The Georgia Straight - Promises Promises - April 14, 2022

APRIL 14 – 21 / 2022 | FREE Volume 56 | Number 2826

LIVING HERITAGE

New housing concept

BAD PARENT

Josette Jorge’s return to the stage

PROMISES, PROMISES Can Canadian politicians like Chrystia Freeland be believed when they say they’ll deliver a massive increase in housing supply?

SÁMI ARTISTS • VERSES FESTIVAL • KELLARISSA • ANDREW GRUFT

HEALTH

Decentralized response to the pandemic can be fixed

CONTENTS

April 14-21 / 2022

7

COVER

Politicians are pledging a massive increase in the housing supply, but are there enough construction workers to make these promises a reality?

by Charlie Smith

By Charlie Smith Cover photo by Gregory Abraszko

5

HOUSING

One of the top-ranked properties on the Vancouver Heritage Register is on the market for $4.5 million after selling last year for $2.9 million.

By Carlito Pablo

10 ARTS

The Vancouver Art Gallery is mounting an exhibit of rare photographic art in memory of a local donor who notably upgraded its collection.

B.C. has a problem in addressing the COVID-19 pandemic—namely, that the health authorities are politically and scientifically unaccountable. Photo by Alexey Solodovnikov and Valeria Arkhipova.

O

ne of the most famous sentences in the history of space exploration was uttered by Jim Lovell, an astronaut on the Apollo 13 spacecraft. “Okay, Houston, I believe we’ve had a problem here,” Lovell said.

Some very intelligent people in B.C. know that we have a problem of a different sort here in our province when it comes to COVID-19.

Whereas the astronauts aboard Apollo 13 lost their oxygen tanks, our predicament revolves around government health officials who want to drop virtually all defences—save vaccinations and a few free rapid-test kits—in the face of a sixth wave of infections. This is despite evidence that the SARS-CoV-2 virus, which can cause death and long-term disability, can circumvent vaccines and has the capacity to reinfect people multiple times each year.

The B.C. government health establishment has argued—in the face of a tremendous amount of research evidence to the contrary—that because they believe that masks harm children’s mental health and lead to substance use(!), these mouth and nose coverings should not be required in schools.

This same government health establishment has maintained that there’s a “debate” over whether COVID-19 is airborne, as with measles and tuberculosis. This comment came after a couple of researchers at B.C. Children’s Hospital wrote a letter to the Lancet questioning a landmark paper, a letter that was promptly rebutted by the paper’s authors.

Yet health authority staff can thumb their noses at a growing body of scientific research about how COVID-19 is transmitted and offer advice willy-nilly about masks to school boards without any consequences.

A pandemic that has claimed more than 3,000 B.C. lives is being overseen in a haphazard, highly decentralized manner devoid of any real political or scientific accountability. In many cases, those who

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THE GEORGIA STR AIGHT

suffer the greatest consequences—families with immunocompromised members— don’t even know where they can fi le complaints. And even if they did, the College of Physicians and Surgeons of B.C. isn’t going to take away anyone’s medical licence for misleading the public in health-authority communications about how COVID-19 is being transmitted.

Politicians have a few options to consider in advance of the next election. They include: 1. Consult with Protect Our Province B.C., which has dedicated itself to providing evidence-based information to reduce the spread of COVID-19, to hear how it thinks this enormously challenging public-policy issue should be addressed.

2. Hold public meetings in each of the health regions asking a simple question: how can we make the delivery of health services more democratic and accountable? You never know what you might hear until you ask people for their opinions.

3. Consult with the College of Physicians and Surgeons of B.C. to determine whether it’s possible to issue practice directives to physicians or even requirements for continuing education for government epidemiologists.

4. Invite academic experts on governance to share their ideas on how to address the issue of unaccountable health authorities acting with impunity.

What we’ve witnessed in B.C. is a system failure rooted in part in governance.

While we might get lucky and avoid the worst onslaught of the pandemic this summer because of high vaccination rates and more people spending time outdoors, it’s quite possible that we’ll be back in COVID-19 hell by the fall. As long as there’s a refusal by government health officials to respond to airborne transmission in a serious way, this issue will never go away.

That’s why it’s incumbent on all of us to devote just as much attention to finding solutions as we have done to highlighting what’s gone so terribly wrong. g

APRIL 14 – 21 / 2022

By Martin Dunphy

e Online TOP 5

e Start Here

9 14 12 8 2 4 8 12 6 13 11

ARTS CLASSIFIED ADS DANCE FOOD HEALTH HOUSING LIQUOR MUSIC REAL ESTATE SAVAGE LOVE THEATRE

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EDITOR Charlie Smith GENERAL MANAGER Sandra Oswald SECTION EDITORS Mike Usinger (ESports/Liquor/Music) Steve Newton SENIOR EDITOR Martin Dunphy STAFF WRITERS Carlito Pablo (Real Estate) SOLUTIONS ARCHITECT Jeff Li ART DEPARTMENT MANAGER Janet McDonald

Here’s what people are reading this week on Straight.com.

1 2 3 4 5

Park board says Kits Pool may not reopen this summer.

Bill Gates TED Talk prompts protest outside Vancouver Convention Centre.

Fire in historic Gastown neighbourhood sends five to hospital.

Former Beatle Ringo Starr brings his All Starr band to Abbotsford.

Mask mandates, fickle NDP voters, and the 2001 B.C. election debacle. @GeorgiaStraight

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THE GEORGIA STR AIGHT

3

REAL ESTATE

When heritage conservation keys on intangibles

A

by Carlito Pablo

proposed Downtown Eastside development seeks to pioneer an innovative concept of heritage conservation in Vancouver.

It’s called the “living heritage approach”.

This strategy is generally different than conventional methods that focus on physical aspects of heritage properties and sites.

The design rationale for the planned 11-storey mixed-use project at 305 Main Street explains what this means: “The living heritage approach considers foremost the meaning a place had in the past but also to its ongoing use and relevance in the everyday life of residents in the present,” the document states.

“In other words,” the paper continues, “it embraces the living nature of a place and inherently a continuous process of evolution.”

The proposed development covers half a city block, starting from the southwest corner of Main and Cordova streets south to 325 Main Street.

The development application was included in the agenda Monday (April 11) of the Vancouver Heritage Commission. As the VHC agenda notes, the project entails the demolition of five structures, including 305 Main Street, which is in the Vancouver

…the existing building…has lost structural integrity over time in part due to damage from a fire in the past.

– VHC meeting agenda

A “living heritage” design for the MAC project mixes past meaning with present relevance.

Heritage Register.

This property is listed as 301–305 Main Street—and, alternatively, 170–172 East Cordova Street—in the register. It was built in 1892 and 1893 as the Mountain View Boarding House.

The development site also includes a two-storey commercial building at 307 Main Street that was built in 1908.

Another building is the Imperial Theatre at 319 Main Street, which was built in 1974 at the spot where the old Golden Harvest Theatre used to show Bruce Lee and

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APRIL 14 – 21 / 2022

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The VHC agenda likewise states that a report “analyzed the condition of the existing building at 305 Main Street and determined that it has lost structural integrity over time in part due to damage from a fire in the past”.

