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Capital SPRING 2015
HOW VICTORIA WORKS
Capital SPRING 2015
School of Business
Gustavson
See things differently.
APP DESIGNER FLYING HIGH SPECIAL REPORT: THE ISLAND’S POT-PRENEURS HOW VICTORIA GIVES
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Volkswagen Victoria A Division of the German Auto Import Network 3329 Douglas Street | 250-475-2415 | vwvictoria.com European model shown for illustration purposes only. Vehicles may not be exactly as shown. *Starting from price based on the 2015 Golf Sportwagon Trendline 1.8 TSI 170HP, 4 cylinder 5-speed manual transmission with a starting from price of $23,890, which includes MSRP ($22,495) and freight/PDI ($1,395). PPSA fee (up to $45.48, if applicable), DOC ($395), environmental levies ($100) any dealer or other charges, license, insurance, registration, options and applicable taxes are extra. Visit your Volkswagen dealer for details. Visit vw.ca or Volkswagen Victoria to view current offers. “Volkswagen”, the Volkswagen logo and “Golf”, are registered trademarks of Volkswagen AG. ©2015 Volkswagen Canada. DL 49914428 #31186
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CONTENTS Dave Obee 6 Names and Faces 8 Norah McRae 24 Innovators 34 Kevin Greenard 73 Jack Knox 82
Cover photo: Lisa Bettany, high-flying app developer PHOTO: DARREN STONE
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Local medicinal marijuana growers hope to cash in on the next big gold — make that green — rush as Health Canada sorts hundreds of applicants across the country.
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COVER: After breaking her back in a figure-skating mishap, Lisa Bettany re-invented her life.
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Peetz, nearly a century old and known around the fishing world for its beautiful, hand-crafted reels, has new ownership casting a line to the future.
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Seed need: Retired teacher Mary Alice Johnson has turned a rundown little farm in Sooke into the frontline of the local food movement by producing seeds so others can grow.
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David Foster, who has spun music to gold for decades, is honoured for his business acumen.
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A Saanich Peninsula apple farm has gained international attention for its cider and is on track to hit 100,000 litres as demand grows in Chicago, Portland, Seattle, San Francisco.
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Commercial fisherman Bob Fraumeni reflects on his life on the water, balancing the ocean hunt with a bigger environmental picture — and beating the personal odds.
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Mayor Stew Young has guided Langford for more than two decades — and with all the gains come some of the pains of the region’s fastest-growing municipality.
Capital
Spirit of the future: Local First Nations feeling energized by growing list of economic success stories.
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Rai Goyal is only 16, but is financially wise beyond his years. The math whiz manages his parent’s portfolio and encourages kids on the benefits of saving now.
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Vecima Networks, Greater Victoria’s most valuable public company, changes course with new leadership and a fresh business plan.
SPRING 2015
DAVE OBEE | EDITOR-IN-CHIEF DARRON KLOSTER | EDITOR ROGER WHITE | DESIGN EDITOR DAVID WHITMAN | ADVERTISING DIRECTOR JASON SCRIVEN | SALES MANAGER WENDY KALO | ADVERTISING OPERATIONS MANAGER
Capital is published by the Times Colonist, a division of TC Publication Limited Partnership, at 2621 Douglas St., Victoria, British Columbia V8T 4M2. Canadian Publications Registration No. 0530646. GST No. 84505 1507 RT0001
Please send comments about Capital to: Editor-in-Chief Dave Obee, dobee@timescolonist.com To advertise in the next edition, phone 250-995-4464, or email Sales Manager Jason Scriven at jscriven@timescolonist.com
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DAVE OBEE • Editor-in-chief, Times Colonist
Amid change, entrepreneurs thrive autious in some ways, optimistic in others – that is how we should see Greater Victoria’s economy in early 2015. There is plenty of reason to be cautious in the most visible component of the economy, retail stores. The departure of Target and several other retailers in recent months, combined with many changes in the grocery sector, have created a state of flux. To add to the fun, new developments will soon give us even more choices for shopping. All of these changes will have a ripple effect through the local economy, but it is impossible to predict how things will shake out. We can be sure, however, that the local retail scene will be different a year from now, and even more different five years from now. That’s not breaking news, of course. Retail is always changing, and the continuous transformation helps keep stores vibrant, and able to respond to new customer preferences, new technologies and more. Along with the highly visibly retail field are many other strong economic drivers, and there are so many positive signs it would be hard to be a naysayer at this time. Tourism is showing strong activity, real estate numbers are returning to pre-crash levels and jobs seem plentiful. Major construction projects can be found
C
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throughout the region, with some of the most notable ones expected to come out of the ground soon just south of the legislature, another across Douglas Street from City Hall, and a huge residential project beside Blanshard Street across from Save-on-Foods Memorial Centre. New condo developments downtown have brought thousands of new residents to Victoria’s core, turning it into a 24-hour place to live and work. Outside the city, projects such as the development of the old Belmont Secondary School site in Langford will create more jobs and opportunities. In this, the third issue of our Capital business magazine, we give you a broad look on what is happening in the local economy, with some hidden gems as well as some high-profile people you really should get to know better. You will read about Lisa Bettany, a high-tech entrepreneur who overcame a serious injury to become a leader in the app world. You will also read about David Foster, who is well-known on the world stage through his music, and is the University of Victoria’s Distinguished Entrepreneur of the Year Award recipient. Today’s most inspiring business people are not always in the public eye the way that Foster is, but don’t be fooled — they are making a tremendous difference to the local economy, and the quality of life in Greater Victoria. They help to make this a better place to live, and contribute to the sense of optimism that is found in Capital. Enjoy.
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NAMES AND FACES MAKING THEIR MOVES
Stefano and Melissa Mosi: balancing act.
BRUCE STOTESBURY, TIMES COLONIST
Forget gelato, let’s bake Seven years of slinging gelato in paradise was enough for Stefano and Melissa Mosi, who have returned to Victoria from the Hawaiian islands to once again get down to the business of artisanal baking. The Mosis founded the La Collina bakery chain and wholesale operation in Victoria in 1997 and sold it to business partner Alex Campbell Jr. in 2006. They moved to Maui to establish a chain of gelato stores, but are back baking with the freshly opened Mosi Bakery Cafe & Gelateria. The café at the junction of West Saanich Road and Sparton Road is designed to help create some balance in the Mosi household. “I don’t think we’ve ever had any balance and that’s what this one is about,” said Melissa, noting La Collina ate up all their time as it expanded. “And with [Ono Gelato] it was the opposite experience. We had it set up and built to the point we had 8
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nothing to do,” said Stefano. Now with three-year-old daughter, Sofia, they are hoping the small bakery, café and gelato bar can be a strong business and give them more time with the family. The 30-seat bakery café is near Prospect Lake and they expect to build a loyal clientele and become a destination. “With La Collina [on Cedar Hill Road] we became a destination and we did very well with more than 30 employees and doing over $1 million a year in sales,” said Melissa. “We figure we can make this a destination, too.” Stefano said they have learned from the experience and while they are already getting some inquiries about baking for other restaurants they will grow cautiously. After seven years of making and selling gelato, Stefano admits it has been tough enough just trying to get back into a baker’s schedule of early mornings.
Julie Shepard is the new branch manager at BMO Bank of Montreal in James Bay. She joined BMO in 2007, working in the Tsahaheh Branch near Port Alberni, one of BMO Aboriginal Banking’s 12 on-reserve branches. Shepard has taken on numerous leadership opportunities at BMO and in the community. As the official bank of the Canadian military, she has been leading the region’s BMO Department of National Defence Day, spearheaded employee participation in the BMO 5K run in the Victoria Goddess Run and is part of BMO’s B.C. and Yukon Divisional Employee Advisory Committee.
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Amy Culliford has turned a theatre degree from the University of Victoria into a thriving little business — with a healthy helping of goodwill. The 23-year-old actor has launched Enchanted Fables offering princess parties for children. With manager-performer and fellow UVic graduate Laura-Jane Tresidder, Culliford is also working with the Help Fill A Dream Foundation to raise funds for sick children on the Island. Culliford worked as a character performer for Walt Disney World in Florida and has extensive training in acting. “With my theatre and Disney training, I decided to start my own company to bring these characters and their magic to Victoria,” she says. “Not only do we offer party packages, but a major reason I wanted to start this company was to volunteer my time as a princess to children who might not get a chance to meet them otherwise.” Enchanted Fables is doing a spring fair fundraiser in May for Millstream Elementary, and the actors appeared at Esquimalt Parks and Recreation’s Family Day Festivities in February.
Fairy-tale career for UVic grad Evan Brown has joined Carmanah Technologies as chief financial officer and corporate secretary. A Victoria native, Brown was with Goldman Sachs in Grand Cayman from 2005 to 2011, York Capital in New York City and State Street, where he managed a group of financial professionals providing hedge fund accounting and administrative services. Carmanah’s current CFO, Stuart Williams, will remain with the company as controller.
Amy Culliford as the Little Mermaid.
• 70,000 jobs in 1993 • 730,000 jobs in 2013 • 1.8 million — that’s how many
GREEN H T W O R G
Canadian workers spent at least some portion of their worktime on activities related to environmental protection, resource management or sustainability in 2013. • 74.5 per cent of employers say they expect to hire new environmental employees in the next two years, according to Eco Canada’s recent survey.
SOURCE: ECO CANADA
The University of Victoria’s board of governors has appointed Valerie Kuehne vice-president academic and provost, effective July 1 for a five-year term. She has been acting in that capacity since July 2014. Kuehne served as vice-president external relations from 2005 to 2012. An accomplished teacher and researcher, Kuehne as a leader has a record at UVic of cultivating collaboration, promoting principled decision-making and facilitating collective success. She came to UVic in 1990 as a faculty member in the School of Child and Youth Care where she remains a full professor and, while vicepresident external relations, continued to publish and present her research in peerreviewed journals and at academic conferences.
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Jason Finlayson is the new president of the Vancouver Island Real Estate Board, succeeding Blair Herber. Kaye Broens with Re/Max of Nanaimo and Sandy Rantz of Coast Realty Group in Port Alberni joined the board as new members. The rest of board of directors includes returning members Cholene Begin, Frank Fairley, Margo Hoffman, Don McClintock, Janice Stromar, and Neil Woodrow. VIREB represents 940 realtor members in 90 offices on Vancouver Island.
Sue and Bob Emslie: 20 years in business. ADRIAN LAM, TIMES COLONIST
What’s in store for this pair? Hardware and hard work Two decades have passed and Sue and Bob Emslie still rise before 6 a.m. to start work. They founded Victoria Speciality Hardware and Plumbing, first opening on Oak Bay Avenue and then moving in late 2013 to a larger space at 477 Boleskine Rd. These two define hard work. They are on the computer first thing in the morning at home, spend their days together at the store, and do more work at home in
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the evenings. The Emslies took a leap of faith to move to Victoria from Vancouver to launch their business in 1995. “We survived on a Visa card, did not go out for dinner for three years, and still live in the same house,” Sue says. They sell a wide variety of hardware locally and across Canada and into the United States. Over the years, high-tech products, security features, undermount kitchen sinks have all shown growth.
Three longtime Victoria realtors have made the move to Engel & Völkers, an international brokerage focused on luxury residential sales and property management, commercial real estate and yacht brokerage. Scott Piercy, James LeBlanc and Shelby Donald have opened a new office in downtown Victoria. Piercy, LeBlanc and Donald have each had long real estate careers in Victoria. Donald is a partner and the managing broker at Engel & Völkers’ Victoria office. She was most recently owner and managing broker of Sovi Properties, and in the past held managing broker roles at Victoria’s Sotheby’s International Realty office, and Equitex Realty. Piercy has worked around the world, including in Australia and Costa Rica. He developed his reputation in Victoria working for Sotheby’s. LeBlanc has a 20-year career as a licensed realtor. In 2012, Piercy and LeBlanc cofounded the Canadian branch of The Luxury Network, a consortium of luxury brands that cross promote one another.
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Uptown: 814,064 sq. ft.
It’s up, up, up for Uptown Centre: Here’s what it will look like with Whole Foods addition. • Uptown Centre, managed by Morgard Investments Ltd., is the fifth largest shopping mall in the province at 814,064 square feet, and is expected to grow over the next year with the start of a third and final phase that will include anchor Whole Foods and residential towers. • In perspective, Uptown’s retail area is still less than half the size of B.C.’s largest shopping centre — Metropolis at Metrotown in Burnaby, which weighs in with 1,715,538 square feet. Park Royal in West
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Vancouver (1.4 million), Guildford Town Centre in Surrey (1.2 million) and Coquitlam Centre (932,459) round out of the top five. • Nanaimo’s Woodgrove Centre is ranked No. 7 in size at 750,973 square feet. Another Nanaimo property, North Town Centre, is listed No. 13 in size with 600,981 square feet. At No. 14 is Hillside Centre with 588,896 square feet. Three other Vancouver Island malls round out the top 20 list — Mayfair at 18th has 454,213 square feet of leasable area; Discovery Harbour Centre is 19th at 442,760 and Westshore Town Centre in Langford has 412,006.
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SPECIAL REPORT
THE GREEN RUSH There could be gold in those bunkers of bud if Health Canada gives its approval to several local growers of medical marijuana
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Denise and Shawn Galbraith at their secure growing and distribution facility off the Pat Bay Highway. Their company, Evergreen Medicinal Supply, is awaiting Health Canada approval. Despite a big investment, the payoff could be huge. BRUCE STOTESBURY, TIMES COLONIST
B Y K AT I E D e R O S A
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ast a barbed-wire fence and motion sensors, and under the gaze of 31 cameras, Shawn Galbraith opens the door to a two-storey, windowless concrete structure amid the lush Central Saanich farmland. It’s the region’s worst-kept secret: a medical marijuana facility on Lochside Drive, next to the family-owned Michell’s Farm. The head of the operation, Galbraith, has been reluctant to offer media tours because his company, Evergreen Medicinal Supply Inc., is in the final stage of Health Canada’s approval process, a complicated 18-month journey that he doesn’t want to jeopardize. Other prospective medical-marijuana operations — CEN Biotech is the most high-profile case — have had their applications rejected for misleading investors to believe they were already licensed or on the verge of being licensed by Health Canada. So Galbraith, a 53-year-old former contractor, is being cautious.
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In fact, cautious optimism has been his attitude the whole way. He acknowledges the risk of investing $1.5 million before getting the green light from Health Canada, but is well aware of the rewards that could come with getting in on the ground floor of this budding industry. On a sunny day in March, Galbraith and his wife Denise, a registered herbal therapist and the company’s quality-assurance officer, walk through the cloning room, drying room, shipping and receiving areas — all of which require security cards for access. They finally reach the pièce de résistance, a walk-in bank-style vault, where the finished product will be stored behind six-inch-thick steel doors. It’s set far enough back from the outer wall to ensure that even if someone manages to drive a car through the concrete walls, they still wouldn’t pierce the vault. The building even has a panic button and a muster room. “We found the land and sited the building with consideration to the criteria most important to Health Canada, which seemed to be security, security security,” Galbraith said. The couple partnered with a local real estate agent to buy the land and have hired a retired Victoria-based RCMP officer with experience in drug enforcement to be one of the company’s directors. Despite its meticulously planned layout and security features, this is just the prototype building. Galbraith has plans to talk to Central Saanich council about expanding the 5,500-square-foot facility. “You can’t get serious in this business unless you’re producing in the tens of thousands of kilograms,” Galbraith said. “You just need to have the scale to offer the different types of strains that patients want and to drive the cost down.”
