24 minute read
REAL ESTATE
REAL ESTATE / BOOKS Economist forecasts low rates to continue
by Carlito Pablo
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The chief economist of the trade association of B.C. and Ontario credit unions expects interest rates to remain low for some more time.
Bryan Yu with Central 1 Credit Union anticipates that the Bank of Canada will raise its interest-setting rate only toward the end of 2022.
Yu doesn’t see the bank “pulling the trigger too quickly”.
“Our view is that the bank is going to be more patient,” Yu told the Straight in a phone interview.
The low cost of borrowing has been one of the main drivers of the housing market in Canada—and B.C., in particular. The bank slashed its overnight rate three times in March 2020 to its lowest level of 0.25 percent.
The move was intended to contain a feared economic fallout in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic. Variable mortgage rates are influenced by the bank’s overnight rate.
Up until March 2021, the bank has maintained that it will hold the rate until 2023.
However, the institution indicated in April that a hike may be forthcoming earlier, in 2022, after certain economic targets are met in the second half of that year.
In July 2021, Central 1 released its interest-rate forecast, which predicted that the current rate of 0.25 percent will go up to 0.5 percent in the fourth quarter of 2022 and to 0.75 in the first quarter of 2023.
Yu said that the Bank of Canada will likely want to first see a stable economic
Central 1 Credit Union’s Bryan Yu doesn’t think that the Bank of Canada will “pull the trigger”. recovery before hiking rates.
Meanwhile, yields on the five-year Government of Canada bonds are also expected to increase. This means an uptick in five-year fixed mortgages that constitute the most popular mortgage product in the country.
“We will see, I think, some modest movements in the five-year rates over the course of 2022,” Yu said.
Overall, the economist doesn’t expect rate increases that would shock the housing market.
“It’s still going to be a low-rate environment,” Yu said.
In a May 5, 2021, outlook report for the B.C. housing market, Yu wrote that higher mortgage rates would “quickly cool the market”.
However, a “sharp hike in rates is unlikely given ongoing economic uncertainties, excess economic slack and anchoring
– economist Bryan Yu
of the Bank of Canada’s policy rate at current levels for the coming year”.
In the interview, Yu noted that even a higher-than-anticipated increase in interest rates can be handled by borrowers. “They have been stress-tested at a relatively higher rate than their actual contracted rate,” he said.
Yu was referring to tighter mortgage rules introduced by the federal Office of the Superintendent of Financial Institutions and the Department of Finance.
Starting June 1, 2021, insured as well as uninsured mortgage applications should qualify at either the benchmark rate of 5.25 percent or the rate offered by the lender plus two percent—whichever is higher.
The previous qualifying rate was 4.79 percent. The new rules are meant to ensure that borrowers can afford higher payments should financial circumstances change.
With the more stringent rules in place, Yu said, borrowers have a “lot of wiggle room” should interest rates increase more than expected. g
White drenches the Sunshine Coast with wisdom and humour
by Charlie Smith
BOOKS
HERE ON THE COAST
By Howard White. Harbour Publishing, 205pp, softcover
d EVERY ONCE IN a while, I come across a book that makes me feel like a fraud. Here on the Coast: Reflections From the Rainbelt is one of those books.
That’s because the author, Harbour Publishing founder Howard White, is so damn clever and knowledgeable that he leaves the rest of us wondering why we even bother pecking on a keyboard for a living. In this collection of 50 stories from the Sunshine Coast, the Stephen Leacock Memorial Medal for Humour winner pokes fun at everything from the name of the region—it’s actually pretty rainy—to the desire of realestate hustlers to name streets in ways that attract more buyers. There are also deeply informed and amusing essays on the folly of a fixed link to the Sunshine Coast and incomprehensible spelling conventions applied by scholars to Indigenous place names.
Elsewhere in the book, he delves into the real-estate value locked up in boats that people rarely use. Then there’s a funny tale about a guy who detests travelling that comes with a surprising conclusion.