“Given the above the applicant took directions from the Vancouver Heritage Program and proposes a living heritage approach to achieve both heritage and social housing goals,” the agenda notes.

Moreover, the project’s “living heritage approach focuses not just on 305 Main Street, but the entire site”.

The proposed development will feature housing units, a community theatre, learning space, and commercial units.

Marianne Amodio is one of the project’s architects.

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“We were supported at the VHC,” Amodio told the Straight by phone after the civic body’s meeting.

Amodio also noted that since the development application was filed, the plan has been adjusted to dedicate the residential component to 100 percent social housing.

She recalled that the previous plan involved a mix of market rentals and social housing.

For now, the future building is called MAC, after the two cross streets of Main and Cordova streets.

Amodio said that the building’s name may change later.

Amodio and Harley Grusko of MA+HG Architects, Inc. and Z Smith of architecture and design firm EskewDumezRipple wrote a letter of intent that forms part of the project’s design rationale.

The architects state in the letter that work for the 305 Main Street development presents a “robust and groundbreaking Living Heritage Approach”.

The approach “encompasses the value of the intangible heritage the site holds, not only through its physical buildings and uses, but through a understanding of the lived history of the site from the stories of the people who inhabit this community”.

“The intent of the proposal is to provide the Downtown Eastside/Oppenheimer community with a place of culture, connection and primarily, of home,”the letter explains.

In addition to housing and housing-related amenities, the project also includes a “music-capable cultural space, New Harvest”.

The said “landmark space overlooking the corner of Main and Cordova” will enable the community to “carry on their traditions of storytelling through music, film, art and performance”.

As well, “small scale commercial units are provided to support the tradition of local neighbourhood-serving retail in the area”.

An appendix that forms part of the design rationale emphasizes the project’s pioneering approach to heritage conservation.

“At this time, in the City of Vancouver, there has not been a development project that has undertaken living heritage as its conservation approach,” the document explains.

Also, “While this work has been applied mostly to urban districts and historic cities, rather than to a site that is half of a city block, the importance in this paradigm shift, regardless of scale, is the emphasis and inclusion of a community’s intangible values.”

“The built environment therefore is understood as a living space where life took and continues to take place.”

With the 305 Main Street development, the project’s living heritage approach seeks to “design a building that serves and strengthens the continuity of community connections to the place”. g

REAL ESTATE

Landscape architect’s home a developer’s dream

by Carlito Pablo

Online, the Vancouver Heritage Foundation describes Buck as a former UBC horticulture professor and campus landscape architect.

“Buck oversaw the landscape design of the UBC Point Grey campus, in accordance with Sharp and Thompson’s overall design for the campus,” the VHF recalls.

Sharp was George T. Sharp, partner of the architecture firm Sharp and Thompson.

Buck’s home was built next door to Sharp’s home at 2427 West 37th Avenue.

Sharp’s residence was constructed in 1911, with Buck’s being completed two years later, based on the VHF account.

“Buck and Sharp both served on the Point Grey Advisory Town Planning Com-

mission from 1923-1929 and Buck is responsible for street tree planting initiatives that took place in the 1920s in Point Grey,” the foundation also relates.

“His legacy lives on in the many beautiful tree lined streets in the area, and a sports field and memorial garden at UBC named for him,” the VHF adds.

As for Buck’s home, it’s “sheltered by mature trees and hedges, cementing the house’s close relationship with the environment, a key aspect of Arts and Crafts buildings”.

“The steeply pitched roof, cedar shingle siding, discreet entry with covered porch and leaded glass windows made up of small panes are also Arts and Crafts features,” the VHF explains. g

The city has already issued a development permit to redevelop this house at 2403 West 37th Avenue into four residences with a coach house at the back, so the listing is for developers.

A

Vancouver heritage home associated with the horticulturist who landscaped UBC is back on the market.

The former residence of Frank Buck listed on April 8 with an asking price of $4.5 million. Buck and his family owned the property at 2403 West 37th Avenue for almost a century.

The home is one of the top-ranked properties in the Vancouver Heritage Register.

It’s classified as category A, which the register defines as a property that “represents the best examples of a style or type of building”.

Or, as in the case of 2403 West 37th Avenue, it “may be associated with a person or event of significance”.

Following the death of an heir, the Kerrisdale residence was put up for sale in 2017 for $3,599,000. In October of the same year, the home sold for $2.7 million.

A Vancouver Sun report about the 2017 listing recalled that Buck bought the Vancouver real estate in 1920, probably for about $5,000.

After the 2017 sale by Buck’s heirs, the property returned to the market in February 23, 2021 with a listing price of $3,080,000. It sold on March 24 of that year for $2,980,000.

This means that with a new April 8, 2022, listing, 2403 West 37th Avenue is again in play after a little over a year. The listing price of $4.5 million represents a $1,520,000 premium over the property’s last sold price.

The tag also marks about the same topup over its 2022 assessment of $2,953,000.

One may wonder why this piece of Vancouver real estate has become so much more expensive?

It has something to do with the property’s development potential. The seller’s agency, Macdonald Realty, has pitched the offering to a select class of buyers, and it’s

not ordinary homeowners.

“This is calling out to developers who are interested in a lovely boutique 4 unit townhouse project,” the listing states.

The text notes that a development permit has been issued by the City of Vancouver to redevelop the property. The multiple conversion dwelling, or MCD, project involves dividing the heritage home into four residences, plus a coach house at the back.

It’s a development that “takes the uncertainty in negotiating with the City out of the way”.

However, there seems to be a bit of a catch. The listing notes a “few prior to’s” in the issuance of a development permit for the property.

A check online with applications before city hall indicates that there are a lot of conditions set for the issuance of a development permit.

These were outlined in a January 26, 2022, “prior-to-letter” by city staffer Mary Tuiza to Diamond Group Architecture Inc. As Tuiza explained, the “application has been approved to alter, add and convert this existing two-storey plus basement, Heritage A”. The “permit may be issued upon the completion of the revisions and conditions”.

One example is “design development to improve the access to natural light, views and privacy for the East and West adjacent neighbours”. Another is the “provision on landscape drawings of landscape features intended to create bird friendly design”.

The applicant also needs to “improve the rear yard open space by increasing the building separation between the main house and the infill” to a minimum of 16 feet.

There are a lot more, and the city has set a definite timeline. As the city’s letter stated, “if these conditions have not been complied with on, or before July 26, 2022 this Development Application may stand refused”.

APRIL 14 – 21 / 2022

THE GEORGIA STR AIGHT

5

REAL ESTATE

Report insists that housing “super cycle” is ending

A

by Carlito Pablo

re the roaring days of real estate history?

“The sales super cycle that the Metro Vancouver housing market has been in for two years is ending,” declares a report released by Dexter Realty.

The Vancouver-based realty agency based its conclusion on the latest monthly sales numbers from markets served by the real estate boards in Greater Vancouver and the Fraser Valley.

“It is nearly over in Fraser Valley, where March sales were down 22.5% from a year earlier and average prices dropped nearly 6% from February 2022, and similarly in Greater Vancouver where home sales were down 25% from March 2021 and averages prices were down 13%,” the report stated.

