Business in Vancouver 2011-08-30

Local. Business. Intelligence.

August 30–September 5, 2011 • Issue 1140

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Slaughterhouse inspection changes raise concerns in B.C.’s ranching community 3

Piracy plundering B.C. shipping revenue

U.S. ports riled over Prince Rupert’s shipping success 6

Somali pirates are costing local shipping companies big dollars, but the sharp spike in high-seas hijacking is also helping boost business for a local security firm: 4-5

World comes shopping for B.C. coal companies 7 Cross-border energy-efficiency M&A action set to heat up 8 Scheming over streaming 10 Labour strife looms for PNE 13 Erin Chutter’s Siberian cobalt connection 14 Cherry Point coal port runs into state debate 14 Ladner on Vancouver viaduct futures 24

dominic schaefer

Milke on a new think tank for tired, old ideas 25

Pakit CEO Dwayne Yaretz: his company signed a partnership deal with PepsiCo earlier this month to allow the pop and snack food giant to use its innovative packaging technology

Resource industry rock star Mark O’Dea is back in business with a new precious metals venture 27 Biggest festivals and cultural events Biggest office supply firms

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Food partnerships go global >Vancouver startups sign deals with multinationals >Technologies from Pakit and Enwave innovating in arenas that have been static for decades

By Glen Korstrom

Business in Vancouver Issue 1140

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ajor investment in research and development and patenting innovative technology has paid off in partnerships with multinational food manufacturers for two upstart Vancouver technology companies.

Pakit Inc. created a buzz earlier this

month when it signed a partnership to help PepsiCo Inc. (NYSE:PEP) develop packaging technology.

That followed Enwave Corp. (TSXV:ENW) signing its fifth major pact with a multinational in June. Enwave’s technology quick-dries food using microwaves and a vacuum system that neither heats nor removes as many nutrients as other drying technology.

Enwave’s agreement gave Kellogg Co. (NYSE:K) exclusive rights to use Enwave’s system for 12 months to produce cereals and cereal bars.

Previous Enwave partnerships with multinationals include: •a December 2010 deal with Grimmway Farms, the world’s largest grower, producer

and shipper of carrots; •an October 2010 agreement with Latin America’s Grupo Bimbo, the world’s largest baking company, which bought fresh bread divisions in the past year from George Weston Ltd. and Sara Lee Corp.; •a July 2010 agreement with Swiss food manufacturer Nestlé S.A.; and •a May 2009 deal with the Danish food giant Danisco, which Dupont (NYSE:DD) bought in June for US$6.3 billion.

Pakit and Enwave’s recent success in landing multinational partners provides lessons for owners and decision-makers at small and medium-sized companies who have similar aspirations. see Partners, 6

2

Daily business news at www.biv.com August 30–September 5, 2011

contents Columnists Cascadian Connections Michael Butler High-Tech Office Alan Zisman Real Estate Roundup Peter Mitham Startup Strategies Troy Fimrite Boardroom Strategy Mike Desjardins Public Offerings Timothy Renshaw At Large Peter Ladner National Affairs Mark Milke

Chinese buyers eye new acquisition targets in Canada

8 10 11 15 18 24 24

One in three workers foreign-born by 2031: StatsCan

MLA Iain Black steps down to take over board of trade

Digital media program links industry, academia

Radiant Communications posts quarterly loss, CEO resigns

B.C. lags country in salary growth: survey Canadian consumers increasingly using mobile media to shop

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BUSINESS TODAY HST loss lambasted

Bill Freding, president of the BC Association of Cattle Feeders: “the B.C. government is going to have to put up some extra money to keep up the good work of the inspections or they could cut them back to where they’re meaningless”

Meat of this matter raising concern Cattle ranchers want B.C. slaughterhouse inspections similar to Alberta’s, which they say are more efficient

By Glen Korstrom

U

nion leaders and political critics claim Stephen Harper’s Conservative government is putting British Columbians’ health at risk as part of a misguided effort to save money.

But cattle ranchers believe that a Canadian Food Inspection Agency decision to return meatpacking plant inspection responsibilities to Victoria could result in a more streamlined and cheaper regime.

The B.C. government has contracted Ottawa to inspect provincially regulated meat-packing plants for more than a decade.

Even though they’re not considered part of the Canadian Food Inspection Agency’s (CFIA) core mandate, Ottawa subsidizes those inspections.

That will stop by 2014, the CFIA announced earlier this month.

“The B.C. government is going to have to put up some extra money to keep up the good work of the inspections or they could cut them back to where they’re meaningless,” said Bill Freding, who owns Southern Plus Feedlots and is president of the BC Association of Cattle Feeders.

He hopes that Victoria will look

to Alberta where he said the provincially regulated beef-slaughterhouse inspection system is more efficient and just as safe as in British Columbia.

“The federal government has lots of requirements. They make it pretty sticky and pretty expensive just to comply, not that the regulations have improved safety at all,” Freding said.

“There might be a head inspector who will say you need this door to be three feet, six inches and not three feet wide.”

Five years ago, B.C. had at least three federally inspected beef slaughterhouses – all of which have since gone out of business, Freding said.

The closest federally inspected beef slaughterhouse is now in Alberta. That means that if a B.C. cattle rancher wants to sell his beef outside of B.C., he has to ship the live cattle to Alberta to be butchered.

If the rancher sends his cattle to one of the 48 provincially regulated slaughterhouses – some of which process poultry and hogs only – he must sell that meat within B.C. Those slaughterhouses, however, are far more convenient because many of them are in mobile trailers.

Freding hopes that the ban on selling meat from those slaughterhouses outside B.C. will change as B.C., Alberta and Saskatchewan strengthen their New West Partnership – an agreement aimed at liberalizing trade and eliminating trade barriers between the three provinces.

“We are confident that we will find a solution that works well for producers and processors while keeping the safety of meat products paramount” – Stephen May, spokesman, B.C. health ministry

Agriculture Union – PSAC president Bob Kingston and Vancouver Quadra MP Joyce Murray have criticized the CFIA decision to pull out of inspecting provincially regulated slaughterhouses. They argue that the move will increase risk to consumers of consuming E. coli, listeria, salmonella and other food contaminants.

B.C. Health Minister Mike de Jong was not available to respond

to that criticism, but B.C. health ministry spokesman Stephen May told Business in Vancouver “there will not be a reduction in safety standards.”

He said the ministry has been aware of the CFIA’s decision since last year and that, starting early this year, the B.C. government launched a review of provincial meat-inspection services. “[B.C.’s ministry of health] will be providing options for the next steps by the fall,” May said. “We are confident that we will find a solution that works well for producers and processors while keeping the safety of meat products paramount.”

Cathy Airth, the CFIA’s associate vice-president in its operations branch, also told BIV that the transition likely won’t streamline bureaucracy. “It was a long-standing service that was well entrenched and didn’t have huge management oversight,” Airth said. “The province may step up and say they’d like to take some of our staff.”

According to the BC Cattlemen’s Association, B.C.’s cattle industry has primarily cow calves and the province’s 4,086 cattle ranches account for about 4.5% of Canada’s cow-calf herd. • gkorstrom@biv.com

B.C.’s rejection of the harmonized sales tax (HST) will hurt a lot of local businesses and convince manufacturers to move to Ontario or another province that has the HST, according to Andrey Pavlov, an associate professor at Simon Fraser University’s Beedie School of Business.

“I just can’t see why any manufacturing business would choose to move here or remain here,” Pavlov said.

“We don’t have very much manufacturing to begin with; we’re going to have even less now.”

According to Elections BC, 54.7% of voters cast “Yes” ballots to extinguish the HST. On top of additional taxes many businesses will pay under the reversion to the old PST/GST regime, Pavlov emphasized the costs businesses will face to switch their accounting systems.

“It’s terrible because you pay the cost of switching twice. You go to HST, you figure it out, it’s finally running smoothly, and now you have to pay, again, the cost of going back.”

Pavlov said that while he’s very disappointed with the referendum result, he’s not surprised. “The government did a terrible job explaining why the change was needed.

And then there were political forces in our province that seized that opportunity and went against something that is really good for our province – and they did it for political gain.”

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Daily business news at www.biv.com August 30–September 5, 2011

full disclosure

Locals grapple with global piracy plague The proliferation of murder and hijacking in waters off Africa’s Somali coast is affecting virtually every shipping company doing business in B.C.

just rob ships and leave.

“In [the Malacca Strait], if you’re unlucky, your losses are confined and can be calculated, but in Somali areas, it could be disastrous.”

Tang noted that even companies with kidnap and ransom insurance can’t be sure their coverage will be sufficient for pirates’ escalating demands.

By Jenny Wagler

or most British Columbians, pirates are the stuff of children’s books and Johnny Depp movies, but the romanticized villains are proving to be an all-too-real problem for B.C.’s shipping companies.

Pirate attacks, ship hijackings and hostage-takings off Africa’s Somali coast and throughout the Indian Ocean have escalated rapidly since 2008. Somali pirates dominate the violence. According to a report on piracy by the International Maritime Bureau, a division of the International Chamber of Commerce, pirates killed seven seafarers and took 353 hostages in the Somali area in the first six months of 2011.

As of the end of June, pirates were holding 20 vessels for ransom and 398 crew members hostage.

More than 13,000 kilometres away in B.C., that violence is rocking the province’s local and foreignowned shipping companies.

“Those particular waters, because they include access to and from the Suez Canal, pretty much impact every [shipping] company that is doing business here in B.C.,” said Stephen Brown, president of the Chamber of Shipping of British Columbia. “They’re all international traders and that’s a large piece of the world’s oceans.”

Canada has participated in multinational naval efforts to police the area with warships, but Brown said the efforts aren’t solving the problem.

“We’re talking about an area the size of Europe with something between 15 and 20 warships to cover it, which is obviously not very much.”

Weekly piracy risk For Vancouver-based energy shipping company Teekay Corp.

(NYSE:TK), Somali pirate attacks are a weekly risk.

“We have a significant number of vessels trading in that area or transiting – at least one a week and sometimes two or three,” said Graham Westgarth, Teekay’s executive vicepresident for innovation, technology and projects. To date, he said, no company ship has been attacked.

“We’ve been approached [by pirates] but then if the vessel exhibits some awareness, often the skiffs just

Richard Lam

F

Dave Jackson, president of Canadian Sea Marshals Tactical Teams: “we are highly trained, and my back goes up immensely when I get people calling us mercenaries”

leave and look for a softer target.”

Westgarth said ships use a range of industry-advocated pirate-deterrence practices that include using fire hoses to create a water curtain around a ship.

He said Teekay’s vessels are also changing their routes significantly to allow them to sail through safer areas, such as the west coast of India.

In addition, Westgarth said the company started hiring armed guards six months ago to protect what it deems to be high-risk pirate targets: slow ships with low-lying decks that can easily be boarded.

Westgarth said those measures can add up to $100,000 and four or five days travel time to each ship’s voyage. But he pointed out that refusing to trade in the area isn’t an option for many shipping companies.

“Most of the oil that goes to Europe comes from the [Persian] Gulf. If you stop trading there then pretty soon, Europe would run out of energy.”

Lost opportunities Aside from hurting B.C.’s few locally based shipping companies such as Teekay, Somali piracy is affecting international shipping companies with B.C. operations that dominate

the province’s shipping industry.

The operational base for HongKong-based Fairmont Shipping (Canada) Ltd. is in Vancouver, where approximately 45 employees manage 22 ships worldwide.

Samuel Tang, vice-president of Fairmont’s shipping and operations department, said when the piracy problem erupted, Fairmont decided to avoid operating in the area – and thus gave up those business opportunities. The driver behind the decision, he said, was simple economics: the area’s sky-high insurance premiums could cost a company as much as $150,000 per voyage for a ship weighing 46,000 deadweight tonnes.

But he said avoiding that highrisk, high-insurance area stopped being viable in December 2010, when London underwriters radically increased the size of the area where anti-piracy insurance is required. Since then, he said, the whole Indian Ocean is subject to war-risk premiums. That eliminated Fairmont’s ability to navigate around the danger areas – and the extra costs.

“If the entire Indian Ocean is included, then you can’t avoid it; one way or the other, you’ve got to cut through it.”

Safety at a premium Tang said the company has operated in the Indian Ocean a few times since December, but mostly near India, well away from the piracy epicentre.

He said the risk-averse company will likely pay both armed guards

“In [the Malacca Strait], if you are unlucky, your losses are confined and can be calculated, but in Somali areas, it could be disastrous” – Samuel Tang, vice-president, shipping and operations department, Fairmont Shipping (Canada)

and an optional layer of insurance (kidnap and ransom) when it has to run ships in the area.

Tang emphasized that it’s the menace of multimillion-dollar ransoms that makes Somali piracy so much more threatening to companies than, for example, the long-standing piracy problem in the Malacca Strait.

In Southeast Asia, he said, pirates

Labour woes Besides their financial impact on the industry, Brown emphasized that pirates are taking a human toll – and one that’s making it trickier for shipping companies to recruit seafarers worldwide.

Somali pirates, he said, have killed more than 50 seafarers since piracy erupted in the region. In the past year, Brown said, pirates have been regularly torturing seafarers to pressure ransom negotiators.

“Some of the documented torture methods are hoisting crew members upside down in refrigerated compartments on the vessel until they’re near death, daily beatings and even in one case, a public execution in full view of a warship.”

Brown added that piracy is undermining the recruitment and retention of seafarers in the Philippines and other developing countries and convincing ships’ officers from developed countries to leave the industry.

While Westgarth said Teekay has yet to be affected by piracy’s impact on recruitment, Tang said the problem is exacerbating a global labour shortage for seafarers.

Westgarth added that if piracy continues to flourish, the industry’s future talent pool will be seriously compromised.

“There will be a long-term impact in this area, as young people will not wish to enter the profession.”

Pirate-driven growth But while piracy is hurting the business of B.C.’s shipping companies, it’s helping drive one local company’s exponential growth.

Launched in 2008, Vancouverbased Canadian Sea Marshals Tactical Teams (CSMTT) provides armed four-man security teams for ships travelling in the pirate-infested Gulf of Aden and throughout the Indian Ocean.

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August 30–September 5, 2011 Business in Vancouver

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full disclosure

Pirate attacks on the rise off the coast of Africa

Annual cost of worldwide piracy estimated at up to $12 billion, most of which is incurred in the Somalia area

Dave Jac k s on , C SM T T ’s president and director of operations, said it’s the first company in Canada to target this business area.

He said CSMTT has grown from “a four-man show” to its current 75 employees and expects to hit 150 by Christmas.

“I’d say in the last three months it’s just sort of exploded.”

Jackson added that CSMTT is projecting fiscal 2011 revenue of $6 million. He said the company hires ex-Canadian Forces personnel, current reservists and police officers.

CSMTT then provides them with additional training – particularly in their legal obligations under Canadian law if they’re defending a client against a pirate attack.

Jackson said besides managing rapid recruitment, the company’s chief challenge is keeping abreast of, and adapting to, a host of new

Source: ICC International Maritime Bureau

insurance-driven rules being applied to the emergent security industry off the coast of Somalia.

“Part of the frustration of this whole industry is that we’re governed by so many different rules, so many different policies, yet the pirates have zero rules.”

The fledgling industry has been slapped with the “mercenary” label in the international media, but Jackson said his company is anything but that.

“We’re not going into a country and trying to destabilize it, which is the primary purpose of a merc. We’re highly trained, and my back goes up immensely when I get people calling us mercenaries.”

As to whether the company has a future without a thriving Somali piracy trade, Jackson said he’s working on other business options, but declined to disclose what.

“But piracy – it’s not going away.

Definitely not.”

No end in sight Westgarth said pirates have started using captured ships as “motherships,” travelling up to 1,000 miles off the Somali Coast before launching their attack skiffs.

“The more deterrents you put in place, the more inventive the pirates become.”

Westgarth, Tang and Brown agreed that in the short term, companies’ best defence against ever-increasing attacks is to engage armed guards. Brown said that thus far, no ship carrying armed guards has been hijacked.

But B.C.’s shipping industry is calling for broader solutions than what the private sector can provide.

“It’s a situation that needs resolution,” Westgarth said, “and the

BC’s oldest law firm is...

Richard Lam

n Attack n Attempted attack n Suspicious vessel

Graham Westgarth, Teekay executive vice-president: Europe depends on trade serviced via shipping lanes off Somalia’s coast

industry hasn’t got the wherewithal to do that; it’s really up to government and navies to do that.”

Westgarth and Tang are advocating a warship blockade of Somalia’s coast to stop pirates from leaving shore. Westgarth added that navies policing the area need broader powers to capture – and hold onto – pirates.

Where does piracy currently rate on shipping companies’ agendas?

Neck and neck with low shipping

rates for top position, according to Westgarth. “But I would say piracy is number 1 because that actually has an impact on people.”

In January, the Oceans Beyond Piracy project, funded by Louisville, Colorado-based non-profit One Earth Future Foundation, estimated the annual cost of worldwide piracy at between US$7 billion and $12 billion, with the bulk of that incurred in the Somalia area. • jwagler@biv.com

6

News

Daily business news at www.biv.com August 30–September 5, 2011

Port dispute heats up

shipped through the Port of Prince Rupert] than if that same box had come through Seattle.”

Lidinsky said Canada isn’t believed to be breaching NAFTA or any other bilateral agreements. But he said the U.S. wants to establish whether the FMC has jurisdiction over U.S.-bound cargo arriving through a Canadian port.

“It needs to be established because we have statutes that deal with preference – one shipper over another shipper – and discrimination,” he said. “It’s a general

regulatory framework that we’re trying to clarify.”

Lidinsky said one suggested “solution” to levelling the alleged unequal playing field would be to have the U.S. require U.S.-bound containers being shipped through Canada to pay the harbour maintenance tax – “to equalize the treatment [of cargo].” But he said NAFTA makes that difficult to legislate.

Lidinsky said there’s no push for confrontation with Canada.

“We’re not trying to erect any kind of barrier or wall in Canada,” he said.

“If the shipper wants to come through Canada, that’s his choice.

If he feels he gets a better shipping deal coming through Rupert than through Seattle, that’s his choice.

But we want to make sure he’s doing it by the rules and those ports can compete equally for that cargo.”

However Shaun Stevenson, vicepresident of marketing and business development at Prince Rupert Port Authority, said the American concerns are unfounded.

“If [FMC] did complete some study into the movement of U.S. goods through Canadian ports, they’d find they’re moving through the safest entry points into North America in our security and protocols – and as well that Canadian ports and transportation systems aren’t subsidized.”

Stevenson said efficiencies for shippers are at the heart of the port’s success.

“We’re about a day and a half, minimum, closer to Asia than any other West Coast port and with the efficiency of the rail system, you can save four to eight days compared to other West Coast routes,” he said.

