Kevin, and our friends Daemon and
an eccentric driver Lyana. We emerged unscathed, ready
to celebrate surviving the northern wil-
BY Sophie Kohn derness. But after freak lightning storms
and bear encounters, we weren’t really
illustration by jess hannigan expecting the most nail-biting part of
the trip to be the car ride homeward.

We paddled our battered canoes into
Dawson City to buy tickets for the next
bus to Whitehorse. Our flight home to
Toronto was leaving at dawn, and Daw-
son to Whitehorse is a six-hour drive, so
there was zero room for setbacks.

We hadn’t realized there was no bus
that week. Our options were: 1) perma-
nently settle in Dawson, or 2) find

78 november 2022

reader’s digest

someone with an enormous car that A nice, sensible-looking car came
could accommodate the four of us and toward us, and we climbed in. The
all of our gear, and was heading to driver dropped us off in Carmacks. We
Whitehorse immediately. Sensing our headed into a restaurant, where
escalating anxiety, the man behind we had two crucial missions: find a
the visitor information centre counter new ride and obtain some desper-
made, oh, roughly 2,000 calls. “I may ately needed food. Within minutes,
have found a guy!” he exclaimed. the entire village was making calls
and throwing out suggestions. Mean-
An ancient van an exhausted shade while, Lyana and I procured fettucine
of beige sputtered to a crawl and Stan alfredo. I began to relax. At that precise
climbed down from the driver’s seat, moment, Stan’s van roared into view.
grinning. He was in his mid-60s and
gangly, with neon yellow suspenders “He fixed it,” Kevin mumbled, shrug-
and wavy white hair. He introduced ging. The sky had gone dark, and Stan,
himself as a professional birthday back behind the wheel, began shout-
clown. He chuckled, sharing lately that ing anew. “I don’t have night vision at
his van hadn’t been working and mar- all!” he hooted. Stan’s hands were busy
velled that the Klondike Highway is with his pasta, so he’d jab the steering
so remote that you can’t get cellphone wheel with his elbow. At one point, he
reception anywhere. The van was also moved his face toward the wheel and
missing a seat belt, so we’d better decide attempted to steady the car with his
whose life mattered least. We were off. open mouth. And then: loud, defiant
flatulence. We pulled into the White-
Two hours into our journey, the van horse hostel’s parking lot at 4 a.m.
started making angry noises. Stan
yawned, which crescendoed into an “Let me get a photo of you for pos-
extended, snarling, snorting explosion terity,” I offered. Stan turned around
and then: “I always get really tired and pulled down his shorts and box-
when I drive!” He let go of the steering ers, revealing all.
wheel to smack himself across the face.
That’s when the van broke down. “DID YOU SAY ‘FOR POSTERIOR?!’”
he cackled. He laughed all the way
We were about 100 kilometres out- back to his van, hopped inside,
side of Carmacks, a village of 500 or so slammed the door and drove off into
people. It was decided that Lyana and the night. I could hear him chuckling
I would hitchhike there to get help. through his open window as he put
Daemon and Kevin would stay with on his seat belt.
our gear. No one had any way to con-
tact anyone else, but we were desper- It’s over a decade later now, and
ate and it was a chance at escape. I’m 1,000 per cent confident he’s
still laughing.

rd.ca 79

reader’s digest

When Halifax became
key to Canada’s war

Womeneffort, they led the way

80 november 2022

SOCIETY

Power
Volunteers
gave reading
materials to
troops, for long
trips at sea.

(BOOK SLUG) ISTOCKPHOTO.COM/DUSANTOMIC; (BOOK COVER) COURTESY OF NIMBUS PUBLISHING LIMITED; (ALL OTHER PHOTOS) NOVA SCOTIA ARCHIVESreader’s digest

THE SECOND WORLD WAR trans-
formed cities across the world,
and in Canada, none more so
than Halifax—the launching point
for the Canadian war effort. As
half a million service members
and their families descended on
the city over the course of the
war, the population exploded,
going from 68,000 in 1939 to
107,000 in 1944. Since resources
and services became strained,
volunteers—almost exclusively
women—stepped up where the
government didn’t. Women ran
canteens, held dances and games
nights, took in boarders, distrib-
uted reading materials and sewed
shirts over cups of tea. In her
new book, The Volunteers: How
Halifax Women Won the Second
World War, Lezlie Lowe intro-
duces readers to the women who
kept morale high and the city run-
ning. Here’s a photographic peek
at some of their stories.