Along the way, White dishes up delicious servings of Sunshine Coast history. This is B.C. writing at its finest—so conversational, so profound, and so utterly unpretentious. No wonder they gave this guy the Order of Canada. g
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BOOKS Canada’s Chinese Gene was with B.C. from the beginning
by Charlie Smith
Guo Ding and Kenny Zhang wrote a book about B.C. history because not enough residents realize that without Chinese railway workers, the province could have become part of the United States.
Chinese pioneers are one of the founding peoples of British Columbia, according to a new book by high-profile immigrants said. “That kind of concept seems to last forever. They never see the Chinese community as part of this country or this province. That’s wrong.” from China. Broadcaster Guo Ding and policy researcher and businessman Kenny Zhang, who were each raised in Shanghai, made this assertion in Canada’s Chinese Gene: A Sense of Belonging, Ownership and Contribution, which was recently translated into English following its original publication in Chinese in 2017.
They insist that if it were not for Chinese immigrants, the Canadian Pacific Railway linking B.C. to the rest of the country never would have been completed. The terms of union for B.C. to join Confederation included a transcontinental railway—something that prime minister John A. Macdonald promised would be finished without additional taxes.
“This policy essentially doomed the funding for the railway construction from the very beginning,” Ding and Zhang write. “Thus, Chinese workers were recruited to take up the heavy burden that others, especially white workers, would never have taken, to build the most dangerous section of the railway while accepting the lowest of wages.”
According to their research, 15,000 construction workers, including 9,000 Chinese, built the most perilous section, from Fort Moody to Eagle Pass, southwest of Revelstoke. Upwards of 600 Chinese workers died.
In a joint interview with the Straight, both Ding and Zhang said that most people of Chinese ancestry in B.C. don’t think of themselves as one of the founding peoples of the province. Ding said that many view Chinese Canadians with suspicion because of a fundamental misunderstanding: that they are simply people who arrived seeking a better life rather than being essential pioneers in the creation of B.C.
“That’s why we always see them as foreigners with Canadian passports,” Ding That’s one reason why Ding is so adamantly in favour of the creation of a new Chinese Canadian Museum in Vancouver. Zhang said that if there were no Chinese immigrants in the early days, the province could have easily come under American control. That’s because the railway would not have been completed, leaving people feeling that they were tricked into joining Canada. “The federation would be totally different,” Zhang said. “B.C. could be part of other countries.” According to Ding, none of the Chinese workers who sacrificed so much were invited when the ceremonial last spike was driven into the track by company director Donald Smith at Craigellachie, near Eagle Pass, on November 7, 1885. “They were isolated,” Ding said. “They could not be accepted by the mainstream.” Ding’s 2018 book, The Voice of a Chinese Canadian, included a preface by Attorney General David Eby. In it, the attorney general praised Ding for his efforts to educate politicians and the public about the history and culture of minority groups in B.C. The preface acknowledged that Ding had publicly criticized Eby in connection with a 2015 housing study by Andy Yan, which relied on land-title information supplied by Eby. However, after the attorney general told Ding that he was unhappy that this study was cited to advocate discrimination against Chinese Canadians, Ding invited him on his Omni TV show to denounce racism. “I agreed to do so,” Eby wrote. “His offer, and my acceptance of it, was the beginning of our friendship.” According to the preface, Ding and Eby now “regularly meet for meals with our families, sharing food, jokes, and stories about our lives”. g
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SPORTS Comparing Kraken players to Bruckheimer movies
by Nathan Caddell
The NHL isn’t exactly known for exciting, interesting owners. Other sports have celebrities like Will Ferrell and Will Smith or, at the very least, fascinating personalities at the top of the organization like Steve Ballmer and (until his death) George Steinbrenner. In hockey, there’s Mario Lemieux and, uh, the Molson family?