Gary LeRoux, executive director of the Canadian Association of Port Authorities, said he saw no merit in the proposed American investigation.

“It’s clearly the silly season in Washington if this is the kind of investigation they’re thinking about launching.”

He argued that it’s rich to see American ports complaining about being disadvantaged, given that they receive more government funding than their Canadian counterparts.

“We’d love to have all the largesse heaped on their ports by local, federal and state governments.

We don’t have the luxury here in Canada.”

LeRoux added that issues such as the harbour maintenance tax need to be solved within the U.S. rather than in Canada, and argued that the proposed investigation will only hurt American shippers and consumers.

“If Congress wants to go to WalMart and tell them, ‘You shouldn’t take the best price and the fastest route to get your shirts on the shelf … because the American consumer wants to pay more,’ then go ahead. Because that’s what they’re saying.” •

Pakit CEO Dwayne Yaretz told Business in Vancouver that the company has thus far invested about $90 million in developing its technology.

It has patented a process for producing egg-carton-like, threedimensional moulded shapes from cellulose fibres sourced from sugar cane or biomass. The finished product can replace plastic or other paper products.

“In many cases we’re cheaper. We use far less energy and far less water,” Yaretz said. “So we are environmentally sustainable.”

Yaretz could not reveal details of how PepsiCo might use his

packaging technology, but he confirmed that the testing agreement provides revenue for Pakit. Given that the company is under court protection from creditors, its deal with Pepsi comes at a good time.

Enwave’s corporate filings show that it racked up $24.5 million in accumulated losses up to March 31.

But a private placement with Canaccord Genuity Corp., Laurentian Bank and Clara Securities has helped it raise $12 million.

Enwave co-CEO John McNichol told Business in Vancouver that his company will likely not generate a profit until at least next year.

However, some of the $7.1 million

in losses that Enwave accumulated in 2011’s first quarter could be reversed. It paid $5.5 million to the University of British Columbia in March to buy patents for its technology and immediately wrote off that cost. If Enwave hadn’t bought the patents, it would have had to pay the university 20% of all future royalties resulting from their use.

McNichol, who pointed out that the price for the patents would have risen once revenue was rolling in from deals signed, said Enwave expects to have between seven and eight multinational agreements in the pipeline by year’s end. •

Prince Rupert’s booming cargo business triggers U.S. allegations that the port has lax security and unfair rail subsidies and tax advantages

By Jenny Wagler

S

outh of the border, rumblings are growing of an American investigation into whether the Port of Prince Rupert’s successful container business has unfair advantages over U.S. ports.

Richard Lidinsky is chairman of the Washington, D.C.-based Federal Maritime Commission (FMC), which regulates American water-borne commerce.

He said he’s expecting the U.S. Congress, soon after it reconvenes in September, to ask the FMC to launch an investigation into the Port of Prince Rupert’s container business.

In 2010, the Port of Prince Rupert’s container volumes grew by nearly 30% to more than 340,000 TEUs (20-foot equivalent container units). In September 2010, Prince Rupert was named North America’s fastest-growing container port by London, U.K.-based Drewry Shipping Consultants.

Lidinsky said the concerns he’s been hearing from West Coast members of Congress centre around:

In 2010, London, U.K.-based Drewry Shipping Consultants named the Port of Prince Rupert North America’s fastest-growing container port

•a harbour maintenance tax that gets slapped on containers coming through U.S. ports that has no equivalent in Canada; •a belief that Prince Rupert port security is more lax than security at U.S. ports; and •differing rail structures on both sides of the border that give advantages to Canada.

“This all leads up to the fact that people have alleged that a shipper coming from, let’s say Shanghai through to the Chicago area, is paying up to $600 a box less [if it’s

Partners: Multinationals take time from Food, 1

According to CEOs at Pakit and Enwave those lessons include: •making a strong connection on a technical level with someone in the target multinational partner who can be a champion within the global company’s research and development team; •being prepared for long delays and slow progress as approval for the technology works its way up the chain of command; and •being f lexible about how the

process evolves.

Both CEOs believe their technologies are “disruptive” – a modernization that revolutionizes a niche that has gone decades without significant innovation. And they say it’s because their technologies are such a radical departure from what’s available in the market that partnering with global food giants is so important. Their involvement prompts major food manufacturers in different subsectors to consider adopting the technology.

jwagler@biv.com

gkorstrom@biv.com

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August 30–September 5, 2011 Business in Vancouver

News

7

Mining majors zero in on B.C. coal stocks Anglo American and Xstrata are increasing their position in B.C.’s mineral-rich northeast amid booming Asian demand

By Joel McKay

T

wo mid-sized deals in the last month are further evidence that global mining firms are showing a renewed interest in B.C.’s black rock resources.

On August 17, U.K.-based mining giant Anglo American (LSE:AAL) announced a deal to take full control of the Peace River Coal Partnership, which operates the Trend mine near Tumbler Ridge.

A week earlier, Switzerland-based diversified miner Xstrata (LSE:XTA) paid $147 million to buy privately held First Coal Corp. and take control of its exploration properties in northeast B.C. “They see the potential, particularly in British Columbia; there are huge opportunities there,” commented Allen Wright, president and CEO of the Coal Association of Canada.

Both deals revolve around high-quality metallurgical coal used to make steel, and come amid ongoing demand for the mineral from growing economies such as China.

“The supply-demand picture right now is tight,” said Wright. “I just don’t see the demand lessening over the next little while.”

Mike Plaster, a coal analyst at Salman Partners in Vancouver, agreed.

“From what we’ve seen the fundamentals for the coal markets are still fairly robust, and on the metallurgical coal side of things the spot prices have held in there fairly well despite the recent [market] concerns,” said Plaster.

Earlier this month, spot coal prices topped out at US$304 per tonne for premium-grade steel-making coal.

Although Plaster said that’s lower than the quarterly contract rate of US$315 per tonne, it’s still far above a US$225 price per tonne during the same period last year.

Wright and Plaster agreed the Anglo and Xstrata deals are likely opening salvos in what could be long-term investment in the province.

Anglo’s decisions to buy full control of Peace River

Coal represents a significant about-face for the company, which only a year ago had put its 75% stake in the partnership up for sale.

Meantime, Xstrata, which has interests in more than 30 operating coal mines, told Business in Vancouver the First Coal deal represents “an opportunity to grow Xstrata Coal’s coking coal assets within Canada, an attractive investment destination with a relatively stable regulatory and fiscal regime.”

Both deals come less than a year after U.S.-based Walter Energy (TSX:WLT) bought Western Coal for $3.3 billion, acquiring three mines near Tumbler Ridge and paving the way for it to become the world’s largest pure-play metallurgical coal producer.

B.C.’s reigning coal producer, Teck Resources (TSX:TCK.B), also has plans to expand its portfolio in the province.

The company, which already operates five coal mines in southeastern B.C., is work-

“If you add up all the companies that say they are going to develop mines, you could easily double the production in the province” – Allen Wright, president and CEO, Coal Association of Canada

ing on a feasibility study to reopen its Quintette mine near Tumbler Ridge.

Teck said in July that, assuming permits are received soon and development proceeds as planned, Quintette could be back in production in 2013.

Other players such as the U.K.’s Anglo Pacific Group, London, Ontario’s Fortune Minerals (TSX:FT) and Vancouver-based Compliance Energy (TSX-V:CEC) are advancing coal projects elsewhere in B.C. Said Wright: “If you add up all the companies that

say they are going to develop mines, you could easily double the production in the province.” • jmckay@biv.com

Coal shipped from Walter Energy’s Willow Creek mine is evidence of a renewed interest from large companies in B.C.’s mineral resources

8

Finance

Daily business news at www.biv.com August 30–September 5, 2011

BY THE NUMBERS

Losses are shown in brackets. Graph information by Stockwatch.

Conifex Timber Inc. (TSX-V:CFF) Branching out: Conifex posted a $3.6m loss in the second quarter even though lumber revenue increased 105% compared with the same quarter in 2010. The company delivered a record 83% of second-quarter shipments to export markets, as operating rates improved to 55% of production capacity Earnings per share compared with 22% last year. Conifex finished the quarter with 6 months 2011 $7.8m in cash and cash equivalents.

$12

Anti-theft success: The computer security company saw a revenue increase in 2011 thanks to significant growth in sales contracts and a near doubling in cash from operations. Absolute reduced its annual loss 86% to $1.1m in 2011 compared with 2010, while commercial sales of theft Earnings per share recovery products grew 16%. Absolute finished the year with Fiscal 2011 $28.8m in cash and cash equivalents.

$5

▲95% ($7.2m) ($0.48) Revenue: $48m 6 months 2011

Net income 6 months 2011

$10 $8 $6 $4

A

O

D

F

A

J

A

O

D

F

A

J

A

O

D

F

A

J

Absolute Software Corp. (TSX:ABT)

▲13% ($1.1m) ($0.03) Revenue: $72m Fiscal 2011

Net income Fiscal 2011

$4 $3 $2

Western Wind Energy Corp. (TSX-V:WND) Figures in U.S. dollars Trade winds: Western Wind’s revenue increase was attributable to an 18% increase in energy production, which was partially offset by an 8% decrease in price. Meantime, the company’s operating expenses climbed to $4.7m in the first half of 2011 compared with $3.3m the year, primarily Earnings per share due to an increase in stock-based compensation. The 6 months 2011 company finished the period with $936k in cash.

▲9% ($1.6m) ($0.03) Revenue: $1.6m 6 months 2011

Net income 6 months 2011

$2.00 $1.50 $1.00 $0.50 $0.00

Cascadian Connections

Michael Butler Cross-border M&A action set to accelerate in North America’s energy-efficient sector

L

arge-scale energy efficiency is rapidly becoming a focal point for many sustainability programs throughout the United States and Canada.

In May 2011, Victoria announced a comprehensive new municipal energy-efficiency program aimed at saving its municipal government $750,000 over the next 10 to 15 years. With the

effects of the global recession still fresh in the minds of businesses and governments, many enterprises and other government entities are looking to follow suit as the economy heads into another downturn during the second half of 2011.

In response to this new demand, B.C. energy services providers such as Willis Energy Services and

SymbiAudit are rolling out new programs and offerings designed to streamline energy efficiency for large enterprises and government entities. The capital markets also have their finger on the pulse of this trend.

Throughout the United States and Canada, investors are shifting their focus from capital intensive sustainability projects such as

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biofuels and solar sectors and moving to the less-capitalintensive energy-efficiency sector. As robust as the energy-efficiency sector is from an investment standpoint, we believe the sector will explode with M&A transactions across North America in 2011’s third and fourth quarters as major managed energy services providers look for strong acquisition targets. That will generate tremendous cross-border opportunities for energy efficiency and managed services providers.

We expect demand for acquisitions to be driven by large managed energy service providers, whose customers across all market sectors are being affected by the rising costs of energy. While the services these companies provide are helping to alleviate some of these costs, their customers are starting to demand services that allow them to react almost instantly to cost-price increases and spikes in use.

In order to efficiently meet customer demand, many managed services providers are looking to acquisition as a quick solution. Building the technology from the ground up would be both expensive and time-consuming, and in order to deliver these services to customers as soon as possible, we expect the large energy services companies to gain the product capability through acquisitions.

In addition to increasing customer demand, Francebased Schneider Electric’s recent purchase of U.S.-based Summit Energy Services for $268 million (priced at

approximately four times revenue) is likely to push other energy companies toward energy-efficiency acquisitions. This transaction is the strongest signal to date that the energy-efficiency sector is ready to go to market and is putting pressure on other large corporations in the energy services sector to

We expect demand for acquisitions to be driven by large managed energy service providers, whose customers are being affected by the rising costs of energy respond strategically. Moreover, it’s a strong indication that managed energy services providers are looking beyond geographic location and are willing to engage in cross-border transactions to acquire the best possible technology.

Likewise, energy-efficiency companies are beginning to look for potential acquirers. While energy-efficiency products may be ready to go to market, there are significant barriers to entry, including the expense and time required to establish a foothold in the crowded managed energy services market.

While the product/technology is ready, many companies are having a hard time accessing large corporate clients that already work with established managed energy services providers. For B.C.

companies looking to break into U.S. markets, and vice versa, the benefits of a crossborder acquirer include the added incentive of expanding their potential market.

Customer demand for real-time energy-efficiency technologies is likely to drive managed energy services providers to begin looking for deals in 2011’s second half. Fear of losing out on the most scalable, easily integrated technologies will force competitors to act quickly, particularly in light of the Schneider/Summit transaction.

As in that transaction, we expect to see strong crossborder activity as acquirers seek out the most comprehensive, market-ready energ y-eff iciency solutions, regardless of geographic location. Moreover, we anticipate increased demand for data analytics providers with the capacity to collect and distill large quantities of realtime data.

With its strong clean-tech sector, we expect to see a great deal of cross-border interest in B.C. companies in the energy-efficiency space.

In anticipation of increased deal volume and competition for top targets, we recommend that energy-efficiency providers in B.C. begin considering their financing and acquisition options. • Michael Butler is CEO of Cascadia Capital (www.cascadiacapital.com), a Seattle boutique investment bank that serves domestic and global clients. Butler leads the firm’s sustainable industries practice.

finance

August 30–September 5, 2011 Business in Vancouver

Grocery bills on the Rise

9

Insider Trading

B.C.’s July inflation at 1.7% year-over-year

▲14.4% ▲7.2% ▲4.9% ▲2.3% July prices (fresh vegetables)

July prices (meat)

July prices (grocery bills)

July prices (restaurant meals)

The following is a list of the largest stock trades made by corporate executives, directors and other company insiders of B.C.’s public companies filed by the week ending August 18. The information comes from a compilation of required reports filed with the BC Securities Commission within five calendar days of a change in an insider’s holdings.

A significant increase in the cost of fresh vegetables (14.4%) and meat (7.2%) propelled grocery bills 4.9% higher, while restaurant meals cost 2.3% more in July compared with the same month last year. Despite lower prices for natural gas (-3%), shelter costs rose 1%, an increase driven by higher insurance premiums (17.2%), electricity bills (6.7%) and property taxes (4.8%). The cost of household operations rose 3.2%, while furnishings were comparatively less expensive (-4.2%). Prices dropped for women’s (-9.6%) and children’s (-14.4%) clothing.

Rate of B.C. price increases slows Inflation in B.C. dipped to 1.7% between July 2010 and July 2011, down from a 2.7% year-over-year increase in the previous month. One of the main drivers for the increase in consumer prices was a 9.5% rise in energy prices with gasoline costing 13.1% more than a year ago.

-BC Stats Infoline, Issue 11-33, August 19

Non-resident entries to B.C. advances in June Non-resident entries to Canada via B.C. advanced 0.5% (seasonally adjusted) in June. Accounting for roughly three-quarters of total entries, the number of travellers from the U.S. rose 1.7%, largely due to a sharp increase in same-day visits (4.6%).

-BC Stats Infoline, Issue 11-33, August 19

Boomers to keep swelling age of B.C. labour force In 2010, people 55 years and older accounted for 15.1% of B.C.’s labour force. By 2031, that proportion is forecast to swell to 23.1% as the last of the baby boomers reach retiremeent age in 2031. Between 2010 and 2031, the labour force participation rate for B.C. is expected to fall 3.8 percentage points to 61.7%.

-BC Stats Infoline, Issue 11-33, August 19

Insider: Jim Pattison, director Company: Canfor Corp.

(TSX:CFP) Shares owned: 27,182,850 Trade date: August 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 15 Trade total: $14,556,983 Trade: Purchase of 1.5 million shares over six days at prices ranging from $9.513 to $9.8861 per share through Great Pacific Capital Corp. Acquisition follows the purchase of 536,300 shares from August 3 to 5.

Insider: Paul Wright, president and CEO Company: Eldorado Gold Corp.

(TSX:ELD) Shares owned: 210,665 Trade date: August 8, 10 Trade total: $1,300,980 (net) Trade: Sale of 400,000 shares at prices ranging from $18.25 to $19.20 per share following the acquisition of 400,000 shares for $4.88 per share through the exercise of options.

Insider: Lloyd Miller, III Company: Atna Resources Ltd. (TSX-V:AA) Shares owned: 9,787,133 Trade date: August 8 Trade total: US$1,942,710 Trade: Sale of 2.5 million shares at US$0.77 per share.

Insider: Bradford Cooke, chairman and CEO Company: Endeavour Silver Corp. (TSX:EDR) Shares owned: 1,187,837 Trade date: August 10, 11 Trade total: $873,600 Trade: Sale of 90,000 shares over

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two days at prices ranging from $9.50 to $10.10 per share.

Insider: Nancy Woo, vicepresident, investor relations Company: Eldorado Gold Corp.

(TSX:ELD) Shares owned: 30,875 Trade date: August 9 Trade total: $521,150 (net) Trade: Sale of 50,000 shares at prices ranging from $18.03 to $18.30 per share following the acquisition of 45,000 shares for $7.78 per share and 5,000 shares for $7.12 per share through the exercise of options.

Insider: Salvadore Garcia, vicepresident, Mexico Company: Goldcorp Inc. (TSX:G) Shares owned: 0 Trade date: August 16 Trade total: $503,500 (net) Trade: Sale of 25,000 shares at US$50.87 per share following the acquisition of 25,000 shares for US$30.73 per share through the exercise of options.

Insider: Dawn Moss, vicepresident, administration, and corporate secretary Company: Eldorado Gold Corp.

(TSX:ELD)

Shares owned: 22223 Trade date: August 8 Trade total: $460,248 (net) Trade: Sale of 34,334 shares at prices ranging from $18.25 to $18.33 per share following the acquisition of 34,335 shares for $4.88 per share through the exercise of options.

Insider: Paul Reynolds, president and CEO Company: Canaccord Financial Inc. (TSX:CF) Shares owned: 847,658 Trade date: August 9, 10 Trade total: $338,793 Trade: Sale of 32,839 shares indirectly owned for $10.3168 per share.

Insider: Paul Skayman, senior vice-president, operations Company: Eldorado Gold Corp.

(TSX:ELD) Shares owned: 0 Trade date: August 10 Trade total: $287,186 (net) Trade: Sale of 20,000 shares at prices ranging from $19.20 to $19.28 per share following the acquisition of 20,000 shares for $4.88 per share through the exercise of options. rchu@biv.com

10

Technology

Daily business news at www.biv.com August 30–September 5, 2011

Island company in the stream Global demand for NetroMedia’s audio and video streaming platform is growing rapidly could be and went into streaming,” he said.

It turned out to be a good move.

“We’ve been profitable every year that we’ve been in business,” Pinkerton said. “Last year, through the recession, we were at least 40% [up in revenue].”

