The Ultimate Holiday Wish List: Where to Find the City’s Best-Bet Gifts MAKE LIKE A MOGUL: BEST POWER LUNCHES // VANCOUVER WEDDING GUIDE 2019 K A R AOK E CH A M PS // HOM E FOR T H E HOL IDAYS W I T H F R ED L EE // DO VA NCOU V ER I T E S H AV E SQUAT T ER’S R IGH TS?
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VA N M AG . C O M
N OV E M B E R / D E C E M B E R 2 0 1 8 // VO LU M E 5 1 // N U M B E R 8
FE ATURE
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Power 50 In 2018, power isn’t found just in the hands of boardroom bosses and high rollers: it’s also wielded by Vancouverites who are moving the dial in quieter—but equally meaningful—ways.
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21 At Issue Just how much water are Vancouver homes wasting?
29 The Dish We’re mesmerized by this black croissant.
24 The Breakdown The hard data on holiday lights.
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COVER PHOTO: TANYA GOEHRING
67 Gift Guide The very best locally sourced goods to gift this holiday season.
30 Reviews Four places to powerlunch right now.
76 Personal Space A sneak peek into Fred Lee’s annual Bubbles and Baubles party.
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34 Taste Test On the hunt for the city’s best gingerbread cookies.
24 The Ticket Tank and the Bangas come to town.
78 About Last Night Party snaps from the hottest events.
36 Moveable Feast Exploring Lower Lonsdale’s edible offerings.
26 Modern Family B.C.’s karaoke hopefuls belt it out.
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Play
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87 Tying the Knot Planning a Vancouver summer wedding? We’ve got you covered with inspo and advice.
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98 City Informer Can Vancouverites claim squatter’s rights?
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rt Supplies Wooden Puzzles Loose Leaf Tea Tea Accessories Stationary Sets Lamy Pens & Pencils Recommended Novels Travel Books Coffee Table Books Interactive Maps Bike Lights & Bells Baseball Caps T-Shirts Cocktail Shakers Cheese Boards Leather Bound Books Flannel Shirts Pajamas Martha Sturdy Trays & Vases Jewelry Handbags Felt Ornaments and Accessories Candles Water Bottles Travel Mugs Journals Chess Set Board Games Brain Teasers Do it Yourself Kits Cocktail Ice Molds Whiskey Stones Flasks Publisher Peter Legge Editorial Director Anicka Quin Mid Life Crisis Humor Perplexor Workbooks Italian Stationary Beard Balm Portable Tool Creative Director Cathy Mullaly Sets Dog Accessories Mazes & Extreme Dot to Dot Books Shawls Gloves Hats Executive Editor Stacey McLachlan Food Editor Neal McLennan Colouring Books Wooden Building Toys Stylish Reading Glasses Home Bar AccessoriesAssociate Art Directors Stesha Ho, Jenny Reed Style Editor Julia Dilworth Wine Glasses & Decanters Art Supplies Wooden Puzzles Loose Leaf Tea Tea Accessories Videographer Mark Philps Stationary Sets Lamy Pens & Pencils Recommended Novels Travel Books Coffee TableContributing Editors Frances Bula, Amanda Ross Editorial Intern Daniela Becerril Books Interactive Maps Bike Lights & Bells Baseball Caps T-Shirts Cocktail Shakers Editorial Email mail@vanmag.com Cheese Boards Leather Bound Books Flannel Shirts Pajamas Martha Sturdy Trays & Sales Manager Gabriella Sepúlveda Knuth Account Managers Judy Johnson, Theresa Tran Vases Jewelry Handbags Felt Ornaments and Accessories Candles Water Bottles Travel Sales Coordinator Karina Platon Mugs Journals Chess Set Board Games Brain Teasers Do it Yourself Kits Cocktail IceOnline Coordinator Theresa Tran Production Manager Kristina Borys Molds Whiskey Stones Flasks Mid Life Crisis Humor Perplexor Workbooks Italian Advertising Designer Amanda Siegmann Marketing Manager Kaitlyn Lush Stationary Beard Balm Portable Tool Sets Dog Accessories Mazes & Extreme Dot to Dot Marketing Coordinator Christine Beyleveldt Books Shawls Gloves Hats Colouring Books Wooden Building Toys Stylish Reading Sales Email kplaton@canadawide.com Glasses Home Bar Accessories Wine Glasses & Decanters Art Supplies Wooden Puzzles National Media Sales Representation, Mediative Senior Account Manager, National Sales Loose Leaf Tea Tea Accessories Stationary Sets Lamy Pens & Pencils Recommended Ian Lederer, 416-626-4258 Novels Travel Books Coffee Table Books Interactive Maps Bike Lights & Bells BaseballEmail ilederer@canadawide.com U.S. Sales Representation, Media-Corps Caps T-Shirts Cocktail Shakers Cheese Boards Leather Bound Books Flannel Shirts 1-866-744-9890, info@media-corps.com Pajamas Martha Sturdy Trays & Vases Jewelry Handbags Felt Ornaments and Accessories Candles Water Bottles Travel Mugs Journals Chess Set Board Games Brain Teasers Do it Yourself Kits Cocktail Ice Molds Whiskey Stones Flasks Mid Life Crisis Humor Perplexor Workbooks Italian Stationary Beard Balm Portable Tool Sets Dog Accessories Mazes & Extreme Dot to Dot Books Shawls Gloves Hats Colouring BooksSuite 230, 4321 Still Creek Drive, Burnaby, B.C. V5C 6S7 Wooden Building Toys Stylish Reading Glasses Home Bar Accessorie Wine Glasses & tel 604-299-7311 fax 604-299-9188 Chairman & CEO Peter Legge, OBC, LLD (HON) Decanters Art Supplies Wooden Puzzles Loose Leaf Tea Tea Accessories Stationary Sets President Samantha Legge, MBA
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SPONSORED REPORT
WE STARTED THIS BMO’S BC TEAM OF CANADA’S OLDEST FINANCIAL INSTITUTION “ASSEMBLES” AS ONE BANK TO GET IT DONE FOR THEIR CLIENTS – AND THEY’RE JUST GETTING STARTED! Only a financial organization operating with BMO’s “One Bank” approach can navigate the diverse challenges of today’s business world. BMO is Canada’s oldest incorporated bank— and Vancouver Magazine caught up with its B.C. & Yukon executive team to speak to their expertise on leadership, capital sourcing, investment expansion, wealth management and corporate finance. It is clear that BMO’s ability to rally the various partners within the team for the common good of the customer is both a strategic advantage and a catalyst for this business to “punch above its weight”
Q&A
Michael Bonner, Senior Vice-President & Regional Head, B.C. & Yukon Division, BMO Financial Group
Q: You’ve led teams across the country, from Halifax to Toronto and Vancouver—what are the crucial components that inspire them? MB: People are people and for the most part they want to be successful, be immersed in a great culture and be part of something bigger. I think any good leader wants to be able to inspire people so that they may unlock their potential and achieve optimum performance. It’s good for them personally, for their organization and for customers.
Jamie Rogers, Managing Director, Head of Investment & Corporate Banking, British Columbia, Global Co-Head Metals & Mining
Q: Capital sourcing is so global now— what do clients need to be mindful of? JR: With this globalization comes volatility and our clients are increasingly looking at ways to mitigate the risk to, and impact on, their strategic growth plans, to manage their own capital structures effectively and—more importantly—to rely more than ever on their banking and capital markets partners to operate efficiently and successfully navigate an ever-evolving global capital markets environment.
Michael Wood, Senior VicePresident, Managing Director & Regional Manager, Western Canada, BMO Nesbitt Burns Inc.
Q: What is changing in expansions in investment advisory and financial planning businesses? MW: Change is driven by technological advancement, regulatory requirements, an aging demographic; increasing expectations of clients, and the competitive environment—as we no longer compete with just the other banks, but also the likes of Google and Amazon. At BMO our resources have enabled us to adapt to these changes and offer solutions that go far beyond building investment portfolios.
Jennifer Muench, Vice-President and Managing Director, BMO Harris Private Banking, B.C.
Q: What are the best tax-efficient solutions to protect wealth? JM: One concept is the use of a permanent insurance policy as an investment to take advantage of the significant tax benefits provided for insurance policies versus taxable non-registered investing.Transferring a portion of the surplus cash flow/assets to a permanent life insurance policy will reduce future taxable income by accessing the tax-deferred growth of an exempt policy. Upon death, these accumulated sums can then be transferred tax efficiently to heirs.
Andrew Hung, Head, Corporate Finance, B.C. division, BMO Corporate Finance Division
Q: What are the challenges you face in such a competitive market? AH: The key opportunity is to make banking simple so our clients can focus on building their business, accelerating their plans and ultimately being successful. Our group represents 13 lines of businesses presented to the market as a unified platform where we put the customer at the centre of everything we do.
Created by the Vancouver magazine advertising department in partnership with BMO
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ED NOTE
IN YOUR HANDS is an 18-year tradition for Vancouver magazine: our annual Power 50 list. It’s an issue that takes a deep dive into who’s running this city, and it starts with a big question—namely: Who is truly powerful? Is it the people who can get anyone to answer their calls? Is it the one who makes change by creating a new system? Is it always the premier, the mayor? Is it the person who champions those who don’t typically have a voice in our city—the poor, the homeless, people with substance abuse issues—and whose efforts create real policy change? So we start with a brainstorming session, where we invite people from a wide range of sectors and interests—from community activists to film-industry types, from business owners to tech-industry influencers, and from all political leanings—to share what they think was important to Vancouver this year, what they’ve seen change in the city, and who has helped to move the dial. And while the list of names they brought forward was long and diverse, there was plenty they had in common: Indigenous leaders have been demonstrating profound and positive impact on the city; the affordable housing crisis, and those who were trying to do something about it, was a predominant force in 2018; and David Eby impressed everyone at the table, whatever side of the political spectrum they sat on. From there, our editorial team dug deep into the research. Journalist Matt O’Grady spent a lot of time looking into the hundreds of names that came up that first night—and searching for people who didn’t, too. As always, the final battle to narrow the list down had its excruciating moments—the number of great people influencing our world in 2018 is, fortunately for us, a big one— but we diligently got it down to the final 50 you can meet in these pages. One group you won’t see on the list this year: municipal politicians. Our issue left for the printing press on October 12, which means we weren’t anywhere near being able to call who’d be in charge of the city (particularly so this year, one of the oddest elections on record)—nor did any of those potential elected officials have the chance to demonstrate just how influential they’d be by our deadline. We’ll have to see who makes it on to the 2019 Power 50—and how different this city will be one year from now.
Coming Up Next Issue The Wine Issue Top sommelliers from all over the city share their picks for the bottles you should nab right now—100 of them. Plus, just how does a bottle get from Italy to the BCLDB?
Best Intentions Just how useful are New Year’s Resolutions if we can’t last a day? Our data journalist Melissa Edwards digs into how stick-to-it B.C.ers are—and the industry that’s built around our failed promises. (Hello, gym memberships.)
On the Web Wine List Once-Overs Food editor Neal McLennan puts the monocle up to some of our city’s top restaurants’ wine lists. Up this month: Vij’s. Does the gold standard of South Asian cuisine have a wine list to match?
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PORTRAIT: EVA AN KHERA J; ST YLING BY LUISA RINO, MAKEUP BY MEL ANIE NEUFELD; CLOTHING COURTESY HOLT RENFREW, HOLTRENFREW.COM
Of Power and Those Who Have It
VA N M A G . C O M N O V E M B E R / D E C E M B E R 2 0 1 8
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PORTRAIT: EVA AN KHERA J; ST YLING BY LUISA RINO, MAKEUP BY MEL ANIE NEUFELD; CLOTHING COURTESY HOLT RENFREW, HOLTRENFREW.COM
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PHOTOGRAPHY: EMA PETER; PHOTO ILLUSTRATION: MANDY L AU
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WAT E R WO R L D / B R I G H T L I G H T S / K A R AO K E S TA R S
VA N M AG .C O M/C I T Y
City
Perfect Storm This custom home has the most modern feature of all: stormwater management.
PHOTOGRAPHY: EMA PETER; PHOTO ILLUSTRATION: MANDY L AU
AT ISSUE
No Filter
While hundreds of gallons of rainwater go to waste each year, Vancouver’s world-class drinking water is being used to water plants, wash driveways and fill toilets. Can developers and city planners work together to get water smart? BY
Tyee Bridge
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AT I S S U E
TAKE A STROLL PAST the newly built custom home on the corner of West 21st and Quesnel—designed by architects BattersbyHowat and built by Natural Balance Homes— and you’d see a sleek variant on West Coast modernism. What you wouldn’t notice is the attention paid to something not often considered by builders and architects: water. “On this project we’ve really dived deeply into water conservation and water pollution issues,” says Nick Kerchum, head of Natural Balance, who’s been building homes that minimize environmental impacts for 10 years. “In the past we’d used low-flow systems and efficient appliances, among other water management strategies, but on this one we took it much further.” The property not only has a green roof and native drought-resistant plants but it also manages all its stormwater on-site. That means that all rain that lands on the property is captured in an underground retention tank, where it’s either used for watering the plants or allowed to slowly percolate back into the water table. No city water is used to keep grasses or plants alive, and no rain ends up going down the city’s stormwater drains. Why? Kerchum and BattersbyHowat’s answer might be summed up in one word: waste. They did their research before building the West 21st house, and they got radicalized by what they learned. Take the water that comes out of your tap, hose or showerhead. According to their rough calculations, only a very small percentage of the highly filtered water that enters homes and businesses in Metro Vancouver—produced by a recently completed filtration system that cost, at last count, over $800 million—is actually used for drinking or food preparation. Kerchum believes that well over 90 percent
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Kerchum with some exasperation. “The City told us, ‘We won’t allow the use of rainwater in our toilets because we’re worried that somebody might drink from the toilet and get sick.’ That’s pretty much verbatim.” It’s enough to drive a progressive builder crazy. Patrick Condon, a professor of urban design at UBC’s Centre for Interactive Research on Sustainability (CIRS), knows Kerchum’s pain. Condon has spent decades trying to accelerate adoption of new building technologies, and helped design water-smart neighbourhoods in Surrey at East Clayton and Amble Greene. “The East Clayton project was built in the mid-’90s. That’s over 20 years ago, and I had expected the of what the City of Vancouver calls standards of water management we “world-class drinking water” ends set there to be universal by now. But up watering lawns or doing laundry. it didn’t happen, and it’s a shame.” “In Metro Vancouver, there’s no As to why water-smart buildings delineation between drinking water or water used for food and all the oth- and neighbourhoods aren’t already er water that we use for other purpos- the standard, Condon believes much of the resistance lies with engineeres,” says Kerchum. Instead of using ing and permitting departments a massive network of pipes to deliver that are afraid of backlash. “When all our water from three North Shore we build pieces of the city, it’s an reservoirs (Capilano, Seymour and Coquitlam), says Kerchum, we should enormously risky enterprise, and people are very risk-averse. People be designing homes and buildings to utilize our legendary amount of rain. consider these strategies untested.” Even in a setting as progres“In order to build a condo buildsive as the CIRS building, that ing or commercial space in the city conservative wariness lingers. of Vancouver, you have to capture “CIRS is a sustainable building rainwater anyway, but instead where they use rainwater collected of using it we’re shooting it down from the roof to flush toilets, which the storm drain. All we need to do is a great system, but on each one instead is store it and put it to use.” of the urinals they have a sign that Use it how? To water lawns. Flush says, ‘Do not drink water.’” toilets. Kerchum believes we could Stormwater going down the even filter rainwater on-site—it’s drain is one kind of water waste that a heck of a lot cleaner than the builders like Kerchum and designwater that comes through an aging ers like Condon would like to fix. network of pipes—and drink it. There’s another: wastewater. But there are bureaucratic roadIn 2017, Metro Vancouver dumped blocks—some of them bizarre. “The over 39 million cubic metres of unCity of Vancouver will allow you to treated sewage mixed with rainwater capture rainwater for irrigation, runoff into local waterways. Due to but they won’t let you use rainwaE. coli bacteria and other pollutants ter inside the house. It’s common fouling local beaches and rivers, these in other parts of the world,” says
Only a very small percentage of the highly filtered water that enters homes and businesses in Metro Vancouver is actually used for drinking or food preparation.