That’s why it was such a breath of fresh air to see the Seattle Kraken ride into NHL expansion with Hollywood producer Jerry Bruckheimer as one of the team’s owners.
In a quest to get to know both the owner of the franchise and the players the team will go into its inaugural season with, we’re going to match Bruckheimer movies to Seattle players. Bad dad jokes will be cracked, comparisons will be forced. And, hopefully, you’ll come away with a renewed appreciation for both Crimson Tide and Vince Dunn.
FORWARDS
Film producer Jerry Bruckheimer co-owns the Seattle Kraken, which drew comparisons between some of his Hollywood hits and Kraken players like Yanni Gourde. Photo by Tampa Bay Lightning.
Player: Yanni Gourde Movie: Days of Thunder
We start off with a bit of an obvious one. Gourde was one of the Kraken’s more highprofile picks off reigning Stanley Cup champion Tampa Bay Lightning. One hopes, of course, that Gourde’s time with Seattle won’t end in the same way as movie costars Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman’s relationship—but hey, it grabbed headlines.
Player: Jared McCann Movie: Pearl Harbor
What is Pearl Harbor if not a story about revenge? And one gets the sense that McCann still harbours (yep, intended) something of a grudge against the Vancouver Canucks for how that relationship ended.
Picked by many analysts to have something of a breakout year with the Kraken, McCann seems poised to make Canucks fans regret the Erik Gudbranson trade more than they already do—if that’s possible. Player: Joonas Donskoi Movie: Beverly Hills Cop
Eddie Murphy as a fish-out-of-water Detroit cop in L.A.; Joonas Donskoi going from the powerhouse Colorado Avalanche to an expansion team, likely shifting from the second line in Colorado to one of the offensive centrepieces in Seattle. Donskoi—a fourth-round pick in the 2010 draft who has never cracked 37 points in the NHL—has never been burdened with intense expectations, but a good amount will be expected of him in Seattle.
Player: Brandon Tanev Movie: Crimson Tide
There is no player on this list who is a better example of the eye test–versus-analytics war that plagues much of hockey discourse these days. The latter camp would have much rather preferred the Kraken take a different player off Pittsburgh’s roster (Zach AstonReese, perhaps). But old-school hockey men love the grit and hustle of Tanev’s game.
And, really, Crimson Tide serves pretty well as a metaphor for that same argument, with the old-school, acts-on-his-instincts captain (Gene Hackman) butting heads with the more measured young officer (Denzel Washington).
Player: Jordan Eberle Movie: Armageddon
Eberle was one of the Kraken’s flashier picks—expensive, fun, not exactly beloved by analytics experts. Just swap out analytics experts for critics and you’ve got the 1998 Bruce Willis blockbuster.
Player: Jaden Schwartz Movie: Pirates of the Caribbean
If there is an X factor, a wild card, a Jack Sparrow type on this roster, it is Schwartz. Long a very responsible defensive player, Schwartz has been a frustrating player to try and predict because of his incredibly streaky point production.
After scoring 57 points in 71 games in 2019-20, Schwartz tallied only 21 points in 40 games last year. If the Kraken are getting early 2000s Johnny Depp here, they’re happy. If Schwartz seems as tired as Johnny Depp in any of the sequels, they just paid a lot of money for too much eyeliner and mediocrity.
DEFENCEMEN
Player: Mark Giordano Movie: Top Gun: Maverick
It’s hard to resist the “old vet coming back for one more ride” narrative when it comes to Giordano. The former captain of the Flames is likely to wear the C with the Kraken as well. Who will be his Goose? Player: Adam Larsson Movie: Top Gun
That Goose could very likely be Larsson, as much as Alberta hockey fans will be dismayed to see the former Oiler combine with the ex-Flame. But the duo look like a solid bet to start the season as the Kraken’s number-one defensive pair. And it’ll be a good one, at that.