With broadband’s increased

By Nelson Bennett

I

f you’ve watched an Alliance Films trailer on your computer, tablet or smartphone recently, followed live debates in the parliament of Trinidad, or listened to prayers broadcast live from Saudi Arabia during Ramadan, you have NetroMedia to thank.

The Victoria-based company specializes in delivering audio and video for clients around the world through its streaming platform.

“We’re the piece between the content creator and the audience,” said NetroMedia CEO Che Pinkerton. “We’re like a large antenna for the Internet.”

NetroMedia recently worked with IT City in Saudi Arabia to provide live broadcasts of prayers this month for Ramadan.

The IT City contract is all part of NetroMedia’s expansion into the Middle East. The company plans to open an office in Riyadh in about a month from now.

“That’s exciting for us,” Pinkerton said. “We had planned this for a year, and obviously the Arab spring is a concern for us in terms of safety, so we’ve delayed it a bit.

But we believe the time is right for that region.”

He added that Africa is another market with great growth potential.

With broadband’s increased availability, streaming Che Pinkerton, CEO of NetroMedia: “we’re like a large antenna for the Internet”

“Places like Africa and the Middle East are just getting their wind,” Pinkerton said.

“The growth there, the business adoption, the leap-frogging of technology is nothing less than spectacular.”

Now 10 years old, NetroMedia was founded by Matthew Carson – the company’s director of technology. It now employs 40 people worldwide, 13 of whom are based in Victoria and three in Vancouver.

The company started out providing local webcasting, mostly for conferences. Pinkerton came aboard in 2003 as CEO. “After the tech meltdown, we looked at where our best position

became the most common way of transferring audio and video files availability, streaming became the most common way of transferring audio and video files. Companies like Netflix have their own streaming distribution platforms.

NetroMedia provides a streaming platform through its global content delivery network for small- to medium-sized clients.

“Conventional broadcasters, globally, are our bread and butter,” Pinkerton said.

“They have a terrestrial distribution sometimes or maybe they’re Internet only, and we do their [Internet and mobile] distribution for them.”

In addition to on-demand and pay-per-view services, NetroMedia does live streaming for concerts, conferences and even prayers and sermons for religious organizations.

The broadcasting of live prayers from Saudi Arabia during Ramadan is just the most recent example.

In fact, Pinkerton said faith-based broadcasters were among the first clients to use streaming.

“One of our very first clients many, many years ago was a faith broadcaster,” he said.

“Really, faith broadcasters, no matter where they are in the globe, are really early adopters of technology.”

NetroMedia offers a wide variety of features, including ad-integration, geo-control (blocking specific countries, regions or cities) and a user agent detection that optimizes the content according to what kind of mobile device someone is using. The use of streaming for distributing audio and video files continues to grow, thanks to the increased use of smartphones and tablet computers.

“Obviously, it’s exploding, and we were in smartphones long before there were tablets. NetroMedia was an early adopter and one of the leaders of mobile streaming.”

Pinkerton added the next big opportunity for growth is likely to

come from over-the-top television (OTT), which broadcasts TV via the Internet.

Mark Goldberg, a telecommunications consultant, said OTT provides greater opportunities for smaller content creators around the world to reach new audiences and for audiences to find a greater range of content than they currently get from dedicated content providers (Netflix, for example).

“The real opportunity is the personalization of entertainment” – Mark Goldberg, telecommunications consultant

“I think the real opportunity is the personalization of entertainment,” Goldberg said.

“They’re permitting anybody who has video content anywhere in the world to distribute that content to viewers anywhere in the world. In an increasingly fragmented video marketplace, they’re enabling folks who are producing and archiving content to reach audiences wherever those audiences might be.” • nbennett@biv.com

High-Tech Office

Alan Zisman New notebooks tackle Apple at premium end of PC market

W

hile Apple’s Macintosh computers remain a minority taste (about 14% in Canada), the company has a majority market share for personal computers that sell for more than $1,000.

In June 2009, market research company NPD reported that Mac sales accounted for 91% of the revenue in this “premium” price segment. Out of date but probably still the case.

There’s a higher profit margin in selling a premium computer than in selling a low-priced one. As a result, PC manufacturers are refusing to cede the high-end to Apple. Here are two recent challengers.

At f irst glance, HP’s Elitebook 2760p ($1,499 and up) magnesium/aluminum

body makes it look like a takeoff on Apple’s 13-inch MacBook Pro model. But a solid hinge lets Elitebook’s 12-inch-wide screen display pivot, allowing it to flip around and close over the keyboard.

Suddenly it’s a tablet – though a somewhat thick one – running Windows 7.

Like earlier Windows tablets, it can be used with a stylus, but it also responds to finger taps.

Options include various Intel Core i5 and i7 processors, conventional hard drives or solid-state storage.

HP also offers a close cousin, the Elitebook 2560p, minus the pivoting touchscreen, starting at $1,099. The company claims that both are built to military standards of durability and are resistant

to dropping, vibration, dust and high temperatures.

The 2760p weighs in at 1.8 kilograms – just under four pounds. It’s got both a small touchpad and what HP calls a Pointstick, the small rubber-nubbin pointing device standard on IBM and Lenovo ThinkPads.

The design and built quality are solid and performance is good, w it h video speed benefiting from Intel’s current generation of chips. (Older Intel video chip sets were somewhat anemic performers.) Nice touch: a pop-out antenna to extend wireless range. Less nice: no USB 3.

Turn it into a tablet and you get a touch device that can run all those standard Windows applications. The problem is that Windows

really isn’t designed for big fat clumsy fingertips. The upcoming Windows 8 hopefully will do a better job in this regard.

Samsung has been taking on Apple on a variety of fronts, including iPhoneand iPad-challenging smartphones and tablets Samsung has been taking on Apple on a variety of fronts, including iPhoneand iPad-challenging smartphones and tablets. Its Series 9 laptop ($1,599) targets Apple’s light and slim 13-inch MacBook Air ultraportable laptop. Unlike HP’s Elitebook, it avoids mimicking Apple’s

metallic silver look, opting for a striking brushed charcoal Duraluminum case.

Samsung claims it’s aircraftgrade aluminum: light but strong.

Like Apple’s Air it’s slim and light, with ports hidden away behind little doors. (In both cases, the ports are a bit hard to access – a case of style trumping usability.)

More si mi la rit ies to the Air: a big, glass-coated touchpad with integrated buttons and a backlit keyboard. Unlike the MacBook Air, the Series 9 has a wider display with a matte finish, making it more viewable in bright light. And while both the Series 9 and the MacBook Air require dongles to connect to a wired network port, Apple’s product (and HP’s Elitebook) also needs a dongle to plug into an HDMI external projector or high-def TV; the Series 9 has a mini-HDMI port built in.

T he 13-i nch A i r ha s a full-sized SD card slot;

Samsung’s Series 9 includes a less-useful microSD slot.

Like the Air and HP’s Elitebook, the case lacks room for an internal optical drive.

Samsung provides a threeyear warranty standard; Apple makes that an addedcost option.

Its Intel Core i5 processor and 128-gigabyte solid-state drive provide perky performance: Windows 7 boots up in about 20 seconds.

In the spring, when Samsung released the Series 9, Apple’s MacBook Air was using Intel’s last-generation Core Duo processor. Since then, Apple upgraded its Air models to the newer Core i5 generation. And that puts Samsung in a bit of a bind: a MacBook Air with a similar processor, same-sized solid-state drive and same amount of memory costs $1,299. • Alan Zisman (www.zisman. ca) is a Vancouver educator and computer specialist. His column appears weekly.

Real estate

August 30–September 5, 2011 Business in Vancouver

11

Real estate roundup

Peter Mitham Affordability top of mind for developers and buyers; report underscores how much Vancouver skews market Chinatown hustle Anthem Properties Group is moving forward with Union, the project in Victoria’s Chinatown formerly known as Bambu.

Amadon Group launched Bambu in late 2005 and shelved the project when fast-rising construction costs and moderating demand led to the conclusion that the economics of the $45 million project wouldn’t pencil out. Anthem has rejigged the development’s configuration and brought it back to market with 133 units in two five-storey blocks. B.C.’s Major Projects Inventory pegs the new construction cost at $20 million.

Speak ing last year, Sylvia Yung, Anthem vice-president of communications, said the changes give the project an efficient design with fewer unit sizes. The simple arrangement contributes to the lower cost and promises to be an easier sell to buyers less bamboozled by a plethora of layout options.

The initial release comprises 130 suites. These are primarily one-bedroom units, with 12 suites offering two bedrooms and a den. Three loft-style units with two bedrooms are being held for a later release.

The total size of the development is 35,500 square feet. The cheapest units start at $239,900 for 491 square feet – or approximately $489 a square foot.

Detached home values The press release announcing Anthem’s launch of Union described the property as appealing to buyers “seeking exceptional value.”

Given that it’s been a while since homes hit the Vancouver market at less than $500 a square foot, one can see the appeal.

But the latest housing affordability report from RBC

Power in Union: simple and affordable configurations at the Union development in Victoria buoy Anthem Properties’ hopes that the project will be more successful than when it originally hit the market in 2005

Economics underscores the disproportionate role of Vancouver in skewing affordability measures in the province (and, in turn, making projects such as Union seem attractive by comparison).

“Measures for all housing types are now either at or very close to their worst levels on record,” report authors Robert Hogue and Craig Wright stated. “Such poor affordability almost entirely reflects the sky-high market valuations in the Vancouver area.”

Detached home values are exactly that – detached.

“The RBC measure for bungalows jumped by a whopping 10.4 percentage points – a record – in the second quarter to an all-time high of 92.5%,” Hogue and Wright reported.

“With the bar set so high, owning a home is a dream that only the area’s highest-earning households

can contemplate.”

Or perhaps not. The report tips foreign buyers as driving the upward momentum, and while this has had a knock-on effect on all manner of properties condos remain more affordable than last year – by a percentage point.

While still well above the 25year average, the average condominium requires just 47.1% of a household’s monthly income.

That’s just less than half what a two-storey home requires, but chances are the buyer seeking a two-bedroom home isn’t putting in offers on condos.

Bellstar takes Comox Calgary-based Bellstar Hotels and Resorts Ltd. has added another B.C. resort to its management portfolio. This time it’s Comox Bay Marina & Residences, a natural fit given the popularity of Vancouver

Island with Alberta buyers.

Bellstar previously managed Miraloma on the Cove in Sidney, but its management contract ended last year when Miraloma’s owners converted the development to condos. Howard Land

“Such poor affordability almost entirely reflects the sky-high market valuations in the Vancouver area” – Robert Hogue and Craig Wright, economists, RBC Economics

Group recently approached Bellstar to manage the Comox project, which is set to open in early 2014.

“We looked at the plans, we looked at the condos, we looked at

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the size of the resort, we looked at the market in Comox and we decided it is a fit for us,” said Bellstar COO Ralf Strub.

Strub said the addition of Comox opens opportunities for Bellstar to become more active on Vancouver Island. It was meeting with a second resort owner last week, and it’s in discussions with a third property. The latter two are operated by the developer, who sees value in having an outside management company.

“They understand it’s a different skill set,” Strub said.

Bellstar looks forward to being back on the Island following the termination of the Miraloma agreement.

“We want to add the Island again to our portfolio as a hub and make it more worthwhile than it is with one resort,” Strub said. • pmitham@telus.net

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Daily business news at www.biv.com  August 30–September 5, 2011

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Website

1

HSBC Celebration of Light www.celebration-of-light.com

2

The Fair at the PNE www.pne.ca

3 4

Vancouver Pride Parade www.vancouverpride.ca TD Vancouver International Jazz Festival www.coastaljazz.ca

5 6

Event host Phone

Venue(s)

Nature of event

Event manager

Date of most Next event recent event date

Attendance: most recent/ previous

Vancouver Fireworks Festival Society 604-642-6835 Pacific National Exhibition (PNE) 604-253-2311 Vancouver Pride Society 604-687-0955 Coastal Jazz & Blues Society 604-872-5200

English Bay

Fireworks competition

Andrea DowdDever

July 30, Aug. 2012 3, Aug. 6, 2011

1,000,000 1,500,000

PNE Fairgrounds

The 17-day fair at the PNE is the largest annual ticketed event in B.C.

Jeff Strickland, vice-president, operations NP

Aug. 20-Sept.

5, 2011

Aug. 21-Sept.

6, 2010

937,4851 937,485

July 31, 2011

Aug. 5, 2011

Downtown Vancouver Annual gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender celebration

Internationally acclaimed jazz festival featuring the full spectrum of jazz, blues, funk, world and electronica dance music

NP

June 24-July 3, 2011

CelticFest Vancouver www.celticfestvancouver.com Bright Nights in Stanley Park www.vancouverparks.ca

Various indoor and outdoor venues in Vancouver Celtic Fest Vancouver Society Various venues in 604-683-8331 downtown Vancouver Vancouver Park Board Stanley Park 604-257-8531 Miniature Railway

Western Canada's biggest annual Celtic festival with about 50 events over five days

R. Albano

March 2011

Christmas train and lights display. Joint event with BC Professional Fire Fighters' Burn Fund as a fundraiser for the Burn Fund

Vancouver Park Board

6

Canada Day at Canada Place www.canadaplace.ca/canadaday

Canada Place Corp.

604-775-7200

Canada Place

Canada Place's marquee event including a traditional NP citizenship ceremony, musical performances and interactive displays and family events

8

Vancouver International Film Festival www.viff.org

Various venues in Vancouver

International film festival

9

Vancouver Christmas Market www.vancouverchristmasmarket.com

Queen Elizabeth Theatre Plaza

10 11

Canada Day in Surrey www.canadaday.surrey.ca Rio Tinto Alcan Dragon Boat Festival www.dragonboatbc.ca

12

Bard on the Beach Shakespeare Festival www.bardonthebeach.org

13

Cloverdale Rodeo and Country Fair www.cloverdalerodeo.com

Greater Vancouver International Film Festival Society 604-685-0260 Vancouver Christmas Market Inc. 604.924.4506 City of Surrey NP Rio Tinto Alcan Dragon Boat Festival Society 604-688-2382 Bard on the Beach Shakespeare Festival 604-737-0625 Cloverdale Rodeo and Exhibition Association 604-576-9461

14

Festival of Lights at VanDusen Botanical Garden www.vandusengarden.org

15

640,000 640,000 June 22-July 1, 520,000 2012 525,000

March 14-18, 2012 Nov. 2010-Jan. Dec. 2011-Jan. 2011 2012

250,000 02 200,000 200,0003

July 1, 2011

July 1, 2012

200,000 200,000

Alan Franey

Sept. 30-Oct. 15, 2010

Sept. 29-Oct. 14, 2011

148,000 149,000

Cultural event

Malte Kluetz

Nov. 24-Dec. 24, 2010

Nov. 24-Dec. 24, 2011

125,0001 125,000

Cloverdale Millennium Amphitheatre False Creek and Creekside Community Centre Theatre tents in Vanier Park

One of the largest Canada Day celebrations in Metro Vancouver

Donnelly & Associates Ann Phelps

July 1, 2011

July 1, 2012

June 10-12, 2011

June 15-17, 2012

100,000 125,0004 100,000 100,000

Annual Shakespeare festival staging four professional productions in open-backed theatre tents against a spectacular natural backdrop

NP

June-Sept.

2011

June-Sept.

2012

90,000 79,000

Cloverdale Rodeo & Exhibition Fair Grounds

The country fair features family-friendly entertainment and activities, while the Cloverdale Rodeo offers up world-class rodeo action and the second-largest payout in Canada

Dave Melenchuk

May 20-23, 2011

May 18-21, 2012 77,000 72,000

VanDusen Botanical Garden 604-257-8335

VanDusen Botanical Garden

Annual light display with 1.4 million lights, Dancing Lights on the Lake, Gingerbread Wood, Make-a-Wish Candle Shrine, Santa's Living Room, Gold Chain Walk and more

VanDusen Botanical Garden

Dec. 2010-Jan.1, 2011

Dec. 9, 2011-Jan. 1, 2012

72,000 60,0005

Caribbean Days Festival www.caribbeandays.ca

Trinidad & Tobago Cultural Society of B.C. 604-515-2400

Waterfront Park

B.C.'s first, original and major annual Caribbean cultural event. This free, two-day outdoor festival, features Caribbean and multicultural food, music, arts and crafts

Manchan Sonachansingh

July 23-24, 2011

July 28-29, 2012

48,000 48,000

16 17 18

Summer Night Market www.summernightmarket.com Word on the Street www.thewordonthestreet.ca/wots/vancouver Richmond Maritime Festival www.richmondmaritimefestival.ca

Lions Communications Inc. 604-278-8000 Rebus Creative 604-684-8294 City of Richmond 604-718-8040

Multicultural night market festival

Paul Cheung

May 18-Sept. Summer 2012 18, 2011 Sept. 26, 2010 Sept. 25, 2011

19

Vancouver International Fringe Festival www.vancouverfringe.com

12631 Vulcan Way, Richmond Vancouver Library Square and CBC Plaza Britannia Shipyards, National Historic Site of Canada First Vancouver Theatrespace Granville Island Society 604-257-0350

20

Vancouver International Children's Festival Society 604-708-5655 Theatre Under the Stars 604-734-1917 Vancouver Playhouse International Wine Festival 604-872-6623 Push Festival Society 604-605-8284

Granville Island

Week-long festival of performing arts and culture for Katharine Carol young audiences

Malkin Bowl, Stanley Park Vancouver Convention Centre

Musical theatre productions

Various venues in Vancouver

International performing arts festival

24

Vancouver International Children's Festival www.childrensfestival.ca Theatre Under the Stars www.tuts.ca Vancouver Playhouse International Wine Festival www.playhousewinefest.com Push International Performing Arts Festival www.pushfestival.ca MusicFest Vancouver6 www.musicfestvancouver.ca

Various venues in Vancouver

Annual feast of classical, jazz and world music Morna Edmundson, Aug. 6-15, 2010 Aug. 5-14, 2011 19,822 15,0007 presentations for 10 days in August in over 40 events administrative

25

Fort Langley Cranberry Festival www.fortlangley.com

Vancouver Summer Festival Society 604-688-1152 Fort Langley Business Improvement Association 604-888-8835

Fort Langley

Cranberry festival

21 22 23

Sources: Interviews with representatives from the above events and BIV research. NR Not ranked NP Not provided 1 - 2010 figure 2 - Did not hold a festival in 2010, due to the Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games 3 - 107,000 train riders 4 - 2009 attendance 5 - Historical average 6 - Formerly Festival Vancouver 7 - Ten-day festival attendance

Live world music, dragon boat racing, food from around the world, activities for kids, marketplace and more

Literary festival to buy books, attend author readings NP Maritime-themed entertainment exhibits, displays and demonstrations, heritage boats, island city

Sandi Swanigan

Aug. 5-7, 2011

B.C.'s largest theatre festival features over 500 shows in 11 days at venues on and around Granville Island

NP

Sept. 8-18, 2011 Sept 7-17, 2012 31,262 22,000

James Cronk

Premier wine event and among the biggest, best and Harry Hertscheg, Trish Metcalfe oldest wine events in the world

Do not miss the Book of Lists, a compilation of lists featured in BIV, including biggest law firms, construction companies, biotech firms and many more. Free to subscribers ($79.95 plus HST for one year) or $35 plus HST as a separate purchase. Purchase lists as Excel files at www.biv.com/listsforsale.