POT POTENTIAL EVERYWHERE: THE POTPRENEURS The types of prospective medical marijuana grow-ops across the south Island are as varied as strains of cannabis. There are high-visibility facilities built by local businesspeople who prefer to stay
out of the limelight. There’s a massive pot factory in Nanaimo run by a private equity firm that is bullish about the industry and the opportunities for job creation. And there are grey-market marijuana dispensaries flying under the radar until the courts decide whether they’re legal or not. Municipal councils have to decide whether they want to welcome medicalmarijuana facilities, giving them a stake in the green rush, or whether they close the gates and say: “Not in our backyard.” One year after Health Canada changed the rules to encourage large-scale commercial production over small, home-based growing, only 23 producers have been issued licences. Out of 1,224 applications, 320 are still in progress, 623 were incomplete, 223 were refused and 35 were withdrawn. Hundreds of prospective “potpreneurs” remain in regulatory limbo, many complaining that Health Canada’s approval process is slow, confusing and arbitrary. Applicants must satisfy a list of strict conditions, which include tight security measures and equipment to control odours. Health Canada does not recognize marijuana as an approved medicine (its involvement in providing medical marijuana has been forced by the courts) and its website features bold warnings about the drug’s harmful side-effects. Proponents of pot therapy tout its positive results for patients suffering from ailments such as multiple sclerosis, glaucoma, epilepsy, Crohn’s disease, colitis and chronic pain. It has also been recommended to ease the side-effects of chemotherapy for cancer patients. Almost half of Canada’s 37,000 licensed medical-marijuana patients live in B.C., and Health Canada predicts the number of patients seeking medical marijuana will sprout to 400,000 in the next decade. Before the laws changed on April 1, 2014, medical-marijuana users licensed by Health Canada were able to get their pot by buying it directly from a Health Canada supplier at $5 a gram, growing it themselves or having it provided by a smallscale designated grower. Under the new scheme, Health Canada said patients have to order marijuana by mail from one of the approved commercial facilities. Capital
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But four patients fighting for the right to grow pot in their homes for medicinal purposes have launched a constitutional challenge that is now before the Federal Court in Vancouver. Patients who are lowincome or on disability pensions have also raised concerns they won’t be able to afford the pot grown by licensed producers. A judge imposed a temporary injunction that allows patients to continue growing their own marijuana until the court case is concluded. “It’s certainly turbulent times,” said Kirk Tousaw, the Vancouver-based lawyer representing the patients. He’s bracing himself for a years-long battle as he expects that case to reach the Supreme Court of Canada. It all leaves the medical marijuana industry fraught with uncertainty. “I think it’s a period of significant legal and social upheaval in the area of access to medical cannabis,” Tousaw said. Many commercial producers, including Galbraith, are betting on eventual legalization of marijuana to shift the profits
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away from shady drug dealers on the black market and into the pockets of legitimate businesses and governments that can tax pot like alcohol and tobacco. That could quickly transform a billion-dollar industry into a multibillion-dollar industry before the pot smoke settles.
SOUTH ISLAND SPROUTING: CENTRAL SAANICH’S FIELD OF CONTROVERSY The facility is built and money is invested, but Galbraith still doesn’t know when Evergreen Medicinal Supply Inc. will be open for business. Evergreen’s application has crawled through the system over the last 18 months, with Galbraith still waiting for the final on-site inspection that would give him the green light to grow.
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Last spring, Galbraith was under the impression an inspection was imminent, so he hired 10 employees — quality-control, growing staff and customer care — who were trained and ready to operate by June 1. As August rolled around without an inspection, Galbraith had to lay off the staff. In November 2014, Galbraith was told the company had passed all its security clearances and now was in an additional review process, which didn’t exist before. “We’ve been told a number of times we’re in this review stage,” he said. The complicated regulatory process means prospective growers have to invest a lot of money upfront without knowing whether they’ll actually get a licence. Galbraith and his partners have invested $1.5 million: $1.2 million to build the facility and $300,000 for staffing and other costs. “We recognize the significant challenges faced by Health Canada in the implementation of this important new industry, and wish to acknowledge the professionals on our team who have remained committed and enthusiastic throughout this lengthy process,” Galbraith said. “Although there have been many times we as a group have scratched our heads and endured, make no mistake that this is a chance to make real change in people’s lives and we are pleased to have an opportunity to play a role in this remarkable emerging industry.” Its next-door neighbour, family-owned Michell’s Farm, is unhappy about the project. Vern Michell said the stark concrete facade is out of place in the agricultural landscape. “Everyone that is a neighbour here opposes how ugly it is,” Michell said. “This does not fit into the beautiful field across the valley.” Michell is also concerned about possible odours wafting over to the farm, which includes a market and pumpkin patch for kids. Galbraith said the facility has state-ofthe-art air scrubbers, which will keep the pot smell from seeping out. Central Saanich Mayor Ryan Windsor said if the facility meets building code and zoning requirements, “esthetics are a difficult thing to regulate.” Because the facility is in the Agricultural Land Reserve, it did not require
municipal approval. “I wouldn’t say there’s either caution or enthusiasm from Central Saanich,” Windsor said. “I think we’re in a wait-and-see position more than anything.”
JUAN DE FUCA ELECTORAL AREA: LAND, NOT WATER Medijuana Products Ltd. has received the go-ahead to turn a warehouse into a medical grow-operation in an industrial business park at 6-7450 Butler Rd. Mike Hicks, director of Juan de Fuca Electoral Area, will have a front-row seat to watch the operations unfold, as the facility is located next door to the electoral area’s new headquarters in Otter Point. Hicks said any future applicants have to go through a site-specific rezoning as a medical marijuana facility. “We would welcome the jobs if the immediate neighbours are OK with it, so we have a spot-zoning [process] for it,” Hicks said. At one point, the electoral area was courted by a group that wanted to set up a 40,000-square-foot facility in the business park, which would have created 30 to 40 jobs in Otter Point. The plan was scrapped when the company determined there wasn’t an adequate water supply to tend to the crop. “We have a lot of land, but what we don’t have a lot of out here is water,” Hicks said. “So Juan de Fuca isn’t the most ideal place in the world to have a grow-op.”
VICTORIA: FIELD OF GREEN DISPENSARIES Without an abundance of agricultural or industrial land, potential pot growers haven’t set their sights on Victoria just yet. But the capital is ground zero for dispensaries and compassion clubs, where medical-marijuana users can bring in a prescription or see an on-site physician and walk out with their meds. Capital
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Piling on: Owner Kyle Cheyne sorts a strain called Indica Purple Heaven at marijuana dispensary Leaf on Oak Bay Avenue. ADRIAN LAM, TIMES COLONIST
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While they’re technically illegal, dozens of dispensaries have sprouted up in Vancouver, and police there have turned a blind eye, saying it’s not an enforcement priority. About 15 exist in Victoria, operating without a business licence which could net a $250-a-day fine. “The city has ticketed two businesses and is following up on complaints about a third,” said City of Victoria spokeswoman Katie Hamilton. Kyle Cheyne runs Leaf Compassion Society, located on the ground floor of a professional building that houses doctors’ offices and medical services on Oak Bay Avenue. He has been up-front with his landlord, City of Victoria bylaw officers and Victoria police about the nature of his business since he opened in August. “If this was wrong, the cops could have shut me down the first day I opened up. We’re very upfront and we’re not hiding anything,” Cheyne said. “We’re a resource centre. We’re here to help people.” Cheyne has had a few complaints from neighbouring businesses about the skunky smell of marijuana wafting to other parts of the building, but he said he’s working hard to address that by installing new air scrubbing filters. Cheyne, the son of a former undercover police officer, knows the risks of what he’s doing. “If the law doesn’t change, I can go to jail,” he said. “But we’re going to continue to grow and it’s amazing to be a part of it. It’s pioneering.” Victoria police said they are aware of the dispensaries in town. “We are working with our partners at the City of Victoria, Health Canada, and the Public Prosecution Service of Canada to determine a co-ordinated approach to this development,” said Victoria Police Deputy Chief Steve Ing. He said the department is closely watching the outcome of the constitutional challenge around medical marijuana distribution. Victoria Mayor Lisa Helps said the police have better things to do than raid dispensaries. “I would like to see this continue to be a regulatory medical issue rather than something our police need to find ways to work through.” In December 2009, Victoria police
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raided the apartment of Owen Smith, who was baking pot cookies for the Victoria Cannabis Buyers Club. Smith was acquitted of drug-possession charges after a B.C. Supreme Court judge sided with Smith’s defence lawyer, who argued the federal regulations were unconstitutional because they do not allow patients to use cannabis extracts, restricting them to dried marijuana only. The federal prosecutors appealed twice, taking the fight to access pot cookies to the Supreme Court of Canada. Legal arguments kicked off on March 20.
SAANICH: IN COMMERCE CIRCLE, A NEW TYPE OF COMMERCE Nestled among a row of industrial buildings in Saanich’s Commerce Circle, you’ll find Thunderbird Biomedical Inc., a medical-marijuana plant that dubs itself “Vancouver Island’s first commercial facility.” The company had to go through a re-zoning process with Saanich before it could turn an existing industrial building into a medical grow-op. The issue went to a public hearing and council endorsed the project. The zoning amendment is awaiting final reading. A Thunderbird executive told councillors the company has stringent security measures that include dozens of surveillance cameras. The company said it was in the middle of financing work and not ready to do media interviews. Thunderbird ships all its marijuana by mail, and on-site sales are not allowed under Health Canada rules. “We did put a covenant saying no retail sales on the facility to address neighbours’ concerns, because you never know what will happen at the federal level years down the road,” said Jarret Matanowitsch, a manager in the District of Saanich planning department
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NORTH SAANICH: STUFF THAT IN YOUR PIPE AND SMOKE IT ... ELSEWHERE North Saanich has stated it loud and clear: Don’t build your medical-pot facilities here. But one applicant for a licensed grow-op snuck in before the new rules and is looking to set up operations on the site of a former mushroom farm on McTavish Road. In February 2014, North Saanich council voted to prohibit any grow-ops in the near future. North Saanich Mayor Alice Finall said the prohibition was in response to complaints from citizens who cited security concerns and fire hazards. “There was very strong community opposition to it,” Finall said. “There were too many uncertainties, too many possible downsides.” Finall believes the plans for the McTavish facility have been suspended. Last summer, the B.C. government closed a tax loophole that would have allowed medical-marijuana producers to claim a large tax break designed for farmers. This was in response to warnings from B.C. mayors that commercial grow-ops could dodge 90 per cent of their property taxes if they were taxed as agricultural operations.
DUNCAN: A REGULATORY NIGHTMARE Duncan’s Eric Nash has been licensed by Health Canada to grow medical marijuana in his home under the old regime since 2002. His resumé lists plenty of marijuana expertise. He has twice provided information about medical marijuana to the United Nations, collaborated with the Canadian Police Research Centre, served on the national cannabis steering committee for the Canadian AIDS Society, taught a course
at Vancouver Island University, written a book and on several occasions met with Health Canada officials to provide input on policy reform to the medical-marijuana framework. But it seems those policy reforms have worked against him. A list of Nash’s qualifications forms part of his affidavit to the Federal Court in the patients’ constitutional challenge, in which he details the confusing, convoluted and ever-changing process involved in becoming a licensed grower under Health Canada’s new medical-marijuana regime. Nash, a former City of Victoria employee in the horticulture department, said Health Canada keeps changing the goal posts, asking for increased security measures that weren’t a requirement when he started his application to set up a 1,700square-foot marijuana grow-op on industrial land in Duncan. “As a small Canadian company business entering the MMPR [Marijuana for Medical Purposes Regulations] program as a licensed producer applicant, I have found the application process onerous, problematic and illusory, with the regulatory requirements constantly changing without notice and very poor communication from Health Canada with us as an applicant,” Nash says in the affidavit. “From my experience, it seems as though Health Canada is deliberately attempting to stall and obfuscate the MMPR application process, creating very significant barriers to entry.” Like many other applicants, Nash received a “ready to build” letter early last year, stating that if he builds the facility as set out in the application, it will be approved by Health Canada. But more than a year later, Nash is still waiting for an on-site inspection. In June 2014, Nash received a letter from Health Canada saying he needs to upgrade to a Level 7 security requirement — which would mean installing a larger vault and other security upgrades at a cost of tens of thousands of dollars — even though the amount of marijuana the facility would hold only required Level 5 security. “It’s a bit of a mess right now, the [medical marijuana] industry in Canada,” Nash said. “It really is a regulatory nightmare.”
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NORTH COWICHAN: SMOOTH SAILING Broken Coast Cannabis got in the game early, receiving its licence from Health Canada in March 2014 and quickly settling into an industrial building in North Cowichan. John Moeller, the company’s operations manager, said when he and his partners were looking for a place to set up shop, they looked for a municipality that was open to medical-marijuana grow-ops. “They’re business-minded in North Cowichan ... and this is an opportunity for them to get a new legal industry in their area, so they were very progressive in getting their regulations figured out quicker than other jurisdictions did,” Moeller said. “You’re gambling when you’re going into a jurisdiction that has nothing [written in the bylaws].” The 12,000-square-foot facility employs 18 people and has the capacity to produce
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up to 720 kilograms of marijuana per year. Moeller, who formerly worked in the construction industry, said the company has just under 300 clients, mostly from Ontario. Because federal regulations limit companies’ ability to advertise, the company relies on word-of-mouth or by being listed on the Health Canada website.
NANAIMO: THE GRAND DADDY Call it the papa roach of medical-marijuana facilities. At 60,000 square feet and employing about 120 people, Tilray is the biggest medical-marijuana facility on Vancouver Island and one of the biggest in Canada. Located in Nanaimo’s Duke Point, Tilray ships medical marijuana to 3,500 patients in every province and two territories at a cost of $6 to $15 per gram. So far, patient demand has far outstripped
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what the facility is able to produce, said Greg Engel, the company’s new CEO, a pharmaceutical executive with 20 years’ experience in that industry. The facility was long operating at just 20 per cent capacity because of Health Canada restrictions, but it’s now producing at almost full capacity. “We’re comfortable by April or May, that 90 per cent capacity will allow us to supply our demand,” Engel said. Tilray is looking to invest another $75 million to build a second plant three to four times the size of the current facility. That would create another 275 jobs. Tilray is the production arm of Lafitte Ventures, the Canadian subsidiary of Seattle private equity firm Privateer Holdings, so it has the money behind it to fuel the demands of the green rush. A report this month by the Nanaimo Economic Development Commission said Tilray has generated $48.1 million in ecoomic output in B.C., the equivalent of 357 full-time jobs and $8.5 million in tax revenue across three levels of government.
An employee at Tilray’s Nanaimo facility waters early plants. Plans are afoot for a new facility and additional 275 jobs. TILRAY PHOTO
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N O R A H M CR A E • Executive director, Co-operative Education Program and Career Services, University of Victoria
Building the future with our students usinesses are continually faced with the challenge of remaining current and innovative. Staying abreast of external conditions that affect the supply chain, the demand for goods and services and the regulatory environment are crucial for sustained success. How can a small- to medium-sized enterprise keep up with these trends? One strategy that many organizations use is to tap into a local resource that is energetic, capable and eager to contribute — students from our local postsecondary institutions. The University of Victoria has an educational philosophy that integrates our research with our teaching mission through experiential education — a dynamic form of learning. During their undergraduate degrees, 91 per cent of our students will have at least one course that is substantially experiential in nature. These experiences include co-op work terms, internships, practica, community service learning, clinics, consulting projects, applied research, design and creative projects and field experiences. Each experience is designed to provide opportunities for students to apply what they are learning into our communities. Not only does this educational approach help strengthen theoretical understanding, it also leads to the development of capabilities such as critical thinking, communications and working with others. This powerful combination of research-inspired knowledge
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and tested capabilities prepares our students to meet a range of challenges faced in organizations. Students’ research skills can be used to explore problems and test solutions. Their communication skills are current and effective in person and online. Our students are effective working in diverse settings and with diverse populations. By including a student in an organization, giving them meaningful projects and mentorship, organizations are introducing the possibility of harnessing students’ talent, energy and inquisitiveness that can lead to innovation and change. Students ask questions, check assumptions and look at problems with a fresh perspective. They have new ideas, techniques and methods. This can have a vital impact on an organization. Throughout the Capital Regional District last year alone, nearly 4,000 UVic students were in the community contributing these powerful qualities on a range of experiences affecting many different organizations. Whether it’s helping to solve issues related to health care, working in one of the region’s many high-tech firms, contributing to the financial success of a business or researching solutions to homelessness and food security, our students are a necessary part of a vibrant, healthy community. Depending on the needs of the organization, a variety of programs are available through which to engage a student. Co-op students are available year-round from every faculty at the undergraduate and graduate levels. In 2014-15, more than 3,200 co-op students were employed, with 1,550 of these in the Victoria region. The average salary for a co-op student is $2,800 a month and they work full time for four-, eight- or 12-month terms. A Canadian Chamber of Commerce report from October 2014 stated that hiring co-op students facilitates the recruitment process for employers and is associated with productivity gains. Co-op is considered a recruitment strategy. With our aging population, we need new graduates to stay and work in our community. Hiring a co-op student is the equivalent of a fourmonth interview where both the employer and student can determine whether they have a future together. UVic also has internship programs that can occur either in the middle of a student’s program, or post-study. These are paid, supervised and supported and can provide another way to hire and engage a student. Many of UVic’s courses include applied research, consulting, design and creative projects. For short-term, specific needs, participating as an organizational partner in these experiences can be highly beneficial. Accessing these students is easy. Contact the Co-operative Education Program and Career Services and we can put you in touch with the right program and students. Our website is uvic.ca/hireacoop or contact our central office at 250-721-7628 or employer@uvic.ca.
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Peetz Reels partner Art Aylesworth is keeping the tradition alive of handcrafting fishing reels. At the same time, he’s trying to invigorate the Peetz brand with new products and a new commitment to retail.
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THE REEL THING Peetz Outdoors has stood the test of time. Now it’s casting a line for the future
DARREN STONE, TIMES COLONIST
BY ANDREW A. DUFFY
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trip through the doors at Peetz Outdoors in Victoria’s Rock Bay neighbourhood is a little like walking into a comprehensive high school. It’s art, science, woodworking and metal shop all rolled into a compact workspace steeped in history. The company’s age seeps into everything in its 1,800-squarefoot space, and its honours, in the form of handcrafted fishing reels spanning nearly a century, hang on the wall, tracing the journey of an immigrant jeweller’s inventive mind and eye for design through to his mastery of crafting the kind of fishing gear that stands the test of time. These days, the 90-year-old firm, founded in 1925 by Boris Peetz, has a lot more time.