Player: Cale and Haydn Fleury Movie: Bad Boys
The Kraken obviously would like to establish a cohesive locker room, and what better way to do that than draft a pair of brothers? It also doesn’t hurt that Cale and Haydn were both highly touted prospects in their day. They haven’t totally realized that potential yet, but why not take a swing?
And while Will Smith and Martin Lawrence weren’t blood related in Bad Boys and its sequels, they were brothers in every other sense of the word. Let’s hope that the Fleurys display the same chemistry that Smith and Lawrence oozed on-screen.
Player: Vince Dunn Movie: Coyote Ugly
The 2000 Piper Perabo–starring film is about a young woman coming out of her shell when she gets a job at a New York bar. Smart money is on Dunn to finally establish himself as an effective offensive defenceman on a nightly basis with the Kraken. He never got a great shot in St. Louis, but Dunn is going to be a sleeper in many a fantasy hockey pool this coming season.
GOALTENDERS
Player: Chris Driedger Movie: Gone in 60 Seconds
He was so close. After being chosen by the Kraken in the expansion draft and then negotiating a deal with the club for three years at a $3.5-million cap hit, Driedger must have thought he was finally getting his shot at a starting role in the NHL. He even made the trip down to Seattle with some other key players to meet the city and the fans.
Then it was gone: a week later, the Kraken signed goaltender Philipp Grubauer to a six-year monolith contract.
Player: Philipp Grubauer Movie: The Rock
This one is less about the actual content of the Sean Connery and Nicolas Cage vehicle The Rock than an assertion about what Grubauer, the Kraken’s number-one goaltender, will have to be for the team to have success. Just like Marc-Andre Fleury in the Vegas Golden Knights’ first season, Grubauer will have to be rock solid with Seattle. g
LEGAL AFFAIRS Legal issues that the public often doesn’t consider
by Charlie Smith
This week, we’re highlighting legal issues in three areas of law that affect vast numbers of people: employment, consumer matters, and wills and estates.
EMPLOYMENT LAW Many business owners think that there are two types of workers: employees and independent contractors. In fact, there’s a third category known as “dependent contractors”. This was addressed in a 2009 Ontario Court of Appeal ruling involving a woman named Elizabeth McKee and a company called Reid’s Heritage Homes, which lost the case. The judge declared that dependent contractors are owed reasonable notice if they’re terminated.
So what is a dependent contractor? In a 2018 B.C. Supreme Court ruling, one of the tests involved the level of worker control. Other tests concerned who owns the equipment and tools, the contractor’s opportunity for profit and loss, and the degree of the contractor’s integration with the business. A key consideration is whether the contractor is economically dependent on the business.
Dependent contractors cover their own Canada Pension Plan contributions, as well as remittances for income tax and employment insurance. That’s why they are sometimes seen as independent contractors by companies, which then choose to offer no severance when they hire someone else to do the work.
Last year, the Ontario Labour Relations Board ruled that couriers who were doing deliveries for Foodora were dependent contractors under provincial labour legislation, notwithstanding the employer’s objections.
“At common law, dependent contractors are like employees in that they are entitled to reasonable notice of the termination of the working relationship, in recognition of their economic dependence on a single employer,” labour lawyers Andrew Shaw and Shyama Talukdar wrote on the Baker McKenzie website last year.
CONSUMER LAW On July 20, Consumer Protection B.C. suspended the licences of two home inspectors for failing to obtain and maintain $1 million in errors-and-omission insurance and $1 million in general-liability insurance. It’s one of many rulings issued by the provincial regulator, which has a mandate to respond to consumer inquiries and investigate violations of consumer-protection laws.
The regulatory framework can be confusing to the public because federal and provincial governments both oversee consumer protection.
“In general, federal laws focus on ensuring consumers a safe, fair and competitive marketplace,” the law firm Stikeman Elliott points out in a seven-page overview. “In addition to addressing the anti-competitive effects of mergers and other business practices, federal laws govern consumer product safety, packaging and labelling, and deceptive marketing practices.”
