I walked out of my boss’s office, struggling to hold back the tears. Unfortunately, he had just told me he had no choice but to walk back a promise to give me a salary advance. I should have been signing the lease for a tiny studio apartment in Toronto later that evening. I could cover the monthly rent, but as a newcomer to Canada, I didn’t have enough cash to cover the first and last month’s deposit.
As my boss’s words sunk in, I felt the ground slipping under my feet. I was all alone in a new country with no one to ask for help. I couldn’t believe I was at this crossroads: return home to Latvia or be homeless in Canada.
Growing up in Riga, Latvia, my father told me stories of the 1972 Canada-USSR hockey rivalry. Compared to his experience living in the Soviet Union, Canada seemed like a free and safe country, uninvolved in major geopolitical conflict. I became captivated by this fascinating faraway land and dreamed that it might become my home someday.
Diana de Jurei, age 17, in Jurmala, Latvia. (Submitted by Diana de Jurei)
In 2009, when I was 20, I got a one-year Canadian work permit. My father’s small business manufacturing and selling protective gear and workwear went bankrupt during the 2008 economic crisis, and my family was barely able to make ends meet. And yet, they scraped together $2,000 to help me move to Canada. At the time, it felt like a lot of money. Little did I know how insignificant it was for someone who was trying to establish a new life in a city like Toronto.
It was a hot and stinky summer day when I arrived in the midst of a city worker’s strike. Toronto was covered in piles of uncollected garbage. To add to the unpleasant smell, I ended up in a hostel that called itself a hotel and had to share my room with cockroaches. I was alone and sad to leave behind my life, my family, my beloved dog and friends. I didn’t know when I was going to see them again. It was a step into the unknown, a country where I didn’t know anyone.
But I was determined to make it work as going back home wasn’t a viable financial option. I only saw one path: to remain in this country so I could eventually support my parents.
Finding work quickly was my number one priority. Between groceries and accommodation, the $2,000 my parents had given me was nearly gone. After almost a month of searching, I found a minimum wage job with a community newspaper selling advertisements. I found an affordable studio and needed only $1,500 for the initial deposit, so I approached my boss. When my boss refused an advance at the very last moment, I felt completely broken.
Shell-shocked, I walked home that day for nearly 45 minutes to save the $1.50 TTC fare — that’s how desperate I was to save money.
But I was unexpectedly saved by the kindness of a new friend I’d met just a week prior. He didn’t have the money either, but he felt sorry for me because he knew what it was like to be a newcomer. He approached his employer for an advance of $750, which was enough to tide me over.
To this day, I couldn’t believe that my friend took a chance on me. I had no furniture and had to sleep on the floor for almost a year, but at least I had a roof over my head. Some days, I slept with a winter jacket on and to save money on a down blanket. And I returned the funds to my friend as soon as I possibly could.
My minimum wage was barely enough to pay my bills, and often next to nothing remained to buy groceries. I remember times when I opened my fridge and it was completely empty. Often a bagel and a coffee bought by a colleague would be the only thing I ate all day. I eventually became anaemic. Most days I was walking around on the verge of fainting. I couldn’t look for another job because my new work permit was tied to one employer. I learned about food banks, but never went, as I mistakenly thought they were for people who are homeless or in situations even more challenging than mine.
During those difficult times, I was often humbled by the kindness of complete strangers who helped me. Frankly, I was embarrassed to share that I was struggling in any way. However, my job selling advertising space in a newspaper entailed meetings with various businesses. During polite small talk, people would ask about my family and how they were adapting to life in Canada. When they learned I moved here all by myself, they were often surprised and sympathetic.
Sometimes on a lucky day an owner of a restaurant would offer a free lunch and, at other businesses, I would be given something useful to take home. After one of those meetings I even ended up with a pillow. I’m forever grateful for the kindness and generosity of the many people I’ve met.
After five challenging years living paycheque to paycheque, I obtained a Canadian permanent residency. It took another five years to achieve the level of financial stability to sponsor my mother.
Diana de Jurei’s mother, Nadya, with the family dog in Riga, Latvia. (Submitted by Diana de Jurei)
It was a very lonely life, and I barely saw my family in Latvia. During this time, my parents separated. When my mother got seriously ill and had two complex surgeries on her legs due to varicose veins, I was wracked with guilt that I couldn’t afford the airfare to see her. My mom was my rock. Canada gives people an opportunity to have a better life, but often at a significant price. If it wasn’t for her strong belief in me and enormous emotional support even from afar, I likely wouldn’t have made it.
We had the same dream that one day we would reunite. Unlike the hot summer day of my arrival, my mom came to Winnipeg, where I lived by then, on a cold blustery winter day in January 2018. When we stepped off the plane onto Canadian soil together, I felt incredibly happy that I would get to show her a better life and the home I established for us in Canada. I had worked hard, built a successful career in marketing, adopted a new puppy and was now reunited with my family.
Sitting in my apartment sipping tea, my mom was contemplative that day. She also said that if she knew then what I would have to go through, she would have never let me leave. I’m not sure I would have, either.
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) — Florida State has asked a judge to decide key parts of its lawsuit against the Atlantic Coast Conference without a trial, hoping for a quicker resolution and path to a possible exit from the league.
Florida State requested a partial summary judgment from Circuit Judge John Cooper in a 574-page document filed earlier this week in Leon County, the Tallahassee-based school’s home court.
Florida State sued the ACC in December, challenging the validity of a contract that binds member schools to the conference and each other through media rights and claiming the league’s exit fees and penalties for withdrawal are exorbitant and unfair.