(Dexter Realty uses slightly different but essentially the same figures from those issued by the real estate boards.)

Looking back, 2021 was the new alltime high for the Greater Vancouver market, based on official numbers from the real estate board.

In that year, a total of 43,999 homes were sold, beating the previous record of 42,326 in 2015 by four percent.

Sales in 2021 also exceeded by 42.2 percent

Is the party really over in Metro Vancouver’s frothy real-estate market? Last month, this sevenbedroom and seven-bathroom home at 672 Schoolhouse Street in Coquitlam sold for $3.4 million.

the 30,944 deals in 2020, with the latter number a remarkable feat as well, considering that this was the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic. To illustrate, residential sales in 2020 exceeded the 2019 tally of 25,351.

The Fraser Valley also set a new record in 2021, with a total of 27,692 sales. The count surpassed by 15 percent the previous record, set in 2016, when realtors in this market sold 23,974 homes.

Dexter Realty reports are prepared by the firm’s partner and managing broker, Kevin Skipworth.

With the “sales super cycle” coming to an end, Skipworth asks one question.

What’s next?

Those anticipating a crash will be disappointed with Skipworth’s prognosis.

“This does not mean a major market correction is coming,” the realtor wrote. “It

does mean that we could be moving back to a calmer, more friendly environment for homebuyers, which would be a welcome relief to many,” Skipworth continued.

He also noted that the “true test of the market will be over the next month”. (The Bank of Canada was scheduled to make an announcement about its key rate on April 13, after this edition of the Straight went to the printer.)

“It’s a forgone conclusion that the overnight rate will increase,” Skipworth said.

The Bank of Canada’s key rate affects variable-rate mortgages. “Fixed interest rate mortgages have been on the rise with a 5-year interest rate now approaching 4%,” Skipworth noted.

The central bank slashed its interestsetting rate down to its lowest level, 0.25 percent, at the start of the pandemic. It has been anticipated that the bank would start raising rates in 2022 through 2023.

It started the first round on March 2 with a 0.25 percent increase.

With the raging inflation and uncertainties brought about by the ongoing Russian invasion of Ukraine, a number of analysts expected the Bank of Canada to announce a 0.5 percent hike. g

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THE GEORGIA STR AIGHT

APRIL 14 – 21 / 2022

FEATURE

New housing supply constrained by labour market

F

by Charlie Smith

inance Minister Chrystia Freeland wants Canadians to believe that she’s serious about addressing the country’s housing shortage. To that end, she announced $4 billion over five years for a new Housing Accelerator Fund to provide incentives to municipal governments to create 100,000 net new housing units. Another $6 billion has been invested in other housing initiatives, including a new tax-free home savings account to allow younger homebuyers to set aside up to $40,000 toward a new home.

The finance minister also indicated that infrastructure funding to provinces, territories, and municipalities would be tied to increasing housing supply “where this made sense”.

“Over the next 10 years, we will double the number of new homes we build,” Freeland declared in Parliament. “This must become a great national effort, and it will demand a new spirit of collaboration: provinces and territories; cities and towns; the private sector and nonprofits all working together with us to build the homes that Canadians need.”

She’s not the only politician promising to increase the supply of homes. The B.C. NDP government had a target of 114,000 new homes in its first decade in office, which is currently being pursued by the minister responsible, David Eby. And in Vancouver, Mayor Kennedy Stewart says the Making H.O.M.E. (Home Options for Middle-income Earners) initiative will result in 10,000 new homes in single-detached neighbourhoods.

The promises are grandiose—Freeland, in particular, thinks Canada can move from a longer-term average of about 200,000 new homes per year to 400,000 new homes per year. But is this really possible, given the shortage of construction workers in Canada?

In separate phone interviews with the Straight, the president of the Independent Contractors and Businesses Association (ICBA), Chris Gardner, and the executive director of the B.C. Building Trades (BCBT), Brynn Bourke, both readily conceded that there are existing challenges in filling all the current vacancies.

Last fall, the ICBA surveyed 3,600 members last fall and found that 76 percent of respondents said they cannot find enough people for the work that they already have.

“It means in some cases, obviously, they’re spending more time recruiting and looking for people,” Gardner said. “It means that some are turning down work because they don’t have the people to do the work. It could mean delays in a project because they haven’t assembled the necessary workforce to meet the scheduled requirements.”

BCBT’s Bourke, who’s also on the board of BuildForce Canada, said that the construction industry is already hitting a peak in employment from 2022 through to 2024, due in part to the boom in road

Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland hopes to enhance affordability by doubling the number of new homes built in Canada each year, but it’s not as easy as it sounds, Photo by Violaine Martin/UN.

and infrastructure projects, including the Broadway subway line.

“Do we have enough people?” Bourke asked. “It’s a real challenge.”

She noted that many skilled tradespeople are planning to retire—25,000, or 13 percent of the B.C. construction labour force—by 2027, according to BuildForce Canada. To keep pace, even before Freeland’s budget promise, BuildForce Canada stated that the industry in B.C. would “need to recruit and train an estimated 27,600 workers throughout the six-year forecast period”.

Compounding these difficulties, according to Bourke, was the former B.C. Liberal government’s decision two decades ago to scrap compulsory trades certification.

She said that B.C. was the only province to do this.

“I would say for 20 years we have not been investing in our apprenticeship system, and now we’re sort of watching as those folks who have Red Seal [skilled-trades certification] are retiring,” Bourke said.

Most economic observers believe there’s a real need for new housing supply, especially given that B.C. could attract 80,000 to 100,000 new residents per year if the federal government achieves its immigration target of more than 400,000 per year. Last year, Scotiabank released a report showing that Canada has the lowest number of housing units per 1,000 residents of any G7 country.

Andrew Ramlo, a demographic expert and vice president advisory at rennie, pointed out that the number of construction jobs per residential housing start has dropped dramatically in B.C. in recent years. In 2011, there were 8.02 construction jobs per start; by 2021, that had fallen to 4.98, when there was a record number of 43,360 housing starts in B.C. The 10-year average was about 6.6 construction jobs per residential dwelling start, according to Ramlo.

He noted that 2021 was a record year

for housing starts; the average during the past decade was 33,886 homes per year. All things being equal—and if the province wanted to sustain a level of 40,000 housing starts per year—there would need to be 265,000 construction workers, which is almost 50,000 more than today. But that could be reduced if there was smaller

labour input as a result of building more prefabricated homes or modular housing.

Gardner sees one ray of hope.

“The federal government is making changes to allow a greater portion of immigrants to come in who would be focused on opportunities in agricultural, hospitality, and construction sectors,” he said. “That’s a change that they just implemented.”

Bourke is feeling optimistic about a new “virtual campus” that her organization launched last year called College of the B.C. Building Trades. It offers opportunities for people interested in a trades career to upskill in areas where they have gaps, like mathematics, rather than obtaining their GED over a prolonged period before being eligible for apprenticeship training.

“I’m pretty excited about how we’re changing the way that we recruit, but also the way we assess and place people so that there are less barriers,” Bourke said.