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Peetz Reels owner Bill Hoosen works on fly-fishing reels. “These are just beautifully made — everything here is made from basically nothing. Who does that anymore?”
New investment, ideas and energy from an investment group that features Art and Shawn Aylesworth and Marc Hoelscher has given the company new life. Peetz Reels has been owned by Bill Hooson since 1977, when he bought it from Boris Peetz’s children Ivan and Judy, and the new partners see great potential in the brand and the gear. “These guys are really artisans. What they do is amazing,” said Art Aylesworth during a tour through the nooks and crannies of the shop. Aylesworth, who has been consultant, mentor and investor in a number of companies since leaving the CEO position of Carmanah Technologies in 2007, is more of a wide-eyed fan and rabid researcher — his term for fisherman — at Peetz. However, he is intent on being a big part
of invigorating the Peetz brand and ensuring the gear is produced for generations to come. The new partners have been involved with the business since last year, and Aylesworth still marvels at how Hooson and his staff work — crafting and handturning not just the major components for the world-famous reels, but manufacturing each small fastener, knob and gear as well. “These are just beautifully made — everything here is made from basically nothing,” he said. “Who does that anymore? And it’s all done here.” Hooson, who worked for the Peetz family in the 1950s before returning to Victoria and buying the business, said the new investment is a huge boost to the company.
“It will take Peetz to the next level. Obviously, being in it for 37 years, we got to a comfort level and were not too concerned about new products and new items,” Hooson said. “Now this is great. It’s a whole new world out there. It’s not just Vancouver Island, B.C. or the coast — anywhere is your market.” Recently, Hooson marvelled at taking a few Peetz packages to the post office to be shipped to such diverse places as New Jersey, Wyoming, California and Russia. “The markets out there love the product,” Hooson said. That may be down to the company’s commitment to hand-making each reel, hand-pouring lead for weights and paying attention to the smallest details on each item it manufactures. Capital
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“It’s really important to keep the tradition going. When I bought the business in 1977, on the first day, Ivan sat me down on those stairs, saying, ‘I could have sold this business for more money, but I know you like the business, you know what you’re doing and you want to keep the name going and I want you to keep the name rolling for me,’ ” Hooson recalled. “And I think the same is happening with Art coming in. It’s a whole new exciting program for us.” According to Aylesworth, the immediate job is to breathe new life into the brand, which he says has great “warmth” within the fishing community. “They don’t seem to need much excuse to get excited about it,” he said. That should be stoked with some new products and slight improvements to the tried and true. There is a new commitment to retail — the shop, manufacturing floor and office space includes a 400-square-foot retail space and mini museum — and a website offers an online retail opportunity.
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“Retail-wholesale has been about 50:50, but it will likely be 95:5,” said Aylesworth, noting the online reach is already starting to get the name outside of North America. “And it will be bigger. The world is bigger than Victoria. The reality is these days, you have to make it easy.” And that means increasing production, so there is little wait time for items ordered online or requested in-store. To that end, the staff has already been increased to seven from two and Aylesworth can see the day when Peetz could be a “nice 15 to 20-person operation.” The company currently produces hundreds of hand-made reels a year, most retailing for between $150 and $300. But the goal is to ramp up to several thousand a year within the next three years. They also intend to increase their marketing and are getting more involved in the community. In addition to an annual donation, Peetz is involved with the Pacific Salmon Foundation in a program called Reel Change in which $10 from every reel sold goes to local fishery-habitat restora-
tion and enhancement. Aylesworth said he was sold on the company on one of his first trips to the Island from Calgary in the mid-1980s. A fishing trip convinced him of the gear. “When I [moved] here, I knew I had to get one, but had no money,” he recalled, noting he had won a rod in a business-card draw at Capital Iron and was hoping to buy a reel from Hooson at his wholesale outlet, then on Johnson Street. “Bill told me they only sell wholesale … but I came back and I remember he said ‘Every once in a while we get a second and we’ll sell them’ and then he took a pen and scored the face of the reel.” Aylesworth bought it for about half the listed price and was hooked. While that initial investment in Peetz 30 years ago hooked him, this latest, more significant investment aims to hook a whole new group of fishing enthusiasts. “We sure like the idea of ‘made in Canada’ and our plan is to keep Peetz that way for another 90 years,” he said. aduffy@timescolonist.com
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Turning music into gold: David Foster already has multiple Grammy Awards. Now he has earned a UVic award for his business acumen
WEALTH OF TALENT
BY MICHAEL D. REID
W
PHOTO: COURTESY OF DAVID FOSTER
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hen David Foster wins music-industry awards, he often thanks mentors such as Quincy Jones for inspiring him. When the Victoria-born Hit Man accepts the 2015 Distinguished Entrepreneur of the Year award May 28 at the Victoria Conference Centre, however, it will be as David Foster, businessman. Chances are the 16-time Grammy Award-winning songwriter, composer, arranger and producer will thank entrepreneurs such as Haim Saban, Edgar Bronfman, Jr., Jim Pattison and other business leaders who have influenced that side of him, as much as he reminisces about his creative journeys with superstars from Barbra Streisand to Diana Krall. Foster, 65, will join a sterling roster of recipients when he’s presented with the award from the University of Victoria’s Peter B. Gustavson School of Business. Past recipients include former Yahoo Inc. president Jeff Mallett, the late Thrifty Foods co-founder Alex Campbell, and Foster’s good friend Dennis Washington, the Montana-based construction and transportation magnate. “We set out to recognize inspirational entrepreneurs who have had a significant impact globally,” said award committee chairman Peter Gustavson. “It is thinking outside the box,” Gustavson admits.
“David is an entertainer and a producer, but he really is a businessman equally well-known for his philanthropy.” He was referring to the David Foster Foundation, Foster’s charitable organization that has assisted families with children who need organ transplants since 1985. “I guess I’ve managed to take my craft, which is basically being a piano player, and turned it into a business,” says Foster, who booked gigs for his Victoria bands Starbright Combo and the Teen Beats and played at the bygone Century Inn and Strathcona Hotel’s Old Forge in his teens. He then flew off to London with his band The Strangers before moving to Los Angeles in 1971 and launching his career. “I was always the guy that if I earned a dollar, I saved 50 cents of it,” recalled Foster, the only boy in a family with six sisters. The Mount Doug secondary school alumnus says he has always strategized to reach the next phase of his career, from rehearsal pianist to studio musician, arranger, music producer and record-industry executive. It began to soar after he took a big gamble in the mid-1970s — walking away from a lucrative payday as a studio musician playing for superstars such as John Lennon and Diana Ross to try producing.
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Aside from some smart real-estate and stock-market investments, Foster’s business success includes stints as vice-president of Atlantic Records, senior vice-president of Warner Music Group and chairman of Universal’s Verve Music Group. He also established his boutique label 143 Records. Peripheral business successes have included his participation in The Princes of Malibu, the 2005 Fox reality show chronicled his chaotic home life with ex-wife Linda Thompson and stepsons Brody and Brandon Jenner; and Bravo’s The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills with his wife, former Dutch model and interior designer Yolanda Foster, spawning her Hopelessly Romantic business. Foster’s business acumen has prompted accolades from some Hollywood heavy hitters with creative streaks of their own. “David Foster combines the creative genius of a great artist, the commercial sense of a strong businessperson, and the generosity of heart of a true philanthropist,” says Edgar Bronfman, Jr., who co-wrote Celine Dion’s hit To Love You More with Foster. Saban, the media mogul who launched the Mighty Morphin Power Rangers franchise in the U.S., met Foster 30 years ago when Saban was writing songs for children’s television shows. “When we speak about music, you couldn’t compare David and I at all,” says Saban. “He’s always one step ahead ... this is his strength. He sees things that others would miss.” Indeed, Foster’s business savvy has helped him avoid pitfalls that have financially derailed artists such as Wesley Snipes, Gary Coleman, Willie Nelson and Leonard Cohen. “Leonard sure got it back, though, didn’t he? Now he’s playing stadiums,” says Foster. “One of the big mistakes everybody makes, artists in particular, is they make a dollar and they think they’ve earned a dollar, and that really is a trap. “The second mistake creative people make is they trust other people with their money, and hope they do the right thing, but that’s never been good enough for me.” Foster, who drove around for days with his first big royalty cheque — $1 million for The Bodyguard — in the front seat of his Chevy Suburban, signs all his own cheques to this day. “It’s a pain in the ass because I have quite a few people working for me, but I don’t want somebody stamping my name on a cheque.” Atom Egoyan, the Oscar-nominated filmmaker who 11 years ago opened Toronto’s cinema lounge Camera Bar with Mongrel Media president Hussain Amarshi, says he admires Foster’s business savvy. “Our lives deal with fantasy and dreaming, but business is all about being incredibly practical and hard-nosed, so someone who can combine those two is rare,” says the Victoria-raised filmmaker. “The really smart artists are those who can see the artist is a commodity in and of itself and then use the resources of that to do what a really good entrepreneur can do,” he said. “Someone like David Foster is able to accrue vast wealth in a relatively short period of time. To be able to, in the midst of all that, have the wherewithal to know what to do with it and how to manage it is a very particular skillset.”
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Playing for curves helps bottom line BY PEDRO ARRAIS
INNOS R O T A V
Sarah Frejd, owner of Curvalicious Boutique, behind the couch, and model Alanna Johnson. “If a woman doesn’t love herself, she won’t see what I see in the mirror,” says Frejd.
PHOTO: BRUCE STOTESBURY, TIMES COLONIST
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There are more women in Greater Victoria confidently playing up their natural curves these days, thanks to an improved selection of figure-flattering clothing and a one-woman campaign to have them embrace the idea that full-figured doesn’t necessarily mean unhealthy. Sarah Frejd is a plus-size woman who regularly turns heads on the street — not because of her size, but how she’s dressed. “I have to admit I love fashionable clothing,” says Frejd. “But I always had to go to Vancouver or Seattle to find clothes because it was practically impossible to find fashionable clothing for bigger women locally.” The single mom would constantly be stopped on the street by other curvy women and asked where she got her clothes. It got to the point where she said
there was enough of a demand to start a clothing store with finds from her shopping trips. She founded Curvalicious Boutique, with plus-size trendy fashions, in 2010. But she didn’t just want to be a retailer. She also wanted to help her clients embrace who they are — to love their bodies. “If a woman doesn’t love herself, she won’t see what I see in the mirror,” said Frejd. It is perhaps unusual that some clothing at her store, which would appeal to ladies of sizes 14 to 26, often doesn’t
have labels indicating the size. She says in her experience, sizing on clothing often isn’t accurate and can contribute to low self-esteem. Sometimes, a dress marked as size 4X (plus sizes range from 1X to 6X) won’t fit a woman who would normally take an XL. When a woman tries on a dress of a certain size and it doesn’t fit, she might assume that she has put on weight, leading to self-incrimination. “I tell customers to [strip] when they come in and then fit them by eye. There is no body shame around me. In fact, I want them to have a body-positive attitude and love themselves.” Frejd knows all her regulars and their particular tastes, and can suggest and select appropriate styles for different body shapes and sizes. The bubbly champion for plus-size women got into the clothing business by accident. Frejd is a graduate of the Culinary Arts program at Vancouver Island University in Nanaimo and worked as a professional chef. A car crash eight years ago injured her hands, making it impossible to continue. Instead, Frejd found she had the right recipe for success in business. In five years, she has outgrown her small store on Blanshard Street and has just opened a larger store in the Goldstream Station Plaza in Langford. The larger premises have allowed Frejd to expand her offerings to include new and consignment clothing and accessories, including wedding consignment. “I had a friend who was looking for a wedding dress in size 26, just couldn’t find anything and was totally stressed. Desperate, I put out a call to my clients and found 13 dresses to fit her in an hour.” Some of the space at the new store will also allow her to offer yoga and dance classes, with four instructors initially signed up. “This is groundbreaking for the business,” she said. “Many plus-size women are reluctant go to a regular yoga or dance studio because they get intimidated by some of the other women. We want to keep it small at first, to about 10 per class.” She may want to reconsider. Once word got out, 133 people signed up for classes in 11 days. www.curvaliciousboutique.com
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DAYS OF THE FISHERMAN Life on the Pacific is never easy. Bob Fraumeni beats the odds BY LOUISE DICKSON
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At the helm of the Nordic Rand, Bob Fraumeni is moving to U.S. waters for fish after costly run-ins with Canadian fishing authorities. ADRIAN LAM, TIMES COLONIST
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B ob Fraumeni gazes out the window at the vibrant float homes and fishing vessels docked at Fisherman’s Wharf and beyond to the wind-tossed waves of the Inner Harbour. “I’ve been scrumbling around down there since I was about 10,” says Fraumeni, owner of Finest At Sea, a leading provider of wild seafood on the West Coast. “For some reason, I’ve had this incredible desire to find out what was in the water. I remember at the age of four, all I wanted to do was go fishing.” In his second-floor office over the FAS fish market in a 1909 Victorian-style home on Erie Street, Fraumeni casts his memory back to the time, at age six, when he caught his first salmon with family friend George Shipley off Fiddle Reef in Oak Bay. “I remember being on the water and loving it, just being free,” said Fraumeni. “So few people ever feel that today. Like Captain Jack Sparrow in Pirates of the Caribbean — ‘Bring me that horizon’ — that’s what it’s all about.” But Fraumeni’s horizons may be moving after unsettling run-ins with Fisheries and Oceans Canada in recent years. In October, Fraumeni had to forfeit a $14,000 halibut catch after inadvertently contravening the conditions of a commercial fishing licence in March 2012. The court heard that Fraumeni was ill — he was diagnosed with leukemia four years ago — and an inexperienced skipper did not obtain an amendment to the fishing licence. “That cost me $50,000 in legal fees,” Fraumeni says. “DFO is extremely challenging to deal with. Even though I do all that work for them, they attack me.” Fraumeni sits on six industry consulting boards for DFO. One of his boats, the Kingfisher, is doing a plankton sampling project for DFO and the Pacific Salmon Foundation. Capital
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Fraumeni is also upset that three RCMP officers and three Fisheries officers boarded his fishing vessel Ocean Pearl and tried to seize his catch when it docked in Prince Rupert in January. A DFO spokeswoman said it was alerted by the U.S. Coast Guard to two incursions into U.S. waters by the Ocean Pearl between Dec. 27, 2014, and Jan. 13, 2015. The U.S. could have taken action in this case, but elected to turn the file over to Canada, said the spokeswoman. “As the matter is still under investigation, it would be inappropriate to comment further at this time,” she said. Fraumeni maintains the boat had drifted a few hundred yards across the U.S. border in a screaming gale in the Gulf of Alaska, hundreds of miles off the coast. Transport Canada has also tied up the Ocean Pearl for months over “ridiculous stuff,” claims Fraumeni. Last year, the Ocean Pearl was forced to dock for three months after Transport Canada brought in new regulations — for things such as life rafts and sewer systems — and demanded they be met immediately. Fraumeni says he wants more time to meet the demands. 38
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Bob Fraumeni credits mentors for his strong work ethic and love of the sea and fishing. He remains a natural entrepreneur. ADRIAN LAM, TIMES COLONIST
“The cost of this downtime is huge. The Ocean Pearl is a world-class vessel. There’s no need to tie that boat up ever,” says Fraumeni. “I can’t keep operating like this. I’m moving boats to the U.S. steadily. It’s not something I really wanted to do, but I can’t take it. I’ve already moved a few boats and I’ll move more if I have to. I’m not going to be treated like this. They’ve got me fighting constantly to survive. I’m Canadian, but the U.S. is all about business.” Affectionately nicknamed Bobby Blackcod, Fraumeni has deep roots in the community. At one point, his grandfather owned Sooke Bay, which ends at Ella Road in Sooke. The street is named for his mother, Ella Margaret Hemberow. Patsy, as she was known to her friends, was a free spirit who married a would-be film producer, Guy Fraumeni, in New York City. In 1957, after Fraumeni was born, Patsy
left her husband and returned to Victoria with two young children. Fraumeni’s childhood was marred by her ill health. Patsy, who died in 1986, went blind when he was four. He grew up “in many different places” between James Bay and Oak Bay. From the age of eight, Fraumeni stayed with Daily Colonist writer Alec Merriman and his wife, Taffy. Merriman, who was known as Mr. King Fisherman, introduced him to serious fishing. And the little water rat ate it up, buying his first boat at age 11 for $100 and dragging it up on the beach in Gonzales Bay. “I had outboards of all descriptions, none of which ran very well, that I’d rebuild and rebuild. One of them I used to have to start it on the log because the water was too cold. So I’d start it on the log and run down and put it on the boat, trying to get out of the way of the propeller,” says Fraumeni with a laugh. “Oh, those were good times.”