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IN BRIEF
overflows have potentially serious health consequences for people across the city. And it’s a lot of overflow: for a visual comparison, the amount of untreated sewage and runoff dumped into local waters annually in Metro Vancouver is the same volume as 37 Empire State Buildings. This immense volume has helped make B.C. the worst provincial offender for raw sewage dumping in the country, responsible for 40 percent of the national total. Raw sewage flooding into the city’s waterways is the result of Vancouver’s outdated system for dealing with stormwater runoff and sewage: in most neighbourhoods, they both go into the same pipe. In heavy rains, massive amounts of untreated wastewater overflow into Burrard Inlet, False Creek and the Fraser River. The City of Vancouver knows this is a serious issue and has been trying to mitigate it for decades, separating sewage lines from pipes that carry stormwater in neighbourhoods like Mount Pleasant, Fairview, the West End and many others. They have plans to continue separating stormwater from sewage via separated pipes, but it’s a monumental task that will cost billions, with an estimated completion date of 2050—over 30 years from now. Kerchum thinks that’s too long to wait. He notes the major gains made on energy efficiency through revised building codes, and wants to see Metro Vancouver do the same with water management practices. Instituting codes that require not just capturing rainfall but also keeping it out of storm drains altogether would reduce the amount of sewage overflow going into Metro Vancouver waterways, he says. But getting there will take a push. “It’s easier to keep doing things the way we’ve always done them. In order to do things differently you have to go against the grain a little bit. Someone has to stand up and be willing to do some extra work to make something better start to happen.”
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230,000
Number of trips visitors took around Lafarge Lake in Coquitlam during last year’s Lights at Lafarge event (B.C.’s largest free Christmas light show)
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Total volunteers needed to pretest the one-million-plus bulbs used for VanDusen Garden’s annual holiday display
THE BRE AK DOWN
Light Fantastic
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Ranking of Christmas-light viewing among the most common holiday activities in B.C.
8 km
The days may be shorter, but the nights are getting brighter as holiday light extravaganzas start powering up across the city. BY Melissa Edwards
Distance from which Chalet Place in North Vancouver (the Ribalkin/Viau family’s annual home-based holiday light charity fundraising display) can be seen in Coal Harbour ($96,919.99 = The total the family has raised since 2010, along with 951 bags of food)
2,000
Average feet of wire needed to light up a Vancouver construction crane
4,790,326 Total number of holiday string lights and other small decorative lights sold in B.C. in 2016
THE TICKE T
Tank and the Bangas
The Deets Date: November 5, 2018 Venue: Commodore Ballroom Price: $26.50 timbreconcerts.com
Every “overnight success” story conceals years of anonymous toil, and the New Orleans collective Tank and the Bangas is no exception. Formed in 2011 around the churchripened vocals and free-associative verse of Tarriona “Tank” Ball (she was already a locally renowned slam poet), they combine funk, hiphop, jazz, children’s music and seemingly everything else under the sonic sun to create one of the most joyful sounds to emerge in years. Road warriors from the beginning (an RV facilitated early tours), the group were veterans when their star turn arrived last year: they were chosen from more than 6,000 entries as winners of NPR’s Tiny Desk contest. The prize—a nationally broadcasted concert performed in the station’s D.C. office—has subsequently been viewed on YouTube more than six million times. Now they’re preceding a new album with another tour, which sees the core quintet expanded to an onstage party of 11.—Michael White
Mulg Mu aafra fr TANK AND THE BANGAS: NICK SPANOS
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L E A R N TO O D DRR EE AAM M
TANK AND THE BANGAS: NICK SPANOS
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City
M O D E R N FA M I LY
Sing Your Heart Out
2 “I used to hate karaoke. I would feel sick and I was so nervous, but then I started singing [at work] and it just kind of went from there. I still feel sick every single time. Usually, I have a couple of drinks before I go on. I hate doing it sober—like, deadly sober.”—Sarah Topham, 30, server/bartender
For some, a Friday night behind the mic at a dingy bar is a one-off drunken memory—for others, it’s another chance to hone their craft as they chase the dream of the Karaoke World Championships. This past summer, the most dedicated of the city’s amateur vocalists came together for the provincial finals to put their pipes to the test; the winners head to Calgary for Nationals this fall. Meet some of B.C.’s finalists. Laryssa Vachon Carlo Ricci
AS TOLD TO PHOTO BY
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3 “My parents are my biggest fans. My mom likes Whitney’s ‘I Will Always Love You’ and my dad liked Celine’s ‘My Heart Will Go On.’ I lost my dad last year, and I sang it at his celebration of life.” —Kat Leminski, 46, housewife Go-to song: “Why Haven’t I Heard from You,” Reba McEntire
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Go-to song: “Make 8 You Feel My Love,” Adele version
Group portrait taken at the Cloverdale Legion, July 18, 2018
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1 “I heard about this competition and immediately wanted to do it because I knew good things would come of it. I knew it would make me better. So my husband and I taped my karaoke every night, and we would go home and analyze it and slowly make improvements. The thing that karaoke does for you is it teaches you how to communicate with a crowd. It’s not something that you can learn in a classroom—you have to go out there and do it. You can love a song to death and do an amazing job with it. But if you’re not connecting with the crowd, they’re just gonna ignore you and go on their phones and drink. So you have to figure out how to reach them. This is a very supportive crowd, so it’s safe to take risks.” —Corinne Friesen, 58, yoga blogger and math tutor
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Go-to song: “The Sound of Silence,” Disturbed version
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4 “I just signed up for the contest because why not, right? I’m rather unique—like Leonard Cohen meets Rob Zombie.” —Ty Michelin, 39, roofing inspector Go-to song: “Li’l Red Riding Hood,” Sam the Sham and the Pharaohs
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5 “My name is Judy, so during karaoke in the late ’90s, I’d hear ‘oo’ and ‘ee’ in the same breath and it was my turn. Like, they’d say ‘Julie,’ they’d say ‘Trudy,’ and they’d say ‘Rudy,’ and I’d be up there because it sounded like my turn. I finally decided that wasn’t working very well, so I started using ‘Jas’ [pronounced jazz]—my initials. Now they call ‘Jas’ and I know it’s me.” —Judy Smith (Lady Jas), 75, admin support clerk Go-to song: “I love power songs”
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6 “People say that karaoke’s not real singing, but if you can’t sing or you don’t know the song or the catch of the tune, you’re gonna screw up. So I don’t think it’s any different than singing professionally. To me, it’s connecting with a song. If I can connect with a song, I’ll sing it. If I can’t, I don’t wanna sing it.” —Terry Hill, 49, food and beverage operations manager at YVR Go-to song: ”Wild Horses,” Susan Boyle version
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A NEW YORK ITALIAN STEAKHOUSE
IN THE HEART OF DOWNTOWN VANCOUVER Vancouver’s newest dining experience reintroduces the city to Chef Bruce Woods. Chef Bruce puts a premium on locally sourced and curated ingredients. His homemade pastas and the finest cuts of beef, guarantee a truly memorable dining experience. Our award winning wine list and wine by the glass program is sure to contain a new gem for discovery.
Located in the Century Plaza Hotel
1015 Burrard Street Vancouver, BC V6Z 1Y5
T (604) 684 3474 F (604) 682 5790
W W W. C P R I M E . C A
TWO RIVERS RIVERS MEATS MEATS TWO
THE SHOP BUTCHER SHOP&&EATERY EATERY BUTCHER SHOP
DRY AGED BURGERS | DAILY FEATURES | CHARCUTERIE We serve high quality, local products that are raised naturally and sustainably. Eat-in at our eatery, or take-home from our butcher case. NICE TO MEAT YOU www.TwoRiversMeats.ca | 180 Donagy Ave N. Vancouver. | @TwoRiversMeats | info@tworiversmeats.com
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CHRISTIN GILBERT
YOUR LOCAL MEATERY
B A DA S S B A K I N G / R E S TAU R A N T P OW E R L I S T / G I N G E R B R E A D T H R OW D OW N
VA N M AG .C O M/ TA S T E
Taste THE DISH
CHRISTIN GILBERT
BLACK MAGIC FOR ALL THE INNOVATION that our food industry is famous for, you’d think we’d have a few more bakeries pushing the envelope. We have homages to France and we have natural covered, but where’s our cronut? In a strip mall on a nondescript section of the Westminster Highway in West Richmond, it turns out. That’s where you’ll find Smokehouse Sandwiches, the Garden City’s best purveyor of barbecue and one of the few places you can find the off-the-wall concoctions of the Elmo Baking Company. The once-a-week solo act is the brainchild of former Thomas Haas pastry chef Elmo Bryan Pinpin, who, free from the strictures of classical European preparation, has gone bonkers with such oddities as Chicago Mix cookies (heavenly) and his signature double-baked croissants packed with things like the PB&J, hazelnut cocoa and flambéed banana, and this Darth Vader-inspired number: a black sesame charcoal creation that says, “I want to eat sugar, look badass and cleanse my liver at the same time.” The ball’s in your court, Dominique Ansel. Look for the Elmo Baking Company to be opening its own storefront in the near future, but until then croissants must be ordered on Thursday for pickup at Smokehouse on Friday/Saturday via facebook.com/elmobakingco or Instagram @elmobakingco. Cookies are available daily (praise be).
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Taste
REVIEWS
THE RESTAURANT POWER LIST BY
Neal McLennan
Hy’s private dining wine cellar
THE DEETS
YOU WON’T LIKELY catch Bruno Wall standing in line at Ask for Luigi or Nat Bosa accepting a 5:45 Tuesday reservation for Kissa Tanto because that’s all that’s available. The powerful have a different set of requirements when selecting their restaurants: service, discretion, convenience and, yes, good food. Want to make like a mogul for your next lunch meeting? Here’s a cheat sheet on how to close the big (dining) deal.
Hy’s Steakhouse
637 Hornby St., Vancouver 604-683-7671 hyssteakhouse.com
HY’S THE PROSPECTUS As beautifully old-school as it gets: dim light, cold cocktails (even at lunch) and red meat. Where Don Draper would celebrate the McCann merger. POWER PATRON Jimmy Pattison OFF-THE-MENU DISH A custom-cut—go big or go home—dry-aged rib steak. POWER TABLE The private room to the right as you walk in has seen a lifetime of over-the-top celebration dinners. CLOSING-THE-DEAL BOTTLE
Harlan Cabernet Napa Valley 2012 for $3,000. GIARDINO THE PROSPECTUS The classic yel-
low house has been replaced with a blend of modern and classical Italian just a few doors away, but
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Umberto Menghi still has a Rolodex of power that any other restaurateur would kill for, plus a swank new contemporary room to boot. POWER PATRONS Peter Brown, Frank Giustra
OFF-THE-MENU DISH
Venetian calf’s liver; Alba truffles on risotto in season (Oct. to Nov.). POWER TABLE In the summer, it’s the round one on the patio; in the winter, the tables under the Venetian light.
CLOSING-THE-DEAL BOTTLE How does a
magnum of 1976 Taittinger sound, hotshot? $980.
THE DEETS
Giardino
1328 Hornby St., Vancouver 604-669-2422 umberto.com
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Taste
REVIEWS
THE DEETS
Yew
791 W Georgia St., Vancouver 604-692-4939 yewseafood.com
YEW THE PROSPECTUS This is Vancouver’s answer to New York’s famed Four Seasons restaurant— soaring ceilings, chill design and a mix of well-heeled locals and well-heeled travellers. POWER PATRONS Bob Rennie (every morning), Joe Segal (every lunch), Hassan Khosrowshahi OFF-THE-MENU DISH A grilled cheese on sourdough was long Rennie’s order. POWER TABLE If you want everyone to know you’re celebrating, the glassed-in wine room offers privacy (but not really); if you want real privacy, booth #115. CLOSING-THE-DEAL BOTTLE
Château Montrose 2000, $1,200.
Private dining in Yew’s glassed-in wine room
THE DEETS
T H E VA N C O U V E R C L U B
The Vancouver Club 915 W Hastings St., Vancouver 604-685-9321 vancouverclub.ca
THE PROSPECTUS The city’s seat of power since 1889, more than a few mayors and premiers have been selected within the tony confines of this granite block of importance. Inside, the wood panelling has wood panelling. POWER PATRONS A few, but let’s go for Canadians owner Jake Kerr and Robert Lee. OFF-THE-MENU DISH This isn’t the place to flex your muscles with such gauche displays—have the massive slab of prime rib with tear-inducing horseradish like everybody else. POWER TABLE No particular special one, but the atrium in summer and near the fireplace in winter are always well subscribed.
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CLOSING-THE-DEAL BOTTLE
A bottle of the Macallan 25 from your private whisky locker.
VO
*Eu fea
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YOUR STRESS-FREE SCANDINAVIAN SANCTUARY AWAITS With a luxurious cabin interior, standard three rows of comfortable Nappa leather seating and cutting-edge safety innovations including world-first Oncoming Lane Mitigation, the Volvo XC90 is your Scandinavian Sanctuary. Visit your local Volvo retailer to learn more.
OUR IDEA OF LUXURY
VOLVO OF VANCOUVER
2019 VOLVO XC90 VOLVO OF NORTH VANCOUVER
VOLVO OF SURREY
*European Model Shown. Features, specifications and equipment may vary in Canada. Visit www.volvocars.ca or your participating Volvo retailer for complete details on Canadian models, features, specifications and equipment. ©2019 Volvo Car Canada Ltd. Always remember to wear your seat belt.