NP

Aug. 10-12, 2012

48,000 45,000 40,0001 40,000 40,000 20,000

May 30-June 5, 2011

May 28-June 3, 2012

30,000 45,000

July 8-Aug. 20, 2011 Mar. 28-Apr. 3, 2011

July 6-Aug. 18, 2012 Feb. 27-Mar. 4, 2012

30,000 36,000 25,000 25,000

Jan. 18-Feb. 6, Jan. 17-Feb. 5, 24,439 2011 2012 24,000

director Shirley Stewart

Oct. 9, 2010

Oct.r 8, 2011

15,000 20,000

Business in Vancouver makes every attempt to publish accurate information in The List, but accuracy cannot be guaranteed. Researched by Richard Chu, lists@biv.com.

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List

August 30–September 5, 2011 Business in Vancouver

PNE braces for strike action following its annual 17-day fair Vancouver Giants Western Hockey League games among events that could be disrupted as union workers seek cost-of-living raise and better job security on one level.

Varty wants the union’s members to be contractually entitled to do that construction and renovation work.

If the two sides fail to reach an agreement soon after the fair’s September 5 finale, the union could strike by mid-September and threaten the: •September 23 Vancouver Giants home opener at Pacific Coliseum; •September 24 Vancouver Whitecaps soccer game – the final event at the temporary Empire Field stadium; and

By Glen Korstrom

J

“We’re far apart on wages” – Steve Varty, business agent, CUPE Local 1004

Dominic Schaefer

ob action from unionized workers won’t interrupt Vancouver’s second-largest cultural festival, but once the Fair at the Pacific National Exhibition (PNE) ends, a strike could disrupt Vancouver Giants hockey games, concerts and the final sporting events at the temporary Empire Field stadium.

“The employer has walked away from the table and at the moment there aren’t even more talks scheduled,” said CUPE Local 1004 business agent Steve Varty. “We are weighing our options, up to and including taking a strike vote after this year’s fair is finished.”

Varty represents nearly 4,000 ticket-takers, security guards, carpenters, labourers and other workers who watched their three-year contract end at the beginning of 2011.

“We did not walk away from the table,” retorted PNE CEO Mike McDaniel when told of Varty’s comments. “We’ve been bargaining for a while now and made quite a bit of progress.”

McDaniel told Business in Vancouver that hostile union insinuations that there could be a strike stem from being in what he called the “unfamiliar territory” of not having a contract in place by the start of the annual fair.

It’s impractical, however, to believe that any headway on a new contract could be made during the fair because both PNE executives and union staff are working long hours to ensure the success of the 17-day event.

Any glitch in the fair would be costly given that about $25 million of the PNE’s $45 million annual revenue comes from the fair. The PNE has been a tradition in Vancouver for 101 years, and this year will host free concerts from performers such as

Fair game: this year, Vancouver’s second-largest cultural festival, the Fair at the PNE, includes free concerts from performers such as Hall and Oates

Kenny Rogers (August 29), Donny Osmond (August 30) and Hall and Oates (September 2).

But Varty told BIV the absence of an agreement prior to the start of this year’s PNE is a warning sign of gruelling negotiations ahead.

“We’re far apart on wages. The employer is offering 1.5%, 1.25% and 1% while we’re looking for a cost-ofliving increase. They say they can’t afford that.

“Job security ties into contracting-out issues. About 50% of

our full-time members are laid off every October or November for the entire winter. We want the PNE to be forced to use our members contractually more throughout the winter.”

Varty and McDaniel agree that the City of Vancouver has a 25-year master plan for the city-owned PNE site that includes improvements such as “greening,” a new building and potentially a 3,700-vehicle parkade – roughly the same number of parking stalls the PNE currently has

Nominations are open.

Go to www.biv.com/iwib Nomination Deadline: December 2 Issue: February 2012 Awards Luncheon: March 2012

Sponsors:

Sponsorship opportunites available.

Call 604.688.2398

•September 25 Pearl Jam concert at the Pacific Coliseum.

When the final whistle sounds at Empire Field, the PNE will pass management responsibility for the site to the Vancouver Park Board.

Workers will take about three months to dismantle the provincially owned stadium, which the PNE manages on city-owned land.

The artificial turf will be expanded to make way for two slightly smaller football-style playing fields that are aligned east-west instead of north-south.

“There are still discussions about whether we could put in some [baseball diamonds]” McDaniel said.

Four lighting towers will remain, but McDaniel said their brightness will likely be reduced because the field will no longer need broadcastquality lighting.

The 28-year-old BC Place Stadium is scheduled to reopen for the September 30 game between the BC Lions and the Edmonton Eskimos. • gkorstrom@biv.com

13

daily online edition

BUSINESS TODAY Second Amtrak train to Seattle gets extension Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) will continue to provide – and fund – border clearance services to Amtrak’s second daily train, which runs between Vancouver and Seattle.

The train began as a pilot project in 2009, in the build-up to the 2010 Winter Olympics. Post-Olympics, neither CBSA nor Amtrak was keen to foot the bill for border clearance services.

Last year, those services cost CBSA $600,000.

Thursday, August 25

Iain Black quits politics to join board of trade Liberal MLA Iain Black has decided to step away from politics to promote business in Vancouver.

On Wednesday, Black was named president and CEO of the Vancouver Board of Trade, effective October 3.

“I am really excited about this opportunity,” Black told Business in Vancouver.

Thursday, August 25

B.C. commutes are longest in Canada With average daily commutes of 38 minutes, B.C. and Ontario residents are spending the most time commuting in the country, according to a survey by Workopolis.

B.C.’s commute is highest for time spent, but not for distance travelled.

Wednesday, August 24

Full stories and other local business news at www.biv.com/businesstoday Daily business news direct to your inbox!

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14 News

Daily business news at www.biv.com August 30–September 5, 2011

Proposed coal port faces U.S. backlash Public opposition targets $500 million Washington state facility that would compete head-on with Port Metro Vancouver assessment of this proposal.”

Media reports track further pushback from a group of 160 doctors from Whatcom County, who claim the new terminal would erode local health. The group wants a study of the effect on local health from coal dust and diesel from trains and ships, as well as the im-

By Jenny Wagler

A

proposed bulk terminal in Cherry Point, Washington state, that would compete with Port Metro Vancouver (PMV) for drybulk exports is facing public and political opposition.

In late February, marine terminal operator and stevedoring company SSA Marine announced it had launched the environmental review process for a $500 million terminal project to handle coal, grain, potash and other dry-bulk commodities.

(See “Cherry Point terminal could lure more B.C. port business south” – issue 1116, March 15-21.)

The proposed facility would accommodate 48 million tonnes annually of open-storage commodities like coal, plus six million tonnes of grains, potash and other closedstorage commodities. It would also initially have at least 25 million tonnes of coal-handling capacity.

As Washington state election races gain momentum, candidates in and near Whatcom county, where the Cherry Point project is proposed, are criticizing the project.

Whatcom County Council, in conjunction with state and federal regulatory authorities, will

“I’m all for jobs and economic development, but there are serious impacts Environmental groups, doctors and local politicians in Washington state are opposing a proposed terminal at Cherry Point

ultimately decide if the project will proceed. Whatcom County Council won’t face an election until 2014.

The terminal, however, is a hot issue in area mayoral races.

American media have reported that in Bellingham, Whatcom County’s largest city, two out of four mayoral candidates, including incumbent Dan Pike, are opposed to the large coal terminal. But they would entertain options for a smaller multi-cargo facility.

Two counties over in t he Snohomish County city of Edmonds,

local media reported that all three mayoral candidates oppose the project. Edmonds mayoral candidate Dave Earling told Business in Vancouver in an email that he has serious concerns about the proposed terminal.

“I’m all for jobs and economic development, but there are serious impacts to our community given potential train traffic along our city’s waterfront,” he said. “I support the current solution of Whatcom County and the state government doing a complete environmental

to our community given potential train traffic along our city’s waterfront” – Dave Earling, mayoral candidate, Edmonds, WA

pacts of added railroad noise and disruption of emergency traffic at rail crossings.

An online petition protesting the project, launched in March

by Bellingham-based non-profit group Resources for Sustainable Communities, has gathered 1,317

signatories and been forwarded to state representatives.

“The choice … is one between continued pursuit of a bright and promising future and a turn toward a past anchored in extractive behaviors that have left us polluted, degraded, and mired in ecological, economic, and social debt,” the petition argued in its final paragraph.

According to staff at her communications department, Washington Gov. Chris Gregoire has taken no position on the project.

Earlier this year, PMV COO Chris Badger told Business in Vancouver that a terminal at Cherry Point would mean new competition for the port’s dry-bulk terminals and require it to demonstrate a competitive advantage.

Duncan Wilson, Port Metro Vancouver’s director of communications and government affairs, offered no assessment of the significance of the backlash the project is facing in the United States.

“I can’t say, because I’m not familiar with the U.S. regulatory process, but we’re certainly aware of the ongoing discussions in the U.S., and we’re following them closely.” • jwagler@biv.com

Cobalt coup in Siberian outback Local juniors bank on demand for high-tech gadgets in the search for a strategic metal used in alloys that are manufactured into aircraft engines, but is increasingly being found in new high-tech gadgets such as cellphones and batteries.

By Joel McKay

B

“[Investors] definitely have to do [their] homework” – Jonathon Lee, analyst, Byron Capital Markets

Richard Lam

ooming consumer demand for cellphones, laptops and iPads has helped a local junior mining company close a once-in-a-lifetime deal in Siberia.

In late July, Puget Ventures (TSX-V:PVS) shed its rookie reputation to become Global Cobalt Corp., a mine developer with a key cobalt project in Russia’s Republic of Altai .

By way of a reverse takeover, Puget has not only landed what it believes to be a very large cobalt deposit in an under-explored region of Siberia, but also a $400 million deal to develop infrastructure to support an eventual mine.

Erin Chutter, Puget’s 37-year-old president and founder, told Business in Vancouver her company has spent the last four years scouring the globe for large cobalt projects.

The company was coming up short when a shareholder

Puget Ventures founder Erin Chutter: “we’ve been looking for primary cobalt assets all over the world … and then the elephant shows up in a place no one has heard of”

mentioned a project called Karakul in a remote part of southern Siberia.

“It was almost disbelief,” Chutter said of the find.

“We’ve been looking for primary cobalt assets all over the world … and then the elephant shows up in a place no one has heard of.”

The Altai Republic is a little-known region within the Russian Federation that shares borders with Kazakhstan, Mongolia and China.

Chutter said the region is looking to make the most of its mineral deposits, notably Karakul.

The company will need to

drill the deposit to bring it in line with Canadian resource estimate standards, but Chutter believes it could become one of the largest primary cobalt deposits outside of the Democratic Republic of Congo, where the majority of the world’s cobalt is produced.

The metal is traditionally

Ongoing consumer demand for those technologies has prompted a few local mining companies to seek out cobalt-rich deposits to take advantage of this emerging market.

Even the London Metals Exchange (LME) caught on to the demand for the metal, launching a cobalt futures trading platform in February 2010.

The Republic of Altai is so keen on cobalt that it and the

federal government of Russia have committed to spend $400 million over the next five years to help Chutter and her team build a mine at Karakul.

“The infrastructure funding is viewed as a way for Altai to leap over some of the growing pains of an emerging economy,” she said.

But her company isn’t the only local outfit to tap into the race for cobalt riches.

Vancouver-based Formation Metals (TSX:FCO) is about to begin building its cobalt project in Idaho.

Once in production, the mine is expected to supply 15% of North America’s demand for high-purity cobalt, which will be used in jet engines.

Jonathon Lee, an analyst with Byron Capital Markets, believes Formation is undervalued at $1 per share given the size of its project and its ability to serve a niche part of the cobalt market.

Despite the fervour for metal, he said that no two cobalt deposits are alike, with different types serving different markets.

That being the case, Lee said investors should continue to tread carefully. • jmckay@biv.com

Small business

August 30–September 5, 2011 Business in Vancouver Startup Strategies

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Troy Fimrite

P

information through a business valuation can solidify plans and allow SMEs to be better equipped to make informed decisions and improve the value of their business.

Products should be designed for different stages of business development that can help a company raise startup capital, partners sell out of a partnership, business owners who are planning to retire or investors looking to enter a new industry.

We recently had a client who was looking at purchasing a cheque-cashing franchise and wanted to understand what he was investing in. The client remarked that the market valuation was affordable insurance that allowed him to enter the industry with confidence.

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How to prepare for financial success reparation and planning are essential for creating confidence for both potential and current business owners.

These two elements are a springboard for future success. A miscalculation many small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) make is not planning properly, doing the right research or knowing where to go for the critical information before making major financial and time commitments.

According to Industry Canada data, of the 130,000 new small businesses starting up each year in Canada, 93% don’t make it past their first year. That staggeringly high failure rate is very intimidating to potential entrepreneurs. However, there are ways to improve the chances for success.

The first step is a solidly detailed business plan. Asking a professional to flesh out the business plan and provide feedback can be very valuable.

A poorly thought-out business plan can be detrimental to the business’ direction and weaken the chances of securing investor support.

Another tool available to new businesses, once a solid business plan is developed, is exploring the value of a customized market valuation and business analysis.

These reports allow newbusiness owners and investors to review the potential stability and profitability of their business.

Essentially it is an appraisal on the worth or potential worth of the business and an analysis of how the performance of the business’ industry and the wider economy might affect the business’ performance and success in the future.

A question that many small-business owners may wonder about is, why bother spending extra money on a valuation report when I am just starting out?

Entrepreneurs are alive with amazing ideas, but they may not have a background in financing or understand the market they are entering.

If an SME wants to raise additional money, either as debt or equity, it will need to know how much the company could be potentially worth in the market before it can approach a bank or an investor. I strongly believe having industry specific

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A poorly thought-out business plan can be detrimental to the business’ direction and weaken the chances of securing investor support Reflecting on the decision to have a report prepared, the client commented that it was an excellent return on investment. The report solidified that this was a profitable industry to venture into. Our client received a concise report written in plain language that he could understand and use to make decisions immediately.

As a n ent repreneu r, I understand that a smallbusiness owner has to wear many hats when first starting out and throughout the growth of his or her business.

A lot of stress can be involved when investing time, money and energy into an idea. Developing a solid plan and having as much knowledge as possible through business valuation tools can mean the difference between success and failure. • Troy Fimrite is the CEO of Atlin Institute, which helps small and medium enterprises better understand their business value. He is also a previous BIV Forty under 40 winner. Contact him at 855999-0019; www.atlin.com.

www.biv.com/businesstoday New. Fresh each day. Sign up at www.biv.com

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List

Daily business news at www.biv.com August 30–September 5, 2011

Biggest office supply firms in B.C. Ranked by total staff in B.C. Rank '11 Company name

Top local executive(s)

No. locations: Products and services in B.C./ in Canada

Year founded/ Ownership Headquarters

No. B.C. staff '11/'10

Staples Business Depot

Steve Matyas, president, Staples Canada

42 325

Supplier of office supplies, business machines, office furniture and business services to small business and home-office customers

1991 Staples Inc. (Nasdaq: Richmond Hill, ON SPLS)

1,6501 1,7001

Grand & Toy

Justine Harrison, area vice-president 5 54

Offers quality products and services from dynamic interiors and the latest technology to a wide range of office and facility supplies

1882 Don Mills, ON

OfficeMax

135 65

Monk Office

James McKenzie, president and CEO Ross Hill, CFO and COO

10 10

Office supplies, business machines and technology, office furniture

1951 Victoria

James McKenzie and Ross Hill

1302 130

Mills Basics

Brad Mills, CEO

4 NP

Long history of delivering outstanding service and the 1949 highest-quality office products and printing to Vancouver customers

Mills family

105 99

FedEx Office Canada Ltd

Jose Yamazaki, country managing director

4 16

19843 Toronto

Corporation

75 75

Canon Canada Inc

Gary Stewart, branch manager, B.C. region

1 14

Paper for printers/copiers, wide selection of paper and card stocks, designer papers, business stationery with matching envelopes, announcements, invitations, résumé paper, brochures, common office supplies and more; standard and custom rubber stamps Highly respected Canadian market leader in business and consumer imaging equipment and solutions

1973 Mississauga, ON

NP

60 60

Costless Express4

Calvin Johnson, CEO

1 NP

Over 40,000 items available for free next day delivery 1989 with no minimum order at the lowest delivered price Coquitlam

Privately held

41 32

ImagePath Printing Solutions Inc

3784 Napier St, Burnaby V5C 5Z9 P: 604-299-1040 F: 604-299-1043 www.primeimage.com

Joe Russo, president Howard Stoker, vice-president of sales Chris Straub, director of service

NP NP

Office machines, printers, service, supplies, IT

2004 Burnaby

Joe Russo, Chris Straub and Howard Stoker

30 20

E Madill Office Co

Ehren Madill, owner

2 2

Provider of office supplies, furniture, technology, cleaning and break-room supplies/products

1997 Ladysmith

Independent, private, 24 employee owned 23

Office Essentials

Tim Hartford, president

1 1

1989 Richmond

Privately held

212 21

Dragonfly Business Solutions Inc

Andrew Bonnar Jason Bonnar, owners

1 1

Specialize in providing corporate, education, government and hospitality industries with a wide variety of computer and point-of-sale consumable products including printer and toner service and hardware on an "as needed" or cost-per-copy basis and specialty paper products Xerox office products and software, Xerox production printing products, document management solutions, resale of paper supplies and printer cartridges, sale of copiers and printers

2003 Vancouver

NP

21 13

Canadian Office Supplies Inc

Toma Doo, president Jennivine Doo, partner

NP 1

Office supplies and furniture, technology, printer 1989 service, printing and custom stamps, break-room and Richmond janitorial supplies, rewards program and free gift with every order over $100

NP

16 16

Total Office Supply Ltd

Tracey Jakobsen, owner

1 1

Full office supply, office furniture and print/design divisions with outside sales staff

