By Dane Clark

From left to right (roughly): Vivian Li, Zoe Higgs, Matthew Corker, Melinda Montgomery, Adam Martin and Kerri (aka: Adam’s girlfriend).
While most people are uncomfortably hugging their relatives and McDonald’s employees are still rolling their eyes when you ask for a free smile, six UBC students/Torontonians were out at Yonge and Dundas yesterday voluntarily hugging people.
This epidemic is known as the Free Hugs Campaign and was started a couple years ago in Australia by some dude cleverly named Juan Mann, who is undoubtedly the love child of Jesus, John Lennon and Chris Robinson.
Huggers have been spotted in the downtown core prior to yesterday, but the “Hug Master” of this current escapade is known as Matthew Corker. He started last week around Vancouver and is on his way to bust out the hugs in New York next week. Now what’s special about this wonderful and loving homosapien is that he told us something a little hurtful. Honest, but still hurtful. He said that upon his travels and comparatively speaking: Vancouver was more open to the free hugs than Toronto. Yeah, that’s what he said.
Come on Toronto! Don’t live up to the stereotype that we’re cold — it’s unbecoming of you. Now the only way you can make it up is to hug whoever is in the room with you for at least seven minutes. If you’re alone, hug yourself for one hour, it’s only fair. Don’t question us, it’s healthy. Keep this infection spreading like wildfire and all those other awesome things that spread quickly. Do it now. Thank you.