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Taste
T H E TA S T E T E S T
CATCH ’EM IF YOU CAN
There are few sweeter holidays than Christmas— it’s the season of eggnog, candy canes and chocolate. But let’s be honest: nothing beats a classic gingerbread cookie. Here’s what happened when we asked two local pastry chefs and one keen reader to find the city’s best. BY
Kaitlyn Funk
PHOTO BY
BEST IN SHOW
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Clinton Hussey
BEST IN SHOW
1. Liberty Bakery “This is my favourite design— so cute!” said Turner of Liberty Bakery’s unique Totoro shape. The thicker-than-average layer of icing means this cookie teeters on the edge of being too sweet, but thanks to its soft, chewy texture and perfectly balanced level of spice, our judges really couldn’t find much to fault. $3.25, 3699 Main St., libertybakery.com HONOUR ABLE MENTION
2. Fratelli Bakery Our judges would have preferred this cookie to have a little more spice—it needed a stronger ginger, clove and molasses flavour to set it apart from the crowd—but they loved the nostalgic look of these gingerbread men. “The chocolate and candy decoration is a nice touch,” said Hung. $2.50, multiple locations, fratellibakery.com
3. The Uncommon Cake These custom-made cookies were described as “whimsical and fun,” but, tastewise, our judges couldn’t look past the heavy spice and too-hard icing: “I don’t like biting into a cookie and feeling like I’m going to snap my teeth,” said one. $4, online,
theuncommoncake.com
4. Two Daughters Bake Shop This gluten-free, vegan gingerbread cookie didn’t fool any of our judges—its dark colour and grainy texture immediately tipped them off. That said, they appreciated the bakery’s efforts to bring this holiday treat to the masses. “I’ve definitely had worse,” said one judge. $2.25, 121 E 1st St., North Vancouver, twodaughtersbakeshop.ca
5. Cadeaux Bakery Cadeaux Bakery’s gingerbread cookies have a “nice peppery finish” that keeps them from being too sweet. The texture could use some work, though: “It’s a little bit dry and crumbly,” said Burton. “I could use some hot chocolate to dunk it in.” $3.95, 172 Powell St., cadeauxbakery.com
6. Butter Baked Goods The cookies from Butter were lacklustre in flavour (“They’re missing spice,” noted one judge),but our panellists loved the cookie’s imperfect shape and sprinkle decoration—it has “a homemade feel to it.” $5, 4907 MacKenzie St., butter-baked-goods. myshopify.com
Follow @vanmag_com and look for the #VMTasteTest hashtag for your chance to be a judge 34
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Meet the Judges Mark Burton is the executive pastry chef instructor at PICA. He likes his gingerbread cookies to be light and fluffy, and just sweet enough that he can enjoy them with a cup of hot chocolate.
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Betty Hung is the owner of Beaucoup Bakery. She makes almost every kind of holiday treat you can imagine, but traditional gingerbread cookies aren’t one of them—she leaves those for everybody else.
Allie Turner is a UBC student—and former VanMag intern. She usually eats gingerbread in the form of houses, but she was able to make an exception for our taste test.
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Taste
M OV E A B L E F E A S T
EAT LIKE A LOLOCAL Forget all you thought you knew about eating in Lower Lonsdale. The burgeoning burg is fast becoming a destination dining spot. BY
Allie Turner
PHOTOGRAPHS BY
Gusto di Q Pier 7
Christin Gilbert
The District Brasserie
Lift
THE SUBURBS GET a bad rap for being sleepy and for missing the boat (or, in this case, the SeaBus) on new and exciting restaurants. But LoLo has been slowly getting a facelift in the last few years, and as the young ’uns start flocking across the Lions Gate to escape rising rents, they’re bringing a dash of dining expectations with them. But does LoLo rise to the challenge?
OLD BUT STILL KICKING
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The main strip beneath Esplanade and before the quay is quintessential LoLo dining, and there hasn’t been anything new on that block for years. However, owner and certified Red Seal chef Paul Mon-Kau’s neighbourhood favourite 1 The District Brasserie (13 Lonsdale Ave., eatatdistrict.com), the European gastro-pub meets West Coast, is still hopping. Refined yet casual pub grub and local beers on tap mean it still draws a crowd on a Thursday night. Another option for casual food is an outpost of Main Street stalwart 2 Burgoo (3 Lonsdale Ave., burgoo .ca) next door. It’s the only one of their locations to feature live music,
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so check out the website for a list of performances that range in style from Latin jazz to soft pop. And we’re loving the queso fundido. On the same block, you have the illustrious 3 Gusto di Quattro (1 Lonsdale Ave., quattrorestaurants.com), which has been part of the neighbourhood since 2000. The rustic Italian menu, inspired by local legend Antonio Corsi, offsets the potential snootiness of a white-linen fine dining experience—the result being a higher price tag without high levels of pretension.
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Buddha-Full Finch and Barley Burgoo
Fishworks
Gusto di Quattro
Table 153
NOTHING FISHY HERE
Seafood is front and centre when you’re this close to the water, and 4 Fishworks (91 Lonsdale Ave., fishworks.ca) has been the go-to seafood scene for eight-plus years. Owner and chef Shallaw Kadir keeps things solidly West Coast while throwing in curveballs like halibut poutine—the only thing missing is a view. And that can be found at 5 Pier 7 (25 Wallace Mews Rd., pierseven.ca), perhaps the best year-round patio in town. Pier 7 is best visited on Thursdays, when the team puts on a messy, wonderful seafood boil for those who like to get deeply interactive with their dinner.
BEST BRUNCH
Urban-hipster-hippies, this way. The North Shore mountains are perfect for crunchy granola, so it only makes sense that 6 BuddhaFull’s (106 W 1st St., buddhafull.ca) two locations are both in North Van. LoLo doesn’t get the same indoor swing set treatment as the Northwoods location, but the smoothies are excellent and this eatery is all vegan, all the time, making it perfect for a plant-based snack post-Grouse Grind. If vegan isn’t your scene, close by is the Instagrammable 7 Lift Breakfast Bakery (101
Lonsdale Ave., liftonlonsdale .ca), a solid spot to hang out for the morning with affordable breakfast sandwiches (spinach, tomato, Boursin for $5.95) and sought-after baked-inhouse bread (try the milk loaf for $5.95). If you can’t get into Lift, try the more low-key 8 Table 153 (228 Lonsdale Ave., facebook .com/table153), a new split-level (so North Van!) place still suffering a few teething issues (work on the hollandaise, gang) but able to triumph with classics like a giant club sandwich.
BONUS!
We may be straying a little, but 9 Finch and Barley (250 E 1st St., finchandbarley .com) is a new off-the-beatentrack spot, tucked between industrial buildings and a sex shop, that combines live music and stand-up with a good Scotch and brandy list, all backstopped by a predictable menu that’s heavy on flatbreads and burgers but shines when it strays to dishes like chickpea coconut curry. And they sell the tastes-like-summer Casal Garcia Vinho Verde for $26 a bottle. We’ll have three.
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1457 Bellevue Avenue, West Vancouver | 604.925.8333 Four Seasons Hotel, 791 Georgia Street, Vancouver | 604.682.1158 2018 SMALL BUSINESS OF THE YEAR
STITTGEN.COM
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50 POWER C OV E R STORY
Eighteen years into our annual power ranking, it’s clear that it’s not just the names on list that change and shift over time, but our definition of power itself. In 2018, power isn’t just found in the hands of board room bosses and high rollers (though you’ll find plenty still in this year’s class of influencers): it’s also wielded by Vancouverites who are moving the dial in quieter—but equally meaningful—ways. The grassroots activists swaying developers, the humble politicians rolling up their sleeves, and the behind-the-scenes players facing the opioid crisis with concrete solutions: it’s a list that’s heavy on the nice-guy factor, but don’t be fooled—this city’s power players, on all sides of the game, are in it to win it.
WRITTEN BY Frances Bula, Nathan Caddell, Julia Dilworth, Stacey McLachlan, Matt O’Grady and Anicka Quin
Presented by BMO
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POWER 50
EBY: TANYA GOEHRING; HORGAN: K AGAN M C LEOD
Man of the People He may not hold the top job in the legislature, but he controls the water-cooler conversation in the province, a former adversary says. For that reason, Attorney General David Eby holds our top spot on the Power 50 this year.
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DAVID EBY ATTORNEY GENERAL OF B.C. PR E V I O USLY # 5, 2 01 7
EBY: TANYA GOEHRING; HORGAN: K AGAN M C LEOD
From the very first days of his political career, David Eby’s willingness to take risks was clear. After just missing a seat for Vancouver city council in November 2008, Eby (then executive director of the BC Civil Liberties Association) decided the natural next step was to run in a 2011 provincial byelection—in tony Vancouver–Point Grey, against the popular new B.C. premier and leader of the Liberals, Christy Clark. It should have been a blowout, but Clark won with little more than 600 votes. Next time, the premier wouldn’t be so lucky; he nabbed the seat in 2013. When the NDP came to power in 2017, all eyes were on Eby—not just as the province’s next attorney general but also as the party’s heir apparent, should John Horgan stumble. While Horgan has deftly led his team into a second year in office, many see Eby as the NDP’s Gretzky—stickhandling all the hottest files, from money laundering to the opioid crisis to the financial mess at ICBC. “Horgan looks to him as a kind of Mr. Fixit—the guy he turns to when a tough political problem needs to be wrestled to the ground,” says Rob Shaw, who covers the B.C. legislature for Postmedia. “His reach at the cabinet table extends much further than the boundaries of attorney general… you can see his fingerprints and input on most of the NDP’s major policies.” Vancouver–Point Grey has been represented in the legislature by two recent premiers, Christy Clark and Gordon Campbell. Whether it will be represented by a third depends on a lot of factors, including Horgan and the NDP losing power— and Eby hanging on as MLA, despite constituent anger over the new luxury property surtax. For now, anyway, the six-foot-seven MLA holds sway over something more valuable, according to one long-time adversary: “He controls the water-cooler conversation in the province.”
2 JOHN HORGAN PREMIER OF B.C.
PR E V IO USLY #1, 201 7
Many predicted that B.C.’s first minority government in 65 years wouldn’t last more than a few months. The fact that it’s well into year two now—with no end in sight—is a testament to the leadership skills of John Horgan, who has kept his coalition together while delivering much of the NDP platform. That said, the balancing act only gets trickier from here on in. As the former Liberal regime fades in memory, public anger over the housing crisis is something the NDP will now be forced to wear—as will any economic fallout from trying to appease its Green partners on Trans Mountain and other environmental issues.
3 Aquilini Family AQUILINI INVESTMENT GROUP (AIG) PR E V IO USLY #6, 201 7
It’s been a mixed year for B.C.’s power family. On the one hand, this summer’s dismissal of hockey icon Trevor Linden as president of the Vancouver Canucks (a team they’ve owned wholly since 2006) has cast a pall over the most love-hated sports team in the city. On the other hand, the Aquilinis continue to make smart strategic hires for the rest of their conglomerate—including, this past July, luring top city bureaucrat Bill Aujla, general manager of Vancouver’s real estate and facilities department, to run AIG’s real estate arm. AIG, with a 25-percent stake in both the Jericho and Heather Street Lands (a combined 100-plus acres), has also become the favoured partner of First Nations developers MST—one of the few builders adding density in the heart of Vancouver.
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POWER 50
6 KEVIN DESMOND CEO, TRANSLINK PR E V IO USLY #1 2 , 2 0 1 7
4 FRANK GIUSTRA CEO, THE FIORE GROUP
PR E V IO USLY #11, 2 01 7
There’s arguably nobody on this list with a wider range of interests. Giustra made his name in gold mining, but he also founded moviemaking giant Lionsgate. He pals around with the likes of Bill Clinton and Bill Gates, yet devotes considerable resources to the plight of Syrian refugees. He’s also dipping his toes into the choppy bitcoin waters, backing cryptocurrency miner Hive Blockchain Technologies last fall, and in August he took public his latest entertainment venture, Thunderbird Films (owner of the Blade Runner franchise and producer for Netflix and Amazon, among others).
5 Ian Gillespie CEO, WESTBANK PROJECTS CORP.
PR E V I O USLY #3, 201 7
As the world awaits Vancouver House by starchitect Bjarke Ingels, its developer is keeping busy with the rest of his $10-billion portfolio, including another Ingels-designed condo planned for Toronto. Perhaps Gillespie’s most ambitious project in 2018, however, was the launch of the Creative Housing Society (CHS), whose aim is to partner with government to build 50,000 units of affordable rental housing, primarily in Toronto and Vancouver...though those plans hit a speed bump in August when CHS’s high-profile CEO, Jennifer Keesmaat, quit to run for mayor of Toronto, and with the predicted massive change in Vancouver’s city council, his get-anything-through reputation may take a hit.
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ridership is set to hit an all-time high, breaking 2017’s record of 407 million boardings, while Desmond was able to get approval for phase two of the authority’s $7.3-billion investment plan in June. Two of the signature projects to be funded by that 10-year plan—a new light-rail transit line in Surrey and the Broadway extension in Vancouver— became hot political potatoes in municipal elections, with mayoral candidates in both cities promising to speed up the plan or ditch light rail for more expensive subways. Desmond was quick to assure would-be contenders there’d be no more money for either.
GIUSTRA: PAUL JOSEPH; GILLESPIE: K AGAN M C LEOD; DESMOND: POOYA NABEI
It’s been a big year for TransLink:
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6 KEVIN DESMOND GIUSTRA: PAUL JOSEPH; GILLESPIE: K AGAN M C LEOD; DESMOND: POOYA NABEI
CEO OF TRANSLINK
PR E V IO USLY #16, 201 6
Moving the City Record boardings, a $7.3-billiion transit plan: Kevin Desmond is making things happen with TransLink.
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POWER 50
7 Terri Hui PRESIDENT AND CEO, CONCORD PACIFIC GROUP
PR E V IO USLY #1 3, 201 7
The skateboarding, yacht-racing, ever-hyper CEO of Concord Pacific continues to roll on, building his empire out from its original base on the former Expo lands on False Creek. Aside from the huge new development his company is planning for northeast False Creek, as the final piece of that massive puzzle, Concord is also building in London (yes, England), Seattle, Toronto and Burnaby. The company builds nearly 3,000 apartments a year worldwide. On top of that, Hui, a new dad this year who is hugely interested in sustainable energy, has a dozen projects underway in that sector, including a proposed $2.3-billion Amisk hydroelectric project in Alberta, on top of half a dozen solar projects in Ontario.