In addition, the federal government regulates consumer transactions in areas of federal jurisdiction, such as banking, airlines, and telecommunications.
Provincial laws, on the other hand, set the ground rules for licensing various occupations and stipulate what constitutes unfair business practices in provincially regulated areas.
“All provinces have legislation dealing with gift cards (generally prohibiting expiry dates, although exceptions apply for certain types of cards), and most deal with unsolicited goods or negative option billing (consumers typically are not obliged to pay for unsolicited goods or services),” Stikeman Elliott states.
WILLS AND ESTATES B.C. introduced the Wills, Estates, and Succession Act and new probate rules in 2014 to provide greater certainty to those who put their final wishes in writing. The act also clarifies the process around inheritances if a person dies without a will.
Under the law, it’s possible for a person 16 years of age or older to write a valid will without legal help. However, this will must be in writing and signed by the maker of the will with two or more witnesses present at the same time. Plus, these witnesses have to provide their own signatures. g
Lady Justice is blindfolded to represent that everyone is equal before the law. Kynny/Getty.
FOOD / WINE Afghan dining reflects country’s Silk Road history
by Charlie Smith
For most Afghans living in Vancouver, it has been heartbreaking to see what has happened to their country this month. As the Straight went to the printer, seven provincial capitals had fallen to the Taliban, the latest being Haibak, which is in the north.
For non-Afghans in Vancouver, the closest many of us have come to that country is a visit to the Afghan Horsemen Restaurant (202–1833 Anderson Street), which has been dishing up superlative cuisine since 1974.
The interior of the second-storey dining room is bedecked with art and artifacts of a happier time in Afghanistan, when people looked forward to the future. And the succulent shish kebabs, lamb shoulder chop, and specialty platters have attracted many loyal fans, some of whom enjoy eating Afghan-style, on the floor, in the eastern room. It’s rather incredible that this first Afghan restaurant in Canada has remained open for almost five decades.
Because Afghanistan has been on my mind due to news coverage, I tried a newer Afghan establishment for the first time, even though it’s been around for about nine years. Afghan Chopan Bakery and Diner (1600–8260 Westminster Highway, Richmond) displays Afghan artifacts and carpets as well as currency from the country, which caught my eye. Although not as elaborate as what’s exhibited at the Afghan Horsemen, it was sufficiently interesting to get me to wander away from my table for a closer look.
But any restaurant lives or dies on the quality of the food. In this regard, Afghan Chopan passed the test with ease. The Tekka Kebab—three skewers of top beef tenderloin marinated in spices—was truly extraordinary. It came with a light side salad. The naan overcame any remaining hunger pangs.
Many don’t realize that naan means “bread” in Farsi. At Afghan Chopan, it’s like a cross between pita bread and the more filling Indian naan.
My dining companion ordered Qabeli Pallow, a hearty meal of beef shank along with steamed basmati rice with raisins and carrots. It also came with a side salad. Qabeli Pallow, a mixed rice dish, is considered Afghanistan’s national dinner and it tastes like a lighter version of an Indian biryani.
Afghanistan was at the heart of the Silk Road trading route, and its cuisine reflects the influences of those who have passed through that land, including Greeks, Persians, Indians, and even Chinese. Yet Afghan food still has a flavour that’s all its own. g
At the Afghan Chopan Bakery and Diner in Richmond, it’s possible to order the national dish of the Central Asian country, Qabeli Pallow (centre), as well as Tekka Kebab (right) with a side salad.
Four easygoing wines for your backyard barbecue
by Mike Usinger
Messy charcoal or clean-burning gas? If you’re a regular Straight reader, you know where we fall on the battlefield. Let those who tend to obsess over, well, everything, worry about carcinogens, Metro Vancouver air quality, and the remote-but-stillreal possibility that an errant spark might set the neighbours’ garage, trampoline, or Tesla on fire. Meanwhile we’re dutifully grilling with lump charcoal and Texas mesquite chunks, and no one’s swaying us to Hank Hill’s side of the fence.