Privately owned

11 10

G Trasolini Business Products Inc

Gerardo Trasolini, president

NP NP

Over 16,000 office products; specialize in photocopy 1986 and computer paper, laser printer and fax service and Burnaby repair, toner cartridges (new and manufactured), data storage tapes

Family owned

82 8

Canadian Business Distributors Inc

Odell Boivin, president

1 NP

Providers of office supplies, toners, cartridges, 2000 ribbons, fax films, inks, shipping supplies, boxes, office Langley furniture, janitorial supplies, break-room supplies and business supplies

Private

8 6

Ink Toner Cartridge Ltd

Adam Bai, manager

3 NP

Ink toner cartridges, printer toner and cartridges, ink- 2007 jet ink, laser-jet toner cartridges, new and refill printer Vancouver repair

NP

6 6

Queens Stationery

John Lekakis, managing partner

NP NP

Office essentials, school supplies, greeting cards, business services, full-service Canada Post outlet

1988 Privately held North Vancouver

62 6

GBC Canada

Tom Cowden, regional manager

1 7

Document and presentation solutions, ranging from binders and index tabs to pocket folders to media packaging and tote boxes; document binding, lamination solutions, information packaging and technical service

1947 Brampton, ON

4 5

Address

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

11 12 13 14 15 16 16 17

6 Staples Ave, Richmond Hill, ON L4B 4W3 P: 905-737-1147 F: NP www.staples.ca

4560 Tillicum St, Burnaby V5J 5L4 P: 604-324-5151 F: 604-323-7581 www.grandandtoy.com 800 Viewfield Rd, Victoria V9A 4V1 P: 250-385-0565 F: 250-384-3851 www.monk.ca

1111 Clark Dr, Vancouver V5L 3K5 P: 604-254-7211 F: 604-254-7484 www.mills.ca

2 St Clair Ave W, Toronto M4V 1L5 P: 416-323-3305 F: 416-323-1687 www.fedex.ca

6390 Dixie Rd, Mississauga, ON L5T 1P7 P: 905-795-1111 F: 905-795-2130 www.canon.ca

94B Glacier St, Coquitlam V3K 6B2 P: 604-444-4467 F: 604-444-4302 www.costlessexpress.com

2290 Holdom Ave, Burnaby P: 877-527-2003 F: 866-754-1856 www.emadill.com

12851 Clarke Pl, Richmond V6V 2H9 P: 604-276-9909 F: 604-276-9949 www.officeessentials.com

1190 Melville St Suite 430, Vancouver V6E 3W1 P: 604-689-5554 F: NP www.dragon-fly.ca

13900 Maycrest Way Unit 250, Richmond V6V 3E2 P: 604-522-6607 F: 604-522-9974 www.canadianofficesupplies.com 371 Alexander St Suite 103, Salmon Arm V1E 4N2 P: 250-832-8622 F: 250-832-8522 www.totalofficesupply.ca 4005 2nd Ave, Burnaby V5C 3X1 P: 604-298-6160 F: 604-298-3792 www.trasolini.com

9780 197B St Suite 201, Langley V1M 3G3 P: 604-807-0884 F: 604-513-1356 www.canadiandistributors.ca 333 West Broadway, Vancouver V5Y 1P8 P: 778-371-9554 F: 604-708-8158 www.inktonermart.com

3034 Edgemont Blvd, North Vancouver V7R 2N4 P: 604-987-0422 F: 604-987-5020 NP

5 Precidio Crt, Brampton, ON L6S 6B7 P: 800-463-2545 F: 800-422-7135 www.gbccanada.com

Sources: Interviews with above firms and BIV research. Other companies may have ranked but did not provide information by deadline. NR Not ranked NP Not provided 1 - BIV estimate 2 - 2010 figure 3 - In Canada 4 - Acquired Frogfile Office Essentials Inc. in October 2009

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1987 Salmon Arm

ACCO Brands Corp.

Business in Vancouver makes every attempt to publish accurate information in The List, but accuracy cannot be guaranteed. Researched by Richard Chu, lists@biv.com.

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next week: The Blue Edition

August 30–September 5, 2011 Business in Vancouver

17

Spaced out With downtown vacancy rates at multi-year lows, few companies want to move locations, prompting property managers and brokerage firms to find new ways to market office space

contents Cutting through the noise 2 Tight budgets and the ever-harder task of catching the public’s eye are driving a trend toward stunt-based advertising

Spaced out

4

Low downtown vacancy rates cause property managers and brokerage firms to find new ways to market office space

Bentall Kennedy executive vice-president Tony Astles: a well-designed building can help attract new tenants

By Joel Mckay

D

espite Vancouver’s international reputation as one of the nicest places on earth to set up shop, many of the companies that fill office space downtown are born and bred on the West Coast.

“Va ncouver is a v ir tua l ly closed market,” said Tony Astles, executive vice-president, B.C., at Bentall Kennedy. “In terms of the percentage of tenants or square footage available, there’s almost a non-existent amount of new tenants that come in from outside Vancouver.”

There are a number of reasons for that, said Astles, notably the city’s pricey labour and lease rates.

On top of that, Vancouver is not known as a head-office city.

In fact, major corporations are more apt to set up satellite offices in the Terminal City than move their headquarters here.

But that doesn’t mean property managers and brokerage firms are investing all their time and money marketing to potential tenants far and wide.

Rather, the city’s existing tenant base is so fluid that vacancy rates remain tight.

That means property managers and brokerage firms have very simple marketing plans: •list available space online; and •keep in touch with existing clients’ growth prospects.

“If you have good head-lease space today and a broker who’s active with it, you’re going to find someone for it,” explained Glenn Gardner, a corporate real estate adviser with Avison Young in Vancouver.

According to Avison Young’s mid-year 2011 Metro Vancouver office market report, the downtown core will face “constrained” office supply until mid-2014 when new towers come on the market.

“As much as the green movement is making headlines, cost is the number 1 driver for these guys” – John Wu, associate vice-president, Newmark Knight Frank Devencore

At mid-year, the downtown vacancy rate remained at 5%.

Unoccupied AAA office space downtown tightened further in the first six months of 2011 to 1.3%.

Gardner said a healthy downtown vacancy rate would be about 10%, adding that the current situation is tough on both tenants and landlords.

“If you’re a tenant and you want to expand, it’s difficult to do that. … The reverse of that is if you’re a landlord and you have a tenant you want to keep and you can’t find space for them, then they

Richard Lam

Dominic Schaefer

Show then tell

Avison Young real estate adviser Glenn Gardner: office space that moves the fastest has the best access to transportation

have to go find space somewhere else,” he said.

The situation is so constrained that Gardner suggests companies in search of more than 5,000 square feet of space need to start looking 10 months in advance.

All this might lead tenants to believe that property managers and brokerage firms don’t work very hard at marketing their properties.

But Gardner said that’s simply not the case.

“At the end of the day, unless there’s a tenant in your building that needs your space, you have to market it.”

Astles agreed.

In addition to advertising properties to tenants and brokers, Bentall, which is B.C.’s largest commercial property manager, also makes sure its office space is pleasing to the eye.

“The marketing of the property actually flows right into the space itself … its state of readiness is critical to our marketing initiatives,” said Astles.

From details about how a building operates to its sustainability initiatives, the quality of its elevators and the finish on door handles, Bentall makes sure its clients have every piece of information they need.

“We go to ex t r aord i na r y lengths to make certain our product has a great experience when you arrive at it,” said Astles. “It’s kind of related to the residential notion of ‘staging.’”

Gardner added that office space located close to rapid-transit nodes is also easier to market to clients.

But when all is said and done, real estate firm Newmark Knight Frank Devencore said its Vancouver clients care about one selling feature more than any other ñ price.

“As much as the green movement is making headlines, cost is the number 1 driver for these guys,” said John Wu, an associate vice-president with Devencore.

Because vacancy rates downtown are so low, companies only move if they have to.

“Unless there’s a tenant in your building that needs your space, you have to market it” – Glenn Gardner, corporate real estate adviser, Avison Young Vancouver

That means Devencore not only helps companies locate new office space, but also outlines how a space can help a business cut costs.

“You can’t control revenue but you can control costs.” •

Stage presence

8

Small businesses get creative with traditional and digital strategies

Star power

10

When fighting to get your product noticed, sometimes it pays to hitch your brand to a celebrity

Brand awareness

12

Splurging to bring Manchester City to town could help future player-recruitment efforts for the Whitecaps

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This article is reprinted from the Blue Edition magazine, which will be delivered in the next issue of Business in Vancouver (1141; September 6-12).

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V

ery rarely do I hear from CEOs and executives who are worried they will not be able to plot a strategy that makes sense for their company.

More often than not, their greatest challenge lies in execution of the plan. One of the core issues in execution that holds back progress is ineffective decision-making systems that result from a limited understanding of how decisions are made, who has the ability and responsibility to make decisions and what criterion is being used to make those decisions.

The ability to make clear, definite and timely decisions can be the difference between leading and lagging the competition. If key people in your organization are in decision paralysis, what effect is that having on overall progress? Can you afford the extra time it’s taking to make decisions in your competitive industry?

So what can you do about it? Take a good look at how your decision-making culture might be slowing down the execution of your strategic plan by starting to understand which of these common blocks may be holding you back from making timely decisions.

A general fear of making the wrong decision. Are people hesitant to make a decision for fear that it might not be the best one? Help remove the fear of making the wrong decision (which typically leads to analysis paralysis) by encouraging a norm of being solution-focused – let people know that there is more than one way to do most things and, although it’s important to understand why something went wrong when it does, how problems are handled is what’s most important. If a decision turns out to be the “wrong� one, help people move quickly into solutions instead of blame or apathy.

Over-concern for other people’s feelings.

Leaders with a high concern for relationships tend to avoid making decisions that might cause discontent. Help people balance their relationships with their co-workers and what’s best for the company by working with them to look at the cause and effect of their decisions on the organization as a whole and putting a focus on clear, honest communication about what’s to come.

A lack of clarity around who is responsible for making decisions. From unclear lines of reporting and authority to haste when leaving weekly team meetings, consider how leaders in your company may be slowing down decision-making and, in turn, execution of your plan, by leaving teams of people unclear about who is responsible to make the decisions required to advance projects.

The people responsible for outcomes do not have the autonomy they need. Take a look at your plan, noting who is responsible for executing your most important initiatives.

Then, consider if those people have the autonomy they need to make the decisions required to get the job done and, more importantly, if they understand that they have the autonomy to do so. It’s difficult to make timely decisions when you’re expected to get approval every step of the way.

The executive leadership team is not leading by example. Leading by example around decision-making is key. Do you stick by the decisions you make? Do you hold it together when things don’t go as planned and look to

solutions instead of blaming and focusing on what went wrong? Do you allow people the autonomy to make important decisions and coach them and support them to do so? People are looking to the leadership team for cues on what’s expected of them, so make sure you “walk-the-talk� by modelling the behaviour you want to see from others.

People don’t understand how to evaluate options and make a decision. Help people become more confident at making decisions by offering them an empowerment framework (tinyurl.com/empowerdecisions) to help guide them to make decisions that are consistent with the organization’s goals and values.

Not taking the time to clarify how decisions are going to be made. One of the best

If a decision turns out to be the “wrong� one, help people move quickly into solutions instead of blame or apathy ways to improve decision-making across your organization is to be clear up front about “how� decisions will be made. There are four distinct decision-making styles that are active in most organizations. By clarifying in advance what style is appropriate for the decision at hand, leaders, teams and individual contributors can feel empowered to act quickly and effectively.

Here are the four different styles: •Autocractic (decide and tell): As the leader, decide unilaterally and announce your decision to your team or the company overall.

Ask for whomever you are communicating with to repeat back his or her understanding of what you have said to make sure you have been clear. •Consultative (decide after consultation or recommendation): Pull together as much information as possible from key people before making the decision, then once you have made your mind up get reactions prior to making the final decision. •Team (followers share in the decision): There are three ways to have a team in involved in a decision: majority vote, where the leader has one vote and gives up veto power; consensus, where everyone has to agree after a discussion; and consensus with a silver bullet, where the leader will most likely work with consensus but maintains the power to veto the decision. •Delegation (delegate the decision with clear parameters): Delegate the decision. Be clear about parameters of freedom. Ask the team or individual to paraphrase the decision so you know you have been clear up front.

Speeding up and improving the quality of decisions made throughout your organization has a profound effect on the ability to take on greater strategic challenges and opportunities.

Share this column with your senior team and key leaders as a way of framing a conversation around what’s getting in the way of decisionmaking in your organization. • Mike Desjardins is the CEO at ViRTUS (www. virtusinc.com), an organizational development consulting firm with expertise in strategic planning and implementation, leadership development, change management and succession planning for medium to large organizations. He regularly blogs at www.mikedesjardins.com.

Law

August 30–September 5, 2011 Business in Vancouver

19

Lawsuit against big tobacco gets fast-tracked Supreme Court of Canada judgment clears way for simpler showdown

By Glen Korstrom

T

he B.C. government’s 13-year court battle to collect billions of dollars in compensation from tobacco giants Imperial Tobacco Canada Ltd., Rothman’s, Benson & Hedges Inc. and JTI-Macdonald Corp. has frustrated observers for taking so long.

It did inch closer to a conclusion on July 29, however, when the Supreme Court of Canada (SCC) ruled that the federal government cannot be considered a thirdparty defendant in provincial government lawsuits that attempt to recoup health-care money spent on people who have diseases caused by smoking.

B.C. launched its lawsuit against those cigarette manufacturers in 1998 and the case has been bogged down in courts ever since.

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The court action’s snail pace, however, did not prevent New Brunswick (in 2008), Ontario (2009) and Newfoundland (2011) from launching similar lawsuits against the tobacco giants.

Nor is it expected to deter Quebec and Alberta from launching lawsuits later this year.

“I am pleased with the [SCC] court decision,” Barry Penner told Business in Vancouver on August 18, mere hours before he stepped down as the province’s attorney general so he can spend more time with his family.

“The court has unanimously ruled that the tobacco manufacturers are not entitled to shift their blame for their conduct to the federal government. The ruling allows the B.C. government to continue to focus on what has always been the central issue in this litigation – the wrongful conduct of the tobacco industry.”

Legal insiders say that the

recent SCC judgment clears the way for a one-on-one battle between B.C. and big tobacco companies – a legal showdown that will be simpler without the complexity of having the federal government involved.

“Any time that there are fewer litigants in the mix, its always easier to reach some sort of accommodation and the trial will move a lot quicker if it goes to trial,” said Wally Oppal, who was B.C.’s attorney general between June 2005 and June 2009.

The long grind to get to this point, however, is a symptom of a legal system run amok according to Oppal, who has been critical of how long it is taking for the Crown to lay charges against rioters who vandalized and looted Vancouver’s downtown core on June 15.

“Its an embarrassment,” said Oppal of B.C.’s long-running court battle against large tobacco see Active, 20

20 Law

Daily business news at www.biv.com August 30–September 5, 2011

Active court case: Lawyers have not been just sitting on their hands over the years from Lawsuit, 19

Former B.C. attorney general Barry Penner believes that a recent Supreme Court of Canada judgment will help a lawsuit that the provincial government launched against large tobacco companies focus on the wrongful conduct of the tobacco industry

companies. “Its right out of Dickens’ Bleak House.”

That Dickens novel, published in instalments in 1952 and 1853, documented longrunning litigation in England’s Court of Chancery.

“If somebody came here from another planet, it would be hard to explain why things have taken so long. It really goes to show you what’s wrong with our system when it takes that long to resolve a particular issue,” Oppal told BIV. “You wonder after a while what the purpose of it all is.”

He stressed, however, that B.C.’s lawsuit against big tobacco companies will not be thrown out of court for taking so long. That’s because lawyers have been

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active providing discoveries and making arguments to various courts. They have not been sitting on their hands, he said.

Some success is that Victoria and the tobacco manufacturers have resolved disputes surrounding constitutional and jurisdictional issues.

In September 2005, the SCC confirmed the constitutional validity of B.C.’s 2001 law, the Tobacco Damages and Health Care Costs Recovery Act, which B.C. specifically implemented to allow it to pursue the recovery of health-care costs from big tobacco companies.

Victoria then launched a similarly named but broader Health Care Costs Recovery Act in 2008, which came into effect April 1, 2009.

That act compels lawyers and insurers to notify the B.C. government each time they launch a lawsuit where costs have been incurred by the provincial health-care system because of possible third-party wrongdoing.

“If somebody came here from another planet, it would be hard to explain why things have taken so long. It really goes to show you what’s wrong with our system when it

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takes that long to resolve a particular issue” – Wally Oppal, former attorney general, Province of British Columbia

Victoria may then join the action to ensure the ministry’s right to recover the health-care costs is preserved. If it is appropriate, the government can also launch its own action.

Between April 1, 2009, a nd Apri l 30, 2011, t he Health Care Costs Recovery Act spurred the province to open 8,153 cases, according to the B.C. Ministry of the Attorney General.

Of those, 2,814 cases have been closed and the province has recovered $6.2 million. That includes $2.4 million in the first year and $3.8 during the fiscal year 2010-11. • gkorstrom@biv.com

Trouble

BUYER’S ALERT Companies listed below,

which are not members of the Better Business Bureau, have failed to respond, as of August 19, 2011, to Better Business Bureau of Mainland B.C.’s efforts to mediate complaints from August 1 to August 12, 2011.