9 PATRICIA DALY CHIEF MEDICAL OFFICER, VANCOUVER COASTAL HEALTH PR E V IO USLY #9, 2 0 1 7
8 IRENE LANZINGER PRESIDENT, BC FEDERATION OF LABOUR PR E V I O USLY # 19, 2 01 7
The BC Fed clearly has the government’s ear, given controversial changes announced in July that create union-first hiring rules for government infrastructure projects. While organized labour can also take credit for another signature move by the NDP—boosting the minimum wage, which is set to hit $15.20 by 2021, and phasing out the server wage—even bigger changes are afoot with a planned revamp of B.C.’s Labour Code, which hasn’t been touched in 15 years. Top of Lanzinger’s wish list: better pay and working conditions for those in the gig economy.
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HUI: PAUL JOSEPH; L ANZINGER: ADAM BL ASBERG
Such is the level of Dr. Daly’s power: if she cloned herself, she might make the list in several different incarnations. The most obvious is her role as chief medical officer at Vancouver Coastal Health, where she deals with issues ranging from E. coli-induced beach closures to safety for trampoline parks, but she’s also the newly appointed executive director of the NDP government’s Overdose Emergency Response Centre, hoping to finally gain some headway in the ever-expanding opioid crisis—an issue she’s been screaming from the rooftops about for the past several years.
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HUI: PAUL JOSEPH; L ANZINGER: ADAM BL ASBERG
CARA COCCO . PRESIDENT 2018 - 2019
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11 MICHAEL AUDAIN CHAIR, AUDAIN FOUNDATION, POLYGON HOMES PR E V IO USLY # 20, 201 7
Michael Audain continues to reign as a benevolent Renaissance prince
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JIM PATTISON & GLEN CLARK CEO; PRESIDENT AND COO, JIM PATTISON GROUP PR E V IO USLY # 14 & # 2 7, 2 01 7
of Vancouver: a gracious man who made his money through real estate development at Polygon, now on a mission to showcase his awe-inspiring art collection. Audain’s Whistler gallery, a unique building designed by the Patkau team of architects to display his Indigenous and modern art pieces, won an American Institute of Architecture award this year. His recently opened Polygon Gallery in North Vancouver will be a major draw there. He made headlines this year as the reputed saviour of a Chagall painting at threat of being lost from the National Gallery of Canada by paying the auction fees charged for cancelling the sale. And he’s said to be exploring a new art venture—a foundation, with the Desmarais family, that will celebrate the work of Québécois painter Jean-Paul Riopelle, someone whose work Audain has collected extensively.
province that doesn’t begin with Pattison. He’s been the wealthiest man in B.C. for as long as anyone can remember, and his rags-to-riches story has become part of the fabric of the province’s folklore. But behind the ever-present smile is a titan of industries—advertising, groceries, timber, entertainment—that span the globe. And few moves were more unexpected and, in retrospect, savvy than his promoting of former premier Clark as his No. 1, and in so doing positioning his empire as one beholden to no one political party (though the latter is well known to have great access to the ear of John Horgan).
12 Bob Rennie EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR AND FOUNDER, RENNIE GROUP PR E V IO USLY #8, 201 7
The past year has seen a diminished role for the perennial power player. Rennie was tight with the BC Liberals (serving as its chief fundraiser) and they’re now out of power, while his favoured municipal party, Vision Vancouver, is also fading fast. But it’s also choice: the real estate marketer, now 62, has been handing more control in recent years to his deputies (including son Kris). Rennie’s influence in the art world, meanwhile, remains strong, with fellow collectors Beyoncé and Jay-Z getting a private tour of his Kerry James Marshall collection—now showing at his museum—in October.
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PAT TISON AND CL ARK: K AGAN M C LEOD; AUDAIN: MARK RE YNOLDS/MONTECRISTO MAGA ZINE; RENNIE: GRANT HARDER
There is no discussion of power in this
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Butternut Squash Ravioli with Prawns
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CHRIS GARDNER PRESIDENT, INDEPENDENT CONTRACTORS AND BUSINESS ASSOCIATION OF BC PR E V IO USLY # 37, 2 014
Many people don’t know his name, but this former lawyer, who once worked for Samsung in South Korea, has significant influence in political circles. Gardner currently leads the Independent Contractors and Businesses Association of B.C., which has become a leading force opposing the NDP government on a wide range of issues. His group ran an aggressive PR campaign to save the Site C project, something the NDP decided to proceed with in the end. Gardner, who ran the modular-building company Britco for nine years, worked with both former premier Christy Clark and former Surrey mayor Dianne Watts at points, but he seems to prefer life outside government bureaucracies.
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MST DEVELOPMENT CORPORATION URBAN REAL ESTATE DEVELOPERS PR E V IO USLY #1 0, 201 7
The pact that represents the foray of the Musqueam, Squamish and Tsleil-Waututh Nations into real estate looms large, as the group has holdings in some of Metro Vancouver’s largest, most valuable swaths of land. But there are still questions around what exactly MST plans to do with its properties, which include more than 160 acres worth more than $1 billion. 2017 was also supposed to be the year in which former Squamish hereditary chief Ian Campbell gained the mayor’s chair with his Vision Vancouver bid. That didn’t go so smoothly; Campbell resigned when uncomfortable realities surfaced about his past. Once one of three faces of MST, it’s not known whether he’ll jump back in the saddle after he left his elected position with the First Nation to run for mayor.
DARREN ENTWISTLE CEO, TELUS
PR E V IO USLY#15, 2 01 7
The Telus CEO has long kept a low profile—no Steve Jobs–style announcements for this fella—but that’s set to change this year as both he and the company he runs (B.C.’s biggest, BTW) get into the philanthropy game, big time. First up is Telus’s plan to donate $120 million from the sale of downtown’s Telus Gardens to a charitable fund (perhaps to make up for the traffic snarls the building’s construction unleashed on Seymour Street). And this past June, Entwistle and wife Fiona launched the Entwistle Family Foundation to help at-risk Canadian youth realize their full potential (with $1 million of their own funds as seed money). On the business side, wireless has been slowing, but the burgeoning health, internet and TV segments should help keep Telus atop the business pyramid.
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Carole James FINANCE MINISTER OF B.C. PR E V IO USLY #1 8, 201 7
With her first budget in February, James pulled off the impressive feat of both delivering many NDP promises while still balancing the province’s books. Things get trickier next year, with tax revenues from B.C.’s booming real estate and construction industries expected to decline. While James remains one of Premier Horgan’s top performers, she has faced the brunt of the backlash to a proposed new tax on real estate speculation—one of many things that clouds the province’s economic future.
JAMES: K AGAN M C LEOD
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As senior policy advisor since August 2017, Goodman makes sure the prime minister is abreast of all policy implications for voters, in B.C. and elsewhere. Goodman has long straddled the industry/environment divide in her life’s work, including as a senior exec at Tides Canada, Teck and Weyerhaeuser; in her new role, she’s handling everything from climate change to fisheries and natural resources to transport. Goodman is expected to play a critical part in revising the Liberals’ carbon tax plans and rebooting the controversial Trans Mountain project.
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JODY WILSONRAYBOULD MINISTER OF JUSTICE, GOVERNMENT OF CANADA PR E V IO USLY # 25, 2 01 7
With marijuana legalization set for October 17, Canada’s justice minister spent most of 2018 making sure all the necessary supporting laws were in place, including a new roadside saliva test for cannabis. Beyond the busy pot file, WilsonRaybould announced big changes to family law in May, with a focus on protecting the interests of children, and—more controversially—publicly weighed in on the Colten Boushie trial (tweeting, “As a country, we can and must do better,”—a nono for a sitting minister, despite the important issues raised about how Indigenous people are treated by Canada’s legal system).
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CRAIG RICHMOND PRESIDENT & CEO, VANCOUVER AIRPORT AUTHORITY NEW
If you think YVR is busier than ever, you’d be right: last year, the passenger count at the airport topped 24 million, up 8.4 percent compared with that of 2016, making YVR the fastestgrowing airport in North America. With an expected 31 million annual passengers expected by 2022, CEO Craig Richmond launched a 20-year, $9.1-billion expansion project for YVR this June. The investment will cover 75 major plans, including terminal expansions, new parking, and “a forest of firs” added to the main terminal—what promises to be the largest indoor planter in the world. At the same time, Richmond has worked hard to strengthen relationships with Indigenous stakeholders, including a revenuesharing agreement with the Musqueam.
20 JESSE DOUGHERTY VANCOUVER SITE LEAD, AMAZON INC. NEW
While we didn’t get shortlisted for Amazon “HQ2”—the second headquarters in North America for the tech behemoth— Amazon continues to expand and hire in the Lower Mainland at breakneck speed. Dougherty, who is Amazon’s B.C.-born Vancouver site leader, flanked Prime Minister Trudeau in April to announce 3,000 new Amazon jobs (high-paying ones in e-commerce technology, cloud computing and machine learning), with the company taking over Vancouver’s iconic central post office on Georgia Street and building a new 416,000-squarefoot office tower incorporating its heritage design.
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EVA AN KHERA J
SENIOR POLICY ADVISOR, PRIME MINISTER’S OFFICE
GOODMAN: K AGAN M C LEOD; WILSON-RAYBOULD: ADAM BL ASBERG; DOUGHERT Y: TANYA GOEHRING
17 Sarah Goodman
EVA AN KHERA J
GOODMAN: K AGAN M C LEOD; WILSON-RAYBOULD: ADAM BL ASBERG; DOUGHERT Y: TANYA GOEHRING
Tech Giant Jesse Dougherty steers the Amazon Vancouver site—not HQ2, but he’s rapidly adding thousands of high-paying jobs to our local marketplace.
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Dustin Rivers—also known by his Squamish name, Khelsilem—was one of several fresh faces elected to lead the Squamish Nation last December. The Squamish are one of the Lower Mainland’s most influential Indigenous communities, and Rivers—who serves as their spokesperson—has quickly become one of the most notable voices on issues affecting First Nations, including the controversial Trans Mountain pipeline project. In addition to his political work, Rivers helped SFU set up its Squamish Language Proficiency Certificate Program and advocates protecting and preserving Indigenous idioms.
22 CAROL LEE RESTAURANT OWNER; CHAIR, CHINATOWN REVITALIZATION COMMITTEE AND VANCOUVER CHINATOWN FOUNDATION PR E V I O USLY # 24, 2 01 7
Carol Lee has worked to stay out of the limelight in the recent battles over Chinatown, but both her fans and detractors say she has been a key force in fighting out-of-character new development in the neighbourhood. Lee, the daughter of real-estate magnate and UBC pillar Bob Lee, has been pouring money and energy into trying to bring back some of the 1970s businesses and charm to the area. She opened a Chinese barbecue restaurant that has proven popular and is working on reopening a former icon, Foo’s Ho Ho Restaurant. She puts on two fundraisers a year for the Vancouver Chinatown Foundation, which are becoming more prestigious events all the time, and that has generated enough money to contribute $30 million to a social-housing project on Hastings Street. If that weren’t enough, she’s also working with a team to open a Chinese storytelling centre.
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23 GEOFF MEGGS CHIEF OF STAFF, B.C. PREMIER’S OFFICE PR E V IO USLY # 2 , 201 7
As John Horgan’s chief of staff, Meggs is the most powerful voice in the premier’s ear. A key advantage he held in the NDP’s first year in office was direct access to old friends at Vancouver City Hall—but that’s set to change this month, with the party he cofounded, Vision Vancouver, expected to take a hit at the polls. On a personal level, he also released his fourth book in April: Strange New Country: The Fraser River Salmon Strikes of 1900–1901 and the Birth of Modern British Columbia.
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COUNCILLOR AND SPOKESPERSON, SQUAMISH NATION
RIVERS: THOSH COLLINS; LEE: ADAM BL ASBERG; STUART: POOYA NABEI
21 Dustin (Khelsilem) Rivers
Making Bank As part of the top brass at HSBC Canada, Sandra Stuart has advocated the multinational bank’s strategic support for a lowcarbon economy.
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SANDRA STUART CEO, HSBC CANADA PR E V IO USLY # 24, 201 4
from within. The Vancouver native started as a parttime teller with HSBC Canada more than 37 years ago, and in 2015 she became the first female CEO of a major Canadian bank—and the only CEO of a big bank based west of Toronto. As part of HSBC’s global leadership team, Stuart has advocated the multinational’s strategic support for a low-carbon economy; in April, HSBC announced it would no longer finance new oil sands projects or pipelines.
EVA AN KHERA J
RIVERS: THOSH COLLINS; LEE: ADAM BL ASBERG; STUART: POOYA NABEI
Stuart is a textbook case of promoting
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BAUER: TANYA GOEHRING; PAISH: K AGAN M C LEOD
Drive On It’s been another year without ride-sharing apps, for better or for worse. That’s due, in no small part, to the powerful taxi lobby— the voice of which is spokesperson Carolyn Bauer.
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CAROLYN BAUER SPOKESPERSON, VANCOUVER TAXI ASSOCIATION; GENERAL MANAGER, YELLOW CAB
GIL KELLEY
PR E V IO USLY #3 8, 2 016
Another year without Uber is another year of monopolistic profit for Vancouver’s taxi industry, which faces no competition in the ride-hailing industry. The B.C. government has delayed its plans to reform the industry yet again— this time until September 2019—though the goal is to increase the province’s cab fleet by 15 percent. That means about 300 new cabs roaming the streets of the taxi-starved Lower Mainland—in theory. The move is optional and based on industry imperatives, not consumer demand.
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Stewart Phillip PRESIDENT, UNION OF BC INDIAN CHIEFS
BAUER: TANYA GOEHRING; PAISH: K AGAN M C LEOD
PR E V I O USLY #3 4, 2 01 7
For over 20 years, Stewart Phillip of the Penticton Indian Band has served as chief (now grand chief) of the Union of BC Indian Chiefs. As one of the elder statesmen of B.C.’s Indigenous community, Phillip has been a vocal presence in the Trans Mountain and Site C debates, as well as in ongoing efforts at reconciliation. Recently, Phillip weighed in on this fall’s mailin referendum on electoral reform (October 22 to November 30) to say that proportional representation would help correct underrepresentation of Indigenous voices.