Nevertheless, finding tens of thousands of construction workers in a relatively short period to meet the demand for housing in B.C. is not going to be easy.

“It can take up to four years to approve and permit a project,” Gardner said.

“That’s longer than it takes to build it.” g

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APRIL 14 – 21 / 2022

THE GEORGIA STR AIGHT

7

LIQUOR / FOOD

Chickadee Room cocktails help support Ukraine

T

by Mike Usinger

he Chickadee Room in Juke has announced the second edition of its Cocktails With a Cause program, with this month’s proceeds helping humanitarian efforts in one of the world’s most embattled countries.

If there’s one place on the planet that could really use everyone’s support right now it’s Ukraine. As the Russian invasion stretches on, getting bloodier with each passing day, Red Cross Canada has been there supporting Ukraine’s Humanitarian Crisis Appeal.

The Chickadee Room has in turn decided to support Red Cross Canada with this month’s Cocktails With a Cause. None of the drinks created for the program use Russian vodka.

named after a Ukrainian landmark.

Inspired by Europe’s oldest and largest UNESCO biosphere, the Askania-Nova combines Campari and Grand Marnier with orange and lemon juice.

Paying tribute to what’s considered the formal entrance to Odessa from the sea, Potemkin Stairs mixes Aperol with jasmine green tea, apricot, lemon, prosecco, and orange bitters.

A dollar from Chickadee’s Cocktails With a Cause drinks will go to Red Cross Canada.

The Chinatown bar—located next to Juke Fried Chicken—has come up with three specialty drinks for April, each

Lubart’s Castle is not only Lutsk’s most famous landmark, but it’s also found on Ukraine’s 200 hryvnia bill. Chickadee’s Lubart’s Castle brings together Wild Turkey 101, Cynar, Aperol, Cassis, and Peychaud’s and cocoa bitters.

A dollar from each of those drinks sold will go towards Red Cross Canada to help out a country that continues to be an inspiration to the world. g

K afka’s CALLS IT A DAY ON MAIN d CITING WHAT’S BECOME a familiar story in Vancouver—with unaffordable rent increases being a major thread—Kafka’s has announced that it’s getting ready to serve its last lattes on Main Street. After 12 years of doing business on the 2500 block of Vancouver’s hippest neighbourhood, the coffee shop will close sometime between mid and late April.

In announcing the news, Kafka’s said: “With an unsustainable rent increase and the relentless disruptive construction on our front doorstep, we have made

the incredibly difficult decision to close the original Kafka’s. It’s straight-up hard making a small independent business work in this climate.” It’s not all bad news for fans of Kafka’s, which first opened in Vancouver in 2010, and began roasting its coffee in-house last year. Main Street Staff has been shifted to its outlets on Great Northern Way and in Gastown.

The company is also opening Kafka’s In the Park later this spring in downtown Vancouver at Smithe and Richards. g

by Mike Usinger

Check out the Georgia Straight’s upcoming issue on MAY 26, 2022 and discover our readers favourite places to eat, drink and hang out.

Ballot has now closed for the Golden Plates contest Thank you to all our participating sponsors this year: Terra Breads, Rocky Mountain Flatbread, L a Belle Patate Vancouver, Water St. Cafe, West Coast Poké, España, Pacific Poke, Car tems Donuts, Pallet Coffee Roasters, Marquis Wines, Bella Gelateria, Memphis Blues BBQ House, Bonta Italian Restaurante, Havana, Baan L ao Fine Thai Cuisine.

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THE GEORGIA STR AIGHT

APRIL 14 – 21 / 2022

ARTS

Desirée Dawson makes music for reconnecting

T

by Steve Newton

My whole energy when I create goes into me connecting with myself...

– Desirée Dawson

Vancouver singer-songwriter Desirée Dawson fell in love with the ukulele while visiting a close friend in Hawaii, and now it’s one of the main instruments she uses to create her soulful sound.

and I actually went up there to take photos.”

Dawson points out that there was also a deeper meaning to the idea of “meeting at the light” than just a reflection on the beauty of nature.

“It was also inspired by my grandpa passing away,” she reveals, “and it was kind of my way of honouring my family, because I couldn’t be with them in South Carolina on the day of his funeral. But also I found a video of my grandpa, and that’s what I wrote the song about. He was outside in the trees and there was all of this light from the sun shining through. So it’s definitely about being out and in nature, but it’s also about meeting someone in the light of the afterlife. It’s whatever you want it to be.”

Meet You at the Light has been nominated for a 2022 Juno in the adult contemporary album of the year category. There’s some tough competition for the trophy, including from Toronto’s popular Serena Ryder, who has also been nominated along with Luca Fogale, Mathew V, and Tafari Anthony.

“Everyone who’s nominated is amazing,” Dawson declares, “so I feel like we all have a chance.”

Dawson will be attending the awards along with her “team”, and is performing at JunoFest in Toronto while she’s there.

But before that, she’s got a gig at the Cultch on April 24 as part of the Vancouver Poetry House’s Verses Festival of Words.

The event, titled Sounds Like Fire, features Dawson sharing the stage with a selection of local poets and musicians that includes the previously mentioned Arevalo, Kimmortal, and Hari Alluri.

“This event will be equal parts tenderness

and fire, water and righteous rage,” reads the event description on the Vancouver

Poetry House website. “Each featured artist brings big love and social consciousness to the stage, while displaying lyrical craft that encompasses hip hop, the poetic page, folk, and experimental music in between.”

“Myself, Kim, Hari, and Francis, we’ll all be kind of solo but also kind of supporting each other on-stage,” Dawson says.

“We’re all lyricists, like poets kind of, by nature, I guess. Francis and Kim and I are also musicians, and Hari is more poetry focused, but the cool thing is that we all do that. We’re kind of weaving in music and then spoken word and poetry, so it’s gonna be really beautiful.” g Desirée Dawson performs at Sounds Like Fire as part of the Verses Festival of Words at the Cultch’s Historic Theatre on April 24.

A Firehall Arts Centre & Savage Society Production

APR 16 to MAY 1

A curious comedy by

Taran Kootenhayoo Photography: Cheyanne Rain Legrande

he first CD that Desirée Dawson ever got as a gift was an album by the similarly named British crooner Des’ree. As a youngster growing up in White Rock, she also listened to a lot of R & B-inflected pop by the likes of Destiny’s Child, Tracy Chapman, and Diana Ross & the Supremes. But when it came time to step out on her own as a singer-songwriter, she didn’t take the normal route and grab an acoustic guitar for accompaniment. As Dawson explains from her current Mount Pleasant home, she went for its less popular four-string cousin, the ukulele.

“I got into ukulele when I went to visit my really close friend who was in Maui at the time,” she recalls. “She was just healing through something, and I was watching how easily she picked up the ukelele, and how much joy it brought her, and how fun it was for us to be singing along to it. I just kind of fell in love with it.”

When she got back to Vancouver, Dawson bought herself a baritone ukulele because she wanted a deeper sound—”For me, it was the perfect in-between of the ukulele and guitar”—and she set about to create soulful music that is all about connecting.