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He just wanted to catch more fish and began selling seafood to Chinese restaurants. During high school, Fraumeni worked on the big fish boats that sailed up the west coast from the Inner Harbour. “My Grade 12 annual says, ‘Rob plans to go to university to become a commercial fisherman.’ My friend who wrote that was joking — but that’s exactly what I did.” At 17, he bought his first west coast trawler, the Dixie Doll, for $36,000. “It wasn’t much of a boat and it took a beating with the wind blowing northwest all summer.” He took some marine biology courses at Camosun and the University of Victoria, but quit to become a full-time fisherman. By 19, Fraumeni was the owner of the Ocean Hunter, a sturdy 44-foot vessel. “And I got into freezing [the catch] right then in the late 1970s.” Life was good. He was happy. “It was just the most fantastic thing for a young guy in those days. There was a ton of fish and not many regulations. You could go out to sea with a freezer like that. You just go out until you were full. I remember coming in when I was 19 years old. I’d been out sailing around with my friend or my girlfriend, with $50,000 worth of fish. Nineteen years old. Hey, life is good. Can you imagine? “And it was beautiful — blue water, big headlands, rough wilderness, straight wilderness and I went from border to border, fishing my pride into every nook and cranny all up the west coast. You catch these beautiful salmon and come in with these beautiful loads of fish. Oh God. “If people in Toronto knew they could sell their house, come out here and buy a boat and a house, and make more money living up the west coast in two months than they did in Toronto, they wouldn’t believe it.” Fraumeni says he learned about the tides and the currents and the winds simply by doing. “I’ve been challenged all my life by the water,” says Fraumeni. He whips out his iPhone and plays a video of him driving the Ocean Pearl through hurricane-force winds in the Gulf of Alaska in December. “This is a tremendous boat,” says Fraumeni, pointing at the massive waves crashing over her bow.
“I can’t see why as a hunter you could think you could just keep hunting. We have to look at the much bigger picture. What you take out of the planet you should put back in.” “It’s blowing 80 knots right there.” The young Fraumeni rode the crest of a wave, but quickly realized he had to find a better business than salmon fishing. He started fishing for black cod — sablefish — and halibut. “At first, no one wanted it here, but I knew it would take off. It’s hard to get, though, the deepest-water fish in the North Pacific. We’re regularly fishing a mile deep for black cod.” Fraumeni started fishing all winter because he loved it, staying out on the Ocean Hunter, catching and freezing black cod. At the same time, a lot of the fishing fleet went broke because interest rates went up to 24 per cent. “While they were going broke, I was out there fishing like a fiend. Then I started to make a lot of money.” He also started spending a lot of money on bigger boats and fish stores and investing money in the science of Canadian fisheries to make them sustainable. “I can’t see why as a hunter you could think you could just keep hunting. We have to look at the much bigger picture. What you take out of the planet you should put back in,” says Fraumeni, who has fought against open net-cage salmon farming. “Please look at what we have here — Pacific salmon and this incredible ecosystem. Why risk it for farming a few stupid salmon?”
On a practical level, sustainable fishing practices means not fishing a lot of the time, keeping the yield small, Fraumeni explains. In 1986, he started the Canadian Sablefish Association, taking fees from black cod fisherman to develop the science to understand what levels are necessary for a sustainable harvest. Fraumeni sells his catch to 350 restaurants in B.C. and others in Calgary and Edmonton. His latest order from the Parliamentary restaurant in Ottawa was for candied salmon, sablefish and sliced tuna. Finest at Sea also supplies salmon, halibut and tuna to Jimmy Pattison’s five Urban Fare stores. Behind the neon signs advertising his Fish Market in James Bay, Fraumeni sells salmon, tuna, halibut, prawns, crab, oysters and mussels. The food cart tucked in at the back of the parking lot sells fish tacos, fish and chips, chowder, salmon and ling cod fritters. In Vancouver, Fraumeni owns a fish plant, two stores, a bistro, two food carts and a Finest At Sea delicatessen on Arbutus in Vancouver. “Getting into the sales end has been a wonderful thing for me. It’s so fun. I employ so many wonderful people. And our retail customers, that’s whom I cherish.” In 1987, Bob met his wife Barbara. They married and Bob adopted her two children, William, now 33, and Caitlin, 30. The couple have two children of their own, Alec, 20, and Madeline, 17, who is studying in New Zealand. Fraumeni says he feels blessed after battling two serious illness in recent years. When he turned 50, Fraumeni had a aneurysm behind his right eye that was supposed to kill him, he says. Four years ago, he was diagnosed with leukemia and, again, he was supposed to die. “I was given a death warrant and I fought like crazy. The DFO fiasco was in the middle of all that,” says Fraumeni. “I’m really lucky, really lucky. I seem to be okay.” Leaving the view, Fraumeni walks downstairs to the fish market. He pauses to look at a model of the Ocean Pearl and the many photographs of his fishing fleet that line the walls. In each one, he’s wearing a grin a nautical mile wide. ldickson@timescolonist.com Capital
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STEW YOUNG: LANGFORD’S DYNAMO Mayor for 22 years, this native son has deep roots in a municipality seeing growing gains and pains BY AMY SMART
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Westhills, a massive housing development, symbolizes the growth of Langford, where the population has mushroomed to 34,000. DARREN STONE, TIMES COLONIST
S
tew Young can’t stroll from one table to another at the Fountain Diner without seeing at least a few familiar faces. “Hey boys, what are you up to?” Langford’s mayor of 22 years says to a pair of men sitting in the back corner with a zippered binder of documents between them. There are handshakes and pats on the back before Young takes his own seat under a wall of hockey jerseys, licence plates and Little League photos. It’s the kind of interaction that gave Young enough confidence to spend only $6.04 on his last election campaign. And part of the reason potential challengers don’t bother putting their names on the ballot. Young has been acclaimed four of his eight mayoral terms. The diner, owned by his Alpine Group of Companies and home of the Five-Pound Alpine Burger Challenge, is the kind of place you’re more likely to find him in meetings than at his office in City Hall. “I’ve lived here all my life. My family
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has been here 100 years. So everybody with a problem comes to me. I don’t even really keep meetings in my mayor’s office. It’s more like, OK, I’ll come over to your house or I’ll go here or there.” The same strategy raised eyebrows in Saanich, when newly elected Mayor Richard Atwell said he didn’t keep regular office hours. But it doesn’t seem to irk many people on the West Shore. Langford isn’t the small town it used to be, however. The fastest-growing municipality in the capital region has more than doubled in population, to about 34,000, since incorporating in 1992. It’s transformed from the butt of jokes to a thriving place rife with amenities. It’s a community-sized underdog story if there ever was one. Langfordians have plenty to be proud of, and many believe they have Young to thank. But growing pains are inevitable, as the city continues to blossom. And it begs the question: Will it outgrow Stew?
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BEFORE HE WAS MAYOR
Stew Young plays a friendly game of rugby with Victoria lawyer Michael O’Connor. Langford is the home of Rugby Canada. BRUCE STOTESBURY, TIMES COLONIST
The Langford that Young, 54, grew up in was called Dogpatch. There were no sewers, streetlights or sidewalks and, more importantly, little hope for a good job. It’s a period that remains a constant source of motivation for Young, who will always consider himself “blue collar,” no matter his tax bracket. Work has featured prominently in his life, beginning with his job at Dairy Queen at 14. And it’s what forced most of his classmates with any ambition to leave town, after graduating from Belmont Secondary. Nearby mills had shut down and as new facilities popped up in Victoria and Saanich, Langford lay bare. “It was just a mass migration out of the community. The only choice was to leave. You left Langford to get a job,” he said. “That kind of pissed me off.” Young went to Camosun College for
almost a year, but dropped out of the accounting program when his father died unexpectedly. He returned to help his mother move into a motor home and bought one himself. Working 16-hour days for nine years as a manager at both Dairy Queen and the Florence Lake Trailer Park gave him a nest-egg to do what he really wanted: Be his own boss. Young knocked on doors to offer garbage pick-up services, but having been warned of high failure rates for new businesses, he hedged his bets by diversifying early on. “My philosophy was always, well, let’s do 10,” Young said. “If this one went sideways or the market went on that one, you could still do it. That’s how I started doing all the different things and adding them under the Alpine umbrella.” The one-man enterprise has mushroomed to include more than 30 businesses in Victoria and the West Shore, as well as Duncan, Nanaimo, Kelowna, Trail, Castlegar, Creston and Grand Forks, with Stew Jr. now serving as general manager.
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At the end of the day, I can say ‘I built that!’ Welders. Carpenters. Mechanics. Master Mariners. Camosun College is a trades training powerhouse. With more than 2,700 students enrolled in 20 different trades foundation and apprenticeship programs every year, Camosun is the largest trades education centre on Vancouver Island. We are the top regional provider of skilled workers for the local shipbuilding, automotive, nautical and sustainable construction industries. The combination of our leading-edge curriculum, the Province of BC’s investment in our new Trades Education and Innovation Complex, and federal and community support for new state-of-the-art training equipment – positions us well to meet and exceed the expectations of students, employers and industry. Qualified, highly skilled trades people keep our economy afloat.
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Camosun’s Trades Education & Innovation Complex
Opening September 2015
E C R O F K R O W D LE IL K S ’S C B F O E R U T INVESTING IN THE FU anging
Camosun College: the future of trades is ch
It’s a big task. Over 68% of the 985,000 job openings forecast by 2022 in BC are the direct result of retirements alone. Of those job openings, 431,000 or 44% will require college or apprenticeship training – and that doesn’t include growth in the economy or LNG projects. Even with every BC college operating flat out – there will still be a shortage of skilled trades workers. Camosun College is a trades training powerhouse. We will educate 2,700 trades and technology students every year thanks to the new Trades Education and Innovation Complex now under construction at the Interurban campus. At $35 million it’s the largest capital trades education project now under construction in BC. It’s crucial to filling the impeding skills gap and an investment in the future of our economy. It’s also an investment in young people and families who will prosper through rewarding careers in the skilled trades. The Camosun College Foundation’s TRADEmark of Excellence Campaign is raising $5 million to supplement government funding to make Camosun’s new Trades Complex the very best it can be. Generous support from business, labour, community organizations and individuals, like you, will put the latest classroom equipment and teaching technology into the hands of our gifted faculty and dedicated students. Together, we will make trades education at Camosun College remarkable and equip young people for a lifetime of opportunity.
Give to the Camosun College Foundation to invest in the future of trades. TRADE mark
Lynda and I are financially supporting this project because of our involvement over the years in the construction industry, and because of the great skilled trades people I’ve had the privilege of working with. We also know how critically important education and technical training will be to our province going forward. Murray & Lynda Farmer, Campaign Co-Chairs
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camosun.ca/foundation
Campaign Cabinet:
OF EXCELLENCE CAMPAIGN
Murray and Lynda Farmer, Campaign Co-Chairs Jeety Bhalla, Board Chair, Camosun Foundation Bob & Ginny Alger, Owners, Horizon Power Installations Ian Anderson, CEO, Kinder Morgan Canada James Carson, President, Carson Automotive Group Kyman Chan, Partner, Hayes Stewart Little & Company David Chard, President, Chard Development Ltd.
Mike Corrigan, CEO, BC Ferries Shari Corrigan, Camosun Foundation Board & Faculty Member David Curtis, President & CEO, Viking Wayne Dalby, Senior Manager, Ralmax Group Bruce Dyck, Retired President, Chew Excavating Ltd. David Jawl, Director, Trebizond Developments; GM, Island Floor Centre John Knappett, President, Knappett Projects John Mutton, President, Municipal Solutions and Infrastructure
Craig Norris, CEO, Eagalus Management Dave Obee, Editor-in-Chief, Times Colonist Barry Scroggs, President, Farmer Group of Companies Tom Siemens, Vice President, Commercial Banking, Royal Bank Len Wansbrough, President, Metropolitan Capital Partners Dave Wheaton, Owner, Wheaton Chevrolet Buick Cadillac GMC Jonathan Whitworth, CEO, Seaspan – Seaspan ULC
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Stew Young’s Alpine Group has more than 30 businesses, including garbage disposal and recycling, bottle depot, marine and vehicle sales and services, and industrial services. ADRIAN LAM, TIMES COLONIST
South Islanders will be most familiar with Alpine’s garbage disposal and recycling services, Encorp Bottle Depot, the Sidney Spit Ferry, as well as a slew of vehicle sales and services, and industrial services from fencing to welding. But as he tried to get his business off the ground in the early days, he was frustrated with encounters with government. From costly business licences to cumbersome permit applications, Young felt local government was hurting him instead of helping him. “I said, what’s wrong with this bloody town? We’ve got 25 per cent unemployment, I’m a young guy, I want to get involved in business and I’m road-blocked everywhere I turn.” After enough complaining (Young’s own words), Langford’s then-regional director Rick Kasper had a suggestion: Why don’t you do it yourself? Kasper had watched Young take a strong lead as part of a waste haulers’ association in the late 1980s, when the Capital Regional District jacked up landfill rates, crippling independent haulers’ who had already signed contracts with clients. “He’s rough around the edges,” said 46
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Kasper, now a Sooke councillor. “But I’m entering my 25th year of public office at three levels of government and I’ve learned that, sometimes, people need to hear that rough-around-the-edges talk. I think [it reflects] how a lot of people feel, when they’re reading the newspaper or watching the news and hearing about all the crap going on. That’s why Stew has been so successful in his political career.” Young ran for council in 1992, the year Langford incorporated. He was elected mayor in 1993.
IF YOU LET THEM BUILD IT THEY WILL COME Young’s success as mayor, as well as just about every criticism, stems from his unapologetic pro-business philosophy. It’s the way he’s created a tax base that
pays for bike lanes, recreation centres and affordable housing, without overburdening homeowners. Instead of increasing residential taxes, he slashed them. And when other municipalities scoffed at Costco, he welcomed the big-box retailer with open arms. “There was the response, ‘Oh, he’s a business guy, he must be doing something wrong.’ But the point of the matter is that that guy’s business pays three times the taxes [that residential taxpayers do] and provides employment to the community. Without your business, your community will fail,” Young said. It’s also a perspective that has led to the bulldozing of more than a few Garry oak meadows, to the ire of environmentalists. In 2007, activists took to the tree-tops in protest against the Spencer Road interchange, which they said threatened sensitive ecosystems and sacred caves. As recently as February, neighbours of a woodland once protected by the Provincial Capital Commission bemoaned council’s approval of a rezoning application that will allow for dense development. And Young’s perspective has prompted calls for more balance and sober second thought. While councillors in other municipalities hem and haw over new development applications and bylaw changes, Langford council can zip through 200-page agendas in 15 minutes, voting unanimously on each item. During the 2014 election campaign, a slate of rookie candidates calling itself Neighbours of Langford ran under the banner “Time for Change.” “While developers and their projects have, for the most part, added value to the community, regretfully the voices of taxpayers often have not had a receptive ear,” they said in their campaign material.
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The slate called it a conflict of interest for Alpine to run the only garden-waste facility in town, saying there should be a public works yard instead. Young responded that there’s nothing stopping competitors from offering better rates. And, more importantly, he said, it isn’t fair to make some residents pay through taxation for a service they won’t use. The slate was defeated and the entire council of incumbents was re-elected. Balancing decisions between development and conservation has never been difficult for Young. “My key marker is, if I’ve got people hungry for jobs who need to support their families, it’s a lot easier to make that decision. You know you’re actually going to help your family and community, rather than saying you’re going to save one or two trees.” Young has a habit of using “me” and “I” when he speaks about Langford. He also repeats a promise he made early on: If a
A skating rink outside Westhills Arena. ADRIAN LAM, TIMES COLONIST rezoning or development application is taking more than three to six months, bring it directly to his desk and he’ll personally look into it. It’s a way of speaking that might make some question his respect for due process. Coun. Lanny Seaton, who has served almost 20 years, has no complaints, maintaining the united front that is characteristic of Langford council. Seaton talks about Young in glowing terms, saying he’s receptive to criticism. But there’s still a sense, in the language he uses, that Young is the one in charge. Asked about how individual councillors
interact with staff, Young said staff have the latitude to pitch their own ideas. “They can come to me and in lots of cases, they’ll come up with an idea and say, ‘Can you run it by Stew?’ ” Seaton said. “He’s very, very inclusive and he always lets us know what’s going on.”