27 SUE PAISH
GENERAL MANAGER, PLANNING, URBAN DESIGN AND SUSTAINABILITY, CITY OF VANCOUVER
CEO, DIGITAL TECHNOLOGY SUPERCLUSTER
PRE VIOUSLY #33, 201 7
PR E V IO USLY #8 4, 2011
Kelley has a reputation as being
In May, the former CEO
a more consultative planner than some of his predecessors—a trait that became apparent in revised community plans for Chinatown, presented to council (after months of heated debate) in June. Still, the San Francisco native isn’t afraid to challenge city orthodoxy—such as intruding on Vancouver’s sacred “view corridors” with the massive Northeast False Creek redevelopment. Perhaps Kelley’s biggest test will come in implementing the city’s 10-year housing strategy, released last November, and its call to transform Vancouver’s low-density neighbourhoods.
of LifeLabs was named the founding CEO of B.C.’s Digital Technology Supercluster, where she’s responsible for building and leading the consortium that will establish B.C. and Canada as global leaders in digital technology. The federally funded organization is focused on generating new jobs, growing the GDP and increasing Canada’s global competitiveness through data analytics, quantum computing and virtual mixed/ augmented reality. More than 350 organizations are involved in the supercluster—Microsoft, GE and Telus among them— putting Paish in a prime position to represent and influence the country’s biggest tech players. It’s a sweet place to be as the industry itself grows into a powerhouse: B.C.’s tech sector currently contributes $15 million in GDP, which is seven percent of the province’s economy— that’s more than twice the contribution of forestry.
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Peter Dhillon PRESIDENT AND CEO, RICHBERRY GROUP OF COMPANIES PRE VIOUSLY #36, 2010
Canada’s cranberry king (his Richberry Group is the largest in Canada) owns large swaths of land in the Lower Mainland (238 acres in East Richmond, 352 acres in Pitt Meadows) and is a key supplier to behemoth Ocean Spray. And while he’s just been inducted into the Canadian Agricultural Hall of Fame, those little red berries are just the start of Dhillon’s influence: he was recently appointed to the board at the Bank of Canada (he’s the first Indo-Canadian to receive the honour), which adds to his board roles at the Vancouver Airport Authority and Simon Fraser University.
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Joy MacPhail CHAIR, ICBC
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This former deputy premier and formidable influencer has been out of the spotlight, relatively speaking, since she left politics in 2005 and focused on other ventures (like OUTtv, the station her husband, James Shavick, led for 10 years). But now the NDP is back in power, and so is the sharp MacPhail. She’s chair of the board at ICBC, the province’s perpetually angst-ridden vehicleinsurance corporation, where changes are in the air. She was also put on the commission that studied mobility pricing for the region. And she’s chair at Adler University, an institution that focuses on mental health and social justice.
She Does It All Sandra Singh’s massive portfolio includes everything from the opioid crisis to child care to public art.
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31 SANDRA SINGH GENERAL MANAGER OF ARTS, CULTURE AND COMMUNITY SERVICE, CITY OF VANCOUVER PRE VIOUSLY #49, 2014
The new Vancouver city hall job Sandra Singh was awarded last December doesn’t sound that intimidating: general manager of arts, culture and community services. But that title disguises a raft of complex issues that she’ll have to deal with: everything from homelessness to reconciliation with Indigenous groups to child care to the ballet and public art. But the 40-something Singh impressed many at city hall with her potential to grapple with all that during her eight years as head of the Vancouver Public Library, with her team-building abilities and her capacity for listening quietly before weighing in. She did a lot with a tight budget, introducing things like the Inspiration Lab, which gives library patrons space and equipment for digital productions and storytelling.
MACHPHAIL: K AGAN McLEOD
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Adam Palmer CHIEF CONSTABLE, VPD PR E V IO USLY # 2 9, 2 015
For the head of the VPD, the key to being on this list may be people not knowing your name. Palmer’s been chief since 2015, but the main reason he’s not a household name is that there have been no policing crises requiring him to be front and centre. Crime is down, and both community relations and officer satisfaction are up. All of which caused the police board (chaired by the outgoing mayor) to re-up the chief for a five-year contract extension this past May in the hopes he’ll produce another half decade of steady-as-she-goes results.
JANICE ABBOTT & SHAYNE RAMSAY
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CEO, ATIRA WOMEN’S RESOURCE SOCIETY; CEO, BC HOUSING
ANDREW WILKINSON
PR E V IO USLY #37, 201 7 AN D PR E VO USLY #3 8, 201 5
LEADER, BC LIBERAL PARTY NEW
While undoubtedly one of the city’s leading power couples, Ramsay and Abbott have each achieved success in their own right. Abbott has been CEO of Atira for over a quarter century, and for the past 16 years she has employed an innovative model of managing rental properties to help fund her not-for-profit organization dedicated to women and children affected by violence. Being married to Ramsay— CEO of BC Housing since 2000—entails going through extra hoops to avoid any impression of a conflict of interest, which means Abbott often gets stuck with some of the more challenging properties, including the six-month contract earlier this year to run a former Sahota flophouse, the Regent. Ramsay has survived as CEO of BC Housing for more than 18 years and through four different premiers, which speaks to his assiduously non-partisan approach to providing social housing to 100,000-plus B.C. households.
The current leader of the BC Liberal Party has a bad hand to play. The public hates his party, and every time he tries to launch an attack on the NDP over casinos, ICBC or almost anything, critics sneer and say, “Who are you to talk? You created this mess.” But Wilkinson, a west-side former doctor, former lawyer and former Rhodes Scholar, is staying calm and holding it together. That’s no small accomplishment for a party that is famous for fracturing at times into its component parts of rural conservatives and more urban liberals. He has managed to bring the party up in the polls to near NDP levels, in spite of the challenges.
35 HARJIT SINGH SAJJAN FEDERAL MINISTER OF NATIONAL DEFENCE
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GILL: TANYA GOEHRING; TALIB: GRANT HARDER
One of B.C.’s highest-profile federal cabinet ministers, Sajjan had a quieter year in 2017. Not that he’s complaining. After having to apologize for exaggerating his role in a 2006 military operation in Afghanistan, this year the Vancouver South representative has been seen to stand firm on the country’s defence spending via a Maclean’s editorial and deliver on a peacekeeping promise in Mali. He also seemed to take the high road when he urged Prime Minister Justin Trudeau (on the latter’s otherwise disastrous trip to India) to meet with Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh, who had earlier called Sajjan a Sikh separatist.
PALMER: K AGAN M C LEOD
PR E V IO USLY #36, 201 7
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PREM GILL CEO, CREATIVE BC PR E V IO USLY #35, 201 7
GILL: MAT THEW CHEN; TALIB: GRANT HARDER
PALMER: K AGAN M C LEOD
The money is flowing into Creative BC—the organization got a $1-million boost from the province in February and a promise for $75 million to create a new music fund—making CEO Gill more of a power player than ever in the creative industries scene. And what a scene it is: in February, B.C. surpassed Ontario as Canada’s top locale for film and TV production for the first time, thanks to Gill and co.’s work wooing streaming services like Netflix and Amazon Prime into town. As one of the Globe and Mail’s 10 Women Who Matter in Film and TV and a recent winner of a Darpan Extraordinary Achievement Award for Corporate Engagement, her reach is recognized well beyond city limits.
38 Janet Austin B.C. LIEUTENANT GOVERNOR
PR E V IO USLY #32 , 201 6
After serving as CEO of non-profit advocacy group YWCA Metro Vancouver for 15 years, as well as sitting on various boards and chairing the Greater Vancouver Board of Trade, Janet Austin got the call from the prime minister in March. She likely won’t be pressed into action the way her predecessor, Judith Guichon, was in the aftermath of 2017’s provincial election. But it’s obvious that the new viceroy will use her platform to continue to push for equality in the workplace and housing for single mothers, two pillars of her work with YWCA.
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MALIK TALIB PRESIDENT, AGA KHAN COUNCIL FOR CANADA PR E V IO USLY # 4 5, 2 0 11
As president of the Aga Khan Council for Canada, Malik Talib is one of the most influential voices within the Ismaili Muslim community in Canada, a group that wields incredible wealth and entrepreneurial power. But a huge part of the culture is also about giving back, and Talib embraces this philosophy, too: in addition to being a high-powered tax lawyer turned investor (with stakes in a wide variety of industries—from real estate to mining to food distribution), he’s been ubiquitous on a variety of philanthropic boards, including the Vancouver Foundation and BC Children’s Hospital Foundation.
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40 LORI MATHISON CHAIR, GREATER VANCOUVER BOARD OF TRADE (GVBT); CEO OF CPAs OF BC NEW
Brandt Louie CHAIR AND CEO, GEORGIA MAIN FOOD GROUP; CHAIR, LONDON DRUGS
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ANDREW WEAVER LEADER, BC GREEN PARTY PRE VIOUSLY #1, 201 7
For environmentalists
PR E V IO USLY # 19, 2 012
A fixture on annual lists of Canada’s richest, Brandt Louie recently rebranded the company that once bore his family name (H.Y. Louie Co.) to Georgia Main Food Group. The name is a nod to the organization’s start—a tiny grocer called Louie in 1903 at 255 East Georgia Street. But much of the business remains the same, as the family business operates subsidiaries London Drugs and the distribution arm for IGA, among others. In a year that saw the shuttering of 10 Safeway stores in the province, business as usual is probably a good thing.
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Anne Giardini
42 ANNE GIARDINI SFU CHANCELLOR, BOARD MEMBER PR E V IO USLY #4 4, 201 7
Anne Giardini continues to be a model of leadership at Simon Fraser University as its influential chancellor and well-celebrated British Columbian: after receiving the Order of Canada last year, in 2018 she added the Order of British Columbia to her accolades. The former president of Weyerhaeuser Canada (and acclaimed author) is also a sought-after board member, and she was most recently one of six people appointed to the new Hydro One board in Ontario after its previous 14-member board resigned en masse under Premier Doug Ford.
hoping that having the Greens as the junior partner in B.C.’s coalition government would help kibosh Site C and ensure LNG never gets off the dock, the past 17 months have been a profound disappointment. Andrew Weaver’s decision to prop up the NDP, despite its reversal on both megaprojects, has many questioning what, if anything, would cause the Greens to bring down the government. When LNG Canada announced a $40-billion investment in B.C. in early October, Weaver indicated the Greens would not support any enabling legislation—though the Liberals were expected to, keeping the plan alive. For now, the trained climate scientist and his two Green MLAs are pinning hopes on this fall’s electoral reform referendum—one part of the NDP-Green agreement that has been honoured.
LOUIE: K AGAN M C LEOD; GIARDINI: SFU; WEAVER: POOYA NABEI
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Having left her long-time gig as a managing partner at Dentons in August 2017 to serve as the grandmaster of B.C.’s accountants, Lori Mathison added the GVBT to her resumé in June of this year. Both roles focus on the economic issues facing the province, from labour shortages to real estate, and one can expect her to put pressure on the politicians crowned in October’s municipal elections. She’s already been a harsh critic of both the B.C. government’s action on housing affordability and its elimination of the Medical Services Plan and subsequent new payroll tax.
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A steakhouse reimagined. Meet Elisa, located in the heart of Vancouver's Yaletown — a unique and feminine take on the signature steakhouse experience featuring a Grillworks Infierno wood-fired grill. Steeped in both tradition and an unparalleled love of cooking, Elisa takes its lead from the values of sharing memorable moments around the table with family and friends. LOUIE: K AGAN M C LEOD; GIARDINI: SFU; WEAVER: POOYA NABEI
It's in this spirit of hospitality that Elisa offers a dining experience unlike any other.
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POWER 50
44 RYAN HOLMES FOUNDER AND CEO, HOOTSUITE PR E V IO USLY #37, 201 6
Vancouver is still seemingly in love with Ryan Holmes and Hootsuite. The city approved a recommendation last year to allow added density in Mount Pleasant, increasing the maximum height of buildings to more than 12 metres in some areas. A couple of years earlier, Hootsuite and Westbank partnered to purchase a full city block bordered by Main and Quebec Streets. The plan is to develop a tech hub in “Mount Pixel” that would serve as a new Hootsuite office, as well as other like-minded tech companies. But there are some uncomfortable developments as well. Platforms the company depends on, like Facebook and Twitter, have increased costs or cut access. And there’s been no sign of a long-rumoured initial public offering (though in October, the company recently hired Goldman Sachs to explore a sale at a valuation of $750 million).
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SETH ROGAN
PR E V IO USLY # 33, 2 016
As Vancouver’s biggest employer and a big driver of its economic engine, University of British Columbia gets its fair share of the spotlight—especially when things go awry. President Santa Ono, two years into his term, has generally been able to right the ship—and has been proactively trying to advance UBC as an institution committed to diversity and inclusion. In April, Ono appointed Mary Ellen Turpel-Lafond, an Indigenous lawyer and former judge (and B.C.’s former representative for children and youth), as UBC’s inaugural director of the new Indian Residential School History and Dialogue Centre. As part of the announcement, he also formally apologized to survivors of Indian residential schools for the role UBC played in supporting a system that ruined the lives of thousands of young children.
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When TransLink pulled a Morgan Freeman voice-over campaign this summer after the actor was accused of misconduct, a Province reporter half-jokingly tweeted that Vancouverborn Seth Rogan would make an excellent substitute— and, just a few months later, commuters were delighted to hear local-boy-made-good Rogan instructing them to not hold the train doors. It’s really no surprise he agreed to take on this role as unofficial SkyTrain ambassador: Rogan started working on Superbad when he was just a west-side high school student, and he hasn’t lost his hometown pride (he even named his production company Point Grey Pictures). And now, in addition to (kind of) helping the trains run on time, he’s been making the late-night rounds to talk about this role of a lifetime—shining a little Hollywood glamour on both our city and our humble transit system.
VA N M A G . C O M N O V E M B E R / D E C E M B E R 2 0 1 8
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EVA AN KHERA J
PRESIDENT, UBC
NEW
ONO: PAUL JOSEPH; ROGAN: GAGE SKIDMORE; ALLEN: TANYA GOEHRING
43 Santa Ono
ACTOR, VOICE OF TRANSLINK
Community Builder Stephanie Allen is part of Hogan’s Alley Society, a group that advocates for Vancouver’s black communities through the delivery of housing, social spaces, education, health and intergenerational linkage.
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STEPHANIE ALLEN VICE-PRESIDENT, CATALYST COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENTS SOCIETY NEW
EVA AN KHERA J
ONO: PAUL JOSEPH; ROGAN: GAGE SKIDMORE; ALLEN: TANYA GOEHRING
Five years ago, if most Vancouverites were asked to talk about the black community’s history in the city, most would have been hard pressed to say anything. But Stephanie Allen, who did her master’s degree research on that community in the Simon Fraser University urban studies program, has brought that historic group back to life. Allen, who works for non-profit housing developer Catalyst, is a leader in the group that is advocating for a community centre, business space and housing to mark the one-time location of Hogan’s Alley, at the eastern end of the viaducts, which the city is planning to demolish. Her combination of idealism and pragmatic skills made her a formidable negotiator during the city-planning process. VA N M A G . C O M N O V E M B E R / D E C E M B E R 2 0 1 8
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POWER 50
50
LAWYER, AND CHAIR, VANCOUVER FOUNDATION NEW
As a junior partner at McCarthy Tétrault in Vancouver, Miranda Lam is one of the city’s top business litigators, and now the chair of the largest community foundation in Canada, the Vancouver Foundation (which has more than $1 billion in assets). When she took over earlier this year, not only was she the first visible minority to hold the position in Vancouver Foundation history but also the first woman. In an interview with Lexpert, Lam explained that the foundation hunts down unpopular projects and problems that seem intractable and unsolvable, problems that underpin society as a whole, and tries to uncover new ways of fixing them. “The work really moves me,” said Lam.