“I create my music so that people can find peace and can find rest and can really reconnect with themselves,” Dawson explains. “My whole energy when I create goes into me connecting with myself in hopes that it will inspire others to do the same.’”

It didn’t take long for Dawson’s original material to get noticed by the movers and shakers in the Canadian music biz. In 2016, her song “Hide” won the CBC Music Searchlight talent competition, earning her a grand prize valued at $50,000, including $20,000 worth of musical equipment.

“That was such an amazing time,” she says. “Yamaha gifted me a bunch of gear, so the keyboard I use is from that, and I got some speakers. And there were other little gifts like music books that were really helpful.”

Dawson’s prize-winning ways have led to the release of Meet You at the Light, the seven-track EP she coproduced along with Francis Arevalo and Olivia Quan. The disc sees Dawson on ukulele and vocals, along with pianist Arevalo, violinist Sejal Narsey, vocalist Janelle Reid, and singerguitarist Matt Storm. Its Arevalo-shot cover photo shows Dawson, who also teaches yoga, sitting in a Buddha-like pose while the sun’s glorious rays pour over a mountain in Squamish.

“I was definitely having a very yogic moment,” she says, “just very present and grounded. The whole Meet You at the Light inspiration was being outside and being with the mountains and being with the trees, and so it was very cool that Francis

Directed by Renae Morriseau

firehallartscentre.ca 280 E CORDOVA ST

FIREHALL ARTS CENTRE 2021-2022 | REUNION SEASON

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ARTS

VAG donor honoured by Everything Under the Sun

G

by Martin Dunphy

rant Arnold wants you to feel how he felt all those years ago.

It was 2004, and he had been charged with cataloguing the works in an extensive and eclectic collection of valuable photographic art that had just been donated to the Vancouver Art Gallery.

“I’ve been a curator for 40 years, and it was an amazing time, one that I’ll always remember,” Arnold told the Straight by phone.

Eighteen years later, he is finally able to present some of the artwork that regularly made his jaw drop for the better part of a month in a crowded upstairs room of a house on Vancouver’s West Side. This opportunity came, unfortunately, with the death last December of one member of the donor couple.

“We wanted to do something in the memory of Andrew Gruft,” Arnold said.

The works will be shown to the public in a VAG exhibition opening April 15 titled Everything Under the Sun: In Memory of Andrew Gruft. It will run until September 11.

The VAG web page devoted to the exhibition says Gruft “played a vital role as collector, critic, patron and life force in Vancouver’s art community for almost five decades”.

Arnold, the VAG’s Audain curator of B.C. art, knew Gruft and his wife, Claudia Beck,

Robert Frank’s Trolley-New Orleans, 1955 is a highlight of a new Vancouver Art Gallery show.

Photo from the collection of the Vancouver Art Gallery, gift of Andrew Gruft and Claudia Beck.

both “socially and professionally”, he said in the interview. “I had known both of them for quite a while….They met at UBC in the ’70s.”

The couple, both of whom taught at UBC—Gruft in the school of architecture and Beck as a summer sessional instructor

The difficult thing was getting a selection from such a large collection.

– VAG curator Grant Arnold

in art history—opened NOVA Gallery for photographic works on West Fourth Avenue in 1976. (“They taught in the same building,” Arnold said. “It was not surprising that they ran into each other.”)

In 1978, they hosted the first solo show by the then-unknown Vancouver artist Jeff Wall, but they also showed famed contemporary and historic photographers such as Robert Frank and William Henry Fox Talbot.

The gallery closed after six years, but “they continued to collect after that”, Arnold said. “They were very supportive of the Vancouver arts community.”

Meanwhile, the couple’s collection— which included many examples of historically important early photographic works— grew in importance and size.

“I first started meeting them in 2003,” Arnold said. “That’s when serious discussions started about bringing their collection to the gallery. That was really exciting; that was a huge possibility for us. I knew that there were some great photographs in their collection. That would have hugely changed our holdings.”

After the donation of much of their collection actually happened the next year (a total of about 400 pieces), Arnold didn’t do much else but sit in an upstairs room of a house in Point Grey for the next couple of weeks.

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“It’s an old house with great views of English Bay,” Arnold remembered. “The collection was mostly housed on the second floor of the house.” The photos were in many boxes. “It was very packed; there wasn’t a lot of room. I would take a box out, put it on the table…take them out and look at them.

“I would go out there just about every weekday. It took me a month to go through them.”

Arnold said the couple continued to donate works “pretty much every year from 2004” until Gruft’s recent death. He estimated that the VAG’s Gruft and Beck holdings now number about 750, with the inclusion of some new additions. “They were in Andrew’s collection when he died, and he bequested them to the gallery.”

Arnold has selected only 65 of the pieces for Everything Under the Sun. “The difficult thing was getting a selection from such a large collection,” Arnold said. “They have given most of it to us. It’s an incredibly diverse collection; they travelled quite a bit.”

When asked about the value of such a collection, Arnold would only say “millions” and that the gallery had gone to “a great deal of effort” to properly assess its holdings.

One of the centrepieces of the exhibit, a silver gelatin print of Frank’s TrolleyNew Orleans, 1955, sold at auction in 2013 for $242,500. In the photo, from Frank’s famous 1959 book of photographs, The Americans, the frame is filled with the side of a city bus, with faces—white at the front, black at the back—staring into the lens from the bus windows. ”It’s an image of segregation,” Arnold said. “The facial expressions of the people are compelling.”

Arnold said the number of artists and pictures on display and the time line they represent during the history of photography might just be the show’s raison d’être. “It might help people to think a bit about the role that images play in our world. It might help us think of how photography has evolved.”

Other contemporary artists/photographers recommended by Arnold in the show (“It would be hard to have a single favourite”) include Karin Bubaš, Marian Penner Bancroft, Oriol Maspons (“The one in the show is just an amazing image”), Stephen Waddell (“There are some really great works by him”), and Evan Lee. Pioneering photographers such as William Henry Fox Talbot and David Octavius Hill are also represented in the exhibit, and notables like Eugène Atget, Anne Brigman, Becky Cohen, Helen Levitt, Gabriel Orozco, and Issei Suda are also supported by works. g Everything Under the Sun: In Memory of Andrew Gruft, runs from April 15 to September 11 on the third floor of the Vancouver Art Gallery.

ARTS

Bad Parent mom ready to sink her teeth into play

by Charlie Smith

Jorge isn’t shy about sharing thoughts on parenting. She posts photos of her kids on Instagram. She follows posts on parenting. But in Choi’s play, there are aspects of parenting that she wouldn’t dare talk about in public.

“The conversations in this play that my character has with her partner are quite vulnerable and quite deep and quite honest—to the point when I was reading it, I went, ‘Ho, ho, that is something that I am definitely going through, but I’m not sure if I would want to explore it, especially in front of an audience,’ ” Jorge says.

She’s hoping that she’ll spot couples in the audience occasionally nudge each other when they hear dialogue that speaks directly to their experiences parenting a young child.

Or, alternatively, she wonders if they might do the opposite, feeling awkward as the play raises issues that they are not keen to discuss.