In some instances, the company may have taken care of the complaint and considered the matter closed, or may believe the complaint is unjustified; however, if the BBB has not received a response, records cannot reveal either position. Please note that BBB members must respond to customer complaints that are brought to their attention. Source: BBB. 1 Stop Drycleaning Services, Delta Aarons Sales and Lease, Surrey Baby Planet Boutique, Salmon Arm Budget Rent A Car Of B C Ltd., Richmond Cleaning Connect, Surrey Craftwood, Langley Dating Site Builder, Vancouver Delaware Design, New Westminster Dial An Appliance Service Ltd., New Westminster dvdlink.ca, Surrey E Q 3, Vancouver Empire Vehicle Solutions Inc., Surrey Enjoy & TV, Burnaby European Smarthome Construction, Summerland Heritage Mountain Interiors, Abbotsford Imozi Canada Inc., Vancouver Indulge Living, Vancouver Integrated Combat Equipment Inc., North Vancouver Jolly Days Fashion, Burnaby Klahanie Development Ltd., West Vancouver Lenscrafters, Burnaby Lifan Canada, North Vancouver Lifetime Carpentry, Surrey Nails Sky, Richmond Nomorerack Retail Group, Vancouver Nor Pac Marketing, New Westminster Oceanside Mechanical Ltd., Coquitlam Onsite Digital Photography, Langley Openboxco.com, Surrey Our Little Secret Corp., Vancouver Patterson Plumbing & Heating, Abbotsford Peoples Card Services, Vancouver Petcetera (Head Office), Richmond PG Dynamic Tune-Up & Auto Repair, Prince George Pitt Meadows Athletic Club, Pitt Meadows Pocket Bike Canada, Richmond ProTrade Global Markets, Surrey Racket Shack, North Vancouver Rani Iron and Aluminum Works Ltd., North Vancouver Rollies.com, Vancouver Shaw Cablesystems Ltd.,

Kelowna Sina Travel & Tours, Richmond Skyline Motel Kamloops, Kamloops Smartone Services, Vancouver Star Rebates, Burnaby Sunsations Tanning, Vancouver The Pretty Boutique, Vancouver The Running Room, Maple Ridge Tip Top Tailors, Langley Top Quality Home Service, Burnaby Top Tech Computer Inc., Richmond Valley Blinds Inc., Surrey Willow Dental Care, Langley The following companies have responded to the BBB subsequent to being published: Antiquity Day Spa, Port Coquitlam Canada China Air Express Inc., Richmond CrossRoads Management Ltd., Surrey Devon Arnold Painting, North Vancouver Lewis Mechanical Group Ltd., Langley Michelin North American (Canada) Inc., Langley Newport Vacuums Inc., Port Moody Spotlight Jewellers Inc., Abbotsford Stock Market Magic, Vancouver

Who’s Getting Sued These corporate writs were

filed with the B.C. Supreme Court registry in Vancouver.

Information is derived from notices of civil claim. Civil claims have yet to be proven in court.

Defendants: Amco Energy Ltd. and Manjit Singh Sahota and John Doe #1 and John Doe #2 2500–10104 103 Ave., Edmonton and 1121 King George Blvd., Surrey Plaintiff: Bank of Montreal 8156 Main St., Vancouver Claim: $318,700 related to a counterfeit cheque; an accounting; a tracing; damages for conversion of funds; a injunction; and a declaration and order that any interest in assets are held in trust for the bank.

Defendants: Glentech Developments Ltd. and Glentech Transport Ltd. and Glentech Western Group Ltd. and Lorraine Brown and Randy Walter Brown aka Randy Brown and Ranta Enterprises Ltd. 305–2692 Clearbrook Rd., Abbotsford and 102–5300 50 St., Stony Plain, AB and 29665 Sangara Ave., Abbotsford Plaintiff: Roynat Inc. 300–666 Burrard St., Vancouver Claim: $230,537 for a judgment from the Court of Queen’s Bench of Alberta against Glentech Developments, Glentech Transport, Glentech Western Group, Lorraine Brown and Randy Walter

Brown; $213,142 against Ranta; and a declaration the plaintiff is entitled to take possession of leased goods.

Defendants: Ram Construction Ltd. and Gurdawara Sahib Dasmesh Darbar 7881 128 St., Surrey and 7938 128th St., Surrey Plaintiff: Westrade Electric Ltd. 200–879 Marine Dr., Surrey Claim: $148,316 for electrical services and materials for the construction of a community centre; and a builder’s lien for $148,316.

Defendants: Hong Che aka Judy Che and Wei Guo Chen Box 12077, 2250–555 W. Hastings St., Vancouver Plaintiff: Royalty Group Realty Inc. Box 42290, 700–595 Burrard St., Vancouver Claim: $118,048 for breach of a listing contract; a declaration that La Van Lack Atmore, Barristers and Solicitors, holds $118,048 in trust for Royalty; and an order.

Defendants: Gillian Hoi Lam Poon and Tony Ka Chun Chang 1607–9133 Hemlock Dr., Richmond Plaintiffs: Wan’s Holdings Ltd. and EEC Online Ltd. and Efunfactory Distribution Ltd. 300–5900 No. 3 Rd., Richmond Claim: $113,481 for loans.

Defendant: Evergreen Power Corp. carrying on business as EPC Renewables Corp.

800–885 W. Georgia St., Vancouver Plaintiff: Pricewater­ houseCoopers LLP 700–250 Howe St., Vancouver Claim: $76,288 for debt related to tax services.

Defendant: David Taylor 440–755 Burrard St., West Vancouver Plaintiff: J. Wong Inc. 301–1080 Howe St., Vancouver Claim: $73,099 for income tax services.

Defendants: Empirica Energy Inc. and British Columbia Hydro and Power Authority and Bernard Aaron Rokstad and Christopher John Hardwick 211–1015 Austin Ave., Coquitlam and 333 Dunsmuir St., Vancouver and 4990 217B St., Langley and 1114 Dublin St., New Westminster Plaintiff: 0713318 B.C. Ltd. dba Retro Specialty Contractors 1400–1125 Howe St., Vancouver Claim: $71,627 for debt related to fibre-reinforced polymer for microwave station projects; and a builder’s lien for $71,627.

Defendants: Ditner

Law 21

August 30–September 5, 2011 Business in Vancouver

Trouble

Lawsuit of the week

Cat’s death sparks legal fracas A legal wrangle between a Vancouver man and several veterinarians over the death of a beloved cat has landed in B.C. Supreme Court.

According to a July 4 B.C. Supreme Court notice of civil claim, Vancouver resident Robert Anderson has alleged that Island Veterinary Hospital Ltd., Central Victoria Veterinary Hospital Ltd. and veterinarians Patricia Rosenstein, Suzanne Smith, Lana Bisset, Sally Moore, John McCleary and Blair Gurney are at fault for the death of a 10-year-old long-hair cat named Min Min. According to the suit, Robertson, who claims to be Min Min’s owner and a client of Island Veterinary Hospital, brought the cat to the veterinarians on June 28, 2009, after Min Min became sick.

The veterinarians initially diagnosed Min Min’s condition as “antifreeze poisoning,” according to the suit, and Robertson asked them to “do what it takes” to cure Min Min. Later that night, the cat was transferred to Central Victoria Veterinary Hospital for further treatment.

Robertson alleges the cat then failed to receive the proper medical attention.

On June 30, Robertson made arrangements to transport Min Min to another hospital where, allegedly, the cat was found to have a number of health conditions and died shortly after surgery on July 2. Robertson is seeking damages for anguish and mental distress, loss of companionship and for the actual value of Min Min. He is also seeking special damages for veterinary costs, alleging that the hospitals and veterinarians were negligent in their treatment and diagnosis of Min Min. According to a notice of response filed July 29, the veterinarians have denied Robertson’s claims.

The veterinarians allege that Robertson instructed them not to try any “heroics” to save Min Min prior to the cat’s death.

On top of that, the defendants allege that Robertson wasn’t even Min Min’s owner and therefore is not entitled to recover damages for the cat’s death.

Ventures Ltd. and Mark Jerome Koch and Edward Ditner 9830 110 Ave., Fort St. John and 740 Wallace Cres., Comox and Site 12, Comp 191, SS 2, Fort St. John Plaintiff: Paccar Financial Services Ltd. Box 49314, 2600–595 Burrard St., Vancouver Claim: $62,643 for debt under a vehicle lease agreement; and damages.

Defendant: Corinne Zajac 907–990 Beach Ave., Vancouver Plaintiff: Doug Kerr Contracting Inc. dba Kerr Construction 1220–1200 W. 73rd Ave., Vancouver Claim: $51,490 for related to renovation work; and a builder’s lien for $51,490.

Defendants: Deltalok Inc. and Beon Top Enterprises Ltd. and 542072 B.C. Ltd. and Hun Su Kim 1010–1030 W. Georgia St., Vancouver and 1472 Camridge Rd., West Vancouver Plaintiff: Business Development Bank of Canada Box 6, 200–505 Burrard St., Vancouver Claim: $46,494 for debt; enforcement of Kim’s guarantee; and enforcement of 542072’s guarantee.

Defendants: Dhillon & Pumpco Enterprises Inc. and Tawinder Dhillon and Jagdeep Singh Dhaliwal

1885 E. 36th Ave., Vancouver and 2055 E. 37th Ave., Vancouver and 3270 Sparrow Dr., Abbotsford Plaintiff: WRW Concrete Construction Inc. 1500–1055 W. Georgia St., Vancouver Claim: US$41,261 for debt for the purchase of a 1999 Mack truck with a mounted concrete pump; a declaration Pumpco’s conveyance of the truck was fraudulent and is void; and an order.

Defendants: Allan Morris Kyle and Kylenet Holdings Ltd. 300–1681 Chestnut St., Vancouver and 201_2083 W. 33 rd Ave., Vancouver Plaintiff: Kenneth King Fai Ho 3280 E. 19th St., Vancouver Claim: $35,000 for debt.

Defendants: Genie Flooring Ltd. previously known as Steam Genie Ventures Ltd. and Christian H. Schumacher aka Christian Schumacher and HyoJung J. Cho aka Hyo Jung Cho Box 41117, 2529 Shaughnessy St., Port Coquitlam and 1804 Jacana Ave., Port Coquitlam Plaintiff: Business Development Bank of Canada Box 6, 505 Burrard St., Vancouver Claim: $32,820 for debt; and all necessary accounts, directions and

inquiries.

Defendant: Samira Amini 2505 Westhill Dr., West Vancouver Plaintiff: The Capitol Residences Ltd. Partnership 833 Seymour St., Vancouver Claim: Specific performance of the purchase agreement for a property, arising from non-completion of the agreement after repeated time extensions, or, a declaration that Amini has not complied with the terms of the agreement; forfeiture of deposits paid; and damages.

Defendants: Mackenzie Thomas Robinson and Black Stripe Enterprises Ltd. dba Library Square Public House and ABC Co. 202–1339 Graveley St., Vancouver and 1300–777 Dunsmuir St., Vancouver and address unknown Plaintiff: Maria Del Coral Rodriquez Zaldivar 1907–1408 Strathmore Mews, Vancouver Claim: Damages for injuries sustained after a bottle at Library Square Public House hit the plaintiff.

Defendant: Rosenau Transport Ltd. 1002 Wharf St., Victoria Plaintiffs: Unified Valve Ltd. and Levoir Investments Ltd. 1000–840 Howe St., Vancouver Claim: Damages for losses caused when hazardous substances, which were stored on the premises in breach of the lease agreement, caught fire.

Defendants: Hemmera Envirochem Inc. and 0763974 B.C. Ltd. 3–2025 Bowen Rd., Nanaimo and 205–2922 Glen Dr., Coquitlam Plaintiffs: 494743 B.C. Ltd. dba Flame Engineering & Construction and Satpal Kaur 400–900 Howe St., Vancouver Claim: Damages for Hemmera’s breach of contract for environmental monitoring of the Kaur Lands, and for 0763974’s negligence in building a trench that caused water to flow onto the Kaur Lands.

Defendant: South Coast British Columbia Transportation Authority aka TransLink 1600–4720 Kingsway, Burnaby Plaintiff: Glenn Senft 911 Montroyal Blvd., North Vancouver Claim: Damages for injuries sustained when Senft hit his head on a door passageway into the Seabus that was lower than the standard height and neither marked nor padded.

Defendants: Sylvia Chan

and Alice Lee and Sablok & Sablok and Akash Sablok 624 Slocan St., Vancouver and 6470 Gladstone St., Vancouver and 6180 Fraser St., Vancouver Plaintiff: Reliable Mortgages Investment Corp.

300–1681 Chestnut St., Vancouver Claim: Damages for fraud and/or conversion against Chan and Lee for a forged power of attorney used to obtain an unenforceable mortgage; an order against Lee; damages for negligence and/or for negligent misstatement against Sablok & Sablok and Akash Sablok.

Defendants: TJX Canada dba Winners and Riokim Holdings (Strawberry Hill) Inc. 1700–666 Burrard St., Vancouver and 1100–505 Burrard St., Vancouver and 12010 72nd Ave., Surrey Plaintiff: Deborah Therrien 1100–1133 W. Broadway, Vancouver Claim: Damages for injuries sustained when Therrien slipped and fell on bubble bath fluid on the floor.

Defendants: Whistler Mountain Resort Ltd. Partnership and Gravity Logic Inc. 2500–700 W. Georgia St., Vancouver and 1800–1095 W. Pender St., Vancouver Plaintiff: Blake Jamieson 2020–650 W. Georgia St., Vancouver Claim: Damages for injuries suffered from a fall off a mountain bike at the A-Line Rock Drop; an in-trust award for Jamieson’s family and friends; loss of income earning capacity; and future care.

Defendants: Lion Petroleum Corp. and Minaz Devji 800–885 W. Georgia St., Vancouver and 385 Inglewood Pl., West Vancouver Plaintiff: Eran Friedlander 670–999 Canada Place, Vancouver Claim: An order against Lion, arising from breach of the finder’s fee agreement, or, an order against Devji, or, an order against Lion or Devji, or, damages.

Defendant: Terminal Forest Products Ltd. 2800–666 Burrard St., Vancouver Plaintiff: Black Mount Logging Inc. Box 500, 1367 Winnipeg St., Squamish Claim: Damages for breach of a purchase agreement for a forest licence.

Defendants: Bjoern Zubel aka Bjorn Zubel and EP-CM Project Management GMBH and EP-CM Project Management Canada Ltd.

6742 Auburn Dr., Huntington Beach, CA and 500–2200 Cambie St., Vancouver Plaintiff: EP-CM Project Management USA LLC and Frederick Paul Kallina III 7301 Mirage Dr., Huntington Beach, CA Claim: Recognition and enforcement of a judgment related to a shareholder dispute.

Defendants: Jaspal Sidhu and Harpreet Sidhu and The Royal Bank of Canada and Tri-City Kitchen Cabinets Ltd. and Inc. No. 0700141 and 413927 B.C. Ltd. and Inc. No. 0412927 5736 120th St., Surrey and 33rd floor, 1055 W. Georgia and 7750 128th St., Surrey and 16586 84A Ave., Surrey and 959 Stewart Ave., Coquitlam Plaintiffs: Julian Lanci and Michael Dacunha 406–2088 Madison Ave., Burnaby and 15578 110th Ave., Surrey Claim: A declaration the plaintiffs hold a 54% stake in the property; an order; a declaration for an ownership in the Como Lake property; an order; an injunction; orders; and damages.

Defendants: Peter Adam and Dean Norman Burke dba Eagle Eye Towing and Gold Key Sales and Lease Ltd. and Payless Auto Towing Ltd. and BCAA Insurance Corp.

619 Queens Rd. E., North Vancouver and Box 2422 Garibaldi Highlands, Squamish and Box 10424, 1300–777 Dunsmuir St., Vancouver and 619 Queens Rd. E., North Vancouver and 4567 Canada Way, Burnaby Plaintiff: Karen Ruby

Kernaghan 700–375 Water St., Vancouver Claim: Damages for injury sustained after the plaintiff tripped over a tow cable.

Defendants: Jaspreet Singh Sohi and Four Season Trucking Ltd. and Manjit Kaur Dhanda 13222 98th Ave., Surrey and 11533 92nd Ave., North Delta and 5668 Manitoba St., Vancouver Plaintiffs: Huu Quoc Tieu and Xuan Van Ngo 166/13D Pham Phu Thu St., Ward 4, District 6, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam Claim: Damages for a motor vehicle accident that resulted in a death.

Defendant: Cathay Pacific Airways Ltd. 1200–200 Burrard St., Box 48600, Vancouver Plaintiff: Ahmet M. Kadioglu 1751 Berkley Rd., North Vancouver Claim: Brought under the class proceedings act: a declaration the charged “YR Tax” for the plane ticket contravenes the Business Practices and Consumer Protection Act; an injunction; an order; recovery of the unjust enrichment; and punitive damages.

Defendant: Dr. Kurt Samer Inc. 320–702 Fort St., Victoria Plaintiff: Murray Robert Judson, by his litigation guardian, Robert Judson 2020–650 W. Georgia St., Vancouver Claim: Damages for injuries sustained following anesthetic care. •

Number Crunching with Flair • Traditional accounting values combined with cutting edge IT • Network of experienced professionals • Proud member of the Certified General Accountants of BC and Canada George Wilson-Tagoe, BSc., CGA

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For more information visit: www.wilson-tagoe.com Suite 1000–355 Burrard St. Vancouver Ph: 604-608-6156 wiltagoe@intergate.ca • www.wilson-tagoe.com • Cell: 604-818-0127

Attention Subscribers Delivery Notice Due to Labour Day, September 5, the next issue of Business in Vancouver may be delivered a little later than usual.

22

For the record

Jo McFetridge and Brendan Hodge are associates at Lawson Lundell

Daily business news at www.biv.com August 30–September 5, 2011

Katherine Adamkowski, David Belanger and Yaz Jallad join Noise as strategic account director; director, strategic services; and web application developer, respectively

David Greer joins Webtech Wireless as vice-president, marketing

People on the Move Email your For the Record information to: fortherecord@biv.com. Please include a high-resolution, colour headshot where possible.

•Advertising

Katherine Adamkowski, David Belanger, Carolyn Fung, Yaz Jallad, Ken Lee and Kelsey Bradburn have joined Noise as strategic account director; director, strategic services; account ma nager; web appl ication developer; junior web developer; and office coordinator and administrative assistant, respectively.

Adamkowski was previously group media manager at Ogilvy One. Belanger was previously director of interactive at Signals and art director for the Bank of Canada. Fung was previously account co-ordinator at Cossette and account executive at Trampoline Branding. Jallad was previously lead Flash developer at Engine Digital. Lee was previously a freelance CSS and HTML web developer.

Bradburn was previously receptionist at National Bank Financial.

Chris Dallin has joined Karacters’ Design Group as director of branding and design. He was previously leader of brand strategy at Red Rocket Creative Strategies.

•Energy

Michael Cheung has been appointed CFO at Zongshen PEM Power Systems Inc. He was previously

Careers

Linda Smith, equestrian director, Zajac Ranch for Children; Manny Ahluwalia, investment adviser, RBC; Rupinder Chahal, RBC branch manager, Mission; and Jodi Pritchard, mobile mortgage specialist, RBC Royal Bank

vice-president of business development and investor relations at the company, CFO of PenderFund Capital Management Inc. and an audit and assurance manager at PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP.

•Finance

David Smith and Duane Tup Chong have b e en appointed to the board of CFA Vancouver. Smit h is managing director at Pinnacle Fund Canada Administration Ltd. and Tup Chong is a senior manager at KPMG LLP.

board member. David Hall has retired as president and CEO but remains chair of the board. Paspala was previously COO at Silver Standard Resources Inc., president and CEO of Placer Dome Africa and executive vice-president and senior vice-president, projects, technical development, at Placer Dome Inc.

•Legal

Tom Yip, vice-president and CFO of Silver Standard Resources Inc., has resigned. Matthew Freeman, the company’s corporate controller, will assume his responsibilities in the interim.