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CEO, VANCITY
CEO, S.U.C.C.E.S.S.
PR E V I O USLY # 2 2 , 2 01 7
PR E V IO USLY #4 2 , 201 6
The CEO of Canada’s largest
Being a strong advocate for
credit union continues to boost Vancity’s reputation as a community leader, creating a variety of programs tailored to bolster local businesses doing good work in the city. Its partnership funding program has injected $306 million to its local business members and communities since 1994, for example, and its Envirofund grants support organizations undertaking lighter living initiatives and sustainable consumption through community projects and public education. More visibly, Vancity subsidized the Mobi bike-share program for low-income residents and recently provided a mortgage commitment to help save the nearly 80-year-old Rio Theatre when it was put up for sale in early 2018. All this community support while having a bang-up year: in 2017 Vancity had operating income of $530.6 million, a 17.8-percent increase from the previous year.
others is a thread that has continued throughout Queenie Choo’s career. She is the CEO of S.U.C.C.E.S.S., now the largest non-profit social service organization in the province, which provides settlement services to new immigrants through 25 locations in B.C., with three offices overseas. Choo has become one of the leading voices on seniors’ issues, which have been more important than ever as immigrant seniors have been hit hard by the housing affordability crisis rocking Vancouver. In August she became the first Chinese-Canadian woman to receive the title of honorary captain of HMCS Vancouver, a Halifaxclass frigate the Canadian navy has sailed since 1993. Her career in advocacy has seen her appointed to many advisory committees, including the premier’s Chinese-Canadian Community Advisory Committee and the provincial Minister’s Advisory Forum on Poverty Reduction.
TAMARA VROOMAN
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QUEENIE CHOO
CICELYBELLE BLAIN CO-FOUNDER, BLACK LIVES MATTER VANCOUVER NEW
The co-founder of Black Lives Matter (BLM) Vancouver started her career in activism early, when as a teen she worked to get an $8-million grant from the British government to build a community centre for city youth, which earned her an International Leader of Tomorrow Award scholarship at UBC. In Vancouver, with BLM she’s shone a spotlight on some uncomfortable truths about police brutality in the Lower Mainland, and in addition to organizing educational events and protests, Blain is working as a safer-space creator and dialogue facilitator for a variety of organizations. As Blain aptly says, “the future is inclusive.”
L AM: K AGAN M C LEOD
47 Miranda Lam
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L AM: K AGAN M C LEOD
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COURTESY OF FOUR SEASONS RESORT AND RESIDENCES WHISTLER
H
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H O L I DAY S H O PPI N G / S PA R K L I N G S O I R É E / W E D D I N G S PR I M E R
VA N M AG .C O M/S T Y L E
Play SHOPPING
THE ULTIMATE GIFT GUIDE Our editors, local chefs, bartenders and interior designers all conspired to bring you the most packed, gotta-have-it list of gifts for the holiday season—happy hunting. BY Julia Dilworth, Rosemary Poole and Amanda Ross
SECRET ICE CAVE DINNER FOR 2
$20,000
For that loved one who already has everything: the Blue Room experience is a private chef dinner. In a sea cave. Under a Whistler glacier. fourseasons.com
COURTESY OF FOUR SEASONS RESORT AND RESIDENCES WHISTLER
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GIF T GUIDE 2018
Home on the Range Design-forward essentials to surprise and delight the homebodies.
ROOM PERFUME TREE DECOR FROM
$10
Matte black and white paint swirls on handcrafted bone china so no two will be the same. cb2.com
$75 A boon
to any host’s arsenal—notes of rose petal and musk contained in a chic, UVblocking black violet glass bottle from L’Objet. holtrenfrew.com
DE SIGN ER PICK
LUXE LINENS
$660 One of our editors asked for a fabric sample and it arrived with a hand-written note—that’s our kind of bedding company (and they're local!). Linen sheets made from flax spun in Italy and woven in Portugal. lastlightcollection.com
MENU BOTTLE GRINDERS, $90 “Everyone needs a salt and pepper shaker, so why not have one that is well designed? They look great, never get stuck and are easy to use, clean and refill. Plus, they come in lots of trendy colours.”
— Jamie Deck, Shift Interiors
MAGAZINE HOLDER
$700
Marble and steel working together to elevate the print stand into a work of art, from Menu’s Monuments collection. vanspecial.com
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HOME SCENTS
$58
The limitededition West Coast soy pour from Vancouver Candle Company (hello, spruce, fir and oak moss) comes in a hand-blown glass vessel that will match any West Coast interior. vancouvercandleco .com
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SMOKY GLASS SET
$245 Tom Dixon’s
#trending smoked-glass Tank whisky decanter and glasses elevate any fireside entertaining. informinteriors.com
GRAVITY BLANKET
$279
This weighted blanket (topping the scales at 25 pounds) simulates being hugged or held, letting the lucky sleeper crash sooner and rest deeper. We’ll take two. chapters.indigo.ca
SMART POT
$114 A chic two-piece
stacking planter (with a separate saucer bottom) to keep plants and eyes happy. nouvellenouvelle.com
DE SIGN ER PICK
VITRUVI DIFFUSER, $119
“2018 was the year of the diffuser for me. After having my baby, I wanted a home fragrance that was non-toxic and relaxing. I bought a Vitruvi diffuser and have used it almost every day since.” —Gillian Segal, Gillian Segal Design
SNAKE THROW
$415
Hang the Peyote reversible throw on the wall, or wrap it around you because it’s 100-percent baby alpaca wool—decisions, decisions. providehome.com
DE SIGN ER PICK
APPLE WATCH SERIES 4, FROM $520
“The new Apple Watch is one of my faves this season. If the watch detects a fall, it can call 911; it can also watch for heart attacks, and you can monitor your heartbeat and send the PDF to your doctor on the spot.” —Jamie Banfield,
Jamie Banfield Design
TEA TOWELS
$35 Kitchen
ambiance gets a boost with these multi-tonal mountain-y Ish red patterned textiles from Dutch designer Mae Engelgeer. thelittlestfry .com
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GIF T GUIDE 2018
Serve You Right
HIGH TEA
SMOOTHIE STICK
These limited-edition tea sets (with copper handles and walnut knobs) are a collaboration between Vancouver’s Hinterland Design and artist Genevieve Dionne. hinterlanddesign.com
blender and buy a cheap and cheerful 2-speed Kitchenaid immersion blender with handy blender jar. It’s all you need. bestbuy.ca
$350
Kitchen-and-entertaining picks for indulging the gastronomes and home chefs on your list.
$50 Toss your big counter-hogging
CHARCUTERIE CUTIE
$150
Because forest to table is the new farm to table. Bowyer and Toulson craft their extra-long boards from fallen Vancouver trees. bowyerandtoulson.com
LOCAVORE READ
MATCHY CHEESE SET
top restaurants (Hawksworth, AnnaLena, Cioppino’s) in one gorgeous cookbook from Joanne Sasvari. amazon.ca
Nothing says adult like, “I got all my marble-handled copper cheese knives from one place.” chapters.indigo.ca
$39 Recipes from the city's
$39.50
BA RT EN DER PICK
KEEP CUP, $26 “Not only does it help cut down on single-use coffee cups, it makes drinking coffee look good.” —Kaitlyn Stewart,
Bar Manager, Royal Dinette
BEST RUB
$15 Half of
our editors say this Charcoal rub is the best steak rub they’ve ever had in the history of steak rubs (the other two just haven’t tried it yet). sebastianandco .ca
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DAILY GRINDERS FROM
$120
These cast-iron Skeppshult grinders with walnut lids are designed in Denmark and made in Sweden, so what are you waiting for? walrushome.com
PIE MAKING 101
$150 Master double-butter crust pastry and make your own apple pear caramel praline pie in a class with Pie Hole founder Janell Parsons. thepiehole.com
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Jet Setters
CH EF PICK
BLANTON’S BOURBON, $107
CLUTCH ACCESSORIES FOR THE GLOBETROTTERS IN YOUR LIVES.
“My all-time favourite singlebarrel bourbon has a sweet, smooth finish with hints of caramel and nutmeg, making it a great drink to enjoy over the holiday season. The bottles themselves are beautiful as well; I like to save the decorative horses on the corks—collect them all and they make a fun stop-motion video.”
PERFORMANCE PONCHO
$130 The
waterproof People's Poncho comes with draft-reducing snaps, reflectors and folds up into a tiny pocket. sidesaddlebikes.com
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—Dan Olson, Chef and Co-owner, Railtown Catering and Cafe
BOSS TRAVEL KIT THE ‘IT DOES EVERYTHING’ POT
$230
This 10-in-1 Instant Pot slow cooks, pressure cooks, steams veggies, cooks rice, makes yogurt—pretty much everything but get the kids to school. thebay.com
$35 Colour coordinated
carry-on accessories are irresistible to frequent fliers, and this comfy sweatshirtgrey amenity kit is no exception. herschel.ca
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SCARF TOWEL BLANKET
$64
A new soft and quick-drying Turkish towel (called the Double Faced Aztec) for Christmas vacation in Mexico. sundaydrygoods.com
CH EF PICK
CULINARY ESCAPE TO GALLIANO ISLAND, $420
“If you need a truly memorable gift for a someone special, I would suggest planning a trip to Galliano Island to stay for a night at Bodega Ridge ($300/night) and enjoy dinner at Pilgrimme (around $120 for two). Chef Jesse McCleery is a good friend of mine and his cuisine is incredibly fresh and seasonal, with most ingredients sourced from local farms or foraged from nearby. Let Jesse cook for you and enjoy a break from city life.” —Ricardo Valverde, Chef, Ancora
RESCUE SCRUB
$28
Dry, flaky, upset vacation skin gets an instant refresh with this (travel-sized) almond and quinoa face exfoliant powder. shopwoodlot.ca
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PACKING CUBES
$29 Pro travellers don’t
check bags, and these are the best space-maximizing packing cubes for your dollar. They come in a set of three—and in Santa red no less… amazon.ca
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NEXT-LEVEL GLOVES
Style Matters
$125
You could spend four figures on a holiday party dress or make an entrance with these elongated gloves in felted grey. cosstores.com
From underwear to neverboring socks, here are some of the standard-issue holiday classics revisited.
PRINCE WILLIAM'S WATCH
$5,950
Omega’s Seamaster has been sported by everyone from Prince William to Joe Biden (and now you?). This is the new Seamaster Diver 300M in blue. omegawatches.com
HEAD CANDY
$239
Hats off to Vancouverite Claudia Schulz, whose handformed fedora, the Karlotta, is made of 100-percentmerino wool felt and features removable tassels. goodgeplace.com
WARMTH X 100
KEWL FANNY PACK
vest comes in ethical down with a lifetime guarantee—and can be stored in a pocket when you’re not channelling Michelin Man. mec.ca
Fanny packs are either for the truly geeky or the truly hip; Gucci makes one for the latter with its ’80s patch Belt Bag. gucci.com
$250 The North Face Nuptse
$1,725
DivaLinge
DAPPER PJ SET
$710
Cotton pyjamas in floral jacquard print help prepare for those midnight rendezvous with Santa. marc-cain.com
TECH PURSE
$135
Handcrafted in Vancouver, the AW Portfolio laptop case is made from smooth cowhide leather and designed without hardware to eliminate scratches. awbyandreawong .com
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ETHICAL SOCKS
$15 5 Made in a
family-run factory in France with ecofriendly pigmented yarn spun in Portugal, Maik’s Bicycle socks are an ethical (and affordable) luxury. holtrenfrew .com
PEARL EARRINGS 2.0
$75 Twisted Swirl Pearl
14-karat studs from local Wolf Circus are perfect for dinners with grandma, but still have a little edge. walrushome.com
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MarcelloP
Diva Lingerie, a well-established business of 25 years with 2 stores in Winnipeg, is opening its newest location on South Granville in Vancouver! • Offering high-quality lingerie and swimwear • Winner of Best Store of the Year (Canada) at The Best of Intima Awards • Featuring Canadian and European designers • Now offering after-surgery services, from postmastectomy breast forms, bras, and swimwear
www.divalingerie.ca l 604 559 8593 2596 Granville Street (corner of 10th Avenue)
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COME IN FOR AN AUTHENTIC ITALIAN EXPERIENCE!
Enjoy our homemade pasta and handmade gnocchi and pizza baked to perfection in our wood burning oven. Call for a reservation for parties up to 40 people. Happy Holidays, serving you since 1999. 1404 Commercial Drive, Vancouver BC | 604-215-7760
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GIF T GUIDE 2018
BATH SOAK
$325 Bain
Primp & Pamper The holidays can make for especially frenetic folk. Here’s how to give the gift of peace, along with a silent night or two.
MIDAS MASK
Noir is a bath soak treatment featuring hempderived cannabis sativa seed oil that helps soothe, repair and protect the skin while actively de-stressing the mind and body. nannettedegaspe .com
$7 If gold isn’t
in your holiday shopping budget, there’s Kiss NY’s 24-karat-gold peel-off mask, which is a treat for both wallet and face (with the latter, think lifting and firming). londondrugs.com
ZEN LODGE STAY
$859
FROM It’s a silent night with Nita Lake Lodge’s Sleep Therapy package: Kundalini massage (to realign the body’s rhythms and restore balance), a room with a fireplace soaker tub (organic lavender bubble bath) and take-home Zirbenherz sleep therapy pillow (infused with mood-boosting pine oil for better zzz’s and energy). nitalakelodge.com
ARTSY SKIN CREAM
MAN GOODIE BOX
Ultra-luxe beauty line Clé de Peau teams up with artist Daria Petrilli to create the wrapped-and-ready Féerie d’Hiver holiday collection. cledepeaubeaute.com
Organic soap, charcoal grit bar, King x Portland men’s socks, French white-clay shaving soap and other hand-picked treats for your mister. baskits.com
$720
$200
DREAM HAIRAPY SET
$215
Once upon a time, those in search of Balmain’s cult-fave hair care line had to visit Paris’s Colette (before it closed). Relax: Balmain Hair Couture has arrived in our fair city with its entire line, including this holiday styling gift set. beautybarcosmetics .com
EYES LIKE RIHANNA
$69 Without
parabens, sulfates or phthalates, Fenty Beauty delivers the Moroccan Spice eyeshadow palette in 16 long-lasting shades—like Fez Up and Cumin Get It. sephora.ca
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FESTIVE RED PERFUME FROM
$198
The legendary clear-glass 1921 Chanel No. 5 perfume bottle undergoes a makeover in red just in time for the holidays. thebay.com
AWESOME YOGA MAT
$108
Vancouver yoga instructor and artist Sam James makes downward dog exponentially more zen with her pretty paint flow mats. sam james.art
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PROMOTION
For great holiday gift ideas in Vancouver & Victoria
CANYON LIGHTS AT CAPILANO SUSPENSION BRIDGE PARK Celebrate Canyon Lights, A Winter Festival, November 22, 2018 to January 27, 2019 at Capilano Suspension Bridge Park. The suspension bridge, Treetops Adventure, Cliffwalk, rainforest and canyon are all transformed into a world of festive lights and visual enchantment.