GROWING PAINS AND GAINS There are bound to be growing pains. Although the crime rate is on a steep decline, Langford still has one of the highest in the CRD. Since 2004, Criminal Code offences in Langford dropped from 2,516 to 1,731, peaking at 2,990 in 2006. But in 2013, it was still behind only VictoriaEsquimalt and Sidney in crimes per capita. In the West Shore, Langford had the most police calls per capita in 2014, according to West Shore RCMP’s year-end report. As development fills in, property values have risen. When some of your biggest employers are big-box stores such as Costco and Home Depot, it means you need to house employees. There’s also the question, as Langford outgrows its small-town character, of whether Young’s personal relationships could be perceived as inappropriate. In 2005, the B.C. Supreme Court found North Saanich councillor Bill Bird to be in a conflict of interest for participating in a discussion involving rezoning of a property owned by his friend. In Langford, Young refers to just about everyone in business as a friend. Michael Prince, Lansdowne professor of social policy at the University of Victoria, said municipal conflict-of-interest laws are among the strictest in the country, but still require a direct pecuniary interest. “You can’t deny a guy growing up in a community knowing people,” Prince said. “He’s clearly got a read on his community. And I think the community has a pretty good understanding of who their mayor is.” Prince said it’s not uncommon for councils to have speedy meetings if they give citizens’ committees significant power in determining policy before it reaches coun-
cil, and have weighty staff reports to consult. Prince pointed to former Saanich mayor Frank Leonard as someone who built a similar following. “As we saw with the Frank legacy, it’s reached its course. But I think in Langford, you’ve got a mayor who’s a strong mayor, but one who I think is also delegating.” Back at the Fountain Diner, Young sits back in his chair. He’s freshly tanned from a visit to his place in Mexico (he also has a condo in Las Vegas). “We did five days of fishing and got fish every single day,” he said. “Usually when you go fishing out there, it’s hit or miss. But it’s all about the temperature of the water, believe it or not. If it goes up one degree, the fish go out.” The fishing description reflects Young’s understanding of the need to react to small environmental changes. In January, a B.C. Stats report found growth was slowing in Langford, although it still remained the fastest-growing community in the region. The same month, Young announced an aggressive policy aimed at encouraging economic activity in Langford’s core, involving amenity-fee reductions for developers. He promised similar cuts relating to rezoning fees, development permits and building permits, as well as a 10-year tax holiday for affordable housing, seniors’ housing and provincial and federal buildings. “When everyone’s making money, [businesses] don’t mind paying a bit more. When they aren’t, governments have to recognize that,” he said at the time. “We lose a little on the pot of money, but we’ll probably gain on jobs. There’s a balancing act.” At 54, he’s still young by most standards. But former plans for an early retirement around 60 have shifted since the birth of his second daughter three years ago. Asked about the biggest change they’ve seen in Young over the years, friends and colleagues report that he’s mellowed out a bit and doesn’t work quite as obsessively. But for Young, there’s no end in sight. “We’ve come a long way. I’d probably say we’re at 70 per cent,” he said. “I believe Langford can move faster, can be able to provide more services and do it in such a way that it’s innovative.” Capital
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APPS WITH ALTITUDE Lisa Bettany’s designs, like Camera+, are taking off STORY BY AMY SMART
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isa Bettany’s career making apps begins, of all places, in a hospital bed. At 19, she was a competitive ice dancer who spent hundreds of hours training at the Raquet Club. When her skating partner dropped her, Bettany’s professional dreams shattered along with her spine. “My initial response was pretty bad. I definitely wouldn’t skate anymore. I would have difficulty walking,” she says. The injury limited Bettany’s options for years, but through a series of risky leaps of a different kind, she would come to co-found Camera+, one of the most successful photography apps of all time. More than 12 million copies have been purchased to date and, five years since its launch, it remains in the iTunes Top 50 paid-apps chart. But at the time, as she slogged through
App developer Lisa Bettany is taking flying lessons in her spare time.
PHOTOS BY DARREN STONE both a master’s degree in linguistics and a bachelor’s in journalism, Bettany spent the better part of every week getting injections in her back and resting. When she couldn’t find a satisfying job after graduation, it was a low point and she needed an escape. First came the DSLR camera, which was an incentive to get out of bed. Next came the blog, Mostly Lisa, where she wrote about everything to do with photography. When she wanted to expand her skills, she reached out to other photographers online. The feedback was positive and her blog grew a following. “I started a blog mainly out of just wanting some creative outlet, because I was so isolated with my injury,” she says. During a visit to San Francisco, where she was invited to talk about photography on a
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podcast, she met a group of developers who offered her an opportunity — but one with piles of upfront work with no promise of any significant payoff. Her first job was creating and starring in videos for games, which transitioned into work on a new camera app. The idea behind Camera+ was to add the functionality of a DSLR camera to the otherwise limited camera phone. The app development company, called “tap tap tap,” was founded on a commitment to simplicity and the belief that any task should be accomplished with just a few “taps.” Sounds acceptable now, but when they started talking, the general public was still grappling with the meaning of “app.” Friends and family were wary. “Everyone in my life said, ‘What are you doing?’ This was when no one even knew what an app was,” Bettany says. “I said, ‘No, I have confidence.’ Now it doesn’t seem crazy, what I do.”
Bettany moved to San Francisco, then New York City. John Casasanta, creator of software promotion site MacHeist and CEO of tap tap tap, first invited Bettany to produce videos for a game called The Heist, as well as star in them. His first impression of Bettany was, “zany,” having seen a Harry Potterthemed blog post set in a train station. “It was sort of an acting role. I saw she had acting experience, so she was doing stuff as a Russian spy,” Casasanta said. Her still photography experience came in handy about a year later, when work began on Camera+. Casasanta said one of Bettany’s blog posts comparing various photo apps had an inspirational effect on Camera+, which was designed to roll each function into one app. “My role was basically developing all the features we needed to make photos look good. The filters and, over the course of the year, the focus and exposure and features like that,” Bettany says. Casasanta says she was integral to the design as a photographer herself, testing it out and making sure it was something she would use. The success of Camera+ has been explosive. In its first month, it sold more than 217,000 copies, providing the tap tap tap team with more than $250,000 in net sales. At its peak, it sold more than one million copies in a month. By 2012, the company
had reportedly turned down an offer by Twitter to buy the app, following Facebook’s $1-billion purchase of rival Instagram. When the New York Times wrote about the expansion of Camera+ to iPad, it called the company an “unusual success story” for its approach to marketing, which relied heavily on word-of-mouth. Camera+ has also seen its share of ups and downs. “We’ve seen huge ebbs and flows at Camera+. We’ve earned as much as $200,000 in one day and as little as $500,” Bettany said. But dedication, reinvention and a bit of faith seem to be at the core of its longevity. “With anything I’ve been a part of, it’s about hard work. The reason Camera+ has remained successful is part of that.”
Back on Vancouver Island, Bettany recently launched another app, albeit with limited success. Over her eight years in the industry, she’s worked on several apps that have reached varying heights, including The Heist and MagiCam. Poppets, a Victoria-based kids game three years in the making, launched in November. For her partner, Sarah MacNeill, the slow sales have been heartbreaking. The Shawnigan Lake graphic designer originally created the quirky, misfit characters known as “poppets” for her own daughter. She turned them into illustrations and hand-sewn dolls under her own brand, before Bettany stumbled across them on craft website Etsy from New York one day. It was only later that Bettany realized MacNeill, her old friend from skating, was behind them. MacNeill agreed to partner with Bettany and later, programmer Alex Zorkin, for her first foray into the app world. The idea was to create a whimsical world for kids to explore, reaching an audience that wanted a gentler alternative to commercial offerings like Disney’s Frozen. “It’s been incredibly disappointing. We haven’t even sold a fraction of what we hoped we would, by this time,” MacNeill said in March. “I put three years of time into this project, a couple thousand hours, and will probably never fully be compensated or recover that time unless something major changes with the marketing situation.” Zorkin, founder of theCrux Studios, agreed that a new marketing push could turn things around. He’s proud of the app they created and calls it a portfolio piece. Capital
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“It’s an amazing art piece and a fun game. The success, honestly, isn’t what we expected. But I haven’t sold it out quite yet.” For Bettany, it’s just the name of the game. It’s a learning curve and the app’s different target audience of young children meant she couldn’t tap into her millions of followers, who are specifically interested in photography. But she’s still optimistic: Runaway hit game Flappy Bird, after all, didn’t earn a penny for a year before it went viral, she said. She chalks it up to the nature of the industry, saying it could still take off. “I’m very proud of the app, of what it stands for. And I think you can never ever count an app out. What it does in three months has no bearing overall on the success or failure of an app. I’ve seen it time and time again, where it has a lull and you just need one person, one voice to speak in favour of your app. Justin Bieber all of a sudden starts playing Poppets and it takes off.” In the meantime, Bettany is already on to the next thing: a video app called Vee, tentatively scheduled for release in June. She’s partnering with two of the other developers who got Camera+ off the ground, to apply some of the same functionality to video recording. “Apps are high risk, high reward and extremely volatile. An app can go from No. 1 to 400 in a day and vice versa. I’ve seen apps that don’t make a penny for a year and then gross a million in a matter of weeks,” she said.
It hasn’t always been easy, but the same fearlessness and adaptability that led Bettany into this career has sustained her through the biggest challenges. As a woman, she faced particular barriers in the tech industry. “The first few years, I was mainly trying to develop respect in the community. That was certainly a struggle, because people viewed me as the face of the app, just the girl promoting it. “I was like, ‘No, no. I’m the co-founder. I made this,’ ” she said. “I still receive a bit of that, but I think it’s getting better.” Vancouver Island was a wasteland, technologically speaking, when she left. But as her career grew in the States, she began meeting people who told a different story. The capital region now boasts a $4-billion tech industry, according to the Victoria Advanced Technology Council, growing 62 per cent between 2009 and 2014. “I’d see some people at tech events in the States who said, ‘Hey, we’re able to live in Victoria and do the same job.’ I thought, well maybe I can develop something here.” She moved back to Vancouver Island two years ago and now lives in Deep Cove with her husband, taking flying lessons in her free time. The hobby seems appropriate for someone with interests as diverse as ice dancing and linguistics. At the time of writing, Camera+ version 6.2 had just been released, while version 6.3, set for release in only a few weeks’ time, was set to include a new filter pack that Bettany said would “change expectations of filters.” Even with the strong team of creators behind Vee, Bettany said the future of any of her apps is uncertain by nature. The best bet for survival, she said, is flexibility. “It’s about adapting and changing.”
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Mary Alice Johnson cradles a bucket full of wheat seeds at her farm in Sooke.“My mother was a great gardener. For me, it is play. I love digging in the dirt.” ADRIAN LAM, TIMES COLONIST
A NEED FOR SEEDS She’s a retired teacher and an innovative nurturer. Naturally, she has something new BY CARLA WILSON
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rint a label. Stick it on a brown envelope. Pop seeds inside. Seal. Repeat 10,000 times. It’s an annual ritual for Mary Alice Johnson, the 71-year-old owner of ALM Organic Farm and Full Circle Seeds in Sooke. The retired teacher packages 280 varieties of organic vegetable, grain, herb and flower seeds for local and mail-order customers across the continent. Johnson chooses seeds from the most robust plants on her idyllic farm, where she grows vegetables for local restaurants and catering operations and processes seeds for other growers. For Johnson, the connection to the land dates back to childhood. She grew up on a farm in Colorado and her late husband, metal artist Jan John-
son, was raised on a ranch in Wyoming. They moved from Asia to Sooke, where they bought a rundown 10-acre farm on Otter Point Road and worked hard with neighbours and friends to bring it back into production. “Sometimes your past catches up with you,” Johnson says. “My mother was a great gardener. For me, it is play. I love digging in the dirt.” A life-long teacher, Johnson earned a master’s degree in curriculum and instruction at university in Michigan and teaching remains an integral part of her everyday life, as she happily shares her knowledge of farming and seed production. The farm has seven greenhouses, including three on skids that Johnson can move into optimal positions.
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The renowned Sooke Harbour House was among early buyers of her produce. Johnson supplies several restaurants and catering firms, sells at the Moss Street and Sooke Country markets and runs a pickup produce-box program from the farm, as well as the seed business. About 100 apprentices have worked on the farm through the Stewards of Irreplaceable Lands program, learning about organic farming using sustainable practices. “It wasn’t that long ago that I could outwork any one of them,” Johnson said with a laugh. Her latest advance is a vacuumbased seed-cleaning machine acquired with the help of a $2,700 grant from the Bauta Family Initiative on Canadian Seed Security. Johnson expects to use the machine this year to increase her production. Johnson said the goal of Full Circle Seeds is to ensure more consumers have access to enough safe and nutritious food to live a healthy life. “Food security has
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taken off everywhere,” Johnson said. “People really want seeds.” Individual growers — on small farms, in backyards and even on boulevard plots — are increasingly growing their own food. And they are getting help from agricultural organizations and governments. Johnson said co-operation, education and sharing information are hallmarks of this work, as connections are forged between producers and chefs. Farm markets and roadside stalls are increasing and the appeal of communitysupported agriculture is soaring. Organic sections are now standard in grocery stores, with even larger chains buying local produce. Johnson is one of the eight members of the B.C. Eco Seed Co-op, all small-scale commercial seed growers. The co-op, part of the non-profit Vancouver-based FarmFolk CityFolk Society, is in its 21st year. One of its many events is the popular Feast of Fields, which showcases locally produced food.
Members are striving to “collectively bulk up the quality, the quantity and the diversity of the seed that’s offered in B.C.,” said Heather Pritchard, farm program manager for the society. Despite enthusiasm for locally produced seeds, data have not been collected on how much is collected and sold, so a study is underway to gather that information, Pritchard said. “But we do know that B.C. imports far more seeds and food than it produces,” Pritchard says. The goal is to set up a co-op table at special events around the province, so members can sell and distribute seeds to other regions in B.C. Plans would also see co-op members grow bulk seed and have other members test them to provide feedback and for quality assurance, Pritchard says. More than 40 Seedy Saturdays and Sundays are held in B.C. each year. About 2,000 turned out for the annual Seedy Saturday in February at the Victoria Conference Centre, says organizer Pat McGuire, who notes “there are a lot of young people who want to get into farming.”
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SEA CIDER FARM RULES
Sea Cider Farm owner Kristen Jordan shares some secrets of her cider success. DARREN STONE, TIMES COLONIST
Sweet fizz gives way to an explosion of sophistication BY ADRIAN CHAMBERLAIN
A T
few years back, Newfoundland’s famous Screech company stopped storing its rum in oak casks, which was bad news across the country for Sea Cider Farm and Ciderhouse. The Central Saanich cidery used Screech’s rum-soaked barrels to flavour its most popular product, Rumrunner. With a 12 per cent alcohol content and tasting richly of molasses, rum and apples, Potent cider has won a clutch of medals, including gold at the Pacific Northwest Cider Awards. Today, Rumrunner sells almost as much as all the farm’s other ciders combined. However, the key to its distinctively rummy tang is aging the cider in Screech barrels. Sea Cider Farm was offered the blue polyurethane barrels the Screech company now uses. But, of course, that was no help. So the cidery switched gears, buying wooden bourbon barrels from a broker in Kentucky. They resaturate them with Screech for a few days, pour it out and then let the Rumrunner cider sit for six months in the rum-infused casks. Which begs the question: What happens to all that leftover Screech? “I don’t know,” said a chuckling Kristen Jordan, Sea Cider farm’s owner/cider-master. “But I have a lot of happy staff members.” It’s that sort of make-it-happen versatility and ingenuity that’s made Sea Cider Farm a success story in the thriving craft-cider scene. Founded by Jordan in 2007, the business has grown far past early projections. Eight years ago the cidery was producing about 5,000 litres annually. This year, it’s planning
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to make 100,000 litres — a twenty-fold increase. Originally, Sea Cider Farm’s modest aim was to sell to Vancouver Island and the Lower Mainland. “Now we’re in Portland and Chicago and Seattle and San Francisco. We’re selling across North America,” Jordan said. Recent developments include distribution in New York City (Manhattan and Brooklyn) and a new cider promotion with 40 Whole Foods Market stores in California. Following five-plus years of operating in the red as it worked to establish itself, Sea Cider Farm — a four-hectare farm with a 6,000-square-foot cider house — is now a million-dollar business that’s making money. It employs a staff of 15, with extra hands enlisted in the high season. Like the craft-beer boom of recent decades, craft cider has experienced an “explosion” in popularity. Jordan says many consumers have tired of the sweet, fizzy cider produced by big companies. They enjoy the craft-cider emphasis on variety, sophisticated flavours (sometimes boosted by a higher alcoholic content) and use of local produce. “When we started, cider wasn’t popular. We had lots of people coming into the tasting room, wondering what we were. Were we an apple-juice bar, where you could try different kinds of apple juice? Were we a winery?” Jordan said. “At first there was a handful of cideries in the Pacific-Northwest and we were friends with all of them. We’d all gone to cider school together. Now there’s 10 times as many cideries in North America.” A slim woman in her 40s, Jordan was interviewed in the large, high-ceilinged tasting-room of her cidery. Visitors sit at long, thick-planked tables on a gray cement floor. Six high-backed, medievallooking wooden chairs once owned by a church are placed in alcoves. She purchased the chairs from a local antique store. That’s also where the giant, metalhooped chandeliers come from. This is a multi-faceted enterprise. As well as manufacturing and distributing cider and running its 1,500-tree farm, Sea Cider Farm functions as a food-and-beverage venue hosting weddings and corporate functions. Gone are the days when Jordan helped scrub cider tanks (each is personalized
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with a sign bearing the name of a staff member). She now oversees a hand-picked team, including a Spanish-trained winemaker turned cider-maker with whom Jordan collaborates on new product development. If need be, she still pitches in on a ground level. When a recent “be a tourist in your hometown” promotion unexpectedly attracted 400 visitors daily, staffers phoned her. “ ‘It’s a cider emergency!’ they said,” Jordan recalled. “We’d never seen anything like it. I raced out there.” Despite that success, the journey hasn’t been easy. Jordan started Sea Cider Farm with her ex-husband, Bruce Jordan, a lawyer. He developed Parkinson’s disease. The stress and all-consuming nature of the business didn’t help his condition. The pair eventually divorced. “It was,” she said, “very, very difficult for both of us.” A mother of two, Jordan now has a new partner. Bruce remains a friend and “trusted adviser.” The seed of her interest in cider was
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planted when Jordan attended Atlantic College, a boarding school in Wales. It was located in the heart of cider country, between Swansea and Cardiff. She didn’t get into cider-making immediately. Jordan took an economics degree from McGill University, followed by a master’s degree from Yale in environmental management. She worked as an international development consultant in Africa and Eastern Europe. Her aim was to give back to the world. One employer was a non-profit agency in famine-plagued Ethiopia. After marriage and children, Jordan decided she no longer wanted to travel for her work. She and her then-husband took cidery classes at Washington State University. The couple tried cultivating an apple orchard on family property at Shuswap Lake in 2002, but deer and bear invasions scuttled that plan. Working with a sympathetic realtor (who was also a grape grower), they found their current hillside property in 2004. The conditions are perfect for apple-growing, says Jordan. A metre of glacial till sits on
a clay pan. Well-drained topsoil is fertilized with decades of organic matter, courtesy of a former cow and sheep farm. There’s a prevailing southeasterly wind to eliminate potential moisture problems. The land is protected by forest next door. Close proximity to the sea (the property overlooks Cordova Channel in Haro Strait) helps ensure temperatures remain moderate. “It has everything we could ask,” Jordan said. She retains the social conscience of her youth. For instance, a seasonal cider, Ruby Rose, is part of Sea Cider Farm’s Canadian Invasion Series. The cider is named after Rosa Rugosa, an invasive plant threatening many coastal areas. Proceeds from the Canadian Invasion Series go to organizations combating these ecological problems. Sea Cider Farm’s donations support the Nature Conservancy of Canada. One of its projects is organizing teams to pull outof-control broom on nearby James Island. And this is where being a cidery comes in doubly handy. “They have work parties. And they get thirsty,” Jordan said with laugh.