The beauty of barbecue season is that it’s all about keeping things laid-back and casual, which is to say no one’s expecting you to break out a case of Lail 2018 Blueprint Cabernet Sauvignon or Domaine Monier Perreol Saint-Joseph Blanc. The following four wines are great for backyard hangs, with the price tags ensuring you can spring for a beautifully marbled rib-eye instead of a skirt steak for which you need a freshly sharpened straight razor.
TOM GORE VINEYARDS CHARDONNAY Some people stand around watching others get their hands dirty, and others would rather be in the fields alongside the hired help. The label for this full-bodied and creamy Chardonnay leaves no doubt where second-generation California winemaker Tom Gore stands. Imprinted on the front is the statement “Farming is my life’s work and greatest joy.” There’s an old saying that goes something like “Pick a job you love and you’ll never work a day in your life.” If only more folks paid attention to those words.
Made with grapes sourced from California’s central and north coasts, Tom Gore Vineyards Chardonnay tastes of mildly spiced apple and vanilla-laced pear with a trace of ripe Meyer lemons. Break out the cedar planks and throw on a maple-miso sockeye and no one—with the possible exception of the vegans—will go home disappointed.
BODACIOUS SMOOTH RED One of the great things about summer is the endless array of fresh-from-the-orchard fruit, with Okanagan cherries, blackberries, strawberries, and blueberries bursting with a sweet complexity that’s impossible to find the other nine months of the year. Yes, you can buy out-of-season fruit in November, but the long-haul semi-trailer trip from Mexico isn’t doing anyone any favours. Bodacious Smooth Red tastes like summer. Expect an everything-but-the-vineyard-sink approach to things, which is to say you get a blend Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon, Syrah, and, quite possibly, whatever else is kicking around. Can you say fruit-bomb, with blackcurrant, blackberries, and lambert cherries all front-and-centre?
Sweet and budget-friendly are also buzzwords here, with Bodacious the kind of unfussy and accessible red made for folks who require nothing but a good burger—complete with processed cheese and a white-trash bun—to make them happy when the Char-Griller is ready for business.
INNISKILLIN NIAGARA ESTATE RIESLING Steaks, ribs, hamburgers, and the crack-cocaine-of-meat known as rack of lamb get much of the attention during the barbecuing season. If you’ve stood downwind when they hit the grill, you know why. But don’t forget the more delicate beauty of apple-wood-smoked pork tenderloin, Cajun-buttered shrimp skewer, or grilled Atlantic lobster tails.
Crisp, and sweet but not overpoweringly so, Inniskillin Niagara Estate Riesling will get you dreaming of ripe passion fruit, fresh lime zest, and spring apple blossoms. Now pass the grilled lobster, and don’t skimp on the blackened lemon-butter.
SUMAC RIDGE PRIVATE RESERVE MERLOT Here’s something that you probably didn’t know: you can use your barbecue to make everything from mains and sides to soups (grilled gazpacho) and salads (roasted eggplant and grilled tomatoes for the win!). Got a plum tree in your backyard that the raccoons and rats won’t stop raiding? Get picking, light the charcoal, and whip up Jamie Purviance’s caramelized plum upsidedown cake.
Speaking of ripe and luscious plums, that’s the first thing that hits you in Sumac Ridge’s big-flavoured but budget-friendly Sumac Ridge Merlot. Wisps of cedar and soft spice make this an unpretentious and reliable go-to for options like Vietnamese cherrywood-smoke ribs or ever-underrated Texas tri-tip. But who needs to waste time fussing over a three-course meal in the summer? Maybe just pour a third glass of the pleasantly jammy Sumac Ridge Private Reserve Merlot and skip right to the upsidedown cake—because lord knows those plums aren’t going to eat themselves. g
Summer is time for wines that aren’t going to break the bank.