In its original compliant, Florida State said it would cost the school more than half a billion dollars to break the grant of rights and leave the ACC.
“The recently-produced 2016 ESPN agreements expose that the ACC has no rights to FSU home games played after it leaves the conference,” Florida State said in the filing.
Florida State is asking a judge to rule on the exit fees and for a summary judgment on its breach of contract claim, which says the conference broke its bylaws when it sued the school without first getting a majority vote from the entire league membership.
The case is one of four active right now involving the ACC and one of its members.
The ACC has sued Florida State in North Carolina, claiming the school is breaching a contract that it has signed twice in the last decade simply by challenging it.
The judge in Florida has already denied the ACC’s motion to dismiss or pause that case because the conference filed first in North Carolina. The conference appealed the Florida decision in a hearing earlier this week.
Clemson is also suing the ACC in South Carolina, trying to find an affordable potential exit, and the conference has countersued that school in North Carolina, too.
The dispute is tied to the ACC’s long-term deal with ESPN, which runs through 2036, and leaves those schools lagging well behind competitors in the Southeastern Conference and Big Ten when it comes to conference-payout revenue.
Florida State has said the athletic department is in danger of falling behind by as much as $40 million annually by being in the ACC.
“Postponing the resolution of this question only compounds the expense and travesty,” the school said in the latest filing.
The ACC has implemented a bonus system called a success initiative that will reward schools for accomplishments on the field and court, but Florida State and Clemson are looking for more as two of the conference’s highest-profile brands and most successful football programs.
The ACC evenly distributes revenue from its broadcast deal, though new members California, Stanford and SMU receive a reduced and no distribution. That money is used to fund the pool for the success initiative.
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QUEBEC – Australian road cyclist Michael Matthews raced to victory at the Grand Prix Cycliste de Quebec on Friday.
Matthews earned a record third career victory in Quebec City. He was previously tied with Slovakia’s Peter Sagan with two wins.
The Jayco-AlUla rider won the fastest edition of the Quebec race on the UCI World Tour calendar.
Matthews, who claimed titles in 2018 and 2019, edged out Eritrea’s Biniam Girmay and France’s Rudy Molard in a thrilling sprint.
Tour de France winner Tadej Pogacar, the heavy favourite, was unable to follow through with his attack launched just over two kilometres from the finish line. He finished in seventh place.
Pogacar will look to redeem himself at the Montreal cycling Grand Prix on Sunday.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 13, 2024.
VANCOUVER – The Vancouver Whitecaps have loaned midfielder Jay Herdman to Cavalry FC of the Canadian Premier League and rewarded two Whitecaps FC 2 players with MLS contracts.
Midfielder Jeevan Badwal signed as a homegrown player through 2027, with options for 2028 and 2029, while forward Nicolas Fleuriau Chateau signed an MLS contract through 2025, with club options for 2026 and 2027.
Both have been playing for the Whitecaps’ MLS Next Pro team along with the 20-year-old Herdman, the son of Toronto FC coach John Herdman.
The moves were made before Friday’s MLS and CPL roster freeze.
Born in New Zealand while his father was working for the New Zealand Football Federation, Jay Herdman was also part of the New Zealand soccer team at the Paris Olympics with three appearances including two starts. Herdman’s loan deal runs through the end of the CPL season.
“Jay is an important signing for us, who will provide another attacking option for the run-in,” Cavalry coach and GM Tommy Wheeldon Jr. said in a statement. “He’s a player that we’ve been tracking since we played against Whitecaps in pre-season and he has very good quality, with terrific energy and the ability to contribute to goals.
“With the recent injury to Mael Henry, Jay’s positional profile and age helps us with on-field options and minutes that count towards the league’s required 2,000 U-21 domestic minutes during the regular season.”
Badwal, an 18-year-old from suburban Surrey, is the 26th academy player to sign an MLS contract with the Whitecaps.
“Having joined our academy in 2019, Jeevan continues to progress through our club and takes every challenge in stride,” Whitecaps FC sporting director Axel Schuster said in a statement. “He is comfortable on the ball, positionally sound, and does the simple things very well. We are excited for Jeevan to make the next step in his young career.”
Badwal has made 19 appearances with Whitecaps 2 this season, scoring two goals and adding three assists. A Canadian youth international, he started all three matches for Canada at the 2023 FIFA U-17 World Cup
Badwal made his first-team debut off the bench in the first leg of the Canadian Championship semifinal against Pacific FC.
Chateau was originally selected 74th overall by the Whitecaps in the 2024 MLS SuperDraft after spending two years at St. John’s University.
The 22-year-old from Ottawa signed an MLS NEXT Pro contract with Whitecaps FC 2 in March. He leads Whitecaps FC 2 in goal-scoring this season with eight goals across 21 appearances (including eight starts).
“Nicolas leads MLS NEXT Pro in shots on target, has a very strong work rate and willpower. We are looking forward to seeing his growth as he builds on his young professional career,” said Schuster.
Chateau made his first-team debut as a second-half substitute at CF Montreal on July 6.
Herdman, who joined the Whitecaps academy as a 13-year-old, has made 19 appearances for Whitecaps FC 2 in 2024, scoring six goals and adding three assists. He made his MLS debut in April as a second-half substitute in a 2-0 victory at the Seattle Sounders.
Internationally, Herdman has represented New Zealand 29 times across the U-19, U-20, and U-23 sides. He was part of New Zealand’s squad at the 2023 FIFA U-20 World Cup, starting three matches at the tournament and scoring against Uzbekistan.
The Whitecaps host San Jose on Saturday while Cavalry entertains Atletico Ottawa on Sunday.
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This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 13, 2024