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SPIRIT OF THE FUTURE Waterfront project in East Sooke among initiatives designed to improve lives of First Nations people BY SARAH PETRESCU
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A Sc’ianew (Chenuh) band councillor Gordon Charles, in front of some of the homes being built at the Spirit Bay development in East Sooke. ADRIAN LAM, TIMES COLONIST
stunning strip of East Sooke waterfront is where a small First Nation and its private partners hope to build an economic future for its struggling members. But to leverage their greatest asset, the land, they’ve had to get creative to overcome what some are calling an institutionalized barrier to aboriginal development. Two years ago, Sc’ianew (Chenuh) Chief Russell Chips and Shoal Point developer David Butterfield unveiled a plan to build a housing and business development called Spirit Bay. The Beecher Bay First Nation has 51 per cent interest in the $300-million project, which would see hundreds of homes sold for about $269,000 to $1 million on 1,000 acres of reserve land with 99-year leases. There are also plans for a gas station, general store and spa resort. Chipps said the vision for the project came from the band members, who met over weekly barbecues for months to discuss a future for their community. “It’s the community, all of us working together,” said Chipps, noting there are 253 band members, but only 120 live on the reserve. The area is remote with no bus service to town, which makes it difficult for members to access services, social programs and activities like sports for youth. “My hopes are that my children, their children and membership’s children will have some kind of base to carry forward and not struggle like we did.” The revenue from the project would help lift band members out of poverty, create jobs and a secure a self-sustaining economy for future generations away from the stifling federal government transfer payment system. It’s a vision being shared among First Nations across the capital region, and Canada, energized by a growing number of success stories as well as increasing local government and private sector interest in mutually profitable partnerships. “The potential for many of these First Nations is huge. They have some of the greatest, most-valuable land locked up that they can’t access,” said Butterfield. “It’s about unlocking the value.” But the Spirit Bay project hasn’t been able to go the traditional route of funding and secure an initial bank mortgage. Capital
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“A lot of the banks we sat down with were keen to be involved once the development was going,” said Andrew Reeve, head of government relations and outreach with Butterfield’s Trust for Sustainable Development. “But they don’t want to look bad or damage relationships if the project doesn’t succeed. It’s a Catch-22 unique to First Nations like Beecher Bay that are land rich and cash poor. You need development to get development happening.” So the trust proposed something unconventional to address the need for mortgage financing in First Nations communities. They have created the First Nations Social Impact Fund, a mortgage investment corporation that loans against raw land and generates revenues as the land appreciates value with development. “We were shocked that no one had ever thought of using mortgage investment for social impact investing,” said Reeve, calling the concept a new form of philanthropy. “It’s clear more people are saying, ‘If I’m investing, I want my money to do some good.’ ”
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Reeve said the fund is gaining interest and investors quickly, including some financial institutions. A few homes and show homes are already built. Servicing is underway and the sales centre was re-opened in late March. The minimum fund investment is $10,000 with fixed returns of three to five per cent over five years. Investors can buy shares or use self-directed RRSP, TFSA, RRIF, and RESP accounts. The fund is also looking into accepting Registered Disability Savings Plan. Over the past few years, a number of the capital region’s eight First Nations, along with Métis and urban aboriginals, have launched innovative businesses and economic ventures with more on the horizon. • The T’Souke First Nation, already a model for solar-powered communities around the world, signed a $750-million wind energy partnership with TimberWest Forest Corp. and EDP Renewables Canada that could power thousands of Island homes. The 250-member First Nation also teamed up with Pacific Coast Wasabi on an income-generating wasabi farm, which will see its first harvest in June. “It’s grow-
ing very well. We’re quite excited,” said T’Souke Chief Gordon Planes. • In the summer of 2014, the Tsartlip First Nation in Brentwood Bay opened a gas station and convenience store on Stelly‘s Cross Road. The $1.7-million project is an income generator for the 1,000-member band. At the time, Chief Don Tom said the business was the beginning of ending reliance on inadequate and dwindling government funding. “We want to move away from managing poverty to managing wealth and prosperity,” he said. • While the Tsawout First Nation had to scrap its original plan for the 650,000square-foot Jesken Town Centre on the Saanich Peninsula after a deal with a Vancouver development firm fell through, they are in talks with new partners to build something that will benefit the whole area and create hundreds of jobs. Brent Mainprize, an entrepreneurial business expert and professor at the University of Victoria who specializes in working with aboriginal communities, said this is a pivotal time for First Nations economic development.
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“At one level, industry is becoming much more accountable in how they are engaging with indigenous people. Government is also having to rethink this as there have been a few precedent-setting court cases [recognizing aboriginal rights],” said Mainprize. “On the social side, self-determination is thriving.” Mainprize said it’s not just First-Nationowned businesses that are growing, but also entrepreneurship among band members, especially young people and women. He said there is a lot to be learned from how aboriginal communities do business, citing an elder who told him that “wealth in our community is measured by what we distribute, not what we accumulate for ourselves.” Mainprize said the collective approach to wealth and the potential in the fastgrowing aboriginal youth population desire attention. “Another positive is aboriginal people have a natural way of stewarding resources that mainstream society can learn from,” he said, noting development is thought of in terms of generations not decades. • The Songhees First Nation is an economic success story in the making. They have been able to prosper largely due to tax jurisdiction as a means for revenue. In 1995, the First Nation began collecting property tax from residential and commercial tenants. There are now about 730 taxable properties and 2,500 tenants. The First Nation has 640 band members, the majority living on reserve. “This was the first step to being able to do economic development,” said Christina Clarke, director of operations. She said the second turning point came in 2005, with the passing of the First Nations Fiscal Management Act. As members of the First Nations Finance Authority, they gained borrowing powers. And with the First Nations Lands Management Act they are able to make laws in relation to their own land and resources, similar to a municipality. “Instead of going to Indian Affairs to create an investment climate we can do it ourselves,” Clarke said. The Songhees First Nation has since been invested in several companies, including partnerships with Esquimalt First Nation in Salish Sea Industrial Services, and properties at Westbay and Plumper Bay. The two Lekwungen nations also
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intended to pursue first right of purchase on a Rock Bay property once cleanup of toxins is complete. And in 2014, they announced a partnership with the Greater Victoria Harbour Authority to incubate economic development with the non-profit Kwin’ang’eth Se’las Development Company. This spring, they will hear pitches from small businesses to invest in with a Dragon’s Den-style idea fair. Clarke said economic development for the band has boomed since they undertook their biggest project yet: The Songhees Wellness Centre, which opened in January 2014. “This building has been the catalyst for so much. Since we opened the doors we haven’t been able to keep up with the opportunities,” Clarke said. The building took eight years of planning and community consultation. The majority of the funding for the $24-million project came from VanCity credit union and the First Nations Finance Authority under the Fiscal Management Act. Health Canada and Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development Canada kicked in about $1 million. The 54,000-square foot centre houses Songhees administration, governance, education and health programs. It has a fully equipped gym and commercial kitchen for cultural and sports events, as well as meeting and conference space for rent. The building, with a LEED-silver energy effi-
cency rating, also features traditional Coast Salish art throughout, including an incredible loon totem at its entrance designed by elder Butch Dick and carved from a 300-year-old cedar log. Songhees Chief Ron Sam said the centre is more than a meeting space and economic driver for the community. It has become an emblem of pride and hope for the future. “A while ago, I was walking home into my complex and a band member’s six-year-old granddaughter came up. She said, “Chief, I gotta tell you I love the Wellness Centre. Thank you,’ ” Sam said. “There is tremendous pride for what is happening here.” Sam said fitness and education programs are at capacity and the centre is buzzing with new activity every day. “We thought it would take years to fill, but it hasn’t at all. This place has really brought our youth together, which is very important.” He said he hopes to expand on the success of the centre and to engage the community in economic development, namely building on band members’ skills and ideas. “This is just the start. We are getting very serious about pursuing ventures that give us the ability to expand in all areas,” Sam said, adding the ultimate goal is “to move entirely away from the model that relies on government transfers … to thrive and be self-sufficient.”
Elder Butch Dick designed and carved a loon totem from a 300-year-old cedar log for the Songhees Wellness Centre. ADRIAN LAM, TIMES COLONIST
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THE STATE OF GIVING IN VICTORIA
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20
HEALTH CARE
EMPLOYMENT
30
HOMELESSNESS
COST OF LIVING
40
HOUSING
50
MENTAL ILLNESS
n 2014, the Victoria Foundation conducted the “Victoria Capital Region Community Wellbeing Survey”, resulting in an insightful look into our community's health. The extensive results were published in Victoria’s Vital Signs®, a report that reveals some eye-opening statistics. Selected data from this
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report is included in the graphics below. If you are looking for ways to make a difference in the world and contribute to the health and vitality of your community, consider volunteering, donating, sharing and continuing this conversation. Your contributions will help build a better world.
GREATER VICTORIA’S IMPORTANT ISSUES According to Vital Signs, these were the six most important issues facing Greater Victoria in 2014. Survey results indicate that 52.4 per cent of respondents identified “Cost of Living” as the most important issue facing our community.
0
MEDIAN CHARITABLE DONATION
CHARITABLE GIVING DOWN SLIGHTLY In 2012, 25.5 per cent of all tax filers in Greater Victoria made charitable donations, down slightly from 2011 (26.4 per cent), but higher than both B.C. (21 per cent) and Canada (22.4 per cent).
GREATER VICTORIA
BRITISH COLUMBIA
CANADA
HOMELESSNESS Between April 1, 2013 and March 31, 2014, approximately 1,785 unique individuals in Greater Victoria used an emergency shelter at least once (based on data from five out of six emergency shelters in the region.)
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Understanding the issues is a starting point for action. A NEED FOR REGIONAL FOOD SECURITY Currently, more than 25 agencies in Greater Victoria are providing food distribution services for nearly 19,000 people per year. These groups have formed the Greater Victoria Food Share Network. Their goal is to increase the efficiency for community food programs and to streamline services for those in need, those donating and those providing emergency food services. This shift moves from
the current emergency food distribution method into a sustainable model that is focused on health, nutrition and poverty reduction. The initiative includes 43 local organizations who have created a Collaborative Road Map for Achieving Community Food Security in the Capital Region — getting food to those who need it most.
OR MORE OF MONTHLY HOUSEHOLD INCOME
SPENT ON SHELTER
HOUSING AFFORDABILITY
RENTAL VACANCIES In 2014, the average vacancy rate for the region was 2.7 per cent, down from 3.4 per cent in 2013 and slightly higher than B.C. (2.4 per cent).
In 2010, just over 23% of renters and 9% of owner households in the Capital Regional District spent 50 % or more of their monthly household icome on shelter costs, on par with rates for B.C. and Canada. Spending less than 30% is considered affordable.
GET INVOLVED! DISCOVER, CONNECT AND GIVE Being part of community improvement is something everyone can do. Whether you’re new to the area, or a long-time resident, old, young, rich or poor, there’s a role for you. Looking for a place to start? Check out the Victoria Foundation’s Community Knowl-
edge Centre. You’ll find links to profiles of more than 150 Victoria-area charities, including photos, videos, financial information and more. http://ckc.victoriafoundation.bc.ca. You make your community. And your community makes you
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you have the power to
GIVE
Power To Be facilitates outdoor adventure programs in Victoria and Vancouver for people living with a disability or barrier to getting outside.
an active life At Power To Be, we aren’t simply equipping our participants with outdoor skills; we are championing possibility and human potential for people living with developmental, cognitive, social or physical challenges. With your donations, we can help people get outside and active in our community.
give now at powertobe.ca
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Power To Be extends the influence of nature to everyone Victoria-based non-profit offers inclusive adventure programs year-round
F
or anyone who has taken a pause in the forest or felt the rumble of the ocean, the power of nature is clear. For many people living with a disability, Power To Be provides access to these experiences through outdoor adventures they wouldn’t otherwise have. “Power To Be helps me have something to look forward to in my life,” says one participant. “It keeps me active, gaining new skills, meeting new friends and doing the things I love, instead of being stuck at home.” Founded in 1998 by Executive Director Tim Cormode, Power To Be provides adventure-based programs in nature to youth and families living with a disability or barrier in Greater Victoria and Vancouver. Participants live with a diverse range of considerations,
including autism, developmental disabilities, mental health considerations, acquired brain injuries, cognitive disabilities, youth at risk, physical disabilities and medical illness. Programs include kayaking, canoeing, rock climbing, hiking, and camping, among others. Supported by a dedicated team of staff and volunteers, Power To Be works with more than 50 community partners. In 2014, Power To Be had more than 1,000 participants out on 429 programs. The organization delivers programs through two streams: Adaptive Recreation, which offers inclusive, nature-based recreation activities, and Wilderness School, which works with youth referred by a counsellor or teacher over a threeyear program with monthly weekend trips and summer expeditions. “Through Power To Be, people are able to challenge themselves, building confidence and connections to support all aspects of their lives,” says Jennifer Garrett, Director of Programs. “We believe that access to recreation is a right, not a privilege, and thanks to our supporters we are able to make that a reality for many families in our community.” Power To Be relies on the generous support of its donors and volunteers. To learn how you can get involved and support life-changing programs within your community, visit www.powertobe.ca.
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United Way reveals $5.7 Million raised to strengthen Greater Victoria community
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t is proven yet again just how powerful an entire community coming together can be as United Way announces $5.7 Million raised during the 2014 Community Campaign. “The citizens of Greater Victoria have stepped up yet again and demonstrated their commitment to building a strong, caring and inclusive community,” says Patricia Jelinski, CEO at United Way. “There is a significant need for a strong and stable network of social services in our community. At United Way we are committed to meeting the needs of our most vulnerable citizens today while working to address the root causes of social issues and create sustainable change for the future. $5.7 Million will make a significant difference in many people’s lives.” Rebecca Grant, United Way’s 2014 Volunteer Campaign Chair recognizes the many individuals and organizations involved in this success. “It is a privilege to come together in a ‘united way’ with so many community leaders and supporters from business, labour, government and the non-profit sector to support such a worthwhile cause. Thank you for your enthusiasm and hard work.” Every year thousands join United Way’s campaign to create positive change within their community. This year’s campaign was comprised of over 8,000 donors, 500 worksites and hundreds of volunteers.