—Micah Toub

Clockwise from top
left: women served
served hot meals
daily to 550 troops
at the North End
Services canteen;
practised drills at a
Red Cross centre;
collected and
organized clothing,
and other essentials,
for overseas relief;
and, trained for
emergency services
with the St. John
Ambulance Brigade.

rd.ca 83

EDITORS’ CHOICE

A memorial at
the site of the
Humboldt crash

reader’s digest

JASKIRAT
SINGH SIDHU
ACCEPTED HIS
PUNISHMENT
FOR THE DEADLY
HUMBOLDT CRASH.
SO WHY, AFTER HIS
EXTRAORDINARILY
HARSH SENTENCE,
MUST HE ALSO
FACE BEING
DEPORTED?

HARM
DONE

BY Sharon J. Riley FROM THE WALRUS

rd.ca 85

reader’s digest

HAD JASKIRAT Sixteen members of the Humboldt (PREVIOUS SPREAD) THE CANADIAN PRESS/LIAM RICHARDS
SINGH SIDHU Broncos Junior A Hockey Club, many
LOOKED OUT HIS of them teenagers, were killed after
WINDSHIELD their bus collided with Sidhu’s truck
15 SECONDS on April 6, 2018. Thirteen others were
EARLIER, ALL seriously injured. News and photos of
WOULD HAVE a bus sheared in half spread quickly.
BEEN FINE. Communities were left waiting for
updates on the victims, and people
It had been a long, stressful day, on across the country set out hockey sticks
one of his first solo trips as a truck driver. on porches in support. Soon afterward,
He’d picked up 900 bales of peat moss Canada’s courts began grappling with
and was hauling two trailers weighing how to punish Sidhu, a person who had
in at over 45,000 kilograms. He had got- made a calamitous mistake.
ten lost while driving through unfamil-
iar areas. Now, heading home toward On one level, the legal case was
Calgary, he was worried about the trail- straightforward: Sidhu, then 29,
ers’ tarps, which were flapping in the was charged with dangerous driving
wind. His truck was travelling at least causing death, and he immediately
86 kilometres per hour. He didn’t reg- pleaded guilty. There was no trial, and
ister the oversized stop sign, the flash- he offered no defence. He was sen-
ing red light or the signs warning of an tenced to eight years in prison—an
intersection ahead. unprecedented length for a vehicular
accident. But, on another level, this
He didn’t stop. case goes beyond the usual parameters
of crime and punishment. Sidhu is a
permanent resident of Canada—not
yet a full citizen. This means that, once
he is eligible for parole, immigration
authorities will have the power to kick
him out of the country he calls home.
And though Sidhu willingly agreed to
his time in prison, deportation is a
condition he is reluctant to accept.

In this country, permanent residents
who are convicted of certain crimes
are routinely deported. It’s a decision
that, once made, is final. Some legal
experts have dubbed this a form of