Jorge lives in the same Toronto neighbourhood as Choi, which made it easy for them to meet for coffee to discuss parenting. Even though Choi’s kids are much older, they had similar experiences, which deepens her connection to Bad Parent.

“I feel like it’s a play that I can really sink my teeth into,” Jorge says. “It’s very me right now.” g From April 21 to May 1, the Cultch will present Bad Parent, a coproduction of Vancouver Asian Canadian Theatre, Prairie Theatre Exchange, and Soulpepper Theatre Company.

Actor Josette Jorge (right, with costar Raugi Yu) anticipates that the deep and honest dialogue in Bad Parent is going to really resonate with couples in the audience. Photo by Emily Cooper.

T

he tagline for the upcoming world premiere of Ins Choi’s new play, Bad Parent, is “parenthood is messy, especially in front of an audience”. And it certainly rings true for Vancouver-born and -raised actor Josette Jorge, who plays the mother, Norah, as well as the nanny, Nora, in this comedy at the Cultch Historic Theatre about childrearing.

After all, Jorge is herself the mother of a three-year-old and a nine-month-old, whom she is raising with her husband, Fane, in Toronto.

“I find that ‘audience’, for me, can be different things,” Jorge tells the Straight by phone just before going into rehearsal. “It can be how I compare myself to other moms, to friends. The audience could be family.”

When she won the part in the play, which is directed by Meg Roe, Jorge and her husband had to make some tough decisions.

Should they come to Vancouver for two months as a family and pull the older one out of daycare? Or should one or more of them remain in Toronto? In the end, Jorge and the little one came; Fane and the older one joined them a month later. Fortunately, both of their parents live in Vancouver, which ensured someone was there to look after the toddler when Jorge went to rehearsals.

She feels that others in her situation will be able to identify with how Choi’s play presents the challenges of raising children while feeling like they’re being watched.

“We have our parents here who have their opinions on how a nine-month-old should dress or eat, so I find that those things really speak to me in the play,” Jorge says. “What does it feel like to have an audience as you go through this pretty tough, vulnerable, rough time in your life?

How does that affect you and how does it affect your partnership with your spouse— you know, the other parent—too?”

It’s been more than eight years since Jorge has performed in a play in Vancouver. Her theatre credits include Play With Monsters (Solo Collective), Sisters (Gateway Theatre), Except in the Unlikely Event of War (Pi Theatre), and Proof (Mnemonic Theatre), in addition to being a cast member in The Stanley Dynamic and appearing in “The Job Interview” episode of Schitt’s Creek. Jorge played Analise in the feature film Attic Trunk, which was directed by her costar in Bad Parent, Raugi Yu. Bad Parent is a coproduction with Prairie Theatre Exchange in Winnipeg, Soulpepper Theatre Company in Toronto, and Vancouver Asian Canadian Theatre (vAct).

It was through vAct that Jorge met her husband. She fondly recalls how the founder, the recently deceased Joyce Lam, transformed her life with her first lead role and first directing opportunity.

But it wasn’t a slam dunk for her to pursue the role in Bad Parent after she received an email inviting her to audition. First of all, it was to be performed in Vancouver, Winnipeg, and Toronto, which would make it very difficult for Jorge and her husband to juggle this with parenting. But after she read the script by Choi, who is best known for creating Kim’s Convenience, Jorge was hooked.

“I went, ‘Okay, I have to do this show.

I have to. I have to,’ ” she recalls with a laugh. “There’s something in this play that is making me say, ‘Yeah, I think it’s time to get back on-stage.’ Not only because I’m a new parent myself—and I’m pretty much in the thick of it—but it also spoke to me on a level of ‘Oh, I get this.’ ” APRIL 14 – 21 / 2022

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ARTS / MUSIC

Dancers will celebrate Indigenous cultural icon

O

by Charlie Smith

ne of B.C.’s most impressive Indigenous women was Margaret Harris, who died in 2020. A Cree woman raised in Churchill, Manitoba, she came west and married Kenneth Harris, a Gitxsan chief, and immersed herself in Northwest Coast Indigenous culture.

In 1967, they founded Dancers of Damelahamid, which embraces artistic practices that couldn’t be presented publicly during a 67year government ban on potlatches.

“It meant so much to her to work in service to others,” their daughter, Margaret Grenier, tells the Straight by phone.

For Margaret Harris, that involved everything from going into rural communities to share her knowledge to promoting healing through song and dance and making regalia in the Downtown Eastside. Many of the beneficiaries of her efforts were women.

“Her work was so extensive and impactful in that way—and really transformative for so many people,” Grenier adds. “It’s a remarkable strength of character to be able to hold that place for others. That’s something I’m inspired by, but I also know that it is so singular to her.”

Grenier, artistic and executive director of Dancers of Damelahamid, plans to honour her mother at her Indigenous troupe’s 15th annual Coastal Dance Festival. Dancers of

Margaret Harris, a cofounder of Dancers of Damelahamid who died in 2020, will be honoured at this year’s Coastal Dance Festival with a dance work by the troupe. Photo by Chris Randle.

Damelahamid will present the initial work of what Grenier expects will be turned into a full-length production over the next couple of years.

It won’t be a literal biographical account, she emphasizes. Rather, it will commemorate her mother’s legacy.

“She was really such a stronghold in not only our family but in all the generations’ work that revitalized dance here on the

Northwest Coast,” Grenier says.

In addition to North American Indigenous artists, this year’s Coastal Dance Festival is also presenting Indigenous Sámi artists from Norway and Sweden. They include Sámi singers Sara Marielle Gaup and Lawra Somby; Sámi contemporary dancers Liv Aira and Marika Renhuvud; and Sámi aerialist Camilla Therese Karlsen, who incorporates contemporary dance and circus

arts into her performances.

It’s part of the yearlong Nordic Bridges 2022 initiative, which Toronto’s Harbourfront Theatre is leading, to foster cultural ties between Canada and the Nordic region.

That leads the Straight to ask if Margaret Harris ever had any interactions with the Sámi people. Grenier replies that she’s not certain about that, but her mom had something in common with Indigenous people from the Nordic region: a connection to a similar northern landscape. She notes that the Sámi people have survived alongside reindeer whereas the Cree have been reliant on caribou—and both endured colonialism.

“I also think there are a lot of connections with the Sámi artists, as well, in work on revitalization of artistic practices,” Grenier says. “You know, shared messages in terms of the importance of speaking through, as artists, our tradition and our culture.”

She says that is even true of more contemporary expressions, which remain grounded in ancestral knowledge and the language, songs, and dance of the past.

“It’s an important focus in the work that they’re doing,” Grenier says. g Dancers of Damelahamid presents the 15th annual Coastal Dance Festival at New Westminster’s Anvil Centre from April 20 to 24.

Pulp, ponzu, and Parmigiano please Kellarissa

W

by Mike Usinger

Kellarissa

ticket to see Pulp in Hyde Park in London, not knowing if I’d even be in the U.K. or Europe at that time. It turns out I was, and got to see a dream-come-true gig when they reunited after a hiatus. I was more excited to see a band than I’d ever been and they didn’t disappoint. I and everyone around me knew the words to every song and the crowd moved and danced as one. As if seeing Pulp wasn’t amazing enough, Grace Jones was one of the opening acts. She changed outfits for every song.

