For a good time... solve problems

Editor's Message

PIETA WOOLLEY

Back in 2009 I was covering the lead up to the Vancouver-Whistler Olympic Games, and officials worried that the world was coming, and would see Vancouver’s problems. The transportation gridlock. The open-air drug market on East Hastings. The housing crisis.

I called an international branding expert in the UK for comment. He said something that will stick with me forever. “Every city has problems. What people are really interested in is, what is yourcity doing to solve your problems?”

It’s a sentiment I’m mulling as we kick off our local election coverage this month. This region indesputably has plenty of unique and pressing problems. But the really interesting thing isn’t the problems; it’s the story about how we grapple with them, how they’ll be solved.

Similarly, the new Tla’amin language coordinator Randolph Timothy Jr. is hoping to solve the problem of how to get everyone learning the ʔayʔaǰuθəm orthography. I think he’s nailed it, by making it casual and fun.

Many of us have become so used to self-isolating and conversing mostly with our cats, that facing the crowds of August’s festivals may feel about as appetizing as a bowl of Friskies. Local counsellor Rick Berghauser weighs in with some easy strategies to enjoy being with people again.

I hope your August is filled with innovative solutions.