86 november 2022

double punishment that only nonciti- a family, launching their careers. Lead-
zens face. Citizens, critics argue, harm ing up to the wedding, Mann had
others all the time, and once justice is enrolled in a dental-hygiene program
served, we allow them to reintegrate in Toronto, and she was due to start
into society. Others say it’s only fair for classes that summer. To support her
those who have been convicted of ter- financially, Sidhu decided to take a job
rible crimes, like Sidhu, to be denied in trucking. It was a departure from his
the privilege of living here. business-administration studies, but
the couple felt it was a worthwhile sac-
Four years after the accident, Sid- rifice. It was only for now, they assured
hu’s fate remains uncertain, and opin- themselves. They had received finan-
ions, including those among the fam- cial help from family in the past, but
ilies of the victims, remain divided. this time, they wanted to make a go of
Sidhu did kill 16 people. But he had it together. “That decision changed our
not been speeding. He had not been life,” Mann says.
drinking, texting or using drugs. He
had no history of bad driving. What SEEKING TO MINIMIZE
happened was an accident, and it was FURTHER TURMOIL FOR
entirely Sidhu’s fault. So how much THE VICTIMS’ FAMILIES,
punishment is enough?
SIDHU DECIDED NOT
TWO MONTHS TO MOUNT A DEFENCE.

before the crash, things were looking Sidhu’s new job started right after
good for Sidhu: he and his fiancée, Tan- they returned from India. He spent two
vir Mann, flew from their home in Cal- weeks training with another driver,
gary to India, their birth country, to get followed by a week on his own. Then
married. The couple had met through came April 6. Mann will never forget
a friend 10 years earlier. They had com- the phone call she received from Sidhu
pleted degrees in India—he in com- that day. “He was crying; I was crying,”
merce, she in nursing—before applying she recounted through tears in a tele-
for visas to further their studies in Can- vised interview after the crash. “He told
ada. Now Mann could finally call Sidhu me he had made a big mistake.”
her husband. “I had been dreaming of
our wedding for so long,” Mann remem- His punishment began in court. In
bers. “Everybody was so happy.” July 2018, he was charged with 16 counts
of dangerous driving causing death and
The newlyweds returned to Calgary
bursting with plans for the future. They
talked about buying a house, starting

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reader’s digest

13 counts of dangerous driving caus- through, what you have been through. THE CANADIAN PRESS/KAYLE NEIS
ing bodily harm. Seeking to minimize I have taken the most valuable things
any further turmoil for the victims’ of your life,” he said. Throughout the
families, Sidhu decided not to mount criminal case, Sidhu did not deny any
a defence. “He’s always very sensitive responsibility, despite knowing the risk
that he doesn’t want to do anything of a long prison sentence. “It’s extraor-
to do any further harm to the fami- dinary,” Greene says. “It’s extremely
lies,” Michael Greene, Sidhu’s immi- unusual that he did not want to plea
gration lawyer, says. In January 2019, bargain.” His defence lawyers at the
he pleaded guilty to all 29 charges and time, Mark Brayford and Glen Luther,
awaited his fate. made limited comments, noting only a
few relevant previous cases, convictions
WITH SIDHU’S CASE, that had resulted in sentences ranging
A PRECEDENT WAS TO from 18 months to four and a half years.
BE SET. THE COURT’S
SENTENCING CAME AS With Sidhu’s case, a precedent was
to be set. “It is clear that denunciation
A SHOCK. and deterrence play a major role in
sentencing offenders whose dangerous
At the sentencing hearing later that driving results in death or bodily harm,”
month, 90 victim-impact statements Judge Cardinal wrote in her March 2019
were shared. Stories of children lost decision. Her judgment came as a shock
forever, of paralysis, of brain injuries, to many: Sidhu was given eight years
of seizures, of the painful road to in prison for each count of dangerous
recovery. Stories of dealing with the driving causing death and five years
trauma of losing so many friends in for each count of dangerous driving
one day. Judge Inez Cardinal listened causing bodily harm. They would all
to all of them, describing the pain be served concurrently. His sentence
detailed as staggering. was twice as severe as any other pun-
ishment given to someone who hadn’t
According to a video describing been drunk or deliberately driving reck-
the proceedings from the Saskatoon lessly, according to Greene.
StarPhoenix, Sidhu was visibly emo-
tional at times. When it was his turn to Humza Hussain, a Toronto criminal
speak, he told the victims he was “so, defence lawyer who followed Sidhu’s
so, so, so, so sorry” about the pain. “I case, was floored by the sentencing
can’t even imagine what you are going decision. As Hussain says, many law-
yers would have looked at Sidhu’s facts
and advised him to mount a defence.
Sidhu had no criminal record, and