United Way’s 2014 campaign highlights include: • Utilizing new technology – United Way piloted e-pledge in select workplaces and will continue to expand this option in 2015. • New challenge cup – BMO, RBC, CIBC, TD Canada Trust and Island Savings participated in the first annual Financial Challenge. • Engineering sector participation expands – New companies from the engineering sector came on board to compete in the first annual Popsicle Stick Playground Challenge to raise funds for kids and families. • Labour works hard for United Way – When it comes to labour participation the total revenue raised by unionized workplaces is an impressive $1.968 Million which is 53 per cent of the total revenue raised by workplaces. • $62,000 was offered by two generous donors for a matching incentive to motivate Individual Giving donors (outside of workplace) to increase their leadership donations. Since 1937, United Way has raised $149 Million to help people when they need it most.
Introducing United Way’s 2015 Community Campaign Chair – Bruce Williams United Way would like to welcome Bruce Williams as the 2015 Community Campaign Chair. Bruce’s dedication to the United Way movement began in Ontario over 20 years ago. After relocating to Vancouver Island in 2001, he began working closely with United Way, investing his personal time, being a donor at the Leadership level, and sharing his expertise through various roles including Campaign Cabinet member, leadership presenter, and event emcee.
2014 SPIRIT AWARD RECIPIENTS United Way would like to congratulate our 2014 Spirit Awards recipients. The Spirit Awards are presented to organizations, teams and individuals who achieve outstanding results in their United Way workplace campaigns. Thank you for your continued support and inspiration! Welcome to United Way Spirit Award Coastal Community Insurance Services Community Partner Spirit Award Beacon Community Services Community Impact Spirit Award BMO Bank of Montreal Financial Challenge Cup RBC Royal Bank Post Secondary Challenge Cup University of Victoria,
Leadership Giving Spirit Award University of Victoria,
UVic FA, CUPE 4163, 917, 951, PEA & USW 2009 Outstanding Employee Campaign Chair Spirit Award (0-100 employees) Tracey Hutton, Island Health, Begbie Hall Outstanding Employee Campaign Chair Spirit Award (100+ employees) Ginette Berthiaume, BC Assessment Head Office
UVic FA, CUPE 4163, 917, 951, PEA & USW 2009
Outstanding Campaign Committee Spirit Award Schneider Electric
Engineering Challenge Cup RJC Read Jones Christoffersen Consulting Engineers Ltd
Outstanding Workplace Campaign Spirit Award Seaspan Victoria Shipyards & Affiliated Unions
Labour Partnership Spirit Award HP Advanced Solutions Inc & BCGEU 1201
Naden Band Spirit of Excellence National Research Council Canada, PIPSC & RCEA
Chair’s Award of Distinction Malcolm Barker Seaspan Victoria Shipyards
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TOGETHER, WE ARE POSSIBILITY
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We’re so pleased to celebrate this year with you.
We began in 1985, raising funds for equipment that was beyond the means of government to purchase. In these past three decades, thanks to you and your donations in support of our community hospital, we have raised over $33 million to build new operating rooms, a new ER department, renovate many areas, support the doctors who provide in-hospital care and purchase much-needed equipment.
We couldn’t have done it without you. Thank you for your support.
250-652-7531 www.sphf.ca 2166 Mount Newton X Road, Saanichton BC V8M 2B2
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urning 30 allows us to tell you 30 important things about the Saanich Peninsula Hospital (SPH) and its Foundation: 30. We believe in philanthropy: we know what seems like no-bigdeal to one person can mean the world to someone else. 29. There’s no present like time: one of the best gifts is time. Want to help with our 30th anniversary celebrations? 28. We have fun: Thanks to local summer events, we spend time talking to friends and supporters. 27. Generosity inspires generosity: Studies show that generous behaviour inspires observers to behave generously; which means that our donors’ gifts influence hundreds to do the same. 26. Doctors know best: thanks to advice from doctors, donors supported projects to create a new ER, a Palliative Care Unit and new ORs. 25. Patch Adams lives: SPH Chief of Staff, Ambrose Marsh, is the most committed and passionate advocate for our hospital (and he’s funny too!). 24. We have aged well: thanks to our donors, eight major renovation projects have kept SPH modern. 23. Our donors are part of something bigger: even small contributions contribute to a mighty group contribution. 22. We are in the happiness business: supporting a good cause reduces anxiety and induces feelings of warmth and connection to others. 21. We’re lucky: donors come by just to visit. 20. The Foundation produces receipts you don’t want to lose! 19. We get to educate: every campaign involves a new conversation about our community’s healthcare needs. 18. Messengers matter: our board
The Saanich Peninsula Hospital Foundation
– a top 30 list – members, especially president Gordon Benn, speak passionately about SPH’s importance. 17. “A lawyer, a chicken farmer and a police chief walk into a bar …” Actually, they walk into our board room. Board diversity helps the Foundation understand the needs of the community more deeply. 16. We are agents of change: the Foundation is able to respond to smaller (but important!) needs at our hospital. 15. Our donors change lives. 14. The Peninsula cares about seniors: you can see this in the renovations and programs (such as music and art therapy) that donors support. 13. We get and give back: every year, the Foundation awards professional development grants to keep staff skills current.
12. Memories can last many lifetimes: generosity from families means that loved ones live on, in programs and updates at SPH.
6. Donors see the future: many donors have remembered SPHF in their wills; funds which will be used to build our hospital’s future.
11. We’re neighbours: many people at SPH live and work in the community.
5. Everyone has something to give: wisdom, time, funds – it all counts.
10. The health of the whole person is important: the faith communities of the Peninsula funded a multi-faith chapel – a spiritual gathering place for residents and patients. 9. Stop and smell the roses: we regularly see patients and residents outside checking out the birds and the blooms in the donor-funded gardens. 8. Our friends have our back: no matter the threat, residents of the Peninsula rally to protect SPH. 7. And we’ve got theirs: over 30 years, many projects have started with a community need.
4. Volunteers add so much: the Foundation provides funding for the training (and thanking) of SPH’s compassionate and professional volunteers. 3. Welcoming attitude attracts great staff. Great thank you’s and appreciation – a Christmas lunch and help to stay fit encourages staff to stay at SPH. 2. Ownership leads to caring: donor support inspires SPH’s staff and doctors. 1. It’s our hospital: Saanich Peninsula residents fought for a community hospital and they support it every day.
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ENJOY THE CERTAINTY THAT YOU HAVE MADE A GOOD DECISION. What will your legacy be? You can guide the future of your community and the causes you care about by making a legacy gift to the Victoria Foundation. Our endowment fund is one of this community’s greatest strengths, allowing us to manage charitable gifts and bequests in perpetuity. We continually build the fund and invest in our community - granting annually to a broad range of charitable organizations and worthy causes. If community matters to you, the Victoria Foundation is where you can make your priorities known. Please contact Sara Neely at 250.381.5532 or sneely@victoriafoundation.bc.ca for more information. www.victoriafoundation.ca
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can work with the charity or charities you have selected to make sure your wishes are met and your gift is made in the most effective way. The charity can give you information about its programs and services and how to make these gifts. It can also show you the impact of your gifts.
H
ave you ever longed to make the community you care about happier, safer, healthier, brighter, greener? What about kinder, more tolerant, more compassionate or more equal? Have you wondered how you could leave a lasting, positive impression on the place you care about? During one’s lifetime, a gift to charity is often a way to help satisfy these kinds of desires. Donations help charitable organizations carry out their work, making positive impacts on the people and places around us. But what about a gift that keeps on giving, long after you’ve gone? After you consider what you have and what you need during your lifetime, and then what you will leave in your estate, there are many ways to support the causes and concerns in the community that reflect what is important to you and your family. This type of giving is often called planned giving. What is a planned gift? Usually it’s a gift from assets, rather than income, and it is part of your longterm financial and estate plan. It is easy to do. It’s as simple as calling your legal, accounting or financial advisor or your favourite charity and talking about the possibilities. Most of us make charitable gifts because of our own values and beliefs. We have feelings of compassion for others and a desire to help a cause we believe in. We give from the heart – it is about our own passions and dreams to make a difference in our community. We also give to help others achieve their dreams. We give because charities have affected our own life – they may have helped us along the way, educated us, or inspired us. We give for personal reasons – what matters to us and what impact we want to have today and for the future. Unfortunately, many misconceptions exist around planned giving. It is not uncommon to hear people
Planned Giving FAQs Q. I don’t know how much I will have left over to give to the charities I’d like to support after I’m gone. Is there an easy way to figure this out? A. Some people find it helpful to make a “residual bequest” as part of their estate. The “residuary” is what’s left of your estate after all designated gifts have been made. This is a family-friendly way to include charitable gifts in your Will, because heirs take precedence. Once family members receive their share of the estate, whatever remainder there is goes to charity. Q. What if I want to leave some of my estate to charity, but I prefer to name a particular cause – like animal welfare or childhood development – rather than a particular organization?
An enduring gift to the community
A. This is easily done by working with a community foundation such as the Victoria Foundation. We have many funds in place that designate the causes that are supported. Grants are made to individual organizations that match with the funds objectives. Alternately, you can set up a new fund specific to the causes you care most about.
By Sara Neely, Victoria Foundation
A. There are many options. You can leave a specific cash amount, or financial investments such as stocks, bonds or certificates of deposit. You can also leave a percentage of your estate or assets, or specify a charity or fund as the beneficiary of a life insurance policy or retirement plan. Other options include something you own such as art, jewelry or copyrights.
say “I don’t want to think about doing a will” or “I don’t have an estate” or “I’m not wealthy – this doesn’t apply to me”. If you have a bank account or a house or any other financial assets, you have an estate. It is important to make plans so that the people and the causes you care about are looked after. Most often, philanthropic deci-
sions are made with making an impact in mind; a charitable contribution should maximize social good while reflecting your values in creating a legacy for future generations. Your advisors will know about the options for giving and can help you integrate charitable giving into your financial and estate plan. They
Q. What kind of assets can I leave as a gift to charity in my Will?
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Animal Look Closer‌ Assisted Therapy In our fast paced world, we often don’t take the time to see individuals. This is particularly true of the elderly within our facilities and our community. And when we don’t wee d don’t don’t ssee, ee, w on’t rrecognize ecognize needs. needs.
See Me. Att the A the Eldercare Eldercare Foundation Foundation we see how things like animal assisted therapy, art programs, specialized equipment and homelike enhancements can make a difference in the lives of our elderly. Look closer. See the need.
Give generously at gvef.org or call 250-370-5664
1454 Hillside Ave., Victoria, BC V8T 2B7 t HWFG PSH 3FHJTUFSFE $IBSJUZ #898816095RR0001
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BY LORI MCLEOD, Executive Director, Greater Victoria Eldercare Foundation
T
he Thrifty Foods’ smile is very much in evidence at the Aberdeen and Glengarry hospitals these days, thanks to a $10,000 grant for Animal Assisted Therapy (AAT). Different from Pet Therapy, AAT human-animal teams have been specially trained to offer therapeutic interventions for people who have a love of animals. Interactive sessions are designed with specific goals that relate to practical applications. Piloted at Aberdeen in 2012, this program has proven to be very effective in encouraging people to put extra effort into their physical therapy. Working with physiotherapists or occupational therapists, Lisa Markin RN and her specially trained Canine Assisted Intervention dogs, Cajun and Rowan, help engage and motivate residents to attain their goals. “It might look like fun,� she explains, “but the residents are really doing a lot of work and the physical gains they make are transferable to activities of daily life�. For example, an exercise that has the resident lacing up or zipping a fabric wrap on the dog, strengthens fine motor skills and problem solving abilities. Mastering such a task will help the resident to dress themselves, button up a sweater if they are cold, or tie their own shoe laces. Most of us take these actions for granted, but for
Therapy dog, Rowan, gets a hug from a participant in Aberdeen Hospital’s special Therapy Activation Program.
those recovering from a stroke or head injury, success brings a renewed sense of independence. Studies show that many people recovering from a serious illness or accident, or those with cognitive impairment, will make an extra effort and enjoy therapy more when working with an AAT team. Participants will do extra sets, vocalize more, reach higher, balance longer, try new tasks, initiate independently and participate longer when interacting with a trained AAT animal. Some areas of improvement are increased physical endurance, attention skills, anxiety management, motivation, social interactions and immediate feedback regarding speech volume and enunciation. Vivian Chenard, Manager Community Relations, says “Thrifty Foods is delighted to be part of this innovative program to help seniors in residential care maximize their mobility and independence.� The Eldercare Foundation is grateful to Thrifty Foods for this wonderful gift and leadership. Funded 100 per cent by donations, the Eldercare Foundation currently supports AAT at Aberdeen and Glengarry, but would love to be able to expand the program. Visit www.gvef.org or call the Foundation at 250-370-5664. “There is no psychiatrist in the world like a puppy licking your face.� ~ Ben Williams
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April is Daffodil Month Join the fight – buy a daffodil
W
hen a loved one is diagnosed with, or passes away from cancer, we often want to do something to help or honour them. The Canadian Cancer Society wants you to know that there is something you can do. When you buy a daffodil pin from a Canadian Cancer Society volunteer or make a donation at the door, you’re supporting Canadians living with cancer, and helping to fund research to fight all cancers for all Canadians in all communities. Daffodil Month, held every April, is a national fundraising campaign of the Canadian Cancer Society. The daffodil is a symbol of strength and courage in the fight against cancer. Buy a daffodil pin and wear it in April to show support for Canadians living with cancer. Money raised during Daffodil Month helps those living with cancer and their families in communities across Canada. Funds raised through the DafDuring the month of April, volunteer canvassers – identified by the distinctive blue and yellow of the Canadian Cancer Society and/or lanyards – will be knocking on doors. Buy a daffodil pin and make a contribution in the fight against cancer.
SUPPORT CANADIANS LIVING WITH CANCER
fodil campaign help to: • Lead cancer research. • Influence public policy to improve the health of Canadians • Focus support programs in the greatest needs of patients and caregivers Every donation made during the Canadian Cancer Society’s April Daffodil Campaign brings us closer to preventing cancer, detecting it earlier, improving treatment and helping Canadians live longer, healthier lives. To learn more about Daffodil Month and the work funded by this campaign, visit cancer.ca/daffodil.
Ray, firefighter. Fighting to improve cancer prevention for people in high-risk jobs.
BUY A PIN TODAY
This April when you buy a daffodil pin, you’re supporting Canadians living with cancer and helping us fund research to fight all cancers for all Canadians in all communities.
cancer.ca/daffodil
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hat began over 100 years ago as a desire to provide constructive activities to keep young boys off the streets, has developed into an international organization that works for the healthy development of all children and youth. We are proud to be one of the 99 clubs serving 200,000 children and youth ranging in age from pre-school to young adulthood in 500 locations across Canada. Join us on June 6 for Greater Victoria’s first ever Capital One Race for Kids™, where grown-ups will reclaim the joy of childhood in support of the great programs offered to the actual kids in our community! For 55 years, Boys & Girls Club Services of Greater Victoria has been the place to go after school to participate in programs and activities that build life skills and reinforce positive values. Facilities include a 98-acre outdoor centre, five community clubs and a central administrative office space. The wide range
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Play like a kid and give kids in Greater Victoria the same opportunity! Multiple international studies have proven that out-of-school programs are cost-effective and provide an exemplary return on investment. For example, in 2004, Boys & Girls Clubs of America demonstrated that every dollar invested in youth development resulted in a ROI of $10.51 of innovative and accessible programs offered in those locations are built to reflect local need and reinforce the internal strengths and capacities of each participant. We meet youth where they are and help them get where they want to go. Boys & Girls Clubs have always recognized the importance of social, educational and recreational programs for children and youth. We cannot emphasize enough our belief
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that positive, strength-based, and individually capacity-building programming is crucial to healthy child and youth development. The benefits of recreation, play and physical activity are indisputable for improving self-esteem, academic performance, peer and family relationships and prevention and/or reduction of disease, violence and negative behaviours such as smoking and substance abuse. The ben-
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efits of after-school supports and programming extend to families, employers and communities as well, because working parents who know their children are in a safe place, supervised by adults during out of school time, are able to be more productive and successful in their careers and home lives. Our Community Clubs and programs in Esquimalt, VicWest, Langford, Colwood, Central Saanich, and at the Metchosin Outdoor Centre offer safe, supportive environments. All of our programs, including Outdoor Adventure, Literacy/Numeracy, Youth Leadership and gender specific programs, are built on our belief in building strong relationships. Significant relationships with positive adult role models are crucial during childhood and help kids believe in themselves and achieve their potential. Boys & Girls Club staff build those relationships every day. You can, too, by joining us for the Capital One Race for Kidsâ&#x201E;˘ on June 6.