Capilano Suspension Bridge Park 604-985-7474 capbridge.com WHAT IS VANCOUVER MAGAZINE WITHOUT A PET? We are your not-for-profit veterinary animal hospital built by the community for the community. RAPS Animal Hospital is offering all Vancouver magazine readers a 25% OFF VIP Card and 40% OFF Dentals. (Conditions apply. See rapsanimalhospital.com/specials for details.) Open to the public Monday to Saturday 8 AM to 6 PM. RAPS Animal Hospital 604-242-1666 rapsanimalhospital.com
THE BUTCHART GARDENS 12-MONTH PASS The perfect holiday gift for the whole family! Give a 5-seasons experience from The Butchart Gardens that can be enjoyed year round. Adult only $60.50
The Butchart Gardens, Victoria 250-652-4422 butchartgardens.com
Created by the Vancouver magazine advertising department in partnership with these advertising partners
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P E R S O N A L S PAC E
PERSONAL SPACE
HOLIDAYS ON ICE Fred Lee and Joshua McVeity make the holidays sparkle with their annual Bubbles and Baubles party. BY
Anicka Quin
PHOTOGRAPHS BY
Janis Nicolay
WHEN CBC RADIO’S FRED LEE and his husband, Joshua McVeity, shared their first Christmas together eight years ago, it was in a 495-square foot-condo—so tiny, there wasn’t room for a proper tree. “I had a President’s Choice twig Christmas tree with fake cranberries,” laughs Lee. But it didn’t stop them from entertaining friends. By their second Christmas together, they had launched their now-traditional Baubles and Bubbles party. Friends were encouraged to bring either a bottle of sparkling wine or a decoration for their newly acquired artificial tree. “Bubbles because we love sparkling wine, and baubles because we had no Christmas decor at the time—
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The Essentials “On our first date, Joshua opened my fridge and the only thing he saw was Champagne and wine,” laughs the now-married Fred Lee. “We knew we were going to get along just fine.” Lee (left) is seen here with husband Joshua McVeity and dog Hunter in their Kitsilano home. On the mantel: fresh greens from the Flower Factory and matching stockings from Indigo (above, right). Memory Lane In addition to the baubles they’ve received from friends over the years, Lee and McVeity add a Tiffany ornament to their collection each year—stored in the off-season in their classic blue boxes (inset, right).
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Sparkling Holiday Guests of Lee and McVeity’s annual Baubles and Bubbles Christmas party are encouraged to bring either a bottle of bubbles—like Moët, or an Okanagan fave like Evolve or Joie—or an ornament for their tree (top left). Keep It Simple The tradition of serving a cheese plate from Les Amis du Fromage (bottom left) dates back to when the couple lived in less than 500 square feet. “There was no room for a Christmas spread—it was a cheese platter, and that was our party,” says Lee. New Traditions Some of the eclectic ornaments that decorate their tree include a Marilyn Monroe from a trip to Palm Springs and a few Disney-themed baubles (right). “People know Joshua loves Disney.”
and it was a fun way to decorate.” Lee would pick up a cheese plate, some sweets from Purdy’s and later, Chez Christophe, and friends would gather around the kitchen island—which, of course, was right by their new faux Christmas tree in the living room. Tight spaces made for warm and friendly nights. They’ve gathered many ornaments from close friends over the years and remember the giver of each thoughtful memento. (“Joshua has this unbelievable memory!” says Lee.) McVeity has a love of Disney characters, so Mickey and Cinderella find their way onto the tree, but so do the couple’s personal collections from their travels—a Marilyn Monroe they picked up in Palm Springs—along with a new bauble from Tiffany, added each holiday season. The tradition has become so important to the pair that when, three months ago, they took a leap in square footage to this 1,500-square-foot triplex in Kitsilano, it was one of the first things they thought of. “We thought, ‘Now we can have more people at our Christmas celebration,’” says Lee, “‘and we could probably put in a second tree!’” Of course, more room meant that they could also welcome one more into their life, in the form of their nine-month-old sheepadoodle, Hunter. He’s not a Champagne drinker, but one can assume there will be many a puppy-themed ornament on the tree this holiday season.
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ABOUT L AST NIGHT
Women and Song
BC Restaurant Hall of Fame, Cause We Care and Chor Leoni hit all the right notes. BY Fred Lee @FredAboutTown
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1 Geoff Boyd and Chris Mills of Joey Restaurants flanked fellow inductee Eva Gates of the Sequoia Company of Restaurants. 2 The newest kid in the hall, winemaker Sandra Oldfield, received congratulations from Ian Tostenson, CEO of the BC Restaurant and Food Services Association. 3 2018 inductee Stephanie Jaeger of the Pear Tree joins her husband, acclaimed chef Scott Jaeger, in the BC Restaurant Hall of Fame, the only one of its kind in Canada. 4 Say cheese! Les Amis du Fromage’s Allison Spurrell received congratulations from fellow Hall of Famer and food writer Tim Pawsey. 5 Restaurateur Robert Belcham escorted his girlfriend, Tina Saxton, to the elegant dinner event. Belcham was recognized for his significant contributions to B.C.’s restaurant scene.
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Six of this year’s 10 inductees into the BC Restaurant Hall of Fame are women. A watershed year, declared Ian Tostenson, CEO of the BC Restaurant and Food Services Association. Presenter of the industry’s biggest night, the BCRFA welcomed some 300 guests, who convened at the Italian Cultural Centre for the gala’s 13th staging. Burdock and Co.’s Andrea Carlson, Les Amis du Fromage’s Allison Spurrell, winemaker Sandra Oldfield, Sequoia Company of Restaurants’ Eva Gates, the Pear Tree’s Stephanie Jaeger, and Pauline Felicella along with her husband Nick of Nick’s Spaghetti House joined fellow Class of 2018 honorees Chris Mills and Geoff Boyd of Joey Restaurants and Campagnolo’s Robert Belcham. Angelina Froste and John Aisenstat were honoured posthumously. At this party with a purpose, attendees tipped out generously in the silent and live auction, benefitting the BC Hospitality Foundation.
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ILLUSTRATION: NIMA GHOL AMIPOUR
2018 BC Restaurant Hall of Fame, OCTOBER 8
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The Chef and Owner, Chi Le, welcomes you! MasterChef Vietnam Star, Chef Chi Le opened Chi in the Fall of 2016 – creating a menu that would change the way people view and understand Vietnamese Cuisine. At Chi Modern Vietnamese Kitchen, we bring her love and passion for food to your table. We are committed to showcasing authentic and traditional Vietnamese flavours in a bold, innovative and modern way. Inventive refinements to Vietnamese cuisine, such as our Shaken Beef – which uses Canadian AAA filet mignon angus beef – and homemade drinks and cocktails, have made Chi a hotspot for those looking for a great dining experience. Being voted Best Asian restaurant in Vancouver by our diners is one of our most recent accomplishments. We support our local BC farms and use fresh local organic ingredients to provide you with the very best dining experience! Make sure to visit us to enjoy our $35 menu for Dine Out™ Vancouver. To reserve a special Sunday “set” dining menu, contact: exploretock.com/chirestaurantbar Please book early for Christmas parties to ensure availability.
1935 West 4th Ave, Vancouver 604-336-3010 • chirestaurantbar.com •
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ILLUSTRATION: NIMA GHOL AMIPOUR
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ABOUT L AST NIGHT
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1 Chor Leoni general manager Stash Bylicki and founding choral member Rob McAllister. 2 Artist Thomas Anfield created a work especially for the Chor Leoni benefit At Home. The sale of his painting contributed to a $65,000 night. 3 Liam Kearns, Travis Fuchs and Reid Howard served as hosts, servers and entertainers at Chor Leoni’s annual house party. 4 Sporting one of two choral gold medals recently won, artistic director Erick Lichte and party chair Lesley Stowe welcomed attendees to the annual gala. 5 Global TV’s Coleen Christie emceed while Blue Shore Financial CEO Chris Catliff sponsored the choral fete.
At Home Gala, SEPTEMBER 19
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On the heels of gold-medal wins at the prestigious Singapore and Bali International Choral Music Festival, Chor Leoni—the globally acclaimed, locally loved male choir—hosted its annual At Home gala to kick off its 27th season. As usual, tail-coated singers served as hosts, servers and entertainers at this formal house party held at the stately Cecil Green Manor on UBC’s Point Grey campus. Chaired by Raincoast Crisps creator Lesley Stowe, the party featured a fine evening of merriment and song led by artistic director Erick Lichte. Members of the choir’s MyVoice junior ensemble later joined in to pull on heartstrings and purse strings just before the call for cash. The strategic move saw notes of various denominations rain down on the men, resulting in a handsome $65,000 night.
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Presented by:
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GOLD HEART GALA
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Gold Heart Gala VARIETY BC’S ANNUAL Gold Heart Gala, presented by Cactus Club Cafe, took place once again at the Fairmont Pacific Rim on September 27. Nearly 300 guests came together to celebrate long time Variety supporters, Bob & Barbara Stewart and present the much deserving couple with the Gold Heart Award … Variety’s most prestigious mark of distinction honouring individuals who have done transformational work in the community to raise funds and improve the lives of children with special needs across BC. In 2017, the Gold Heart Award was presented to Ian Telfer, Chairman of Goldcorp Incorporated & Nancy Burke, Honourary Director of the Lions Gate Hospital Foundation Board. Bob is a former Chief of the Vancouver Police Department and served as Variety’s Chief Barker in 1994, 1995, 1996, 2007 and 2008. Barbara was Variety’s first woman Chief Barker and creative mastermind behind Variety’s hugely successful Gold Heart Pin program that was launched in 1991. “We’re extremely proud to recognize Bob and Barbara,” said Cally Wesson, Variety BC CEO. “They have both contributed to Variety in many ways through time, talent and treasure. Their passion for improving the lives of children is a global inspiration.”
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Additionally, Canada Wide Media’s Peter Legge and Joseph & Rosalie Segal were inducted into Variety’s Champion Circle, which honours Variety BC’s most philanthropic individuals who support Variety’s work throughout the year. Champions Circle members allow Variety to look towards the future by making generous leadership gifts. The night was an incredible evening of inspiration. Chaired by Mary Zilba and hosted by Global BC’s Sophie Lui, the Gala also featured the Vancouver Police Pipe Band and a phenomenal musical performance by Rosemary Siemens & Friends along with both a live and a silent auction. A total of close to $300,000 was raised for kids with special needs and their families province-wide.
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1 Bob and Barbara Stewart, 2018 Gold Heart Award Recipients 2 Cally Wesson CEO Variety 3 Beautiful centrepieces 4 Coleen Christie and Howard Blank
5 A packed room full of guests at Gold Heart Gala 6 Rosemay Siemans and Friends 7 Bob and Barbara Stewart with Mary Zilba, Chair
8 Chef Victor Bongo and Bob and Barbara Stewart, 2018 Gold Heart Award Honourees 9 Peter Legge accepting the Variety Champion Circle Award
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DESIGNERS OF THE YEAR
WESTERN LIVING’S ANNUAL DESIGNERS OF THE YEAR
Awards Kickoff
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It’s become an essential night for our local Vancouver design community to celebrate, reconnect, have a few glasses of wine, and toast the winners on stage with the team at our sister publication, Western Living magazine. The folks at Article opened their doors, for the first time to the design community, to be the gracious hosts for the night—and provide cushy breaks in their sofas for guests wearing impractical (but stunning!) footwear. A big thanks to everyone who attended and shared in the fun. Here are a few of our favourites. See you next year? 5.
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at Article, designed and styled by Laura Melling Western Living’s Fashion Designer of the Year Gaby Bayona, owner and curator of Truvelle Bridal
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Bram Sawatzky and Kaly Ryan from Willow & Stump, winners of Furniture Designer of the Year, pose with Western Living Editorial Director, Anicka Quin
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Vish Anand and Ben Leavitt of Plaid Fox
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Andrea Rodman, winner of the Robert Ledingham Memorial Award, with friend, designer Adam Becker
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Gloria Macarenko from CBC with Leeta Liepins from Our City Tonight
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Kelly Deck from Kelly Deck Design with Anicka Quin
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PHOTO CREDIT: ALLISON KUHL
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WEDDING PRIMER 2019
Tying the Knot
IMAGE CREDIT
Three local couples share their wedding stories (from an oh-so-Vancouver camping motif to a backyard garden party)—plus, the latest in venues and cakes. It's time to plan a dream wedding for 2019.
SERENE SCENE The newly wed Jessica Regan (left) and Shelley Moore made things official at North Vancouver's Pipe Shop in front of all their friends, family and even the family dog Finley.
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ELEGANT & EFFORTLESS Two brides, string lights galore and a surprise fireworks show at a stunning summer wedding. BY
DANCE IT OUT Queer as Funk was a no-brainer for their wedding band. “We wanted Queer as Funk because they are very much a connector. They make people comfortable,” says Moore, who also happens to be friends with the band (inset, middle right). After tearing up the dance floor until about 11 p.m., everyone went outside to watch the Canada Day fireworks over the water.
Dominika Lirette Sara Rogers Photography
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IT WASN’T CUTLERY or a colour scheme that mattered to Jessica Regan and Shelley Moore when they began planning their wedding—it was about creating a space where everyone felt comfortable. Everything from the long tables at dinner to the seating chart was designed to help people mingle and have a great time. “It kind of felt like you were coming for Sunday night dinner,” says Regan, a teacher and facilitator of an apprenticeship program in schools. Moore put her professional skills as a
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DRESS TO IMPRESS Regan eschewed a white wedding dress in favour of a custommade gold skirt and white top by Pure Magnolia. Moore flew all the way to Brooklyn to have her suit custom made by Bindle and Keep (opposite, left). Regan also got a custom-made suit that she changed into for the reception (opposite, bottom right) COAST TO COAST The Pipe Shop was the perfect venue that appealed to both their backgrounds (centre)—Regan is from B.C. and Moore grew up in Alberta and lived in New York City. “It had a B.C., West Coast-feel, but it had Alberta heart, and it had New York City class,” says Moore. “It kind of brought everything together.” FAMILY STYLE “I wanted people to feel like they were coming over for dinner with us,” says Regan. But the cost of family-style serving was “astronomical” so they made do by serving dinner buffet-style with a long-table seating arrangement (right).
consultant on inclusive education to work by creating an elaborate, colour-coded seating chart for 280 guests. “We rearranged the whole wedding seating plan so that every table had a combination of Jessica and Shelley people and a connector,” says Moore. Guests said they loved it and got to meet new people comfortably. “Mission achieved,” says Moore with a smile. Both brides made a list of their top three priorities for their wedding, but beyond that they didn’t have a big-picture vision for the day. Moore and Regan valiantly attempted to plan on their own for four days, but it didn’t quite work out. “The reality hit of the school year and there was no way we were going to do it without help,” says Regan. They enlisted the team at Smitten Events—who were “worth their weight in gold,” according to Moore— to create their dream wedding at North Vancouver’s Pipe Shop. With the directions to keep things simple and incorporate greenery, planners Jordan Maxey and Devon Dunn exceeded the brides’ expectations, bringing in string lights and lots of greenery from Our Little Flower Company to enhance the natural beauty of the space.