88 november 2022

In court, Sidhu
told the victims
that he was “so,
so, so, so, so sorry
about the pain.”

reader’s digest

there was evidence of remorse. A trial, Immigration and Refugee Protection
Hussain says, could very well have Act. He has been convicted of what
resulted in Sidhu walking away. It immigration law defines as an act of
was clear, he says, that Sidhu “wanted “serious criminality,” and he now faces
this chapter to be closed for the fami- the prospect of being forced to leave the
lies more than he wanted his freedom.” country in which he has lived, worked
(Sidhu declined all interview requests and studied for nearly a decade. The day
for this story.) of his removal may come in a matter of
months. In the meantime, a recent hear-
Sidhu ultimately did not receive the ing in July granted Sidhu day parole,
leeway Hussain thinks he should have. with the possibility of full parole after
“The criminal justice system is too blunt six months if he follows conditions.
of an instrument to understand and
deal with tragedies in life,” he says. “It Today, if a permanent resident in
ends up causing more pain.” Canada is either sentenced to a prison
term of at least six months or convicted
WHEN HE WAS of a crime where the maximum sen-
tence is 10 years or more, their ability
convicted, Sidhu became subject to to remain in the country is automati-
potential deportation under Canada’s cally at risk. Since 2017, more than

The Humboldt wreckage on April 7,
2018, the day after the crash

THE CANADIAN PRESS/JONATHAN HAYWARD

90 november 2022

2,000 permanent residents have been Across Borders, a Montreal-based
issued deportation orders based on advocacy group, calls them “a targeted
“serious criminality,” and the bar for assault on migrant communities” and
deportation can be remarkably low. links the practice to racial profiling.

A person can pass either of these Greene argues that Sidhu presents
thresholds for any number of crimes, no risk to the public and has no chance
whether major or petty, including of reoffending. He will never drive a
impaired driving, melting a coin, joy- transport truck again, and his sentence
riding, nudity, and dining and dashing. also carries a 10-year prohibition on all
But once the conviction is made, the driving. In addition, Sidhu has received
bureaucratic machinery takes its course: a flood of support from Canadians
a Canada Border Services Agency offi- who think he should be able to stay
cer will ask the individual for submis- in the country. These factors, Greene
sions outlining why they should be able believes, are compelling enough to
to stay in Canada. There is no open hold out some hope that Sidhu’s case
court to hear the case. might be different.

SOME ARGUE THAT Scott and Laurie Thomas lost their
SIDHU PRESENTS NO son, 18-year-old son, Evan, in the crash.
RISK TO THE PUBLIC They opted to write a letter in support
AND HAS NO CHANCE of Sidhu’s bid to stay in Canada, as did
family members of two other victims, to
OF REOFFENDING. be included in the more than 650-page
package submitted by Sidhu’s lawyer
Following a CBSA decision, the case to the CBSA.
progresses to a hearing at the Immi-
gration and Refugee Board, in which “Deportation of Mr. Sidhu back to
the only factor considered is India only serves to cause more suffer-
whether  the person has been con- ing to him, his wife and his family,”
victed of a serious crime. After this, a they wrote. “It is clear to us that Jaskirat
deportation order follows. The person is indeed a broken and suffering soul.
can then be removed from Canada at There has been enough suffering for
any time, and there is no access to everyone involved in this tragedy. We
appeal. Critics argue that deporta- do not need any more.”
tions of this type disproportionately
affect people of colour. Solidarity When I called Scott Thomas, he told
me that he’s always believed “empathy
is a very valuable thing” and that he
doesn’t think Sidhu’s crime warrants
deportation. “My understanding is that
the whole deportation thing is meant

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reader’s digest

Scott Thomas, who
lost his son in the
crash, wrote a letter
in support of Sidhu.