WHO ARE YOU

TOP THREE RECORDS

hat’s In Your Fridge is where the Straight asks interesting Vancouverites about their life-changing concerts, favourite albums, and, most importantly, what’s sitting beside the Heinz ketchup in their custom-made Big Chill Retropolitan 20.6-cubic-foot refrigerators.

ON THE GRILL

Hi, I’m Kellarissa. My fourth album, Voice Leading, is out now on Mint Records. It’s not your typical pandemic record, although I started writing and recording it during the first lockdown. (Nobody knew how long it would go!) It’s a complicated album about queer female desire, self-compassion, existential dread, Paris nightclubs, and how we’re all enablers. I drew a lot of inspiration from a novel called Sphinx

by Anne F. Garréta. It was mostly recorded at the Girls Rock Camp Fieldhouse and during a residency on Galiano Island (Leña Residency). The overarching theme is about following my voice, or conscience, and attempting to make peace with my demons.

FIRST CONCERT

My friend Lisa and I found out Sarah McLachlan was playing at Nat Bailey Stadium in 1996 so we got driven in from the suburbs. I remember asking someone how long the concert would take because the parent wanted to know when to pick 12

THE GEORGIA STR AIGHT

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Kellarissa’s new Voice Leading draws on everything from Paris nightclubs to queer female desire. Photo by Laura Harvey.

us up. We were told it was a festival and that it would last like eight hours. Needless to say, we were a little under-prepared but got to see Emmylou Harris, Paula Cole, and Lisa Loeb, among others. It took me approximately 20 more years to realize I was a lesbian.

LIFE-CHANGING CONCERT

See above! But in 2011, in between Destroyer tours (I was doing backup vocals and keys) I bought myself a

Pulp Different Class I was channel surfing and caught a live show of theirs on Much Music (F.E.E.L.I.N.G.C.A.L.L .E.D.L.I.V.E.) and although I didn’t know who they were I was entranced. I figured out who they were (pre-Google) and scrambled to find this album, then everything else they put out. Different Class has bangers like “Common People” and “Disco 2000” and it has stood the test of time with themes like class struggle, poverty, unrequited love, and general mischief.

Nico Drama of Exile This is moody, hot-backing-bandwith-a-Middle-Eastern vibe, ’80s Nico. Forget the twee stylings of “Chelsea Girl”. Nico sounds like a wailing goblin backed by angular synths and pulsating rhythms. I am not, however, a fan of covers for the most part, so I usually pretend “I’m Waiting for the Man” and “Heroes” aren’t on there, but they fit in well enough. The cover is frightening see next page

SAVAGE LOVE / MUSIC

Abstinence is the only way to eliminate STI risks

by Dan Savage

b BISEXUAL FEMALE IN an open/monogamish relationship with a heterosexual male.

My partner and I have some friends in the swinging lifestyle that invite us to parties and group sex events. They recently picked up gonorrhea at a hotel takeover and did not find out until after hosting 20 people at a sex party. So, the group is now dealing with a gonorrhea outbreak—mostly oral infections, as we are all very diligent about condom usage for PIV. We are being treated, but I am pretty upset. The thing that bothers me most is how nonchalant they are being about the situation! One person even called this an “inconvenience” and compared it to “the common cold”. (WTF?) While some STIs are easily treated, gonorrhea is treatment-resistant and something like herpes, HPV, or HIV would obviously be a very big deal and permanent. They don’t plan to retest after getting their shots and are already planning group sex events in the next few weeks, which I find concerning.

I don’t think I’m comfortable engaging with their group if they are not going to take things like an STI outbreak more seriously. So, my questions are: 1. My test came back negative (my partner was positive) but shouldn’t they all retest after treatment? Especially if it is an STI known to be antibiotic resistant?

2. Am I overreacting or being unfair to our friends? Is this just part of the swinging lifestyle territory that we all have to accept?

3. If we decide to not engage with the group because of their attitude towards STIs, how do we get back into the lifestyle?

We are afraid we will lose access to events and people in the scene, as these friends have introduced us to everyone we know in the scene and have gotten us access to all the events we’ve been to before.

- Completely Lost About Panicking

the throat is the most difficult to treat,” said Dr. Ina Park. “So, folks

1. “Gonorrhea in

Dan advises a bisexual female reader in a “monogamish” relationship with a heterosexual man that a swinging lifestyle will expose them to STIs no matter what precautions they take. Photo by Getty.

that have oral sex and end up with gonorrhea of the throat should get a repeat test in two weeks and abstain from oral sex in the meantime. For rectal and genital infections, the cure rates for gonorrhea are still so high that routine retesting after treatment isn’t recommended.”

Dr. Park is a professor in the Department of Family Community Medicine at the University of California: San Francisco, CLAP, and also serves as a medical consultant for the Division of STD Prevention at the Centers for Disease Control

and dismaying and the layout was an inspiration for the Voice Leading cover.

The Flying Lizards Fourth Wall As much as I love the first S/T Flying Lizards album, I’d pick this one most days because of jams like “New Voice” and “Hands 2 Take”. The music is a mashup of styles and vibes. I especially like the guitar stylings of Robert Fripp. It took me many years to get into Robert Fripp but this was my gateway and now I get it.

ALL-TIME FAVOURITE VIDEO

Siouxsie and the Banshees “Red Light” It’s so simple: red lights through Venetian blinds. Everyone looks super cool and Siouxsie is doing a jerky dance. I used a camera click sound in my song “After Hours” as an homage.

and Prevention. And while she thinks your sex friends who aren’t getting a follow-up test after being treated for oral gonorrhea are making a mistake, she explained that you’re wrong about gonorrhea.

“Gonorrhea can still be easily treated with a single injection of an antibiotic called ceftriaxone, and there is almost no resistance to that drug in North America,” said Dr. Park. Which is not to say gonorrhea is no big deal or that things couldn’t get worse. “Those of us in the business of STI research do worry about an outbreak of

WHAT’S IN YOUR FRIDGE

Ponzu sauce. I use this for sautéing veggies, as well as in rice bowls where you need a little kick. You can get it in yuzu or lime flavour. I’m obsessed. It’s a condiment that I’m constantly running out of and replacing, which you can’t say about most of the bottles in my refrigerator door.

Sauerkraut. I used to only buy the Hengstenberg brand in a can, but my local Polish deli proprietess informed me that it has been discontinued. I enjoyed eating it out of that can at room temperature when I first opened it. I’ve since had to settle on the Kühne brand at her suggestion and it’s actually pretty similar. I think Hengstenberg was a finer grate and thus gave way between my teeth more easily, but it all goes down the hatch with some perogies or something else

multidrug resistant gonorrhea, but luckily it hasn’t yet happened,” said Dr. Park. “The bad news is that over half of the gonorrhea strains circulating in the U.S. are resistant to at least one class of antibiotics, and onein-five are resistant to two or more classes of antibiotics. We currently only have one antibiotic in the U.S. that can reliably treat gonorrhea. But there is one new antibiotic in late-stage clinical trials, although nothing is immediately available if standard treatment fails.”