•Resources

Sta n Bhar ti a nd Peter Tagliamonte have been appointed to the board of United Silver Corp. Bharti is founder and executive chair of Forbes & Manhattan Inc. and Tagliamonte is president and CEO of Sulliden Gold Corp.

Jo McFetridge and Brendan Hodge have joined Lawson Lundell as associates in the corporate commercial group. Both completed their articles at the firm and were called to the B.C. bar in 2011.

George Paspalas has joined Aurizon Mines Ltd. as president and CEO and a

Ross McCutcheon, Steve Cook and Alistair Maxwell

• www.employmentinvancouver.com • E-mail: employpaper@biv.com • Tel: 604-688-8828 • Fax: 604-669-2154

Work With us & groW a career Glacier Media Group is growing.

Check our job board regularly for the latest openings: www.glaciermedia.ca/careers

Dave Mason, vice-president, McLean Budden; Adrienne Bakker, president and CEO, RCH Foundation; and David Davies, vicepresident, McLean Budden

Chris Dallin joins Karacters’ Design Group as director of branding and design

have been appointed to the board of Stratton Resources Inc. McCutcheon is managing partner of Maitland & Co., Cook is a tax partner at Thorsteinssons LLP and Maxwell was previously president and CEO of Clarus Securities Inc.

involvement in the Vancouver area. High-resolution images are also welcome.

Brian Hambleton-Jones has been appointed chair of the advisory committee at Sono Resources Inc. He was the founder of Uramin and co-founder of Nuclear Energy Uranium Corp. and NiCo Corp.

Harold Galbriath has been appointed mining manager at International Tower Hill Mines Ltd. He was previously mine manager for ASARCO LLC and mine superintendent for Glamis Marigold Mining Co. Tanvir K handa ker has joined the board of Apella Resources Inc. He is principal and group manager of K DR MORGAN Ltd. Inc., chief portfolio strategist of KDR Resources Alpha Fund and previously founded and managed Roushan K handa ker Group.

Ja r i P a a k k i h a s b e e n appointed CEO of Anglo Swiss Resources Inc. and David Constable has been appointed chair of the board.

Paakki was previously vicepresident of exploration and project development at Blackstone Ventures and senior geologist at Teck Cominco Ltd. Constable was previously interim CEO at Anglo Swiss.

Robert Dzisiak has been appointed to the board of Tanzania Minerals Corp.

He is president and CEO of R.J. O’Brien & Associates Canada Inc. and was

previously president and CEO of CFG Canada and president of retail operations at Refco Canada.

Rick MacInnis and Lin Kramer have joined Selwyn Resources Ltd. as general manager and mine operations manager, respectively.

MacInnis was previously v ice-president of operations for Gammon Gold.

Kramer was previously a mine manager at Buyrus International, Agrium and Rio Tinto.

•Technology

David Greer has joined Webtech Wireless as vicepresident, marketing. He was previously director, marketing and sales, at MB Foster Associates.

Companies on the Move •Name change

Greystar Resources Ltd. has changed its name to Eco Oro Minerals Corp. and will commence trading as TSX:EOM. Western Copper Corp. has changed its name to Western Copper and Gold Corp. and will continue to trade as TSX:WRN.

•New in Town

GSky Plant Systems has moved to Suite 601, 318 Homer Street, Vancouver.

Thierry has opened at 1059 Alberni Street, Vancouver.

Hats Off Business in Vancouver welcomes submissions from local small businesses and large corporations alike that demonstrate examples of corporate philanthropy and community

TD Bank Group donated $100,000 toward the construction of the second Canuck Place Children’s Hospice in Abbotsford.

White Spot Restaurants raised almost $47,000 for the Zajac Ranch for Children through its Pirate Pak Day, which sold a record 21,627 Pirate Paks.

The 2011 Scotiabank Vancouver Half Marathon/5K Charity Challenge helped raise $37,093 for the Fragile X Research Foundation of Canada; $28,664.27 for the Alzheimer Society of BC; and $28,460 for the Lions Gate Hospital Foundation – Camp Kerry.

T he R B C Fou nd at ion donated $30,000 to the Zajac Ranch for Children toward its therapeutic riding program.

Teekay Shipping (Canada) Ltd. donated $15,000 to Junior Achievement BC to go toward youth business education programs.

HomeStars donated $1,520 to t he Dav id Suzu k i Foundation.

The Royal Columbian Hospital Foundation presented a certificate of recognition to McLean Budden for its platinum $15,000 sponsorship of the foundation’s SHINE Gala.

Design Roofing & Sheet Metal Ltd. has fed over 10,000 residents in and around the Downtown Eastside through its monthly s a ndw ic h d i s t r ibut ion initiative. •

Events

August 30–September 5, 2011 Business in Vancouver

Networking on the greens

BUS NESS LEADERS

Deal-makers hit UBC fairways in BIV-Association for Corporate Growth event

A

full slate of business golfers took part in the Business Leaders Golf Tournament on August 23 at the University Golf Course.

The tournament was a partnership between the Vancouver chapter of the Association for Corporate Growth and Business in Vancouver.

It s 1 4 4 pa r t ic ipa nt s

23

TOURNAMENT

included businesspeople involved in mid-market M&A deals and senior business decision-makers from various sectors.

The golf day culminated in networking, dinner and awards. Participants raised more than $2,000 to help team members from Powerchair Football Canada travel to international competitions. • Beau Olmstead, RBC Royal Bank; Mark Lewis, Borden Ladner Gervais; and Michael Cunningham, QGolf Club

Photos: Brian Hawkes

Valerie Mann, Lawson Lundell; Elizabeth Model, Downtown Surrey Business Improvement Association; Sabrina Gawley, WestPark; and Colleen Collins, Beedie School of Business, SFU

Omar Ladak, Noverra Capital Partners; Jason Harris, Hamilton Duncan Armstrong & Stewart; Peter Howells, BMO Bank of Montreal; and Robert Napoli, First West Capital

Mark Ireton of Canadian Western Bank; Janice Frome, Business in Vancouver; Michael Willems, the BMW Store; and Andrew Mortimer-Lamb, Rolls-Royce Motor Cars Vancouver

Michael Hwang and Rick Bessex of Audi; Lee Davis from PricewaterhouseCoopers; and Paul Harris, Business in Vancouver

Tyler Smyrski, Yellow Point; Lauren Looi, Beedie School of Business, SFU; Stefan Ferris; and Todd Patchell

David Frost, McCarthy Tetrault; Andrew d’Eca, Angus One; Kerry MacDonald, Business in Vancouver; and Armin Sahota, Angus One

Cole Orobetz, Avrio Ventures; Blair Johnston, Business in Vancouver; Julie McGill, CAI Capital Management; and Vern Blair

Presented by ®

Vancouver’s deal making and corporate growth community

Sponsored by

Rob Berzins, Canadian Western Bank; Sergio Custodio, Fasken Martineau; Darin Postma, Turner Construction; and Hank Gregory, Merrill DataSite

Kirsten Richter, Kirsten Richter Consulting; and Robert Napoli, First West Capital and president, ACG Vancouver

Association Sponsor

Next BIV Events

Blue breakfast panel: Investment in marketing What are companies doing with their marketing budgets in this era of rapidly changing marketing solutions?

Join us on September 21 at the SFU Segal School of Business to hear what Vancouver’s top marketers have to say.

Panellists include Lawrie Ferguson, chief marketing and public relations officer, Coast Capital Savings and Steve Mossop, president, Ipsos Reid West

Fastest-growing companies awards dinner September 27 at the Fairmont Waterfront.

For more information visit www.biv.com/events

24

Comment

Daily business news at www.biv.com August 30–September 5, 2011

Public Offerings

Timothy Renshaw Adding up summer 2011 math problems

T

he new school year is just around the corner, but B.C.’s teaching corps has been hard at work educating the masses for a good part of the summer break.

Summer school’s focus this year: Labour Relations 101 – How to alienate everyone in the lead-up to contract negotiations.

Some excerpts from this year’s curriculum.

As the world careers dangerously into another economic car crash, kick-start negotiations with demands better suited for an episode of Fantasy Island: 26-week fully paid leaves of absence to provide compassionate care to anyone; another five days paid bereavement leave atop the five already in hand; five annual paid days for professional activities; and on and on.

Aforementioned sitcom pilot will be put to the test now as bargaining gets underway in earnest with opportunities to disrupt classes mere days away. However, it would be a safe bet that not many parents would be amused by teacher demands thus far.

From lessons in labour relations to carbon dioxide story time: the B.C. government’s plan to achieve public-sector carbon neutrality is proceeding apace, but the casualties are starting to pile up.

Being under that government mandate, public schools also figure heavily in this yarn.

As pointed out in “Smoke and mirrors” (Full Disclosure – issue 1139; August 23-29), the provincial government’s Pacific Carbon Trust (PCT), which was established in March 2008, has thus far transferred $18 million in taxpayer funds from public institutions like school districts and health-care units that have been unable to meet carbonneutral targets to bankroll carbonreduction initiatives of B.C.’s top greenhouse gas emitters.

The cash-strapped Surrey school district, whose rapid growth leaves it no chance of being carbon neutral, had to cut a $500,000 cheque last year to the PCT. So the green math problem here:

scarce financial resources are being taken out of the province’s school system and invested in a government-mandated market for carbon dioxide.

The shell game would be at least somewhat palatable were the reallocation of tax dollars changing the weather, convincing companies to clean up their acts or being applied to programs subject to some form of meaningful measurement.

But it’s batting zero for three in that inning.

Last but not least on the summer school math program is BC Hydro, which recently took an enthusiastic shin-kicking from a government review panel.

Cartoon by Rice

At Large

Peter Ladner A viaduct no longer runs through it

Aforementioned sitcom pilot will be put to the test now as bargaining gets underway in earnest with opportunities to disrupt classes mere days away Recommendations from the panel included cutting 1,200 jobs and more than $800 million in spending in a top-heavy Crown corporation that has increased staff numbers 41% in the last five years, but watched its productivity fall.

The findings underscore some of the questions raised previously in this space (“Site C in need of plan B” – issue 1135; July 26-August 1) about imprudent Hydro spending.

Atop that Public Offerings laundry list: why invest $10 billion in a mega-power project that will displace cheaper energy with more expensive energy?

The answer to that and other questions raised herein is that better training in math basics needs to start in our public school system, and especially with those who are doing the teaching. • Timothy Renshaw (trenshaw@biv. com) is the editor of Business in Vancouver. His column appears every two weeks.

What’s your opinion?

BIV welcomes readers’ opinions. All letters, including those sent by e-mail, must include the author’s name, address and daytime telephone number.

Business in Vancouver, 102 East 4th Avenue, Vancouver, B.C. V5T 1G2.

Fax: 604-688‑1963. E-mail: news@biv.com.

We reserve the right to edit for brevity, clarity and legality.

I

s there a lesson for Vancouver and its municipal election in the recent referendum? No, not the HST. I’m talking about the August 13 Seattle vote on proceeding with a $2 billion tunnel to replace the earthquake damaged Alaskan Way Viaduct along the city’s waterfront.

The 60% of Seattle voters who basically said “do it” were fed up with a decade of political wrangling (including more than 700 community meetings) over what to do about the two-kilometre elevated highway that runs between downtown and Elliott Bay. While there was only minority support for the tunnel, there was also no widespread support for any of the alternatives – rebuilding it, turning it into a surface boulevard or building a huge bridge over the bay. The referendum message was “just move on,” supporting the business leaders and freight haulers who wanted it built even though its $4 tolls are expected to cut present traffic volumes by half.

Voters were also fed up with Seattle Mayor Mike McGuinn, who came into office as a Sierra Clubbacked tunnel opponent, but who could never convince the voters there was a better alternative. His approval ratings are now in the ditch.

Replacing the elevated freeway sometime after the tunnel’s expected completion in 2015 will be 22 acres of – stop me if you’ve heard this before – housing, cafés, shops, bike paths and public spaces.

It is tempting to spin a cautionary tale about voter response to the City

of Vancouver’s slow but steady move to tear down the 39-year-old Georgia and Dunsmuir viaducts and replace them with a surface boulevard and 20 acres of – wait for it – housing, cafés, shops, bike paths and public spaces.

While our viaducts are in relatively good repair (unlike Seattle’s), they serve about a third of all vehicle trips coming into downtown through this “downtown neck,” around 40,000 trips, which is about what the completed Seattle tunnel is expected to handle.

“We can mitigate traffic. There’s no reason they have to stay” – Jerry Dobrovolny, traffic engineer, City of Vancouver

But there are three big differences between the two cities’ viaduct removal plans that suggest that Vancouver’s project will go ahead with no political blow-back.

The first is cost. Back-of-the-envelope estimates suggest Vancouver’s demolition and removal costs would be in the $100 million range, with a wild card cost for cleaning up contaminated soil. Proponents say the freed-up land would add $150 million in real estate value, much of it going to the city. The key difference, of course, is that we won’t be digging a tunnel, only a surface boulevard and some new transit capacity.

And that’s because of the second

reason: Vancouver has discovered the Law of Disappearing Traffic – and lived through it, starting with the fight that stopped the freeway that got the viaducts built in the first place. That law says that when streets are blocked to cars, traffic will find another way. It was proven in Vancouver when the viaducts were closed for 22 days during the Olympics and when Cambie Street was slowed to a trickle for many months.

“Nothing fell apart,” said Vancouver city engineer Peter Judd.

“There was congestion, but the system functioned.”

The city’s traffic engineer Jerry Dobrovolny is equally confident about removing the viaducts.

“We can mitigate traffic,” he said. “There’s no reason they have to stay.”

And that leads to the third difference between Vancouver’s and Seattle’s viaduct debate: so far at least there are no political or business voices speaking out against removing the viaducts, while a growing chorus of approval is coming from the likes of former city planner Larry Beasley, starchitect Bing Thom and neighbours in Strathcona and Chinatown.

Some candidates in the upcoming municipal election may take this one on as something to oppose, but they would do so at their political peril.

As long as we’ve got our freeways just outside the city, we’ll be fine. • Peter Ladner (pladner@biv.com) is a founder of Business in Vancouver and a former Vancouver city councillor. His book, The Urban Food Revolution: Changing the Way We Feed Cities, will be published by New Society in October 2011.

President and Interim Publisher: Paul Harris; Editor: Timothy Renshaw; News Features Editor: Baila Lazarus; Editorial Proofreader: Noa Glouberman; Online Editor: Nelson Bennett; Staff Writers: Nelson Bennett, Richard Chu, Jennifer Harrison, Glen Korstrom, Joel McKay, Jenny Wagler; Art Director: Randy Pearsall; Photographer: Dominic Schaefer; Production Manager: Don Schuetze; Production: Rob Benac, Carole Readman, Natalie Reynolds, Soraya Romao, Annette Spreeuw; Director Sales and Marketing: Cheryl Carter; Marketing & Events: Azadeh Hollmann, Paige Millar; Display Advertising Sales: Janice Frome, Blair Johnston, Michele MacKenzie, Pia Tomlins, Chris Wilson, BIV Magazines Publisher: Paul Harris; Managing Publisher: Gail Clark; Editor: Naomi Wittes Reichstein; Sales Manager: Joan McGrogan; Advertising Sales: Lori Borden, Corinne Tkachuk; Administrator: Katherine Butler; Senior Researcher: Anna Liczmanska; Research/Verification: Caroline Smith; Manager, Reader Sales & Service: Deborah Hamilton; Subscription Sales Supervisor: Navreet Gill; Circulation Manager: Veera Irani; Subscription Sales: Gerard Veeneman; Accounting: Denise Moffatt; Credit Manager: Yvonne Posch Business in Vancouver is published by BIV Media Limited Partnership at 102 East 4th Avenue, Vancouver, B.C. V5T 1G2. Telephone 604-688-2398; fax 604-688-1963—For reprints: Veera Irani 604-608-5115 E-mail addresses: subscribe@biv.com, ads@biv.com, news@biv.com, letters@biv.com TWITTER@BIZINVANCOUVER • Www.biv.com • www.bivinteractive.com

comment 25

August 30–September 5, 2011 Business in Vancouver National Affairs

Mark Milke A new think tank for tired, old ideas

F

or those who love high taxes, large government for its own sake and think the private sector should be eyed suspiciously on principle, they’ll be happy to hear there’s a new think tank in Canada.

As of September, the Broadbent Institute will open its doors.

It’s named after Ed Broadbent, former leader of the federal New Democrats.

I’ll take a wild guess that instead of talking about “free money” (via higher taxes and more debt) and free love of government as the solution to all that ails us, the new think tank will offer up its policy in slightly different terms.

Instead: •recommendations on tax increases will be dressed up as “fair”; •an expansion of government will be justified “compassionate”; and •restrictions on personal freedoms – say, gag laws at election time, which Broadbent always favoured – will be justified as promoting civility.

Early media reports on the impetus for the Broadbent Institute note how it’s meant to be a leftist counterpart to the Manning

Centre for Building Democracy.

The Manning Centre, founded by Preston Manning and led by the same, is not a think tank. Still, it has tried to help conservative and libertarian groups be more effective.

Full disclosure: in addition to my day job at the Fraser Institute, I’ve also worked with Manning and his centre. So I am not an impartial observer.

The new think tank might be justified by some as bringing “balance” and/or to counter existing biases. Fair argument. Moreover, on principle, I favour more voices in the marketplace of ideas. So I welcome any new voice, including the Broadbent Institute.

That noted, the “need” for another interventionist think tank escapes me. Such a mindset is already rife in much of academia, the bureaucracy, among too many politicians and somewhat prevalent in the media. Also, for every one group that wants governments to be more careful with their economic and other interventions, there are already 100 on the other side, often financed by tax dollars.

As for bias, biases can be created

out of ignorance or be a result of studying what works. I’ll argue the “bias” for market-friendly policy, moderate tax regimes and sensible regulation originates in the latter; they also benefit citizens who have some pre-existing rights that should not be infringed upon by governments.

In contrast, much of what Broadbent stood for in the 1970s and 1980s didn’t work and that’s connected to a core belief based on a faulty reading of how the world functions. Self-described progressives often think that if only enough tax dollars and smart people – by which they normally mean themselves – were in the same room, all private problems could be solved via public means, i.e., the levers and institutions of government.

Some examples: under Broadbent, the NDP loved nationalization and/or public-sector monopolization of t he commanding heights of the economy.

Targets included automobile insurance companies, energy companies and health-care delivery.

The first example still lives on and prevents open competition for consumer insurance policies.

The second was disastrously costly. Petro-Canada’s creation in the 1970s, urged on by the NDP, cost $14 billion in wasted taxpayer money according to journalist Peter Foster, who wrote a book on the subject.