for violent crimes,” he says. “He didn’t grounds. Both these strategies face
set out to hurt anybody. There was no long odds.
malicious intent there.”
According to Greene, mounting a
But not all victims’ families feel the case to stay in Canada has not been an
same way, and many have said they easy choice for Sidhu. “He’s conflicted
don’t want to be reminded of their about it,” he says. As Greene explains,
loss by possibly encountering Sidhu at Sidhu is acutely aware that, every time
some point in the future. his name is in the news, it can cause
further pain to the victims’ families,
“If he were truly remorseful and he something he does not want.
really cared about our family, I believe
he would accept the deportation and SIDHU’S WIFE, TANVIR
allow us to pick up the pieces and move MANN, IS A CANADIAN
on with our lives,” Chris Joseph, who
lost his son in the crash, told The Hockey CITIZEN. IF HE’S
News. “But him trying to stay in the DEPORTED, SHE WILL
country is putting himself ahead of
the 29 families,” he said. “I can see FOLLOW HIM.
why, because Canada is a really nice
place to live. But it is selfish.”

THE CANADIAN PRESS/KAYLE NEIS IN MARCH, Sidhu, Mann tells me, has always
sought to minimize harm. His attempt
Sidhu’s case was recommended for to stay in Canada, she says, is now his
deportation by the CBSA. Mann received way of trying to minimize the harm
the decision first, and she was the one done to her. “The only reason he was
to break the news to her husband, who requesting to stay was for me,” she says.
was at the Bowden Institution, a prison
in Alberta. It was a devastating call. Mann is now a citizen of Canada. Her
brothers live here, as do her aunts and
As Greene explains, Sidhu has few uncles. Her parents are moving to the
options left. He is trying to challenge country later this year, to be closer to
the CBSA decision in federal court, the family. Sidhu also has family in
but will only succeed if he can con- Canada, though his parents and
vince the court that the removal deci- brother still live in Punjab. “I don’t
sion was unreasonable or lacked pro- have anybody in India,” Mann says.
cedural fairness. If the challenge fails,
just one option remains: reapply for The couple, now in their early 30s,
permanent residence based on still think about the future. They’d like
humanitarian and compassionate to buy that house in Calgary. Mann still
wants to be a dental hygienist. They

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reader’s digest

both dream of a family. “If everything sentences longer than two years. In
was normal, I’m sure I would be a 2013, Stephen Harper’s government
mother by now,” she says. passed the Faster Removal of Foreign
Criminals Act, restricting appeals to
But all of that is on hold. If her hus- those sentenced to periods of less
band is deported, she will go with him. than six months.
“How can I even think of living in Can-
ada if he’s not here?” she asks. Sidhu, All of these changes have been argued
she says, suffers from PTSD and has on the basis of public safety, but many
nightmares about the crash. She wor- legal experts are not convinced. “I don’t
ries about his mental health. “I know think [deportation] protects the public
how much he needs me,” she says. “I in any way, and I’m also not convinced
cannot imagine him being alone in this has ever been the case,” says David
India, struggling.” Moffette, an associate professor in the
criminology department at the Univer-
LEGAL EXPERTS sity of Ottawa. “It’s part of a tough-on-
AREN’T CONVINCED immigration, tough-on-crime type of
THAT DEPORTATION discourse that is disconnected from
POLICIES PROTECT the question of dangerousness.”

THE PUBLIC. He goes even further, arguing that
Canada is engaging in a form of apart-
These tough-on-crime deportation heid by setting out different rules for
policies are a relatively new phenom- certain groups. “It’s particularly stark
enon in Canada. For decades, perma- when you think about permanent res-
nent residents could appeal deporta- idents who are in the country,” he says.
tion orders to an independent tribunal These residents have jobs and are inte-
that would consider not only the crime gral parts of their communities. “They
but, crucially, all the circumstances of are no different from citizens, apart from
the person’s case. some documentation,” Moffette says.