Which it hasn’t, CLAP, at least not yet.

So, that means you and partner and all your sex friends—if you get treated and tested again in two weeks—can emerge from this experience gonorrhea-free.

2. Your friends are underreacting— gonorrhea shouldn’t be compared to the common cold—but you’re overreacting.

While contracting an STI isn’t anyone’s goal at a sex party, whenever you’re having sex outside the bounds of a committed and sexually exclusive relationship, CLAP, you’re running the risk of contracting or spreading an STI. And since people in monogamous relationships cheat, there’s no guarantee you won’t contract an STI in a committed and sexually-exclusivein-theory-but-not-in-practice relationship either. The only way to eliminate your risk of contracting an STI is to never have sex with anyone ever again, CLAP, including your partner.

If the pleasures of attending sex parties aren’t worth the increased risk of contracting an STI, you shouldn’t attend sex parties. You could still have an open relationship, CLAP, but you’ll have to be a lot choosier and make the other people you fuck jump through a lot of hoops. You can ask all prospective new partners to get screened for STIs, provide you with proof of their negative tests, and then refrain from fucking anyone else for a few weeks before meeting up with you. Not everyone is going to wanna jump through those hoops, CLAP, which means you and your see next page

potato-based. Sometimes I eat it on toast in the morning.

Parmigiano Reggiano. I was going to say Cadbury Fruit & Nut Bar because I like cold chocolate, but I like cheese more.

I used to work in a cheese shop and would consider myself somewhat of an expert. I always have a few types of cheese in the fridge, but I always have Reggiano. Accept no substitute (ie. Parmesan, Grana Padano, Pecorino Romano—unless your recipe specifically calls for those...). It keeps forever so I usually buy lots at a time. It makes a great snack too, especially when left to warm up just a little. I could live on pasta, and often do, so this will class up any dish. g You can check out Kellarissa’s Voice Leading at kellarissa.bandcamp. com/album/voice-leading-2.

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from previous page

partner will have fewer opportunities to fuck other people.

I regret to inform you that the people you wanna fuck could lie to you about abstaining from fucking other people after testing and before meeting up to fuck you a few weeks later, just like people in monogamous relationships sometimes lie. So, to ensure your other partners aren’t fucking other people during that time, CLAP, you’ll have to lock them in your basement.

3. Swapping hosts—going to sex parties and swinger events organized by people who haven’t already given you gonorrhea—isn’t the magic amulet you seem to think it is.

Anyone who regularly goes to sex parties to fuck 20 other people is going to be exposed to HPV on a regular basis and is essentially volunteering to be exposed to and very likely contract herpes. (If you aren’t already vaccinated against HPV, get vaccinated.) If you’re using condoms religiously and correctly, and there’s no man-on-man action at these parties (and there usually isn’t at events organized by and for opposite-sex couples),

your risk of contracting HIV is very, very low. You can reduce your risk of contracting gonorrhea, syphilis, and chlamydia orally by using condoms and latex barriers for cunnilingus and anilingus, but STIs that are passed through skin-to-skin contact are almost unavoidable when 20 people pile into a living room with a dozen mattresses spread out on the floor.

If you can’t live with those risks or you’re going to fall to pieces if or when you contract another STI, CLAP, sex parties aren’t for you.

Follow Dr. Ina Park on Instagram @InaParkMD. And, hey, it’s STI Awareness Week! I can’t think of a better way to mark STI Awareness Week than reading Dr. Park’s memoir Strange Bedfellows: Adventures in the Science, History, and Surprising History of STDs, which is out now in paperback. The New York Times called Dr. Park’s memoir “joyful and funny”, and praised Park for using compassion and humour to “take the stigma out of these infections”. It’s a wonderful book that I would recommend to anyone, but I would especially recommend it to you, CLAP!

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Prepare and serve nutritious • Willing to travel meals. Supervise and care for • English please send resume to: ileanatm@yahoo.com children.

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IN THE COURT OF PROBATE FOR NOVA SCOTIA IN THE ESTATE OF Clayton Harry Lohnes, Deceased NOTICE

TO: Carmen Lohnes TAKE NOTICE that the Estate of Clayton Harry Lohnes has been probated in the Probate Court of Nova Scotia by grant dated April 17, 2020 and you may have rights in regard to the estate under thethe Matrimonial Property Act, Testator’s Family Maintenance under Matrimonial Property Act, Testator’s Family MainAct and/or Statistics Act. You Act. mustYou contact Proctor tenance ActVital and/or Vital Statistics mustthe contact theof the estate thirty (30) thirty days after ofthe thedate publication Proctor of within the estate within (30) the daysdate after of the of this Notice theNotice contact below. publication of at this at information the contact information below.

Dated at Lunenburg, Nova Scotia this day of April 11, 2022.

David R. Hirtle, Q.C. Hirtle Legal Services Inc. 205 Pelham Street, PO Box 457 Lunenburg, Nova Scotia BOJ 2CO Phone: 902-634-8713 Fax : 902-634-8943 Email: lawyer@eastlink.ca Proctor of the Estate of Clayton Harry Lohnes

GEORGIA STRAIGHT JUNE 25APRIL – JULY14 2 /–2020 2 14 THETHE GEORGIA STR AIGHT 21 / 2022

b I JUST MOVED TO New York and moved in with a friend from college. He’s gay; I’m a straight woman. We’re both in our 20s. The apartment is small, and I often overhear him having sex. (I assume he’s overhearing me having sex too.) And again and again, I’ve heard guys call my roommate a “faggot” during sex: “You like that cock, faggot?”

Do gay men just say these sorts of things to each other? I asked him about it and he shrugged and said, “I love it,” and immediately changed the subject. I’ll take him at his word: he loves it. But why would he love it? I don’t get it.

- Concerned Over Name-Calling Eroding Roommate’s Necessary Esteem Daily

to get, CONCERNED, but I’ll try to explain…

When one gay man pulls his cock out of the mouth of his boyfriend or his husband or his Grindr hookup and says, “You’re such a faggot,” it’s not an insult. Like a vaccine with a tiny (and inactive) trace of a deadly virus in it, the word faggot—in the context of two out gay men having consensual sex—obviously

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has traces of a deeply harmful insult embedded in it. But instead of being terrorized or diminished by the insult, those two gay men are in a sense boosting their immunity to it. Because the word “faggot” not only can’t hurt us when we’re alone together, but it is also ours to use, ours to play with, and ours to enjoy.

At that moment, CONCERNED, the word “faggot” is not an insult. It’s an affirmation.

That said, not all gay men enjoy degrading dirty talk, and the fact that some gay men get off on tossing the word “faggot” around during sex does not give straight people licence to use it. But if you’re hearing the f-word every time your roommate has a guy over, CONCERNED, you can rest assured: it’s not happening by accident. The men calling your roommate a faggot when they’re fucking his face aren’t suddenly blurting that word out. They’re saying it at your roommate’s request. g

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