THE D E TA I L S
MAGIC MENU “I am the cook of the house,” says Regan, so food was a top priority. Truffles Fine Foods put on an impressive buffet that included mushroom risotto and butternut squash dishes. For dessert? Fresh, handmade pies from Savary Island Pie Company.
Guests: 280 Budget: $80,000 Planner: Smitten Events Photographer: Sara Rogers Photography Venue: The Pipe Shop Decor: Bespoke Decor Dress: Pure Magnolia Suits: Bindle and Keep Hair and makeup: Missy Clarkson Hair; Denise Elliot Beauty Co. Flowers: Our Little Flower Company Catering: Truffles Fine Foods Cake/Dessert: Danish wedding cake from Elite Bakery; pies from Savary Island Pie Company Music: Queer As Funk; Colin Matson-Jones Officiant: Marcia Thomson from Modern Celebrant
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LET'S GO CAMPING This Vancouver couple headed to the suburbs to create their laidback, camping-themed celebration of love in a vintage schoolhouse. BY
Stacey McLachlan Carla Elaine Photography
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WHILE IN THEIR RESPECTIVE DAY JOBS, Adam Pateman and Jen Hubbard are decidedly indoor kids (he’s a comedian who works in animation; she’s a bookkeeper), on any given summer weekend, you’re likely to find them setting up camp in the great outdoors of Penticton, in small Washington State towns or beyond—the pair even got engaged while camping on a Maui beach. So it’s hardly surprising that their wedding at a historic schoolhouse in Deas Island
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Park in July 2017 took its cues from camp life, incorporating vintage lanterns, folding chairs, wood cuttings and flannel into a supersweet day celebrating their relationship. “Having an outdoor aspect was important from the get-go,” says Pateman, “and I’m glad my memories have nature and sunshine in them.” The ceremony and cocktail hour took place out on the lawn (where a faux firepit and vintage camping chairs were set up atop an antique rug); dinner and speeches took place
LOOKING GOOD Pateman sourced his suit from Topman. Hubbard’s dress is an ivory bridesmaid dress from Brentwood Bridal (top left).
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SING ALONG A karaoke setup had guests performing for the dance floor late into the night. “I think that was one of the things that got people to stay until the bitter end,” says Pateman (top right). DIY DETAILS Wildflowers were displayed in vintage enamel camping coffee pots atop lace-andburlap table runners. The seating chart was typed onto old library cards, and a handmade pallet itinerary with lasercut lettering propped open the schoolhouse door (below, left). CHEERS TO THAT The couple made their own wine at Tom’s Eastvin Winery and designed their own labels with funny pun names (bottom right).
THE D E TA I L S
inside the schoolhouse, which was outfitted to match the camping theme—little DIY cake toppers showed polymer-clay figures huddling around a campfire, burlap bunting lined the wall and wood rounds acted as the base for centrepieces. This summer, the couple returned to Deas Park to celebrate their anniversary with a camping trip just down the road from the spot they exchanged vows—embracing their true identity as outdoor kids and continuing their playful, joyful celebration of love.
SWEET STUFF S’more cupcakes were an on-theme choice for the dessert, displayed on a homemade wood-cut cake stand.
Guests: 50 Budget: $13,500 Photographer: Carla Elaine Photography Venue: Inverholme Schoolhouse at Deas Island Park, Ladner Decor: By the couple Groom’s suit: Top Man Bride’s dress: Brentwood Bridal Flowers: Floral Revelry Catering: Austin Gourmet Cake: Cupcakes
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GARDEN PARTY Music, dinner and dancing make for a night to remember. BY
Dominika Lirette Brett Burns
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WHEN GROOMS Michael Harris and Kenny Park decided to get married in Michael’s parents’ backyard, they didn’t expect the event to be so much work. “A backyard wedding sounds casual, right?” asks Harris, a Vancouver-based writer whose book, The End of Absence, won the Governor General’s Literary Award for nonfiction in 2017. “But, when we got into it, we realized it would have been a lot easier to just rent a hall.” The challenge was making the backyard space work as a ceremony space as well as a dining area plus bar, and also accommodate a dance floor—but they did it. “At the end of the day we were pretty happy that it was there,” says Harris. “I just wanted it to be a big party,” says Park, a storyboard artist and illustrator. For him, bringing in a dance floor was especially important. “Knowing my friends and family, we all love dancing and we love music, so I knew it was going to be a big part of what would make the night special,” he adds. To bring their backyard vision to life, the couple enlisted the help of planner Christina Sobrepena at Chatterbox Events for day-of coordination, who Harris says saved the day more than once: “We would have had a woefully understocked bar without her.” They also hired servers to pour drinks from a self-made bar and deliver dinner from a Tacofino food truck, as well as DJ Diz to spin
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THE D E TA I L S Guests: 130 Budget: $25,000 Planner: Chatterbox Events Photographer: Brett Burns Venue: Backyard at Harris’s parents’ house Decor: By the grooms Grooms’ suits: J. Crew Table Flowers: Purchased at United Floral and arranged by the grooms in mason jars Boutonnieres: Balconi Floral Design Studio Catering: Dinner by Tacofino; appetizers and desserts by friends and family Cake: The Uncommon Cake Music: Tony Do (DJ Diz) Rings: Forge and Form (made from gold donated by both mothers)
beats all night long. “It was important to us to throw the party, because we wanted to give something to our friends and family,” says Harris. “It was important for us, too, because we grew up in a world where [gay marriage] wasn’t legal. There was something a bit special for us, being able to stand in front of all of the people we love.”
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SUIT UP Keeping things casual with no ties, both grooms wore suits from J. Crew— Harris in grey, Park in tan (opposite, top). FAMILY MAGIC In lieu of a ring bearer, Park’s dad made the wedding rings appear with fire (top left). SOLID GOLD Both of the grooms’ rings were made from gold donated by their mothers from their personal jewellery collections. “We wanted to have something that felt a bit more sentimental, or connected to our past,” says Harris (below).
TACO TIME Both grooms love Tacofino—and it was economical. “We didn’t want to blow our budget on fancy caterers,” says Harris (left). DANCE IT OUT “The dance floor was really, really fun,” Park says. All of the kids were grooving within minutes, whipping out moves like the worm and showing off their mad flossing skills.
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VENUES
LOCATION, LOCATION, LOCATION Swoon-worthy spots for the picture-perfect West Coast wedding. BY
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EVER DREAMED OF GETTING MARRIED surrounded by world-class art ? Or how about with views of the Pacific Ocean and North Shore Mountains as your backdrop? From panoramic vistas to elegant ballrooms, these are some of the most glamorous wedding venues in the city.
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North Shore Mountains in the background? Not too shabby. The Brock House Restaurant, a heritage mansion tucked away on Jericho Beach, is a stunning venue for those looking to host no more than 150 guests. During the off-season, couples can choose to
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have their ceremony on the north lawn, followed by a reception inside the glass conservatory; for the summer season (May to September), take the reception outside in the garden tent, which accommodates up to 180. brockhouse restaurant.com
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CHRISTINE PIENA AR; ERIN GILMORE
2. BROCK HOUSE RESTAURANT Saying “I do” with the beach and
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TOMASZ WAGNER; NADIA HUNG; CHRISTIE GRAHAM
1. VANCOUVER ART GALLERY Get hitched in the heart of downtown surrounded by the city's most stunning artworks. The first- and third-floor rotundas are both options for couples, but the real gem is the gallery’s rooftop pavilion, which can host up to 220 seated guests: the fourth-floor space offers 360-degree views of the city’s skyline for your special day. The historic building’s stone facade and hardwood floors add an elegant touch, but couples also have the option of personalizing the space with decorations—move over, Emily Carr. vanartgallery.bc.ca
VALUE VENUES A few options that won’t break the bank. HERITAGE HALL Price: $2,500 (Saturdays during peak season) Capacity: 150 guests, seated Best If: You want a historic hall in the city with room for dancing
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number of different private rooms to walk down the aisle, or have your ceremony take place in the lobby before transitioning to the grand ballroom (which accommodates 200 to 300 guests) for your reception. vancouverclub.ca
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3. VANCOUVER CLUB A private clubhouse located in Vancouver’s business district, Vancouver Club oozes old-world sophistication and charm—think crown moulding, wood panels, fireplaces and post-modern chandeliers. You can choose from a
4. CECIL GREEN PARK HOUSE This elegant, Tudor-style mansion is located on the northwestern cliffs at the University of British Columbia. (Don’t worry, it’s far away from the frat houses.) Known for its beautiful grounds (lots of trees and greenery) and well-kept interior, you may recognize this location from its appearances on TV shows like The Flash, Arrow and Riverdale. Couples can have their ceremony in the home’s private gardens, followed by drinks or dinner on the terrace, or a reception inside the house for up to 140 guests. cecilgreenpark.ubc.ca 5. STANLEY PARK PAVILION The recently renovated pavilion is the oldest standing building in Stanley Park and even played
Price: $700 to $2,500 (for eight hours during spring and summer) Capacity: Up to 250 guests Best If: You want a blank canvas in a stunning location
FALSE CREEK YACHT CLUB Price: $1,800 Capacity: 100 guests, seated Best If: You want views of False Creek with a catered dinner
KOERNER’S PUB Price: No venue fee ($5,000 minimum catering spend) Capacity: Up to 600 guests Best If: You want a small, medium or large wedding in a modern rustic pub
host to Queen Elizabeth in 1959. (It’s a wedding venue fit for royalty!) With several options available— weddings can take place in Stanley’s Bar and Grill, the Tea Room, park garden and lawn (suitable for weddings with up to 220 guests) and the Lord Stanley ballroom (200 guests seated, 300 standing), this elegant venue is ideal for large-scale weddings and is just a short walk away from the pretty Rose Gardens. stanleyparkpavilion.com VM
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SWEE T STUFF
PIECE OF CAKE
These five local bakeries and designers make cakes that are (almost) too pretty to eat.
B Y Dominika Lirette
THOUGH THE PRICES for their showstopping works of art can be steep (varying on the complexity of the design), a cake from one of these bakeries is the pièce de résistance at any wedding reception.
THE CAKE AND THE GIRAFFE
MOMO CHEN CAKES
Owner Dalana Fleming specializes in natural and organic-looking elements—think handcrafted birch bark, edible seashells and buttercream that looks like stone or marble. From $8 per slice, tcandtg.com
Momo Chen designs “haute couture” wedding cakes, like a six-foot-tall cake with lace embroidery and thousands of sugar flowers; many creations feature ombré icing. From $450 for a two-tier cake, momochencakes.com
LE GATEAU BAKE SHOP Pastry chef Tanya Mueller’s boutique bakery offers cakes that range from simple, textured buttercreams to whimsical and elaborate multitiered creations in unique flavours (some of her most popular are vanilla salted caramel and strawberry prosecco). From $6 per slice, le gateaubakeshop .com
CAKE BY ANNIE Though her custom designs feature everything from geometric shapes to hand-painted landscapes, it’s Annie McTavish’s floral creations that she’s known for—her sugar flowers are so delicate, it’s hard to believe they aren’t real. From $6 per slice, cakebyannie.com
A. ELIZABETH CAKES Owner Anna Elizabeth Wawzonek handcrafts and paints her cakes to create realistic images and shapes; it may be hard to believe, but everything—including the lifelike hummingbirds, orchids and butterflies—is edible. From $9 per slice, aelizabethcakes.com
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CIT Y INFORMER
Do Vancouverites Have Squatter’s Rights? BY
Stacey McLachlan Byron Eggenschwiler
ILLUSTRATION BY
AS YOU PROBABLY ASSUMED from my classy-ass tone, offshore billionaires are the primary demographic for this column (“Write what you know!” they said). So, dear readers, I know you’ve all experienced this age-old problem: you’ve got a cozy little 35-bedroom investment property in Shaughnessy but no one around to dust the chandeliers! And there are a lot of them (one for each bedroom and also one above the toilet, because you’re not a rube). The thing is, here in Vancouver, we have a lot of people who would be really happy to live inside your multimilliondollar cobweb-filled mansion instead of, say, outside—but there’s always that looming fear: what if they get too cozy and invoke Squatter’s Rights? Squatter’s Rights: it’s a phrase we’re all familiar with, not just because “squat” is fun to say but because it’s a law that brings playground-level concepts like “finders keepers” and “losers weepers” into the harsh light of a courtroom. In some parts of the world, it takes less time to acquire property via squatting than it does to get a Saturday-night reservation at Savio Volpe—in California, a house can be yours in just five years. But here in B.C., it’s almost impossible for someone to squat their way up the property ladder, even though that
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In B.C., it’s almost impossible for someone to squat their way up the property ladder. does sound like a great Vancouverspecific glute exercise (CrossFit gyms, take note). According to section 28 of the British Columbia Limitations Act, someone can only acquire land rights by “adverse possession” if they settled in before July 1, 1975. And even if they have been there since then, they’ll need to prove they occupied the land for 20 to 60 years prior to that, continuously and exclusively in an “open, notorious and continuous manner” (e.g. yelling, “Ooh, look at meeee! I live in a houuuuse!” each morning for their neighbours to hear, exactly like a confident, normal homeowner does). Of course, the fact that squatting is an unlikely path to property ownership hasn’t stopped people from
trying, many in the name of housing activism, like the iconic three-month squat at Woodward’s in 2002 that led to the incorporation of social housing into the redevelopment, or the lessiconic 24-hour Grandview Squat in 2016 that led to…nothing. But to scoop up property from under the nose of us Rich Uncle Pennybags types, any potential claims would’ve had to be initiated between 1915 and 1955—so if the threat of squatting is causing you to lose sleep in your caviar-stuffed bed, please stop reading now and go check your basement for libertarian 102-year-olds who have just been waiting to pounce. Got a question for City Informer? stacey.mclachlan@vanmag.com
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