It was only in the 1990s that this For Greene, the Harper govern-
safeguard started being chipped away. ment’s commitment to tougher legis-
First the minister responsible for immi- lation didn’t come as a shock. But the
gration was given discretion to deny an lack of initiative taken by Justin
appeal if a person posed an extraordi- Trudeau’s government to reverse some
nary risk to the public. Then appeals of these changes has been an unpleas-
were denied to those who received ant surprise. “It’s been a tremendous
disappointment that the right of
appeal hasn’t been on Trudeau’s
agenda,” he says. “He’s done nothing

94 november 2022

with the arbitrariness that was intro- our kids about forgiveness and fairness
duced into the immigration system.” and trying to walk a mile in other peo-
ple’s shoes,” he says. “It’s our opinion
NOW THAT that Evan would have been very empa-
thetic to the situation and certainly
Sidhu’s case has been recommended wouldn’t have wanted to see Mr. Sid-
for deportation, both his and Mann’s hu’s life ruined.”
futures are up in the air. “At some
point, I had a little hope that maybe Thomas is hopeful that, one day,
things would work out for us,” Mann when Sidhu is released, the two might
tells me. Now she’s more confused and sit on a stage together to share their sto-
worried than ever. “By law he’s a crim- ries and their ideas for making Canada
inal, but as a person he’s not,” she says. a safer and better place. Deportation,
She hopes Canadians will find a way to he says, isn’t a fair outcome and won’t
rally behind her husband. “I know that help stop this from happening again.
Canada believes in second chances,”
she says. “Canada believes in mercy.” When they met, Thomas says, Sidhu
got down on one knee and cried. The
Back in January 2019, Scott Thomas men hugged. In Sidhu, Thomas saw a
met with Sidhu privately in Melfort, person for whom punishment was self-
Saskatchewan, as the sentencing hear- inflicted—no other retribution could
ing was underway. “I just wanted to come close to the guilt and regret he
find out more about why and what was already living with.
happened,” Thomas says.
“In the end, the prison sentence
Then he witnessed the guilt Sidhu and deportation will be the least of it,”
feels first-hand, and their meeting Thomas says. “He’s going to be thinking
turned into a life-changing moment of about that day for the rest of his life.”
forgiveness. “We’ve always talked to
© 2022, SHARON J. RILEY. FROM “HOW MUCH PUNISHMENT
IS ENOUGH FOR THE DRIVER WHO CAUSED THE HUMBOLDT
CRASH?”, THE WALRUS (JUNE 2022), THEWALRUS.CA

Grace Under Pressure

My wish for you is that you continue. Continue to be who and how
you are, to astonish a mean world with your acts of kindness.

Continue to allow humour to lighten the burden of your tender heart.

MAYA ANGELOU

A single act of kindness throws out roots in all directions,
and the roots spring up and make new trees.

AMELIA EARHART

rd.ca 95

reader’s digest

reader’s digest iain reid began his career as a writer of
cheerful, folksy memoirs: in one, he
BOOK CLUB moves back home to his family’s
Ontario farm after university; another
A haunting thriller chronicles a five-day road-trip-turned-
about lost memory staycation he took with his 92-year-old
grandmother. Then he took a fascinat-
BY Emily Landau ing hairpin turn. In 2016, he released
I’m Thinking of Ending Things, a reality-
96 november 2022 bending psychological thriller that trav-
els through a young woman’s conscious
and subconscious minds as she toys
with dumping her milquetoast boy-
friend. Reid followed that up with Foe,
an equally suspenseful twister that doc-
uments the love triangle that emerges
when a young man travels to space and
a doppelgänger is sent to keep his part-
ner company. Charlie Kaufman, the
weirdo genius who wrote Adaptation
and Being John Malkovich, adapted I’m
Thinking of Ending Things for Netflix
in 2020, and Saoirse Ronan and Nor-
mal People heartthrob Paul Mescal
are set to star in a film version of Foe.
Reid has revealed his dark side, and
the world loves it.

In his newest book, We Spread, the
main character is Penny, an elderly
woman who spent decades cohabiting
with a now-deceased painter, sup-
pressing her own artistic ambitions in