The third – the hysteric opposition to private involvement

If the new Broadbent think tank advocates what its namesake pushed for in the 1970s and 1980s, it will be unfortunate proof that bad ideas are never buried in health care – has always been about protecting government unions, not about universa l health-care coverage. After all universal health care exists perfectly well in Europe where a mix of private and public delivery and insurance is the norm.

To see how ridiculous NDP opposition to the private sector has long been, consider Broadbent’s 1980s-era opposition to free trade.

He was always against open markets, even though free trade boosts incomes, creates jobs and has, around the world, lifted millions out of poverty.

If the new Broadbent think tank advocates what its namesake pushed for in the 1970s and 1980s, it will be unfortunate proof that bad ideas are never buried. They’re just on life support until a new generation unfamiliar with the devastation wrought by the previous incarnation of such ideas tries to revive them.

Broadbent was leader of the federal NDP between 1975 and 1989. That year, history finally gave up on most of the policies Broadbent tried so hard to introduce in Canada, and which he and his colleagues were regrettably too successful in getting implemented via Pierre Trudeau’s government.

That Broadbent quit as NDP leader just as the Berlin Wall fell is probably just coincidence, albeit one rich in historical irony. • Mark Milke is the editorial board chairman of C2C Journal (www. c2journal.ca), Canada’s journal of ideas. His column appears monthly in Business in Vancouver.

Business Excellence Breakfast Series

Lawrie Ferguson Chief Marketing & Public Relations Officer, Coast Capital Savings

Time:

7:00 am

Steve Mossop President, Ipsos Reid West Jill Peters Marketing Manager, Richards Buell Sutton LLP

Location: SFU Segal School of Business 500 Granville Street (at Pender) Cost:

BIV Subscribers $49 Non-Subscribers $59

Register at www.biv.com/events

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In BIV’s next Colour Series publication, The Blue edition will focus on what companies are doing with their marketing budgets in this era of rapidly changing marketing solutions. How are traditional media like print, direct mail and broadcast faring against email, Twitter, LinkedIn, and blogging.

PaneLISTS:

september

Investment in marketing

Panel discussion with three of Vancouver’s top marketers

26

Datebook

Daily business news at www.biv.com  August 30–September 5, 2011

Guarantee the publication of your listing for $50 per issue (plus hst). 604-608-5189 or datebook@biv.com Deadline for Datebook listings is noon Tuesday for the following week’s paper. Listings are published on a guaranteed basis for $50 per week, plus hst. Free listings will run in print as space permits. Go to www.bivdatebook. ca to post your listing. Published Datebook listings are at the discretion of BIV.

Breakfast, Luncheon, Dinner Meetings The Better Choice for BC Families: Integrating Prevention into Healthcare September 8, 2011, 11:45 AM: The Honourable Michael de Jong, Minister of Health, Province of British Columbia. $79 members and guests/ $110 future-members (+HST). The Four Seasons Hotel, Park Ballroom, 791 Georgia St West. Vancouver. reservations@boardof trade.com. www.boardoftrade.com.

Economic Outlook by Scotiabank’s Chief Economist September 13, 2011, 5:45 PM: Scotiabank’s Chief Economist provides an update on his team’s economic forecasts and the current state of the world economy. $30 for first time guests. Coyote Creek Golf Course, 7778 152 Street. Surrey. ldaschuk@telus.net. www.fvepc. com.

You and UBC: A Partnership That Can Transform Our World S e p te m b e r 14 , 20 11, 1 1:45 AM: Professor Stephen Toope, President & Vice-Chancellor University of British Columbia. $69 members and guests/$96 futuremembers(+HST). The Fairmont Waterfront, Waterfront Ballroom, 900 Canada Place Way. Vancouver, BC. reservations@boardoftrade.com. www.boardoftrade.com.

Success Through Motivation: How an Inspired Workforce Helps your Bottom Line September 20, 2011, 11:45 AM: Tracy Redies, President and CEO, Coast Capital Savings. Individual tickets $69 for members and guests; $96 future members. The Sutton Place Hotel- Versailles Ballroom, 845 Burrard Street. Vancouver, BC.

reservations@boardoftrade.com. www.boardoftrade.com.

How to Close Larger Deals More Quickly September 22, 2011, 5:00 PM: Learn specific actionable things you can do to increase the dollar size of your deals, and how you can close large deals more quickly! The presenter for this session is Rob Malec who has 23 years in sales and business development experience.

SMEI members $55/Non-members $75. Terminal City Club, 837 West Hastings. Vancouver. 604-2660090 or vancouver@smei.org. smeivancouver.org.

Tough Talk for Tender Causes - Survival Mentality: What’s Really Essential to your Organization?

September 28, 2011, 3:00 PM: Lisa Martella, Executive Director, A Loving Spoonful (TBC), Jeff Norris, Chief Advancement Officer, Office of Advancement at Kwantlen Polytechnic University, Richard Pass, Chief Executive Officer, Ronald McDonald House BC and Yukon. $49 members and futuremembers (+HST). Pan Pacific Vancouver, Crystal Pavilion, 999 Canada Place. Vancouver, BC. reservations@boardoftrade.com. www.boardoftrade.com.

Conferences, Conventions, Tradeshows Real Estate OUTLOOK 2012 September 10, 2011, 9:00 AM: Since its inception 19 years ago, T h e R E A L E S TAT E O U T LO O K Conference has established itself as the quintessential real estate outlook for the serious investor or homeowner. Fine central venue, seasoned presenters and quality exhibitors. 1 pair of 2 day tickets = $147 (reg $197). Renaissance Vancouver Harbourside Hotel, 1133 West Hastings Street. Vancouver.

1-800-691-1183. http://www2.jurock. com/outlook2012/index.html.

YWCA Health + Fitness Centre Open House September 12, 2011: The YWCA Health + Fitness Centre is one of downtown’s most popular corporate facilities. Join us for the Open House and enjoy some complimentary

workouts. Ask about our September promotion. Free!. 535 Hornby Street. Vancouver. 604 895 5777. ywcahealthandfitness.com.

regvancouver@risingmedia. com, 1-877-883-7345. http://www. internetmarketingconference.com/ vancouver/event-home.

The World MoneyShow Vancouver September 19, 2011, 8:30 AM: Learn how to best position your portfolio for profit in 2011 and beyond. As this new era of investing unfolds, smart investors know it’s imperative to stay informed and educated. Free admission. Vancouver Convention Centre, 1055 Canada Place.

Vancouver. 800-970-4355. http:// www.moneyshow.com/tradeshow/ vancouver/world_moneyShow/main. asp?scode=023199.

HR Tech Group: Human Capital Symposium October 26, 2011, 8:00 AM: Tech industry event on best HR practices to grow your business (revenue, talent, leaders). Featuring keynote Don Bell, Co-founder of Westjet Airlines: $275 before Sept 30th; $350 after. Sutton Place Hotel, 845 Burrard St. Vancouver. Allison Rutherford, HR Tech Group: 604-8742653; arutherford@hrtechgroup. com. www.hrtechgroup.com.

7th Annual Connections to Employment Job Fair September 21, 2011, 10:00 AM: Exhibitors include WorkSafeBC, Sears, Staples, Canada Safeway, Home Depot, London Drugs, Dairy Queen/Orange Julius, Coast Plaza Hotel, Edgewater Casino, T&T Supermarket, Natural Factors, UPS Canada, Spectra Energy, JW Research, and TD Canada Trust.

Admission is free. Vancouver Public Library, Library Square, 350 West Georgia Street. Vancouver. Carol Cordeiro, Marketing Specialist, PICS Vancouver: 604-324-7733, carol. cordeiro@pics.bc.ca. www.pics. bc.ca. iTech Infrastructure Technology Summit September 22, 2011, 8:30 AM: Featuring a comprehensive conference program , large exhibitor area and live product demonstrations, iTech Summit offers the educational content IT professionals need to maximize their business operations. Passes valued at $295 are free for qualified IT. Vancouver Convention Centre, 1055 Canada Place. Vancouver.

Jennifer Wittkopp, 905-948-0470. www.itechsummit.ca.

Internet Marketing Conference - IMC Vancouver October 3, 2011, 7:30 AM: Expand your knowledge, improve your skills and become a better manager of digital media, marketing & communications. Connect with an international community of digital marketers. 2-day pass $995 until Sept 9th; $1195 after. Renaissance Vancouver Hotel, 1133 West Hastings St. Vancouver. Registration Support:

Courses, Workshops, Seminars Help Your Business Client Navigate the U.S. Tax System August 30, 2011, 11:00 AM: Chartered Accountants in Canada can learn how to help clients looking at U.S. business opportunities in this seminar. $25 (includes lunch).

Sheraton Vancouver Guildford Hotel, 15269 104th Avenue. Surrey. Mary Doherty, VSH Marketing Coordinator: 360-305-6177 or doherty@vshcpa. com. http://vshvancouverseminar. eventbrite.com/.

Canadian Securities Course (CSC) September 8, 2011, 8:00 AM: Be qualified to apply for licensing as a mutual funds salesperson. Sign up for the CSC at Ashton College.

Contact an Admissions Adviser now.

Ashton College. Vancouver. 604-8990803 / info@ashtoncollege.com. www.ashtoncollege.com.

20/20 SMART Session: Effective Workplace Learning September 13, 2011, 8:00 AM: In this Smart Session, you will benefit from new insight into practical and effective workplace learning practices tailored to fit the needs of small to medium sized employers. $45 CME members; $65 Nonmembers. Hampton Inn & Suites, 19500 Langley Bypass (Route 10).

Surrey. Kimberly Hall: kimberly. hall@cme-mec.ca, 604-713-7809. www.bc.cme-mec.ca.

BIV’s Blue Breakfast: Investment in Marketing September 21st, 2011, 7:30am: The upcoming Business in Vancouver’s BLUE breakfast panel will be discussing what companies are doing with their marketing budgets in this era of rapidly changing marketing solutions. The focus will be on how traditional media like print, direct mail and broadcast are faring against email, Twitter, LinkedIn and blogging.

BIV Subscribers $49; Non-subscribers $59. SFU Segal School of Business, 500 Granville St (at Pender). Register online at www.biv.com/colour or contact Azadeh Hollmann (604-6085197; ahollmann@biv.com).

Foundation in Sustainable Community Development September 15, 2011, 9:00 AM: This course addresses the confusion surrounding sustainability and presents the certificate’s vision of sustainable community development and related principles. $900. 515 W. Hastings St. Vancouver. Joshua Randall, 778-782-5254. http://www. sfu.ca/city/course1popup.htm.

Achieving Growth and Building Value: Strategies for Business Owners September 15, 2011, 6:30 PM: Learn how to operate more efficiently, make better business decisions, make managers more effective and turn business success into personal wealth. Speakers: Dave Lee and Mark Wardell. No Charge.

100 - 1676 Martin Drive. White Rock. dave_lee@scotiamcleod.com. www. dave-lee.ca.

CTT+ Train the Trainer Course September 19, 2011, 8:30 AM: Anybody who needs to train groups of people in an effective and efficient manner can benefit from this course. For those looking to show instructional presentation skills for their MCT designation. $995/person.

555 Seymour Street. Vancouver. Bart Simpson: 888-480-1629, bart@trab. com. www.trab.com.

HR Metrics Benchmarking Service - Demo & Overview September 28, 2011, 9:00 AM: If you are looking to learn more about the HR Metrics Service, sign up for this 1-hour online demo. Complimentary.

Liz Whalley, Metrics Specialist, lwhalley@bchrma.org. http://www. bchrma.org/content/events/ls/ details.cfm?EventID=035-252.

www.bivdatebook.com Applications in Sustainable Community Development September 30, 2011, 9:00 AM: Through field trips and presentations by sustainability project champions, you will explore the application of sustainability principles in a variety of programs, projects and business ventures. $600. 515 W. Hastings St. Vancouver. Joshua Randall, 778782-5254. http://www.sfu.ca/city/ course2popup.htm.

CAPS Vancouver Speaker School: So You Want to be a Professional Speaker!

October 28, 2011, 8:30 AM: Become a professional speaker!

Learn from the industry’s best in this 2 day workshop to cover: how to run a speaking business, finding engagements, marketing yourself, topics, niches and keynotes versus workshops. Members & Guests: Fri & Sat: $397 / Fri only: $325. Morris J Wosk Centre for Dialogue, at SFU, 580 West Hastings St. Vancouver. ggarcia@twentyseven.com or 778785-0257. http://capsvancouver. com/.

Gala Events Big Sisters Gala October 6, 2011, 5:30 PM: Join Big Sisters for an inspiring evening as we raise funds to help match 180 girls on the waitlist with a supportive mentor.

Event will feature a champagne reception, auctions, dinner and live entertainment by Paramount. $250.

Pan Pacific Hotel (300 - 999 Canada Place). Vancouver. Kelly: 604-8734525 x302 or kmorrison@bigsisters. bc.ca. www.bigsisters.bc.ca.

Networking functions Vancouver AM’s 35th Birthday Celebration S eptem b er 23, 20 11, 5:00 PM: Celebrate Vancouver AM’s 35th Birthday! You are invited t o Va n c o u v e r A M To u r i s m Association’s Reunion of the Decade.

Entertainment by Dal Richards’ Trio. $50 + HST - Cash Bar. Terminal City Club, 837 West Hastings Street.

Vancouver. 604-738-5506; office@ vancouveram.ca. www.vancouveram. ca. •

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Profile

August 30–September 5, 2011 Business in Vancouver

27

Mark O’Dea

Gold star

By Joel McKay

Fresh off the $2.3 billion sale of Fronteer Gold, Mark O’Dea is back in the junior mining game with another precious metals venture

Richard Lam

Pilot Gold chairman Mark O’Dea: “good projects build good companies. The harder I work the luckier I get, and the harder you work in this business and the more deals you do, the more opportunities get shown to you”

N

ewfoundland’s fabled cod fishery gave Mark O’Dea his first taste of entrepreneurialism at the age of 12.

At the time, O’Dea was too young to work on the fishing boats, but that didn’t stop him from wandering down to the wharf armed with a razor-sharp knife and a bucket, where he would eagerly await the arrival of the morning catch.

He wasn’t the only one.

Other boys waited to sift through the fish heads that would be dumped into table-sized bins on the dock, each of them clambering for Atlantic cod tongues, which could be frozen, bagged and sold as a delicacy at markets in St. John’s.

O’Dea earned $0.60 per dozen and, when he was old enough, found a berth on a fishing boat and learned what hard work was really about.

“That was good work-ethic practice,” O’Dea recounted, speaking to Business in Vancouver during an interview at his office in Vancouver’s Guinness Tower.

Although his fishing days are long gone, the Vancouver-based executive hasn’t given up on the natural resource game. The 43-year-old has just launched a new company, his fourth, months after his previous venture, Fronteer Gold, sold to Newmont Mining (NYSE:NEM) for a blockbuster $2.3 billion.

Although the Fronteer sale was O’Dea’s largest to date, it wasn’t his first.

Late last year, he sold the company’s

uranium assets to Paladin Energy (TSX:PDN) for $260 million.

Both deals revolved around metal deposits that had yet to be transformed into mines, earning O’Dea a new level of respect among deal-makers in Vancouver’s cutthroat junior mining sector.

In June, a relatively unknown shell called Drexel Resources (TSX-V:DX) (now called Blue Gold Mining) saw its share value soar 510% after it was revealed that O’Dea planned to take a large position in the company.

So how does he do it?

“There’s no overnight success,” explained O’Dea. In fact, his formula for a winning junior mining company is simple: a good project plus talented people and a lot of hard work equals success.

“Good projects build good companies,” he said. “The harder I work the luckier I get, and the harder you work in this business and the more deals you do, the more opportunities get shown to you.”

O’Dea’s latest venture is called Pilot Gold (TSX:PLG), which was spun out of Fronteer earlier this year as part of the Newmont deal.

O’Dea, who assumed a chairman’s role in the new venture, said Pilot has already garnered interest from investors thanks to the way the company was structured from the outset.

Not only did Newmont take a 20% stake in the company, but also the Fronteer team was able to transfer

more than a dozen precious metal projects from its portfolio into Pilot’s.

Two of those projects are in Turkey and count mining giant Teck Resources (TSX:TCK.B) as a 60% joint-venture partner.

On top of that, O’Dea was able to transfer 18 jobs from Fronteer into Pilot, allowing him to keep intact the team that built Fronteer into a multibillion-dollar success.

“What we like about the story and this new company is we’re not starting from scratch,” he said. “We’ve got a great base from which to grow and build our resources the same way we did at Fronteer.”

O’Dea’s interest in mining began at a young age while listening to his grandfather’s stories about prospecting for hard-rock treasure in Ontario’s outback. At university, he took a geology course out of curiosity and was hooked. “I loved the fact that you could go tell a story from an outcrop of rocks.”

After graduating from Carleton University with a bachelor of science honours degree in geology, O’Dea spent time hunting for valuable rocks in the mountains of B.C. before leaving for Australia and New Zealand, where he earned a PhD in structural geology from Monash University.

O’Dea said he was on track to become a professor, but in 1997 he decided to come back to Vancouver and try his hand at the business side of mining.

Mission: To build Vancouver’s next junior mining success

“I didn’t even know what stock options were or what equity was,” he joked.

Fortunately, his strong technical background outweighed what he didn’t know about running a public company. In 2000, he entered former Goldcorp (TSX:G) founder Rob McEwen’s global contest to find the next six million ounces of gold at the company’s Red Lake mine in Ontario.

O’Dea didn’t win, but he came in second and caught the attention of two Toronto investors who wanted him to lead a new venture called Fronteer.

“It was a complete thrill and scary and terrifying on the one hand because I didn’t know anything about public companies,” said O’Dea. Dan Wilton believes O’Dea’s “unbelievable” technical background underwrote Fronteer’s eventual success. He also said O’Dea had more business skills than he was willing to admit.

“Mark is one of the better people I know at telling a story and getting people to buy into it,” said Wilton, managing director at National Bank Financial’s global metals and mining group in Vancouver. “But ultimately what separates people who are able to bring these things to a conclusion from those who perpetually work on projects is you have to deliver results, and that’s one thing the Fronteer team has always been able to do.” •

Assets: A strong technical background and penchant for deal-making Yield: The $2.3 billion sale of his previous company, Fronteer Gold, to Newmont Mining

jmckay@biv.com

DiD you miss these recent eDitorial profiles?

Jamie Garratt

Don Kayne

Larry Berg

Growing marketing agency championing social media and the digital arena Issue: August 23

Canfor CEO and his game plan for developing new markets for B.C. lumber Issue: August 16

Mapping out the business flight plan for Vancouver’s award-winning airport Issue: August 9

Check them out at www.biv.com/profiles

28

Daily business news at www.biv.com Business in Vancouver August 30–September 5, 2011

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