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KEVIN GREENARD • Associate portfolio manager at ScotiaMcLeod in Victoria
Let’s make things perfectly clear hen hiring an accountant or lawyer, you’re billed after services are rendered. In the investment world, it’s not so transparent. With embedded costs, market-value changes, withdrawals and deposits, it hasn’t always been clear exactly what you’ve been charged. The introduction of fee-based accounts and recent regulatory changes are making significant strides in providing better transparency to investors. In the past, most types of accounts were transactional, wherein commissions are charged for each transaction. With fee-based accounts, however, advisers don’t receive commissions. Instead, they agree to a set fee schedule, usually charged on a quarterly basis. This fee is normally based on a portfolio’s market value and composition. Buy and sell recommendations are based on the client’s needs and goals. If an investor’s account increases in value, so do the fees paid; conversely, if an account declines in value, fees go down. The recent increase in fee-based accounts correlates to the implementation of the second phase of the “Client Relationship Model” (CRM), a regulatory initiative passed by the Canadian Securities Administrators in March 2012. The CRM affects both the Mutual Fund Dealers Association and the Investment Industry Regulatory Organization of Canada. While the key objective of CRM1 was relationship disclosure and enhanced suitability, CRM2 is designed to increase
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transparency and disclosure on fees paid, services received, potential conflicts of interest and account performance. All of these mandatory disclosures are being phased in from 2014 to 2016. Last July, CRM2 mandated pre-trade disclosure of all fees prior to an investor agreeing to buy or sell an investment. With transactional accounts, an adviser must disclose all of the fees a client is required to pay, such as commissions when buying or selling positions. Many investors have complained about hidden fees, especially in mutual funds. With CRM2, all of these fees now have to be disclosed prior to the transaction. Certain types of transactions had no disclosure requirements in the past. For example, an adviser used to be able to purchase a bond and embed their commission in the cost of the bond on the trade confirmation slip. Now, fixed-income trades also require full disclosure. In other cases, even if there was disclosure in the legal sense of the word, understanding this disclosure required clients to read the fine print in lengthy prospectus documents. With fee-based accounts, the client has a discussion about fees with their adviser up front, and an agreement with full disclosure is signed by investor and adviser. Another reason for the popularity of the fee-based platform is that many advisers can offer both investment and planning-related services. Many advisers can offer detailed financial plans and access to experts in related areas, such as insurance, and will and estate planning. In a traditional transactional account, where commissions are charged for every buy or sell, it has always been challenging for advisers to be compensated for additional services such as financial planning. Consequently, many transactional-based advisers would not offer these services to their clients. Fee-based accounts also offer families one more opportunity for income splitting by setting up account-designated billing for their fees. The higher-income spouse can pay the fees for the lower-income spouse. Another benefit of a fee-based structure for non-registered accounts is the ability to deduct investment counsel fees as carrying charges and interest expense. Anyone who has nonregistered accounts would be well advised to read Canada Revenue Agency's interpretation bulletin 238R2. Investment counsel fees cannot be deducted for registered accounts, but there is the benefit of paying the fees for registered accounts from a non-registered account. Adviser-managed accounts have been the fastest-growing segment of the broad fee-based group. In this type of account, the adviser is licensed as a portfolio manager and able to use discretion to execute trades. In setting up the adviser-managed account, one of the criteria is that the account must be fee-based. Regulators have made it clear a portfolio manager is not permitted to use discretion when it comes to commissions or transaction charges. One of the starting points to setting up a managed account is to get a defined investment policy statement that sets out the relevant guidelines that will govern the management of the account. Capital
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Math is his mantra — Rai Goyal started managing his parents’ portfolio at age 12
Rai Goyal got into the stock market at “10-ish.” Now 16, he’s taking first-year calculus at the University of Victoria. BRUCE STOTESBURY, TIMES COLONIST
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B Y K AT H E R I N E D E D Y N A
ai Goyal was only four when his mother started giving him cash when they stopped to shop at farmgate stands to teach him some preschool lessons in financial literacy. An early adapter to “mental math,” Rai didn’t take long to calculate in his head how many grams he was getting to the dollar and which products gave best value for the money. “And he would tell me: ‘This is how much it should cost and this is how much I should get back,’ ” recalls Mina Goyal of View Royal. Now 16, Rai has repaid his mother’s early trust: his investment savvy has doubled the retirement nestegg Mina shares with Rai’s father, Raj, since taking over management of their portfolio when he was 12. Yes, you read that right. The exact amount he’s made them is quite impressive and his parents were taken aback that he had divulged it. OK, we’ll give them a break and keep it to ourselves.
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“I’m a believer in early learning and giving practical knowledge,” recalls Mina, a no-fee financial adviser with World Financial Group. “When I gave him the independence to do it, I did not intervene at all. He proved to me that he can do very well. I think he’s done a wonderful job.” Rai agrees, in his modest, easy-going way. “ I’ve been doing it for the last three or four years and that’s been going very well, actually.” He got into the stock market when he was “10-ish,” investing in practice accounts with fake money, reading voraciously on the Internet and listening to advice from mom. “I would approach her with some investment decision that I would like to make and she would basically approve that in a way. Over the last year or two, it’s basically turned into me informing them that I’m going to make this decision and they don’t really question it. Because my success rate is pretty good.” He also answers to “the financial whiz” around Mount Doug secondary school. “I do a lot of mathematical analysis in investing,” said Rai, who completed all his
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Grade 12 math courses when he was in Grade 10. Now he’s taking first-year calculus at the University of Victoria. “I’m getting 97 per cent right now, so I’m definitely loving it.” Some of his numeracy skills might be inherited from father Raj, a civil engineer and expert in mathematical calculations. He’s proud of Rai, and his goal to educate other young people about the advantages of starting young and not spending every cent they have, never mind going into debt. Success with his parents’ retirement fund informed the casual confidence he displayed in four recent workshops on financial independence for teens he led at the Greater Victoria Public Library. Tall, composed and somehow looking tailored in jeans and a royal blue hoody, Rai produced a chart for three teens attending one workshop. It was the kind of chart that most mid-life people wish they had paid attention to decades back. Along the lines of: If a 16-year-old invests $89 per month, about $22 a week, by the time they’re 100 — OK, that’s tough for any teen to imagine — it would be have
become $1 million by then calculated at a seven per cent rate of interest over the long term. Compared to $89,712 in actual dollars without interest. The program wasn’t something the library would have been interested in sponsoring had an adult pitched it. Rai pitched it in December, touting financial education as key to financial independence. “I was so impressed that Rai himself approached the library with the idea to lead a series on financial literacy for other teenagers,” said Kirsten Andersen, GVPL teen services librarian. “We support a variety of programming for teens, especially programs initiated by youth themselves. Rai wrote a great proposal and was so personable and passionate, I knew this was a program we had to champion.” He tells those attending, including James Darby, 14, one of his favourite financial mantras: “The best time to start saving for your retirement is NOW.” James found the seminar sensible — “it just seems to flow well” and is thinking of getting a paper route to earn some cash. Rai says that teens willing to commit a
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modest amount of minimum-wage earnings or gifts of cash can lay the groundwork for a secure retirement without a lot of hassle or deprivation. Investing successfully calls for discipline and consistency — not teen strong points — but also “the power of time” — and here teens are good to go. Just let time do its thing. Because by the time people are in their 20s, they’re renting apartments and buying furniture; in their 30s it’s car payments, kids and mortgages, and later, post-secondary assistance for their grown kids. The upshot: People are turning 60 without a lot of retirement assets. Local financial author Mike Watkins agrees. “You can’t put an old head on young shoulders,” said the wealth adviser with ScotiaMcLeod in Victoria, but starting young is key. He said teens who live at home and really only have to provide for themselves are in prime time for saving. A good rule for teens is easier said than done: “Save 50 per cent of everything you make,” Watkins said. Now that interest rates are “crazy low,” he sees “a nice balanced fund or blue-chip
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dividend fund” as offering instant diversification for early investors starting with small amounts. Teens cannot be contractually obligated until they reach the age of majority — 19 in B.C. — so their parents would need to set up an Informal Trust Account with which to purchase the funds. Rai points out that the only investments independently available to those younger than 19 are Guaranteed Investment Certificates and whole life/universal life products. Rai suggests a formula for earnings or cash gifts: save 40 per cent, spend 40 per cent and invest 20 per cent. “It’s important that you save first and spend what’s left over. That’s what keeps you disciplined.” He tells teens that it’s nice getting compound interest; not so nice to pay it. “When you start out young, you have greater potential, greater risk-taking ability, so you can even get a better rate of return on your money in the long run.” He doesn’t refer to notes or speak too fast or talk down to teens, instead providing descriptions that adults would find informative.
He’s upfront about “the biggest mistake” of his investing life: Not playing the long game with a tech stock, but doesn’t want to mention any names. But he has learned from his mistake. Now he says beware of getting caught up in the day-today ups and downs of the stock market when you’re young. Value investing is “the best way” to invest in the 21st century. Rai follows Warren Buffett’s value-investment style. That means finding companies that are trading at value that’s far below their true value. As much as saving and investing are crucial, Rai cuts his spending to depths frankly inconceivable to many teens. How low? “I don’t need a cellphone,” he said. Instead of a part-time job, he takes a share of the investments from his parents’ portfolio. When he’s 19, he plans to do the exam for the Canadian securities course. For the past couple of years, he has sometimes accompanied Mina when she meets clients. “They are very happy,” she said. “And they want to show their kids that you can start learning from a young age.”
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VECIMA ON THE RISE
Vecima chief executive Sumit Kumar at the company’s manufacturing plant in Saanich, where there is a staff of 35. TIMES COLONIST
The capital’s biggest tech firm switches gears BY ANDREW A. DUFFY
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ecima Networks may be Greater Victoria’s largest high-tech business, but even the biggest firms are afforded their moments of insecurity. For years, the closely held public company, founded in 1998 by Surinder Kumar and now run by his eldest son Sumit, has felt it was undervalued by the market, which didn’t understand or appreciate its strength. And at times Vecima, which boasts more than 500 employees and a market capitalization of nearly $230 million, has been right. Despite consistently profitable returns, its share price has often floated well below what the company’s founders believed it was worth. Between 2008 and 2014, it only once traded above $7 per share. That has changed recently. With a new business approach, new executive structure — Sumit Kumar succeeded his father as CEO and spread responsibility across an executive team — and a commitment to telling the company’s story and explaining it to the market, Vecima’s share price has been hovering above $10 per share. “The succession from father to son has been handled well and been very good for all of Vecima’s stakeholders,” said Todd Coupland, analyst with CIBC World Markets. Capital
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Vecima CEO Sumit Kumar: “We were on the cusp of a major change at that point and we’ve gone through that now.”
Coupland, who categorizes Vecima as a “buy” opportunity, said the transition has been positive for the business strategy, product roadmap and operational execution. “It has come together and contributed to a rising stock price,” he said. Sumit Kumar, who has helmed the manufacturer of products for broadband access to cable and wireless networks since 2013, said the company intends to press its advantage. “We are working to get more exposure, you need to do that to be viewed by the market as one of the key vendors,” he said, noting that has meant sitting with fund managers and analysts to explain what the firm does while building the brand’s appeal with leaders in their industry. Kumar said it’s about “establishing credibility by succeeding where other vendors have failed the big guys.” It’s not just Vecima’s more open and accessible approach to the market that’s changed, though. The company has switched gears in terms of its business model and executive structure. Kumar said it’s been a pretty good story since 2011, when the stock price dipped to 80
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$2.50. “We were on the cusp of a major change at that point and we’ve gone through that now,” he said. “And that transformation is what’s driving a lot of the results, not only of the stock price but the business itself has truly transformed.” Over the last five years Vecima has gone from selling equipment to companies like Cisco or Motorola, who would use that hardware as part of their platform to be sold to cable companies, to cutting out the middle man. “We now sell direct to cable operators and that’s taken us to a different level, and had great impact on the financials,” said Kumar. It has also changed the nature of the business. At its peak Vecima employed 900 people, but that was when it required a large labour force to manufacture systems. Now the company is more software driven with services that are designed to provide more Internet speed and help cable companies like Comcast offer more access to entertainment for its end user. “Our platforms all provide higher speed and more entertainment on more screens in more spaces,” said Kumar. “Effectively, that’s the fundamental creator of demand for our technology.” And that’s why Vecima is now hiring more software engineers than any other class of worker as it intends to grow what has become a more profitable business. In 2014, Vecima recorded a net profit of $24.6 million, up from $19 million in 2013 and $13 million in 2012. The next step for the company is to expand its existing base. Kumar said they want to continue to sell platforms to cable operators while expanding globally by offering systems that provide high-speed data in order to bring video to more tablets, phones and next generation television. Kumar said with 30 to 40 per cent of its business focused on Comcast, Vecima has only a limited number of products being
sold to one client. “We want to replicate that relationship with other customers who are similar in that they are large and leading the market,” he said. “And we want to broaden what we sell to Comcast. Right now we have very little sales in the global market, but with new technology we have an opportunity to broaden out beyond North America.” The company has also focused on its core strengths and sold off non-core real estate assets. Its main manufacturing facility remains in Saskatoon, where it employs 450 people, and they have the opportunity to expand should it be required. They have expanded to having an office in Burnaby — 25 software engineers — in order to help attract and retain talent. “That gives us some flexibility,” said Kumar. “It could be advantageous as some people want to stay in Vancouver and the Lower Mainland. We have had some good luck finding good people but it is advantageous to be in Victoria and Burnaby.” There are 35 staff in Victoria. The internal workings of the company have also changed. Kumar said the firm has gone from the power being consolidated in one position under his father to being spread around a team of experienced executives. Surinder Kumar, currently chair of the company’s board, is still involved and helped his son build that new leadership structure. “We’ve built a team to set ourselves up for growth,” said the CEO. “It’s an exciting time.” The younger Kumar said his father played a big role in setting the new course for the firm before he stepped away from the day-to-day operations and he understood there had to be big changes. “From his perspective he understands [a single leader] was a limitation and that we had to expand, it’s part and parcel of growing as a larger company.”
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JACK KNOX • Columnist, Times Colonist
For smugglers, grass is greener in tobacco field ound a smoker the other day. He was outside the safe-injection site, trying to make like he was toking up, but since when do joints come with filters? “Tobacco Police! Freeze!” I said, but he bolted — for about half a block before running out of breath and taking a knee. Not a lot of drawn-out foot chases with smokers. OK, the capital isn’t QUITE at the point where tobacco is illegal, though it’s getting there. As of this spring, the region’s smoking ban is being extended to parks, playgrounds and public squares. The no-smoking zone around doorways and air intakes has gone from three metres to seven, effectively making it illegal to smoke on most downtown sidewalks. As of April 1, the only place it will still be legal to light up is the old leper colony on Bentinck Island, off Metchosin. Pot, on the other hand, has put on a suit and tie, gone almost-legit. A grey area in the law lets medical-marijuana shops operate openly, with dispensing rules that range from ultra-strict to Amsterdam. That still leaves B.C. less liberal than our neighbours in
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Washington and Alaska, who voted to legalize recreational dope-smoking. Who’d have thought they would get there before B.C.? It’s like arriving at Coachella and spotting Stephen Harper surfing the mosh pit. Anyway, Washington state has licensed 334 cannabis stores, including six across the strait from us in Clallam County. Port Angeles’ first legal recreational pot shop turned its lights on in November. The question is: What will that mean to Vancouver Island drug exporters? Already we hear reports of the wholesale price of B.C. pot dropping 30 per cent in recent years. Is drug-smuggler destined to be one of those old-fashioned jobs that, like log driver or typewriter repairman, fades into history? Vancouver Island, with long, isolated stretches of sparsely populated waterfront offering easy access to the America’s San Juans and the Olympic Peninsula, enjoys a long, proud (?) history of smuggling illicit substances to the U.S. As far back as 1890, the U.S. Treasury Department sent an agent to Victoria to try to infiltrate an opium-smuggling ring said to be headquartered here. But it was after the U.S. brought in Prohibition in 1920 that local entrepreneurs really hit the jackpot. Cadboro Bay's Smugglers Cove didn’t get its name by accident. Some smugglers gained local notoriety over the next dozen years. Johnny Schnarr, who made 400 trips from Victoria to the U.S., some in fast boats powered by aircraft engines, was even celebrated in song. Sidney’s Rumrunner Pub features a photo of the Malahat, a legendary five-masted schooner known as the Queen of Rum Row: it would sit in international waters and offload booze onto lightning-fast boats for the trip ashore. In recent decades it has been B.C. Bud, not booze, being spirited across the strait, the smugglers sometimes making the trip in stolen boats that they would abandon on the other side after unloading the dope-stuffed hockey bags (though Saanich police once found $120,000 worth of pot in a kayak that washed up on Ten Mile Point). Whether it’s rum or reefers, there’s profit in prohibition. Or, at least, there was. Much of the market is in jeopardy now that Washington is growing its own. Island smugglers can only hope that the high cost of U.S. pot (taxes and the dollar differential make it five times as expensive over there) will allow a black market to survive. Marijuana moonshiners, as it were. Or maybe forward-thinking criminals will just retool for the emerging market in smuggled smokes. Wherever there’s prohibition, there’s money to be made.
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